Next insane hobby - wood boat

Stevehose

Stevehose

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I checked off a childhood bucket list item, this arrived yesterday. 1962 Chris Craft Holiday outlaw restomod. New 3M bottom and side planks refastened 10 years ago among other details and not much use since. Newer 350ci/310hp Marine Power engine good for 50mph. Resto was spared nothing with custom seats/upholstery and retro gauges including a gps speedometer. Steering wheel is bespoke for a vintage look. I’ll probably put the stock length exhaust tips back on, these are a little over the top :cool: I wanted something turnkey and fast, and like any classic since it is modded, I paid a small fraction of the resto cost plus there aren’t to many suckers left to buy these. I also don’t want to have to lose sleep over its care like the coupe. But being mahogany it will still need lots of care! Maybe I need to install the e9 towbar :D Anyone else obsessed with these?

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Love your new boat, it's beautiful! Years ago, I was in line at the grocery store and the guy behind me noticed the car magazine I had in my hand. He asked me what kind of cars I was into and I told him that I love working on old BMWs and old American trucks. He said "if you think classic cars are expensive, try wooden boats". I thought it was pretty funny at the time and I'm sure it's more true than ever.
 
i remember a summer i spent in the thousand islands - st. lawrence river ... the people we were staying with had a 1930's wooden Chris Craft. it was about 24' long w/ an inboard. it was so cool. the next time is was up in that area i was sailing a wooden Flying Dutchman olympic class sailboat ... in the mid / late 70s. the dutchman was a 20' long sailboat that only weighed about 320 lbs with 400 sf of sail ... the ferrari of sailboats. there is something sooooo cool about wooden boats.
 
Beautiful boat! What a show piece and I'll bet it runs as good as it looks. The wood with the blood red bottom and interior is perfect :love:

My foray into 1960's speed boats...

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Flatbottom, V-drive Raysoncraft. Pontiac V8

 
Beautiful boat - I love the wood. Many years ago I spent about a year and a half designing a wood boat that I'd planned on building. It was designed after a Riva Aquarama, but a little shorter than the original. I still have the plans, and even built several scaled down proof of concept models. My wife eventually reminded me that we are not boat people. But I still have the mahogany wood that I bought to start the build. It was from a very special bunk of material from a specialty hardwood source. Perfectly straight grained African Mahogany (Honduran / Genuine Mahogany was / is no longer available).

If anyone needs a bunch of really nice mahogany...

Congrats on the new-to-you boat. I'm looking forward to more posts about this.
 
vince said:
"if you think classic cars are expensive, try wooden boats"
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In my research I saw the same sentiment and it has caused me pause. So my first rule was that I had to buy someone else's restoration with the correct 3M "no soak" bottom process. Looking at all the models, I determined that the very expensive twin cockpit style are ridiculously beautiful but I want to be able to pull skiiers and move around the boat and talk to the passengers. Then it needed to look and go fast, this lead me to the years starting in 1962 when they redesigned the Holiday bow to be more raked and shark-like. In 1965 or so they introduced the Super Sport which is more muscle car like, and also cool. But in snooty Chris Craft circles they are less desirable. One reason is beacuse they put white vinyl on the fore deck. In this restoration all vinyl was removed and re-decked in mahogany and I love it.
 
Stevehose said:
If this sinks when it first goes in the water I will call you!
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Ha ha (not really funny). First, I am sure that the 3M bottom and sides will perform well. Second, the "other" boat we had, you know, the one that started my whole "I'll design and build my own boat" adventure, almost sank as soon as we put it in the water. The transom was rotted. Fortunately, we got it back on the trailer and pulled it out right away. I then spent a couple of months rebuilding the transom and stringers. It was rock solid and water tight after that.
 
Looks to be a fun ride.

My thinking is that with 310HP on tap, it will be a pretty spritely ride.
The Mercruiser motor I have is also a 350 (5.7L) - but rated at 260HP. Granted, mine is from a mid 1980's I/O SeaRay, so who knows how the ratings change over time.
Have fun... Now you just need the old pickup to tow it with. LOL Or that X5. :)
 
Stevehose said:
I checked off a childhood bucket list item, this arrived yesterday. 1962 Chris Craft Holiday outlaw restomod. New 3M bottom and side planks refastened 10 years ago among other details and not much use since. Newer 350ci/310hp Marine Power engine good for 50mph. Resto was spared nothing with custom seats/upholstery and retro gauges including a gps speedometer. Steering wheel is bespoke for a vintage look. I’ll probably put the stock length exhaust tips back on, these are a little over the top :cool: I wanted something turnkey and fast, and like any classic since it is modded, I paid a small fraction of the resto cost plus there aren’t to many suckers left to buy these. I also don’t want to have to lose sleep over its care like the coupe. But being mahogany it will still need lots of care! Maybe I need to install the e9 towbar :D Anyone else obsessed with these?

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nice

I remember seeing a boat in Essen with a Ferrari engine

luckily I don't have a lake nearby

that avoids temptations

enjoy it!
 
I've always wanted a wooden boat for the lake here. Specifically a Riva however Stancraft are are made here in Coeur D'Alene and if you have a Stancraft you are either James Bond, a movie star or a sports figure. I've seen Wayne Gretzky's here at the Pro Am, John Elway's, and others on the lake and they are amazing to say the least.

When I looked into a Chris Craft or similar, what I found was typical now for finding reputable vintage car restorers'. They are very hard to find. Hagadone runs a nice operation but $$$. Then one of the guys that started with Hagadone with his father restoring the wooden boats around here, he said they basically need to be gone through EVERY YEAR and the wait just to get in with these guys is ridiculous, no guarantee he can even get to the maintenance needed every year.

I hope that is a different scenario where you live and the 3M coating or whatever works as promised because even a fiberglass boat is a big expense here every year. At least you can use yours year round. 5-months here and everyone knows the initial expense is just the beginning. Keep us updated on your experience with this boat. It sure is cool looking and I am envious, but not of the maintenance. Cheers -GB
 
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