IPS Volvo Tiara 35

Master stateroom, note the light with a wood interior finish

This boat has the latest joy stick handling choice and the efficient Volvo Penta IPS pod drive system. With smaller than normal engines for good fuel economy, she makes her speed with the IPS pod drive as a straight shaft inboard of higher Hp would.

So, its… 1) easy marina maneuvering, 2) same cruising and top speeds, and 3) better fuel economy underway comes with this top-of-the-line Yacht. And the IPS diesels and drives take up less space within the hull, so another room is added, to top off the benefits of an Volvo Penta IPS drive system.

wide side decks plus this saloon

How about the hull? She is wood and resin instead of glassfiber and resin. In this case, epoxy resin. A fiberglass boat is made up of layers of glassfiber cloth combined with resin, this one is made up of wood combined with epoxy resin. Epoxy resin is both expensive and extra strong. On a budget-be-damned yacht, where strength and light weight are valued higher than the budget, epoxy is the resin of choice. Epoxy resin is used in either wood or glass fiber yacht construction.

The interior is also finished in wood, often in either a gloss white paint finish, or stained and finished with rubbed-effect varnish.

This hull splits the sea

She has three staterooms, one with a head in suite, plus a shared head for the other four people in the remaining two staterooms. Its a galley down, with and inside steering in the main saloon set-up. LOA 59’ 6”, Beam 16’ 7”, Price, just over 2 million. She is listed as a boat for sale / yacht for sale on Boat Trader.

at speed at sea

from an e-mail to chris brown / seabuddy

I do not know if this is a one only or new yacht pricing from Hatteras and their owner, Brunswick. I am not in that market place, but some of my readers are.

sister ship photo

Built in Maryland: Chris-Craft, Owens, Cruis-Along, & Whirlwind

 The Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Club is underwriting this presentation by noted boating expert Jeffrey Beard. Mr. Beard’s private collection of boat catalogs, notes, and other memorabilia rivals those of most Museums within the world. His files and records are considered one of the largest, if not the largest such collections of original material in private hands.

The Chesapeake Bay Chapter – ACBS has underwritten the hour long Boating Event Talk by Jeff Beard that will be fully supported with slides, boat catalogs, and other resources from his personal files as one part of their dedication to furthering Boating Education / Knowledge on Boats and their role in the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Beard has also agreed to extend his formal presentation time with an open question and answer session immediately afterwards, for those with queries about the boat brands of Maryland.  

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has made available meeting space in their Steamboat Building on their 18 acre museum grounds and historic buildings.  

CBC-ACBS indicates that this seminar will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, June 19, 2010.

There is no cost to attend this seminar once you are on the museum property. The museum waives any property entrance fee to members of their Museum, but this St. Michaels non-profit organization does collect $13 from non-member adults to support their ongoing efforts. Ask before you pay about Senior, Children, and Military discounts. It’s also a good idea to inquire about Museum membership for you or your family. seabuddy certainly gets more than my donation back in the value after attending an event or two or visiting other Museums as already a member of the CBMM .

for more information: 410-437-8108, ask for Maryann

sister ship photo

sister ship photo

sister ship photo

sister ship photo

restoring 1942 Chris Craft wood Special Runabout

17’ 0” by 5’ 8”, special light weight (by about 130 lbs – about 7%; with a lower hull side aft and a slightly narrower (5%) beam. A true double planked Mahogany wood Classic Chris Craft, although technically by ACBS rules she is within the designation of an “Antique”. An Antique Class wood boat is a boat built from the years 1919 and up to and including 1942.

The original Chris Craft engine has been rebuilt, the double bottom planking is now all replaced, and the hull side planking is new. The Deck is pretty much all original wood.

Coming along but more to do

This one is still in the shop with many happy hours of labor ahead for her owner to bring her up to high restoration standards in all areas. Since the boat is a 1942 model and the owner was born in 1942, he mentally associates her good health with his. An interesting standard for one’s health and a fine one by me.

Here's what she will look like when finished

This project is ongoing at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD.

The Museum runs an “Apprentice for a Day” program for several weekends each year.

You can watch, learn, and do at each stage of a wood boat Building along side a master craftsman boat builder.

Cheap, easy to join, call Dan Sutherland at 410-745-2916 ext 186.

Join anytime at any step of any boat building, but the next boat building project starts for 13-18 year old teens on June 19-20. Us old men should look to the project starting 10/16-17, 2010 or the one starting on 11/13-14, 2010.

rare Chris craft Capri

She is one of 65 examples made in 1959. Later model year boats were stretched to 19’ and sales jumped to 119 in 1960 but fell off again in 1961 with only 60 boats going out the factory door. She is 18’ 0” by 6’ 7”, weights 2,400 -2,600 lbs and comes with a 20 gallon gas tank. 1959 was the only model year the 18 was offered.

Why? A runabout back then was the top-of-the-line in styling, finish, and glamour. But one got in and did not move around inside the boat’s cockpit freely. The usefulness of a far more open, walk-around-the-cockpit layout were being offered by their main boat building competitors and themselves. The Chris Craft utilities, named Continental, even outsold the fancy styled boats. Chris Craft built 494 of its similar sized Continentals in1960 and 1961.

Great view of the wonderful styled aft deck

This boat has a1/4 inch inner plywood bottom with wood planks over that for the final, outside layer rather than being double planked (two layers of wood planks). This hull and construction style was shared in 1959 with the 18’ Continental Chris Craft. Chris Craft was trying different ways to use different materials to stay competitive. They built all-plywood boats in their Cavalier Division, and these were lower priced, entry-level boats. Chris Craft tried a fully covered in fiberglass but still planked underneath the fiberglass boat in their Silver Arrow model. That one sold 92 boats. So, function was overcoming style in small boats and what a boat was made from was evolving.

BTW:

a) Chris Craft moved their top Management from MI to Pompano Beach, Fl at about this same time.

b) Chris craft appointed its first non-family member to be president of Chris Craft.

c) Chris Craft was finally sold to a public company after being run as a private company by a few members of the founding family in behalf of all 55 owners of Chris Craft stock (all family members, with only a few active in the boat business). Talk about a closely-held stock!

Photo credit   friend of seabuddy   Vance Joachim

1967 Century 18' Sabre original boat above the waterline

Century Boats got into fiberglass boats one step at a time. This boat is all  fiberglass from about the metal trim  on the hull side and above that. She uses a traditional wood Century Wood Hull below that point. Note the Automotive style windshield that Century Boats made for this model. Century was at the front of bringing Auto styling to the boat business. Most of this model  Century will powered by a 351 or 390 Ford V-8.

Photo credit Vance

I enlarged this photo of the same 18' Century Sabre boat

special water ski offset helm and controls

If you are a boater, find and inspect this ski boat. It changes the game for water skiers. All other ski boats are now outdated and a distant second or lower place in the pecking order for WaterSki, Salom Ski, Trick Ski, and other water sports.

The Nautique 200 open bow / bow rider is all new. Ski Nautique looked at everything and made all the changes that no one else would.

Look at the new water ski bottom shape, look at the new water ski hull chine locations, the new water ski saddlebag ski gear and ski storage, the new water ski underseat storage, the double wide water ski observer’s seat, the new water ski engine hatch, the new pylon release, the waterski rearview, the waterski swim platform,  the water ski Dash and its location, the  water ski in/out rear seat, the easy walk over water and platform waterski access, water ski gear storage box, the water ski bow rider comfort…There is more, but see this boat for yourself.

Its won awards at the boat shows, on land in the magazine editor’s minds, on the water via setting at least three new records, and recognized by boat owner’s that it’s the new top bow rider boat in a WaterSki Boat.

She stays "glued-in" for the best water ski performance

LOA 20’ 0” boat

LOA 21’ 10” boat and swim platform together

Beam 7’ 11”

Weight 2,800 lbs

under seat storage bow and step

As they say…The Next Chapter In Ski Boat History.
And Only Nautique Could Write It…Introducing the all-new Ski Nautique 200 – Open Bow. It’s identical in weight, balance and wake to the new 200 – Closed Bow. Their common hull has greater lift, riding higher on the water, creating impeccable handling and the softest wake in ski boat history. You ride through it instead of over it, making the 200 the ideal ski boat for slalom skiers at all speeds and rope lengths.

The Ski Nautique 200 – Open Bow features comfortable bow seating and a tournament seat that can be stowed underneath the observer’s seat for easy bow access. The all-new dash is positioned to create a superior field of vision, and the 200 – Team Edition features the revolutionary Nautique LINC System. Twin saddlebag compartments hold up to 6 sets of water skis and gear. The new Ski Nautique 200 – Open Bow is the next chapter in ski boat history. And only Nautique could write it…

water ski saddle storage on both cockpit sides

Sunset at Lake Muskoka in september

Sunset at the Muskoka Lakes region of Ontario, Canada in September is for a boater’s to remember forever.

It’s a mood shot photo of Chris Brown’s(seabuddy) to keep as a reminder of a great boating vacation.

Boats, seaplanes, steamers, and autos ply the area in and around lake Muskoka today but it was known as the hunting grounds of the Chippewa tribe chief, Yellowbeard when the Ontario Government first purchased it.

Since that time the Lake (discovered by the same Samuel De Champlain from the state of NY history books.) has grown via train travel to Toronto, to board a train to go to the Town of Gravenhurst and then board a steamer from the Muskoka Navigation Company to arrive at one of several summer hotels in years now bygone.

Today it’s a 1 ½ hour car trip to the lake. This lake and its two sister lakes that are connected via canals are home to 6,000 permanent residents and 32,000 seasonal folks, most of which are employed locally in the care and custody of lake and its surrounds.

To me, it’s the lake of many boat houses that are far nicer than any of the others that  I have seen.

See if you can secure a copy of this paperback for a wonderful photographic boaters experience…

http://www.amazon.com/Shelter-at-Shore-Boathouses-Muskoka/dp/155046499X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272940015&sr=1-3-spell

Over-head boat photo of the Mastercraft boats CSX 220

Photo of X-25 Mastercraft cockpit that uses the same Mastercraft hull

Is it going from a Direct Drive inboard (engine in the center of the boat) to a V-Drive inboard ( the engine at the back end of the boat)?

Will the rear mounted V-Drive inboard system improve the fuel economy and top speed over the direct drive set-up (42 – 43 mph with a 400 Hp engine in a 22’ boat)?

Has Hydra-Sports center console boats now ended the entire CSX center console model line at Mastercraft by 2013?

For 2010, Mastercraft reused their CSX 220 hull for their new X-25 water sports boat.

This hull is known for its good tracking, high wake, and inspiring a sense of handling confidence in its driver.

The Mastercraft X-25 now outsells the CSX 220.

Will the Mastercraft CSX 220 deck and cockpit layout go away entirely for 2011 or 2012?

How will new 2011 models of the Hydra-Sports boat line also owned by the same parent investment companies, effect marketing, sales, and the dealers for Mastercraft boats and their salt water model line-up?

Are there big discounts coming soon to the Mastercraft dealerships, as Century Boats is offering to their dealers now?

All of this is just the opinions and open questions of 30 year veteran of the marine trades, Chris Brown, seabuddy, and not yet known.