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Classic boats coming to Lake Cd'A

by MADISON HARDY
Staff Writer | September 13, 2021 1:09 AM

COEUR d'ALENE — Over 100 vintage vessels will drop anchor in Lake Coeur d’Alene when the International Antique & Classic Boat Show returns to North Idaho this weekend.

There is no admission charge.

The Antique & Classic Boat Society will dock at The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s Floating Boardwalk for public enjoyment at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Individuals of all ages, and their four-legged friends, are welcome.

According to a news release, BK Powell, a longtime member of the ACBS, is bringing his latest restoration to the show — a rare 1930 Dee White split cockpit runabout. Built in Michigan, Powell said it's one of only a handful remaining around the world.

“It was a barn find, a grey boat. That’s what we call (boats) when they’re not floating, and they’re not serviceable,” Powell said. “This one had 90 percent of its hardware, and that’s the gold mine. You can replace the wood, but they don’t make that hardware anymore.”

Powell said each boat featured in the ACBS International Antique & Classic Boat Show has “a history all its own.”

“They were built slowly, at pivotal times in America. They went through families. They were abandoned in fields and barns, then eventually rediscovered,” Powell said. “They all have a story to tell.”

Developing a love of wood boats early, Daryl Reynolds remembers being 14 when his dad taught his sons how to water ski on a 1958 Brendella they restored by hand. Reynolds plans to show two boats: a 1947 Chris-Craft double-cockpit runabout and a 1979 sailing pram built by Portland Clipper Co.

“This show will have boats from the early 1900s up to the present,” he says. “All of us owners get to pick each other’s brains about this lost art.”

Coeur Custom Wood Boats, a local boat manufacturer, will feature three classic boats this year, including:

• A one-of-a-kind 2007 Sizzler 600 wood sailboat, designed specifically for Lake Coeur d’Alene. According to the manufacturer, the yacht is ringing in at 60 feet long with a 95-foot mast, and the entire yacht is sailed “single-handedly” using an “array of sophisticated hydraulic controls.” The vessel displaces 42,000 pounds, has 30 coats of “mirror-smooth finish” and took 30,000 hours to complete.

• A 2022 Steinway 340 HT, originally designed by master craftsman Jim Brown and built by Coeur Custom. Viewers may recognize the boat as the vessel custom-made for Janet and Wayne Gretzky. The vessel features Sapele wood and a double-planked hull, among other features.

• A 1929 Chris-Craft Commuter Cruiser, recently repowered and restored by Coeur Custom. The first-ever model of its type, the yacht has a full galley, electric-flush head with Pullman-style sink, four berths and dark-green upholstery.

The event is hosted by Coeur Custom Wood Boats, Hagadone Marine Group and The Antique & Classic Boat Society. Events end at 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

Info: www.hagadonemarine.com