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Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

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North Woody
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Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by North Woody » Fri May 24, 2019 10:17 am

Well, the day FINALLY arrived to pick up Lake Girl from Steve Bunda and bring her to her new home on Anvil Lake up in Northern Wisconsin. Steve and Laurie had owned and loved her for the last ~20 years and taken fabulous care of her, and after seeing her last August we agreed to take over stewardship of this magnificent 1936 19’ Double Cockpit Forward Runabout. Steve spent the winter putting a new 5200 bottom on her as well as re-sanding and varnishing the decks and sides. While Steve and Laurie enjoyed and drove her as “Patriot”, we renamed her “Lake Girl” after my wife who has been 100% game to take this beautiful boat into our family. After putting the new name on the transom earlier this week, the work was done and the day finally arrived to pick her and bring her home. Here is a pic of my wife and I at the boat ramp where we did our on-water hand off, giving my wife and I an hour with Steve in the boat just walking through all the details and getting ready for us to take her home.
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So off we went to trailer her home to our lake about an hour away. Full of excitement and ready to tear up the lake in our new boat, we pulled down the ramp and I jumped in to fire her up.
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Then the fun started. First, despite running through the full check list of start up procedures in my head, I couldn’t get her started. Key on - check. Choke out - check. Fuel pumped - check. Getting spark - check. Then after about 10 minutes of different efforts coupled with more than a few “WTF’s”, I managed to drain the battery and it started to feel like it was all going horribly wrong. So I sheepishly called Steve to admit defeat on our maiden voyage wth Lake Girl. He calmly told me to grab a new battery and can of ether and give it another go. Fortunately, we had kept her bow attached to the trailer so we just pulled her back up the ramp, re-tied the stern down, and off we went to Napa in town to pick up a new battery.

While my wife picked up the essentials (beer cheese, chips, wine and breakfast pastries) at the market, I dropped in a new battery in the parking lot of Napa and picked up a few chamois towels since it was starting to rain. Then off we went to give our maiden voyage a second try. My wife expertly trailered Lake Girl down the boat ramp, I took a deep breath, opened the hatches, and said a small prayer as I DIDN’T want to be defeated on our first time out with new our 83-year old boat. This time, I elected to not prime, and after a small shot of starting fluid and few more tries she roared to life :). I texted Steve to let him know that we were good, and I pulled off the trailer to toddle around the lake to get to our hoist. At this point, it was 6.30pm, getting dark, and steadily raining. The sheer joy of listening to that glorious flat 6 rumbling behind me coupled with an extreme dose of humility with the recognition that I likely flooded the engine then drained the battery like a knucklehead, put the BIGGEST, DUMBEST grin on my face as I took her around the point and headed to our dock! 100% relieved to have overcome our first solo trip with Lake Girl, and with a tiny amount of ego-saving pride that I didn’t have to admit defeat, we pulled her on the hoist, wiped her down, and went inside for a well-deserved celebratory cocktail. Phew.
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We are so thrilled to welcome Lake Girl to our family, and I want to thank not only Steve and Laurie, but all of you on this forum who have answered so many of my new-guy questions. I am a boat guy (water skiing and wake surfing) and an air-cooled Porsche guy, but the Chris is a unique combination of both of those passions, so it’s been awesome to dip into the deep knowledge of this community. As a first-time wooden boat owner, this is a fantastic community, so thanks for sharing not only your infectious love for these beautiful boats but also your insanely (and OCD-like) knowledge of the idiosyncrasies, the mechanics, and the history of Chris Craft boats. I hope everyone has a smoother launch day than ours if you’re getting on the water this weekend, but I also hope that you have as much fun and experience as much joy as we did yesterday despite the 55-degree rainy weather! Happy boating, and I look forward to asking more dumb questions as we learn along the way and enjoy this spectacular boat for many years to come.
1936 Chris Craft 19’ Runabout “Lake Girl”
https://chris-craft.org/boats/49122/

tparsons56
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by tparsons56 » Sat May 25, 2019 7:12 am

Congratulations on the beautiful boat. Owning and driving a classic is an emotional experience. We also launched ours yesterday in Northern Michigan but fortunately it was a nice afternoon.
My suggestion is to get a “fake lake” hose attachment for starting her up after long layups. Getting the engine started and warmed up for the first of the season is a lot less stressful in your driveway than at the dock where usually there are lots of eyes on you and your boat.
Have fun and remember that you will have stories to tell that like fine wine only get more colorful with age,

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drrot
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by drrot » Sat May 25, 2019 7:56 am

CONGRATULATIONS!! Wish I had known, was in Eagle River yesterday morning. Could have stopped by.
Jim Staib
www.finewoodboats.com


1947 Penn Yan 12' Cartopper WXH474611
1950 Chris-Craft 22' Sportsman U-22-1532
1957 Chris-Craft 26' Sea Skiff SK-26-515
1968 Century 17' Resorter FG-68-174

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Don Vogt
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by Don Vogt » Sat May 25, 2019 8:18 am

very cool. Lots of enjoyment ahead but from time to time there will be hiccups, too.

Yes, getting it started for the first time of the season can be a challenge. after that i do the following that always works. Choke out, no throttle until it fires. then push in choke and give it a bit of gas and it starts right up. Should not normally need priming.
1938 Chris Craft 17' Deluxe Runabout "Jennifer II"

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Jim Godlewski
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by Jim Godlewski » Sun May 26, 2019 5:20 am

Excellent! and congrats.. What a roller coaster of a day right.. Good job to both of you getting her going and into her hoist. Beautiful boat. Just choke and turn the key when cold. Enjoy.
1956 17 Sportsman CC-17-2310
1930 Model 100 7152

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North Woody
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by North Woody » Sun May 26, 2019 9:52 am

Thanks all, it’s certainly been an education, an exercise in humility and a complete kick in the pants all rolled into one! Since getting her on the water Thursday afternoon we’ve had her out a number of times, especially since it was absolutely beautiful yesterday up here in the North Woods. The day was capped with an inaugural (and first of MANY) cocktail cruise with my wife’s sister and brother-in-law and one of their sons who also have a place on our lake. The best part about the day was the fact that my wife is absolutely loving this boat as much as I am, as you can see from the pic of her and our brother-in-law as we headed out with champagne in hand to enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day weekend cocktail cruise.

All is well, Lake Girl is happily on her hoist next to our ski boat, and we’re already planning our afternoon around another cruise around the lake on her :). We look forward to getting our 3 sons up here this summer, working around their school and work schedules to create some precious family time together up here. Happy Memorial Day to all, and thanks again for all the help to get us up and running!


DEA742B1-E1A0-4817-9F17-2478F00F172D.jpeg
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1936 Chris Craft 19’ Runabout “Lake Girl”
https://chris-craft.org/boats/49122/

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Don Vogt
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by Don Vogt » Sun May 26, 2019 10:12 am

:D
1938 Chris Craft 17' Deluxe Runabout "Jennifer II"

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Bilge Rat
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Re: Maiden Voyage-ish of Lake Girl

Post by Bilge Rat » Fri May 31, 2019 7:53 am

Beautiful boat! The essentials (beer cheese, chips, wine and breakfast pastries) should also include tools and some common spare parts for the just in case moments of classic boating. They have saved the day on a couple of occasions for me.
1966 Lyman Cruisette 25 foot "Serenity Now!"
1953 Chris Craft Sportsman 22 foot "Summerwind"

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