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Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

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Grant Stanfield
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Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by Grant Stanfield » Wed Feb 04, 2015 2:12 am

Happy 2015, Sea-Skiffers!

I was lucky and blessed today to have my boat's original owner share some great family snapshots showing DENBY docked outside her boathouse on Denby Island back in the early summer of 1956 with her freshly black-painted hull.

These recently-found old photos are so evocative of this time and place where she spent her first 60 years, and offer a number of clues as to how she was outfitted and enjoyed. The family had a small fleet of attractive wooden boats for guests and family to enjoy while spending their summers on the island...notice the aquaplane leaning against the boathouse, too!

Hope you enjoy these...I'm glad to have a chance to share them. Happy Boating!
DENBY in black-1956 2.jpg
DENBY @ Denby Island- summer 1956
DENBY in black-1956 3.jpg
DENBY @ Denby Island- summer 1956
DENBY in black-1956 1.jpg
DENBY @ Denby Island- summer 1956
Last edited by Grant Stanfield on Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Grant Stanfield

SK-22-169 "DENBY"
1954 Chris-Craft 22' Open Sea Skiff

truenorth01
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by truenorth01 » Thu Feb 05, 2015 4:44 pm

Hey thanks for posting those pix. The first one looks like it should be made into a post card. Wow.

The second shot is unique too. The aluminum beer keg in the smaller boat is a nice touch :)

Do you know if Denny was black as the original color?

Mark S.
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Grant Stanfield
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by Grant Stanfield » Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:35 am

Truenorth-

When I bought DENBY, I quizzed the owner about her history with his family; they bought her very slightly used in 1955; her hull card notes that she was originally delivered to Gregory Boat Co. in Detroit for sale. She found her way to Eagle River, WI within a year where she was sold to the family by Joe's Marine Service, a long-time CC dealer in the Chain-O-lakes region. She was either a demonstrator or a dealer-trade, my guess.

Anyway, to your question: She was delivered in WHITE, like every first-year 1954 22' Sea Skiff. Seven hull colors were offered when the Sea Skiff Division went full-tilt with an entire range of skiff models for 1955- among those choices was black. The owners had her repainted to black once they bought her (I assume over the winter of 1955-6) as a personal preference. She looks glossier in the photos than CC would have painted them; Sea Skiffs would have been matte or semi-gloss from the factory at that time.

The blue hull color DENBY is today was a somewhat later re-paint in what is close to the correct late-'50's Sea Skiff blue; she still reveals her white and black layers in spots where she has a bit of dock-rash. So far, she is still in boat-house fresh, original condition...I'm enjoying her patina for now!

When I do decide to refinish her, I'm going with the CC pastel green hull option, since I've never seen an early Sea Skiff done up in that color (or buff, which was a sort-of coral pink color).
IMG_1275.JPG
This recently-built custom launch in Hessel, MI was painted in 'Green Mist', apparently an original CC color still available from Sandusky Paint. DENBY will be refinished in this color.
Grant Stanfield

SK-22-169 "DENBY"
1954 Chris-Craft 22' Open Sea Skiff

SteveH
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by SteveH » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:52 pm

Nice Grant. Something about those Kadachromes - vivid. I have to say that I just love the whole scene. That little runabout with the Merc (Hurricane?) is cool as well. Always wanted a wooden version of a tin boat - maybe a little Penn Yan or Lyman Leader one day. Denby is looking SHINY and proud for sure. I like your color choice for the future - I'm a fan of semi.

I wonder if that pole on the dock is a mast - the boat in the foreground, or maybe a flag pole? Those cleats on the sheer plank of Denby - something related to a past/present top, or bumper holders? Can't remember - still there?

The dead of winter here, so thanks for the little dose of summer.

Steve
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1959 22' Sea Skiff (2263)
16 ft. Oughtred Penny Fee
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tkhersom
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by tkhersom » Mon Feb 09, 2015 4:11 pm

Great Pics!

I have been following your story since you acquired her so it is nice to see the old shots. Thanks for sharing. :D

My FIL built a mooring ball out of a keg just like that. On calm days the boat would drift up against it and rub. I hated that thing.
Troy in ANE - Former President CCABC

1957 CC 21' Continental "Yorktown" (Mom's boat)
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Grant Stanfield
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by Grant Stanfield » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:08 am

Thanks all for the kind words- I'm excited to have these vintage images of my ol' skiff in her native surroundings...that first picture still amazes me each time I see it...paradise!

SteveH: when I showed my local restorer the pictures, he said the wooden object on the dock was a sailboat mast (there are a number of spars on the boathouse wall, too). The original owner's son said he assumed the pictures were taken in early summer...perhaps because the masts weren't stepped onto the island's sailboat yet for the season?

Man- they had some nice boats up there..!

The dock piling showing in the pictures also had a beacon on it according to my local CC guru...makes sense- since the 23-lake chain was pretty shallow with plenty of obstructions. Plus, the boatman must've watched for that beacon whenever he had to make a night run to the mainland to pick up late-arriving guests.

The clips on the gunwale were fender-hangers...they're no longer on the boat but the original old-school fenders are, and I love them. DENBY never had a Navy top added, since she was put away in the boathouse each night. I'd love to add one now, but I'm sure it would be hard to source an original galvanized top frame for an early 22. I'd probably have to buy an entire rotten hulk just to get the Navy top off it...grr.
Denby Island aerial map.jpg
Denby Island lies between Medicine and Laurel Lakes
IMG_0061.JPG
Four original, numbered fenders remain on board
Grant Stanfield

SK-22-169 "DENBY"
1954 Chris-Craft 22' Open Sea Skiff

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Jim Godlewski
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Re: Nice Kodachromes from the way-back machine!

Post by Jim Godlewski » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:09 pm

Wow! Super nice! What a great piece of history you have. Priceless....
Thank you for posting this information.
1956 17 Sportsman CC-17-2310
1930 Model 100 7152

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