Boat Show!

Ed. Note: It turned out that "Look at Tone as Light" post was a great last post for a Friday, because the lively comments kept it going all weekend. Thanks to everyone who contributed their expertise and spoke to their own experience. I thought it was interesting that a number of people reported doing something similar (by a variety of different methods) as part of their regular workflow, and several people said they thought "depressed midtones" predated digital. Check out Doug Thacker's Featured Comment on that post, last in the stack.

Earlier last week I used a classic wooden boat as a rhetorical parallel (you remember the picture of the Chris-Craft barrel back), and, as if to order, there was a Classic Boat Show in Hammondsport this past weekend. I took the Fuji and THZ (the hated zoom) and did a little photography. How can you not like a boat show?

Do classic boats make you happy? These smiling ladies were clearly having a good time. Or maybe they just thought my hat looked funny.

Massive throngs of people jamming the waterfront. (You don't often see anything that can be called a "crowd" up in this part of the world).

The boats first did a slow parade in front of the crowd and then each did a "fly-by," i.e., passes at speed.

Just as all cars above a certain level of luxury are muscle cars these days, so all boats are now speedboats—you could pull skiers behind most bass boats, fer pete's sake. This is a launch, a boat intended to go slow. These have been replaced by the "martini boat" or pontoon boat for relaxed cruising these days, although Olive Oyl here has more style, don't you think?

(Even some pontoon boats are speedboats now too, and look at this!)

Old and new. I took the picture on the right up at Morgan Marine. Although you can't tell from the picture, the 200-horsepower supercharged Merc (spellcheck thinks I want to write "Mercado") is enormous—taller than the average ten-year-old and as burly as a gorilla in a zoo. Most outboard engines are now bizarrely huge, come to find out. When did that happen? I was unaware.

At one time there were 24(!) active boatbuilders on Keuka Lake where I live. This is a Penn Yan, named for the town just north of me. The Penn Yan Boat Company built wooden runabouts like this one meant to compete with the likes of Lyman. (The town itself was named to settle a dispute between Pennsylvanians and Yankees over who got to name it. There are a number of boats on the lake named "Penny Ann.")

The stylishly nautical helm of 1958 Century Raven, a boat that's just a tad younger than I am. The owners were very nice. The boat is an unrestored survivor in remarkably good shape.

The third cockpit of the appropriately named Razzle Dazzle, a three-cockpit Gar Wood. I learned to my surprise this is a 2007 boat—they still build Gar Woods new. You will need to bring your wallet.

Classic boating is a family affair!

Something for everyone—classic car buffs had these 1940s Chevrolet "woodies" to gawk at. And classic train buffs amongst ye will doubtless be interested in the police station building behind the cars, as it used to be the town train station.

Note the height of the vehicle—and we thought SUVs were a recent idea? This one had the original invoice in the window—written on a typewriter. The car cost just over $2,000 in the mid-1940s.

loading Queeny on her trailer. I hope you like the positions of the two gentlemen in the frame—it took me a lot of shots and lot of jockeying to make it look easy!

Time to wrap up! Show's over.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

John: "Your post triggered some good memories. As a kid I spent my summers on Keuka Lake, skiing behind a boat much like these. Our cottage was just across the lake from the college. When we five boys weren't on or in the water, we were usually exploring the endless creeks and gorges. Or in Penn Yan spending the quarters our grandfather paid us for pulling weeds. Life speeds along like a Penn Yan Swift. Thanks for the flashback."

Steve Higgins: "I think we need to see the hat to be able to make a sensible critical decision....  :-)   ."

Mike replies: Here you go. Bought on doctor's orders—dermatologist's, actually—to protect my bald spot from excessive sun and possible future skin cancer.

MikeR: "Your hat looks funny! (I have one just like it. Recent trip to Florida proved its worth.)"

Mike replies: It only looks funny if you're younger than 55. Otherwise it looks perfectly natural.

Dave Kee: "I have a hat like that, but years ago I was told by SWMBO not to wear it because it made me look as old as Henry Fonda did in 'On Golden Pond.' Just checked, and I am now as old as Henry was when he made the movie. I think I will dig the hat out of the back of the closet."

Bob Johnston [no immediate relation]: "Thanks for showing these great photos Mike. Those boats are works of art. I particularly liked Olive Oyl. Isn't it great that there are people who keep these going for us to see?"

Mike replies: It certainly is. I wouldn't want to do it. I have a cousin who loves these boats, and he's rich, but what he does is build models of them. When I asked him why he doesn't buy a real one, he said something like "who needs the headache?" Re the hat scene from 'Caddyshack': "Looks good on you though."

D. Hufford: "Yep. Checked the hat at the link. No doubt it was the hat."

Comments

[Michael Perini]

Those wooden Runabouts are wonderful, I'll bet many of those go back to their own water level boat house complete with a lift system to keep them pristine between outings. Those are a great story in themselves.

Ps as of 1:10 eastern time I do not show Doug Thacker's comment on the previous post Just FYI

[That was because of the thunderstorm. I had to shut down the computer mid-post. It's posted now. --Mike the Ed.]

[Tom Robbins]

Oh boy, wooden boats! The closest I ever got was the old rowboat at my grandma's summer place along Lake Huron in Michigan. Built in the late 1930s by my uncle, it was nothing fancy, despite having two sets of oarlocks. But oh, the waves slapping the hull made a beautiful music.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Wait, a boat show at a lake? Yeah, everybody pretty much has to like that. Around here, in the state of 10,000 lakes, the one "boat show" I hear about is held in the convention center.

[Bryce Lee]

"There is never so much fun as playing around in boats..."

Let's see, 24 "proper" boat builders around your Lake. There is the traditional builder Chris-Craft, they were not seen too often in my part of Ontario, too expensive. Ditchburn and Gravelle out of Port Carling
manufactured classic runabouts similar to Queen.

That term "classic" could mean many things. You and me Mike although me being over seventy could be classed as elderly. Classic boats as noted need to be out of the water in the winter to be polished and cleaned and kept safe for the next turn around the lake. Classic cameras, (gotta keep on topic) those wood bodied vehicles probably better built than the junk of today.
And then there is other classics, in my case a Velocette, along with the BSA with the Swallow sidecar.

[David Zivic]

I worked as a Yacht Broker in Caliornia and Mexico. Part of my job is to take photographs for my listings that are for sale and mail, now email them to prospective buyers. Started with Nikon F3 film through several Nikon DSLR's and then a couple Sony mirrorless. Right now my Phone can do a really decent job. Like on exotic cars, you can generate an offer with nice images. These old woodies came out very nice BTW. Also, It was an off topic was written about something I have a lot of experiences about although my expertise was about Ocean Sportfishers.

[Stephen Scharf]

Love the boat shots, Mike. If your 18-55 has "issues", I can't tell it from here. They look fine to me from what I can see from THZ.

Word on the street, though, is that the new X-T2"S" will have IBIS, so you can upgrade from the X-T1, pass on the 23/1.4 and THZ, pick up the sweet little Fuji 23, 35mm, and 50mm f/2 primes, and be a happy camper! (I'd keep the Fuji Fab 14, if I were you...)
;-)

Cheers,
Stephen

[Mike Shwarts]

All that wood in the boats. I'm having a Pavlovian reaction. Nothing like that down here. Just bass boats that years ago would be called speed boats. Horsepower of 150 and greater. Lots of metallic, glittering paint and logos for fishing companies. I asked one die-hard bass fisherman why he needed 200hp. He said to get off the water if a storm blew in. You would think with modern meteorology and communications, you would know when storms are likely and find something else to do that day.

[Matt O'Brien]

"When did that happen? I was unaware."

I am sure there are lots of reasons. One is that in many countries... 2 stroke outboards are banned because the oil is mixed with the petrol to lubricate the engine also pollutes the water. 4 stroke engines are much bigger than 2 stroke engines.

Also, to a salesperson ...bigger is also better.

[Huw Morgan]

Nicely done Mike! I really enjoyed your slide show - you captured the day perfectly. Isn't it fun to get out and shoot an event like that?

[Moose]

"Do classic boats make you happy?"

Yes, because they are pretty.

Yes, because they provide interesting photo ops, as in this selfie.

No, I don't have huge hands holding a Leica, but my first digicam, a Canon S110.

This was my first trip with my now wife. Carol looks pretty darn happy. Always hard to tell with our hostess/driver.

But not all women riding in a classic Cris Craft are necessarily happy.

I don't know these women, nor know why they were along for the ride. I also don't know if they are naturally grumpy, or were eyeballing the storm clouds, that soon rained on us a little. (Maybe my hat wasn't funny enough?)

============

Final answer to the question: Yes, for about the first half hour, then dashing about on the water starts to pall as entertainment.

This was on Moosehead Lake, Maine, which is rather large, and not all served by roads, so a fast boat is useful - and visually a treat. I was a small boat sailor in my younger days - always something happening. Power boats seem to me useful, but generally not interesting.

[Ernie Van Veen]

I live in a seaside town on a river mouth in Australia. On long weekends I like to sit on the front porch and watch what I call the "billion dollar parade" on its way to the boat ramps. Not a single wooden boat among them. Just a dowdy parade of fibreglass and aluminium (or aluminum, to be precise). There is a lot of money in that parade (heading out to the banks to fish for marlin and tuna), but absolutely nothing that could be considered beautiful or classic. That having been said, the "boat-ramp tango" on the more popular holidays can be very entertaining.

[Ken Ford]

Careful, Mike - you could end up with a new obsession!

[David Dyer-Bennet]

100% supportive of a hat to keep the sun off. Just getting a sunburn in the part in my hair was enough for me to start owning hats for the first time in my life. (Yes, I live in Minnesota; but I'm not fond of warm hats, I'm fond of actual hoods on winter jackets.)

And that brand actually makes hats that would fit me! Though Amazon doesn't seem to carry them. (I know people whose heads are even more swelled than mine, but few to no "one size fits all" hats will fit me at all, and most sized brands don't go big enough. However, at "big hat" stores they easily go much bigger than I need.)

[hugh crawford]

Mike, I've got to introduce you to my ice boating friends.
Way faster than any motor boat and 140 years old.

http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/128850

They can go over 100 mph on the Hudson if you are so inclined and have the space. And the nerves. Built by the Astors , Vanderbilts, and Roosevelts et al , but raced by hired crews which should give you an idea of how safe they were. 2 tons, 900 square feet of sail and about 20 square inches of runners touching the ice, when it's standing still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzf-jeKhk4Q (not my video)

It gets fun at about a minute and a half in.

[Tom Hassler]

Wooden boats really are functional objects of art. A lot of love goes into building one. And a very nice photo essay, Mike, well done young man!

[Charlie Ewers]

Aside from the fact that a lot of folks are now driving heavy deep-V boats that NEED huge motors to get out of their own way (as opposed to that lovely launch you showed us), one reason that outboards have gotten bigger is that they're now often more fuel-efficient, quieter, eco-friendly 4-cycle designs rather than the old 2-cycle ones. Our vintage British Seagull 2-stroke was very small and light, but it smoked enough to be an embarrassment and left a clearly visible oil slick on the water, and you had to yell to be heard over its noise. The power-equivalent 4-stroke Tohatsu is a bit bigger and heavier, but it uses a lot less gas and oil, and you can actually have a conversation while it's running.

[Giovanni Maggiora]

The navigational equivalent of beautiful old wooden 8x10 plate cameras...

[Robert]

Hi Mike
I miss a Penny Miyata. Is there something on the horizon?
Take care

[James Weekes]

An OT question. Why do boats have the steering wheel on the right?

[mark jennings]

Nice! Irresistible!, Mike. And will you go to the vintage sports car races at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock? They can be over the top fun, with hundreds of entries, many charismatic. They also still might host marque events.

Mike Shwarts. I hadn't heard about the dangerous weather motive for fast bass boats, but it must make sense in some places. But, getting away from sudden summer weather isn't the the same thing as knowing about it.

I had heard that those boats were first developed by pro bass fishing tournement competitors, for getting from one far flung fishing spot to another as fast as possible.

Now weekenders are equipped, but I think that a lot of them fill the same need as locomotive size pickup trucks.

[Terry Letton]

BOAT. Break out another thousand. Boats will make you poor a lot faster than cameras

[Richard Parkin]

James Weekes wrote "Why do boats have the steering wheel on the right?". It's the natural position in cars so they are just following the custom ;-)

[Jim Allen]

I love those old wooden boats, they are truly floating works of art. My one suggestion would be that a polarizer really helps bring out the glow in the wood used in those boats, looks like you shot them natural. Both looks have their fans, but that wood deserves some extra credit in those beauties. Just my opinion. BTW, I have the 300hp version of that big Mercury Verado outboard on my boat, and at idle, it's essentially silent. I have forgotten it was running on more than one occasion. But at full throttle, nobody has to wonder if it's running!

[Alan Carmody]

I wonder why boats, especially boats used in inland waters, don't have electric motors. Boats certainly have ample displacement, more than enough to carry a heavy battery (which could serve to stabilize the boat), and an electric motor is way quieter and cleaner.

I know. This is an outrageous and clueless suggestion that flies in the face of remembered tradition, going back all the way at least to my childhood, when my much older brother used to gawk at ads for big Mercurys in Popular Mechanics magazine in the 1960s, but still...

[Richard]

Regarding photo "Queenie". I'll give you bonus points for a level horizon.

[Tim Auger]

Strictly for nerds: Iove old 'woodies'. In the 1950s, in the UK, our second family car was a 1937 Packard 120 woodie, so those pics made me feel all nostalgic. It was right-hand drive, of course, and overheated at the slightest provocation. On one occasion in the mid-1950s, it started to misfire (as it seemed) on the journey back from Italy to the UK, reaching home on 7/8ths of its engine. Only on investigation it turned out that it had broken a piston, and the broken bit had lodged in such a way that it didn't do any further damage. Amazing, really. I suspect the station wagon bodywork might have been locally built on an imported chassis, as it differed in detail from any of the US-built Packard woodies I have seen in photos.

[Ger Lawlor]

Sure beats looking at cameras. What a great post!