Newbie Looking for Chris Craft Services in Northern Wisconsin

[North Woody]

Hi All,

I just kicked off my search for a well-maintained “driver’s condition” pre-war Chris Craft that I can use and fully enjoy without treating it like a museum piece. We have a lake home on a 450-acre lake up in Northern Wisconsin, and with only one other CC on the lake I feel it's my responsibility to find a second vintage wooden boat to make it feel less lonely

It will sit on a covered hoist next to our 2014 Moomba LSV ski and wakesurf boat from Memorial Day through about October when we typically take it off the water and winterize and store it indoors with the dealer. I’m absolutely amazed by the 19 foot ‘39-'42 Barrelbacks, but with limited numbers and rising prices, there aren’t a lot of great deals out there at the moment. So I've expanded my search to also look at '35-'38 19 foot runabouts which seem to share the bulk of the DNA of the BB’s, but with a more reasonable price tag.

As I jump into this search, I’d love to tap into the collective wisdom of this amazing community to help me find the right support for wooden boat ownership and maintenance up in the North Woods. We are up in Eagle River, WI, so can anyone here point me in the direction of a specialist in the area for annual maintenance and winter storage? While wooden boat ownership is new to me, I have gone through a lengthy restoration of my 1968 Porsche 911L, so I have an appreciation for not only what it takes to restore vintage machines but also what it takes to maintain them!

Many thanks for your help, and I look forward to finding the right boat and the right support to maintain it!

[steve bunda]

Hi Newbie, welcome to the club! I can handle all your needs and have a wood boat shop 30 miles away. Please check out the web site antiquewoodboatrestoration.com 715 478 3186
Thanks, steve
I am down sizing my collection and have a 1936 18 ft runabout available. It is a one owner boat in excellent survivor condition and runs great. Please see picture

[North Woody]

Thanks to all who have reached out to offer great information and support as I enter into the world of vintage Chris Crafts. I’m happy to report that thanks to Steve Bunda, as of today I am now the proud owner of a 1936 19’ Double Cockpit Forward Runabout. It is a beautiful boat, and I look forward to working on it over the next 9 months to get it on the water on our place on Anvil Lake, WI for Memorial Day

Many thanks to everyone for their wonderful support and I look forward to tapping into the collective wisdom of this great community of enthusiasts as I head down this wonderful path of vintage boat wondership.

[Captain Nemo]

Nice boat, and welcome to our world! Keep us posted on your work.

[Don Vogt]

Great looking boat, North Woody. there are those of us who feel that boats in this period (mid 30's, prior to torpedo styling) represent the height of classic wood boat design, with the natural color mahogany decks with narrow strips of wood, pointed bow, almost vertical stem, slightly crowned decks, modest tumblehome, etc. Of course others will disagree, that's why it is great that there are so many different styles from which to choose.

fwiw, i believe cc referred to the this model in the sales literature from '35-'36, if i am not mistaken, as merely the 19' runabout.
when they settled on the two basic models of the runabout in 1937 with double cockpits forward, from then on the 19' was referred to as the custom and the less expensive 17' was referred to as the deluxe.

in any event i am sure you will enjoy it.

[North Woody]

Gents,

Many thanks for your warm welcome, and Don - I have updated my signature to reflect the accurate model for my ‘36

Here are a few pictures from Friday when we bought it, one with my wife, another with our 3 sons, and the last one with my parents (my Dad is a huge gear-head as well so he loved seeing everything in Steve’s workshop!). And yes, we will be re-naming her when we put the new bottom on this winter. Thanks in advance for what I am sure will be a series of ownership and maintenance questions, which I promise to search for first before throwing it out to you guys...

[Don Vogt]

cool!

[North Woody]

So I learned something new today about the ‘36 Runabout ... After reaching out to Patti at the Maritime Museum to purchase the research package for “Lake Girl” (Hull #48099), she very kindly e-mailed me a scanned copy of the page from “Chris-Craft: The Essential Guide” that details my boat (I was looking for the overall beam and weight). According to what Patti sent me, the 1935-38 19’ Runabouts were referred to as “Custom Runabouts”. Here’s page 24 with the details that I think lets me officially refer to her as a Custom Runabout . Patti was an absolute rock star on the phone, answering some very basic questions and promising to get my research package out hopefully within the week!

[Don Vogt]

thanks. However, one needs to understand that although the fellow who wrote that book, jerry conrad, formerly worked at the museum, it is not a "bible" and there are a number of errors in it. Yes, many generally refer to this series as the "custom"; however, if one looks at the sales materials here in the archives, i do not believe cc referred to it as such prior to 1937. this is not the biggest deal in the world, however. the important thing is to enjoy your boat and you are free to call it what you want.

[North Woody]

Dang, thanks Don, I had a sneaking suspicion that “The Essential Guide” perhaps wasn’t the definitive source. I have an unusual focus on details, so if I can’t fully document something my OCD won’t let me use that specific piece of information!

In the meantine, I’m looking forward to the research package that Patti is sending me so that I can start digging into all of the materials that they can pull together. Thanks again for everyone sharing your collective wisdom here, as searching and reading all of the posts here has been hugely helpful in filling in the big gaps in my knowledge of these amazing boats. Like the fuel dipsticks that I read about earlier this morning, this forum is an amazing treasure trove of information.

[North Woody]

I just got my research package from Patti at the Maritime Museum in the mail today. It’s an awesome package of stuff, with details on not only my ‘36 but pricing and spec sheets on the ‘35’s, ‘37’s and ‘38’s as well. A huge shout out to Patti for her help on the phone last week with a very specific question and for getting all this detailed info out to me so quickly. I’ve updated the Hull Registry for Lake Girl with the info on the Hull Card, and I look forward to digging into this package of info over the coming days and weeks!

[Don Vogt]

North Woody, this is great. Please don't forget the club archive that has a wealth of material like old sales brochures, engine manuals, etc. that also contain useful information.

[North Woody]

North Woody, this is great. Please don't forget the club archive that has a wealth of material like old sales brochures, engine manuals, etc. that also contain useful information.

Awesome, thanks Don. I just poked around in the CCABC archives and found some amazing stuff, including a full color brochure of the Chris Craft 1936 full boat catalogue! Between this and the research package that Patti sent me from the Maritime Museum, I am quickly filling out my binder of background info, catalogues, owners manauals and CC marketing material.

Thanks for pointing me that direction, and I look forward to digging deeper into the archives to keep pulling this fantastic material

[Don Vogt]

you're welcome. glad you found things of interest. worth the dues just there! this is good wintertime activity.

[Matt Smith]

I would recomend that you come to the Port Huron Show in a couple weeks. Not a plug for the show, wait yes it is. But if you really want to get OCD on it, and I get that big time. Including finding the original zipper manufature for my cover.. Anyway, you will get a true feeling and understanding on a deeper level when you visit Algonac and the area where the boats were concieved and made. it is a custom, as is the Barrel Back and later 20ft Custom. A wonderful series of boats, each one being slightly unique, which btw will also tease your OCD endlessly, which is the fun part. It never will get boring, and just when you think its perfect. You will find a reed and prince screw where only flathead screws should be.

[North Woody]

I would recomend that you come to the Port Huron Show in a couple weeks. Not a plug for the show, wait yes it is. But if you really want to get OCD on it, and I get that big time. Including finding the original zipper manufature for my cover.. Anyway, you will get a true feeling and understanding on a deeper level when you visit Algonac and the area where the boats were concieved and made. it is a custom, as is the Barrel Back and later 20ft Custom. A wonderful series of boats, each one being slightly unique, which btw will also tease your OCD endlessly, which is the fun part. It never will get boring, and just when you think its perfect. You will find a reed and prince screw where only flathead screws should be.

I would dearly love to make it up there for this event, but sadly I just can't swing it with my work travel schedule this month. That, plus my wife already thinks that I've 100% checked out of reality given the amount of time I've been spending researching Lake Girl on the CCABC, Woody Boater and ACBS forums and in the multiple Chris Craft books that I've bought on the internet...

But as a consolation prize, I just bought my first piece of Woody Boater swag (a sweet Woody Boater USA hat) so I've got that going for me

[North Woody]

Since buying Lake Girl from Steve Bunda back in August, and after delving into every forum and book that I could find on the history, maintenance, and restoration of this beautiful boat, we are finally ready to actually take Lake Girl home as the newest member of our family. Steve has done an absolutely brilliant job with the new 5200 bottom and paint, new fuel tank, revarnished sides and decks, and new name on the transom. We pick her up on Friday so I’ll throw up pics of everything completed, but I wanted to post up some pics of the work that Steve did over the winter. More to come after Memorial Day weekend, but here are a few “work in progress” photos that have kept us fired up as we have gotten closer to pick up day .

I want to note a HUGE thanks to Steve and Laurie for their meticulous work on this boat, which they have owned for the past 20 years before selling it to us to be as loving stewards of this beautiful boat as they have been over the years!

[Don Vogt]

thanks much for the photos. please keep them coming. great looking boat! the 2020 acbs international is in coeur d' alene. Why not plan to attend. we have one '36 19' here but they are pretty uncommon out this way.

[North Woody]

Thanks Don, I’m going to try as we missed last year’s Boat the Blue. In the meantime, here are a few photos now that we’ve reinstalled everything, put on the new CC decals on the side, and finally getting Lake Girl her transom updated . Steve is gonna fire her up today to make sure we’re all ready to pick her up on Friday. Can’t wait to get on the water and hopefully start getting to different events!