Yes I wood!

Benevolent envy of wood boats

Click on the wood boats to see our original 2011 story.

Some things never change. Back in the day “us boys” would drool over magazine ads featuring Chris Craft wood boats. The pristine wood and attention to detail, plus the fact that they were chick magnets put them close to, if not the top link, of the “dang I wish I had one of th0se” food chain.

Well, now that “us boys” are antiques, those boats, though also antiques, unlike us, have maintained their appeal and the price has exponentially climbed. Back in April of 2011, I had the opportunity to photograph a gathering of old woodies on floating display at the docks of Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Click the pic to see Anthony Chapel at Garvan Gardens.

I am sending you back to that marine event to ogle the hardware. The boats were shown by members of Heartland Classics, a chapter of The Antique and Classic Boat Society, Inc., a very  congenial group.  Bottom line, the boats are still cool, still chick magnets, and still the target of benevolent envy.

As if the boats were not enough, I also photographed the stately Anthony Chapel at Garvan Gardens. Just to see it is worth the trip. Save some gas and see Anthony Chapel on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com.

See 20 more pictures of boats and Anthony Chapel in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

Thanks for looking,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

Advertisement

Wood I ever!

Taking a glance down the Garvan Gardens docks at fine collection of show-room shiny antique and classic boats, all fully restored and 100% operational.

Back in the day, these groovy wooden boats seen at the Garvan Gardens Antique and Classic Boat Show looked every bit as cool as they do today. Trust me on this. I know. I was a wild eyed kid then, salivating over Chris Craft ads in magazines. Now that we have several generations of failed and delaminated, mold and fungus-infected junk fiberglass vessels scattered promiscuously around our landscapes, we can appreciate their wooden ancestors even more.

Click the pic to see Anthony Chapel

Before we venture much farther, let me direct your attention to the Corndancer dot-com Photo of the Week page where you will see Anthony Chapel at Garvan Gardens near Hot Springs, Arkansas. The soaring 57 foot ceilings of this woodland masterpiece will make you say wow. Shooting and chronicling the chapel was the other part of this trip.

Wood, thanks to Mother Nature’s molecular genius could perhaps be the ideal boat-building material because it retains its stiffness better than fiberglass. And stiffness is very desirable in a boat. A stiff boat slices through the water. A non-stiff boat wallows through it. Perhaps some of the latest polymer, chemical, carbon, resin-soaked materials can now match wood, but I’ll be the last to knuckle under and admit it.

In the foreground, the Chris Craft Cobra, a mid fifties classic is nearly 18 feet long. The boats were equipped with a 120 or 131 horsepower inboard engine. In the background is an all-wood 14 Cadillac Boats Venture, powered by a 25 horsepower Gale outboard.

These boats are individually owned, restored, and operated, at no small cost, I might add, by members of Heartland Classics, a chapter of The Antique and Classic Boat Society, Inc. As high-filutin’ as that sounds, I found them to be a friendly, outgoing lot who love to talk about go riding in their boats. I recruited a couple of them to keep an eye on a sack-full of Nikon equipment while I shot and they said they’d be happy to accommodate me. I asked them to “slap anyone up-side the head” who even looked twice at the equipment and they readily agreed.

This 1949 Chris Craft Sportsman, “Mischief,”  is 22 long and has a 6-cylinder 158 horsepower Hercules inboard engine. The boat is owned by Larry and Jan Hamilton of Moore OK.

These are responsible folks and you see a lot of possum-blond coiffures in their ranks. Their boats run from a pristine wooden 14′ runabout with a 25-horse outboard to a 27 foot Italian craft over which I and several others involuntarily drooled. These folks are not top-waters and it takes a significant commitment to play in this league. I for one am grateful for their commitment to preserve parts of this heritage of craftsmanship and beauty — and cheerfully make them available for us mere mortals to enjoy.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

Click the pic to see more wood boats and Anthony Chapel.

See more boats and Anthony Chapel pictures on our Weekly Grist Gallery. I strolled the docks and shot a bunch of boats all of which are in show-room display condition including two classic Italian Riva boats.  There are also a couple of other Anthony Chapel and a bunch of tulips who appear to be paying attention to a conversation.

Thanks for dropping by,
Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html