Styled in

fiberglassThe Official Publication of the Chris Craft Commander Club, Inc.

F o u n d e d 1 9 9 9

Fall 2010

libraryfor your Chris-Craft

Inside this edition...

Æ Library pg2

Æ Members Speak pg3

Æ The Admiral pg4

Æ Two Boat Repairs pg8

Æ 2010 Mega Meet pg9

Æ Canadian Meet pg16

Building Chris-Craft: Inside the FactoriesAuthor Anthony S. Mollica,

Foreword Christopher J. Smith

ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-3592-5

Pub Date: August 2010

Imprint: Voyageur Press

Building Chris-Craft is a rare look

inside America's most celebrated

wooden boat maker.

For more than half a century,

Chris-Craft reigned supreme in the world of motorboats. This dominance

was due in no small part to the design and construction techniques

employed in the company’s studios and on its factory floors.

Illustrated with high-quality archival images of Chris-Craft factories around

the country, Building Chris-Craft examines the company's design and

production heritage in the contexts of its early history, motorboat racing, key

competitors, and contemporary design and industrial trends. Wooden boat

expert Anthony Mollica explains in detail the processes that were employed

at Chris-Craft factories, including quality control, and sales and marketing,

and detailed appendixes provide information on production terms and

materials, as well as a list of factory locations.

Written and compiled with the help of company documents and the input of

Christopher J. Smith, grandson of Chris-Craft founder Christopher

Columbus Smith, Building Chris-Craft is an unprecedented look behind the

scenes of Chris-Craft's factories and a fascinating and fitting tribute to an

icon of American ingenuity and leisure.

About the Author

Anthony Mollica is a noted wooden boat expert and writer, as well as a

trustee of the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. He has

published articles in a variety of marine periodicals including Classic

Boating, ACBS Rudder, Gar Wood News, The Antique Boat Museum

Gazette Annual, Motor Boating, Lakeland Boating, and The Chris-Craft

Brass Bell Quarterly and is the author of eleven books including Gar Wood

Boats: Classics of a Golden Era, Chris-Craft 1922–1972, The American

Wooden Runabout, and Dodge Boats.

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Cover Photo Courtesy of

Dan Gorecki

Depicted:

Commanding Attention

The 2010 Chris Craft Commander Club

Rendezvous

Current Membership:1257 Registered Members

Editor’s Note:We will have a full review of this book in our next newsletter. Stay tuned....

Thanks, Rob for a great new edition of Styled in Fiberglass. I especially

enjoyed the article on Riverside Grocery as I have been there many times

when I docked my Commander's on Harsens Island. I still go back to

Riverside when visiting the island. Thanks David Smith, for your article. It

brings back many good memories to me.

Happy New Year to all!

- Jim hering.

Don't know who all has read the new SIF.. but it was a good read for me...

Totally ENJOYED it, Rob!! Great job as usual!!

Thank You!!

- Clyde Caron

Very nicely done....

- Wilson Wright

I always look forward to reading this. My children wanted to look through it

before me because I let it slip that their pictures would be in it. Thank you,

for all your hard work!

- Paul a. mathias

Well Done!

- tim Gressett

What a great edition!! Thanks, Rob, for another great read.

- norah dahlen

members speak

CoMMAndEr Club, inC.

MISSION STATEMENT

the Chris Craft Commander Club’s

objective is to promote and preserve

the legacy of these fine fiberglass

cruisers, as designed by fred “mac”

macKerer, dick avery and other

design stylists at Chris Craft

Corporation beginning in 1964.

Executive Committee

Chief Commander

SCott AndErSon

19550 meridian rd., apt 8

Grosse ile, mi 48138

PubliC relations Chairman

robErt CutChinS

215 idlewood avenue

Portsmouth, Va 23704

membershiP Chairman

WhitnEy PillSbury

357 irving avenue

s. orange, nJ 07079-2288

Web master

AlArik Von hofStEn

lovsta Gard Pl 1433

enhorna, sweden se-150 23

treasurer

lyn orPhAl

4525 david lane

Crystal lake, il 60014

arChViist

ChArlEnE PikE

325. s maple ave.

royal oak, mi 48067

3

I’d love to hear from our members regarding your thoughts on this edition, or perhaps

you have your own story you’d like to share. We’ll feature you, just as we have several

of our members in this edition. Address your correspondence to:

68chriscraft42@gmail.com

- Rob Cutchins, PR Chairman/”Styled in Fiberglass” and “HELM” Editor

Winter 2009

the admiral, the captain and

the commanderby Susan and Roy Evers

This is not a telling of a cruise to the South Pacific—the far side of the

world. No, it’s the story of an old boat doing the 6000 mile “Great Loop”

around the eastern third of North America which included over 150 locks,

hurricane remnants and a river in flood. The old boat is the MOON RIVER

(FAA 450019F), a 1972 forty-five foot Chris Craft Commander.

Casting off from the Yacht Club of St. Louis, in September 2007, the first

night’s stop is Hoppie’s Marina, Kimmswick, Mo. This is a must stop for

two reasons: the next fuel is more than 200 miles south at Green Turtle

Bay, Kentucky Lake; and, secondly, the knowledgeable mistress of

Hoppie’s is the veteran Fern Hopkins, who at 4:00PM each day conducts

a captain’s meeting which details timely and likely conditions to be

encountered on the Mississippi, Ohio and Tenn-Tom Waterway, all the way to Mobile Bay.

Traveling east on the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway thru the sparsely populated Florida Panhandle was most interesting

because it was our first encounter with salt water, tides, crawly critters and the two legged kind with shaved domes, camo

gear, and speaking an unfamiliar dialect. The bayou encounters, usually while at anchor, were enlightening in that in these

parts it takes two or three jobs to make a go of it.

Nothing wrong with the work ethic here.

Night crossing the Gulf from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs and

then south along the west coast of Florida to Key West was a

confidence builder because in one instance the seas built to six

feet, the furniture was laid down (not by the crew) and waves

broke over the bow. The crew of two ate ginger candy, merely

hung on and let the very sea worthy Commander do what it does

well—that is—move on.

Proceeding north, the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway suffers

from a lack of dredging and is extremely shallow in spots that can

only be transited in high tide. However, compensation comes in

the form of gourmet and gastronomical delights in the low

country, specifically Charleston, which among others features

buttery shrimp and grits. Concerning “Where do we go,” - local knowledge - be it

the waterway or the restaurant circuit, is important.

The Chesapeake Bay is a varied treasure featuring the positives such

as our favorite, Annapolis and the Navel Academy on the western

shore and also selected towns in decline on the eastern shore where

the watermen have seen better days.

By early June of 08, we pulled into Philadelphia via the Delaware

River, docked next to the Ben Franklin Bridge, had our third oil and

filter change and flew home for a two week visit.

New York harbor is a busy waterway that takes a crew of two—a look-

out assisting the pilot watching out for tour boats, ferries and water-

taxis. Circumnavigating our own craft around Manhattan Island calls

for vigilance and anchoring overnight at the Statue of Liberty is a rare

experience. As the sun set, the traffic eased, the water flattened and

making the Great loop

a commander tale

5

by Susan and Roy Evers

St. Louis Arch

Overlooking Looper boats at Wheeler State Park (Alabama)

Sue receives “Loop Beginner’s Burgee”

the MOON RIVER was minimally waked. We questioned the apparent lack of security as we were quite close to the back

side base of the statue. The key word might be “apparent”.

The successful water landing by Captain Sully’s U.S. Airways flight “Miracle on the Hudson”, takes on a more personal

meaning after cruising at that very spot.

The Hudson River, Lake Champlain, the St. Lawrence River

the Ottawa and Trent-Severn canals were all negotiated

without incidence. Sorel, Quebec, which is just downstream

from Montreal, was our farthest point both east and north from

home (more than a 1000 miles as the row flies).

After two months in Canada, we re-entered the U.S at

Drummond Island, then continued west to the Straits of

Mackinac and south on Lake Michigan to Chicago.

While motoring south, Hurricane Ike made landfall in Texas,

then proceeded north and crossed the lower half of the Great

Lake dropping prodigious amounts of rain.

The result was flooding along the entire length of the Illinois

River Valley. Groups of looper boats (about 40 or so) all along

the river were held up for days and weeks in such places as

Joliet, Ottawa, Peoria, Grafton, and Alton. As the Coast Guard

opened up the river in stages, America’s Great Loop Cruiser’s Association, (AGLCA) coordinated the flotilla’s movements

so as to insure marina clearance before another down bound group moved in.

There were four notable events (read trouble).At Palm Beach City Marina, Florida, the wind and currents conspired against

us, turned our boat at a right angle and punched the starboard side neighbor’s anchor davit thru the salon windows and

mangled the handrail. We were impaled and all the while entertaining a dozen or so onlookers. The lesson learned is don’t

accept a slip assignment if conditions aren’t favorable.

At the Bay of Quinte in Canadian waters, one night our anchor

trip line fowled in the under water gear: and, dives by a non-diver

(the captain) resolved the issue. Isn’t it interesting to note what

one can do when there is NO alternative. The third cocktail party

talk event was on the Rideau Canal at Smith Falls Ontario. While

tied along the town wall, two midnight intruders boarded us.

Thanks to a baby monitor sending sound down to our aft cabin,

we were given a moment of advance warning. Having sent our

.38 revolver and 12 gauge shotgun home before entering

Canada, we were left with a plastic flare gun. Without firing a

shot, one young man was captured, one escaped and all ended

well. Even though nothing was stolen and no one was injured,

the Constable indicated the Crown would probably prosecute as

the captured fellow was out on parole…we have heard nothing

more.

Under the heading of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the last event in

Georgian Bay, had to do with granite, the under water kind. In a narrow channel (a meeting situation), we steered to

starboard to allow an on-coming vessel more room. In Little Current we were hauled and changed two props and a shaft.

The 8v71’s performed flawlessly, helped by three years of preparation and preventive maintenance. While underway we

made the decision to change out the original 60-amp alternators for 160-amps models in order to better keep up with our

2000-watt inverter and six - 8D batteries. 24/7 use of modern wants and needs does require lots of current. Yes, we do

have a gen-set…12.5kw. Oil and filters were changed four times and raw water impellers once. Because of oil leaks two

precautionary changes were made…a front crankshaft seal in Florida and an oil sender unit in Michigan. Oil added

between changes was 71 quarts total for both engines. Fuel consumption for the 54 week adventure which concluded in

October, 2008, was one mile per gallon at nine miles per hour.

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Sponge Docks (Tarpon Springs, FLA)

Coast Guard boarding at St. Simon’s Island

After the fact musings:

Favorite places

include the Florida

Keys, Chesapeake

Bay and the seven

stair step locks at

Ottawa on the Rideau

Canal. Most surprising

(SHAME ON US) is

the very high level of

competency of fellow

boaters.

Most stressful part:

Everyday decisions dealing

with weather reports (wind and wave height, most important), tides and

currents, anchorage for the night (bottom holding, wind direction, swing),

preparing for the unpredictable and what boat will host the 5-o’clock

cocktail party!

Most frequently asked questions in order are: Are you still married? YES.Did you REALLY have a good time? YES. Would you do it again? NO.

The second time around would be much easier but not nearly as

exciting…much like the movies; the sequel is rarely as good as the original.

Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by

the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the

bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your

sails. Explore. Dream.”

We say, “The Loop is a metaphor for life….Just when you think you have

the answer, the question changes. And at the end of it, you want to say:

WHAT A RIDE.!”

The entire trip is available at www.thegoodshipmoonriver.com

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Statue of Liberty (NY)

About the Authors

Roy and Susan were both widowed in 1998, after 38 and 34 years of

marriage. Their union in 2000 brought together seven children, twelve grand

children and two boats.

Roy started boating in 1980 with a 1952 Steelcraft, followed by a 1958

Richardson and then the 1972 Commander in 2004. The common thread is

all old boats.

Roy was president of St. Louis Precision Casting Co., which he founded in

1971 and retired from in 2007. He is also licensed as a Captain (100-ton

Master).

Susan has occupied her time as a housewife, teacher, gardener and

swimming enthusiast. She also is a 36-year book club member.

Their most recent adventure was a bare boat charter in Mexico’s Sea

Loopers waiting for flooding to abate at Ottawa, Ill.

Entering Marina ...the last 100 feet

Roy and Sue earn the “Looper’s Gold”

Sooner or later, anyone who owns a boat (or a car, washing machine, hot water heater, etc.) will have to get it “repaired”

only to discover that the problem, whatever it was, was not corrected. The following two repair tales are from BoatUS

Members who learned that the repair is sometimes worse than the problem it was supposed to correct.

The first non-repair tale is from Clark McKee, a Member in Washington State. Early this past summer, the engine in his

22-foot powerboat began running hot. Clark ordered a new water pump and called a mechanic, who said he had a long

backlog of work. He’d get to it, eventually. Rather than let the boat sit idle while he waited, Clark continued to use the boat;

by throttling back, operating temperatures could be kept acceptably low. One afternoon, he decided to go for a ride with

three of his buddies. I’ll let Clark tell you what happened: “We went down the marina channel at low speed, turned into the

main channel, revved up the engine and had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile when the engine made loud noises and

quit. Smoke filled the cabin. We waited until the smoke had dissipated, opened the engine cover with fire extinguisher in

hand, and found, not fire, but water in the bilge and more coming in.”

Meanwhile, back at the marina, the harried mechanic with the backlog of work had finally found time to take care of

Clark’s fuel pump. He’d been working on the engine but had gone up to the shop for a few minutes for some tools. When

he was heading back to the dock he noticed Clark’s boat out on the water. Since the mechanic had just removed the old

water pump and was holding the new pump in his hand, it wasn’t hard to figure out what happened. He ran back and told

the shop manager who jumped in the launch and raced out to Clark’s boat and towed them back in.

Clark acknowledges that he should have checked to make sure the work wasn’t in progress. But he also thinks it would be

helpful if mechanics had a system to warn a boat owner that an engine should not be started. He says that calling the

owner to let him know when the repairs have begun would also be helpful.

The second repair story is from Mike Dunn, a TowBoatUS captain from Crystal River, Florida, who was replacing the

engine filters on his personal boat, a 1996 26’ Phoenix, when he noticed some cracks at the end of a fuel line. Thinking

nothing of it, he cut off the end and was placing it back on when a mechanic friend noticed more cracks farther down the

hose. The two men then proceeded to examine all four of the fuel hoses and found that while much of it looked healthy,

there were deep cracks over some sections of each hose. As his friend said, Mike’s boat was a “floating time bomb.”

With only 458 hours on the engine, the obvious question was how did the hoses deteriorate so badly? Ethanol had

recently been introduced into the area, but the hoses were each marked J 1527, which means they were designed to

withstand up 10% ethanol. The boat had been well cared for and was otherwise in terrific shape.

Mike sent a section of the hose to Seaworthy. The company that made the hose, Florida Flexibles, has been out of

business for several years so Seaworthy passed it on to Shields/Teleflex hose for analysis. Bill Shields, the

Shields/Teleflex president, concluded the hose had been done in by a combination of age and poor quality.

The hose had been made in Malaysia, where quality varies and is sometimes iffy. (The country of origin must be stamped

on any hose made outside the U.S.) Fuel hose must also be marked that it meets USCG and SAE J1527 standards, but

manufacturers self-certify to the USCG that tests the hose meets those standards. Bill says some companies, including

Shields/Teleflex, test their own hoses. He says the best hoses are made in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. And while a

hose’s life expectancy varies, any hose over 10 years old is suspect and a hose over 20 years old should be replaced,

regardless of its apparent condition.

***********

Bob Adriance is the author of Seaworthy, Essential Lessons from BoatUS's 20-Year Case File of Things Gone Wrong.

a tale of two

boat repairsby Bob Adriance

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Chris-Craf tCOMMANDER CLUB

Rendezvous

Huron,Ohio-August 5-8,2010HURON YACHT CLUB HURON BOAT BASIN

the summer’s biggest eventthe commander club rendezvous

Rendezvous Details:

Date: August 5-8, 2010

Hosts: Matt O’Donnell

Tim Toth

The Chris Craft Commander Club

Sponsors and Support:Huron Boat Basin

Huron Yacht Club

Hagerty Insurance

Ocean Apparel (VA Beach, VA)

Crew Cloth – Jim Browning, Green Cloth Cleaning

Systems

The Jolister Band

Fred Hudson

Dick and Maureen Avery

LPX Parts – Jim Wick and Bob Bothum

Commander Club Executive Committee

the commander club rendezvous

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Patty and Dick Morland

Speaker, Dick Morland

Whitney Pillsbury, Fred Delavan, Eileen Powers

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Marcia Elkins and Ed Stone

Greg Gajcak and Tim Gressett

Bob Bothum, Jim Wick, Char and Dave Pike

Scott Anderson

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* Nearly 300 attendees

* 70 boats in attendance

* Roamers and other models were represented.

rendezvous fact...

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rendezvous fact...

* Awards given to:Huron Yacht Club

Huron Boat Basin

Matt O’Donnell

Tim Toth

Fred Hudson (posthumously)

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Rendezvous photographs courtesy of:

Dan Gorecki, Lyn Orphal and Ed Stone

16

Since 1999, a group of British Columbia Chris Craft owners have

gathered every summer for a rendezvous. Hosted at one of 3

marinas north of Victoria, we’ve been lucky enough to attend

most of these get togethers, the last 2 aboard our 1966 38’

Commander, Alyeska.

This years rendezvous was held July 16-18 at Telegraph Harbour

Marina, Thetis Island, BC, a convenient location between Sidney

and Vancouver, BC. It’s always a laid back affair and usually

attended by a couple dozen boats, most of which are classic

“woodies”. This year 8 of the boats were Commanders or

Catalinas. Attendees start rolling in early Friday afternoon and by

6:00 p.m. almost everyone’s in port and the appetizers are on the

picnic tables up in the marina’s spacious shore-side pavilion.

Enjoying some of the very best weather of the entire summer we

covered 125 miles from Port Orchard, WA to Telegraph Harbour, BC in just over 15 ½ hours of running in 6 days. Average

speed about 8 knots. Along the route are excellent marinas, anchorages & marine parks and the finest cruising grounds

on the west coast of the U.S. and Canada. On our final night before the rendezvous we are anchored up in a delightful

little bay on Prevost Island, B.C. with an amazingly well-restored 35 foot, 1962 Chris Craft Cavalier owned by long time

friends David & Jackie Peebles of Langley, BC.

Friday morning, July 16th, broke clear and calm. No need to

hurry, plenty of time for breakfast and chores. About 11:00a.m.

David & Jackie untie from us, we haul anchor and follow them

out of the bay on the 17.9 mile leg to Telegraph Harbour. I

estimate a little over 2 hours enroute and upon arrival our

Coastal Explorer software confirms this with an enroute time of 2

hours 32 minutes. We’ve tried to time our travels to mitigate the

effect of tidal movement but bucking the ebbing tide and trolling

dead slow through our anchorage and later up long, narrow

Telegraph Harbour cuts our average speed today to just over 7

knots.

Ron Faoro & Tara Kaulback, the marina proprietors, have an

excellent dock crew to help us in and we’re secured to the

dock just after 1:30p.m. The engines are barely quiet when

rendezvous committee member Brian Lord arrives with a

handshake, our registration materials and welcome packet.

Over the next 2 days we renew old friendships and make

new ones, take a walk of a couple of miles to the island

community center and one-room school and an evening

dinghy ride around the harbour…for the first time powering

our 9 ft. Livingston dinghy with my dad’s mid-60’s vintage 3

a canadian chris craft

rendezvousby Mike Forrester

horse Evinrude…a 1960’s Chris Craft with a dinghy

powered by a 1960’s outboard…dad would’ve loved it.

Saturday night’s dinner in the marina pavilion is a

lively potluck affair and boy do these crews know how

to cook. The marina provides a huge gas grill where

attendees lay down their favorites; steaks, chicken

and salmon predominate. The center buffet table

almost overflows with dishes to share. All this food

comes from these boats? How do they do it?

Of course Sunday comes too soon. By 9:30a.m. we

need to get underway headed north to Nanaimo, BC.

Between us and Nanaimo lies Dodd Narrows and

we’d like to make it close to slack water. Current at

Dodd Narrows can run 6-9 knots at its peak and things

get a little ugly. But that’s another story.

Commanders and Catalinas in attendance at the Canadian Chris Craft Rendezvous included;

· Alan & Leslie Beck, 1965 38 foot Commander Express, Chrisea I.

· Mike & Shari Girard, 1972 35 foot Commander Express, Next June

· Bernie & Phylis Hopper, 410 model, Chris Tall Craft

· Dave & Cathy McKenzie, 1974 350 Catalina, Irish Mist II

· Lance Richmond’s 1974 350 Catalina, Moonraker

· Ian & Diana Stefaniec, 1986 36 foot Catalina, The Sun Lady

· John & Hazel Smyth,1969 42 foot aft cabin model Commander, Tuppence

· Mike Forrester & Barbara Purrington, 1966 38 foot Commander Sedan, Alyeska

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Visit us online at: www.commanderclub.com