- Boats, they've been around for thousands of years.

Essential for transportation, for commerce, for exploration today, primarily recreation.

Join us on a journey into what it takes to keep and maintain classic wooden boats.

We'll explore the craftsmanship, the history, and the stories from those who keep these vintage vessels on the water.

- Vintage vessels is made possible in part by -Kozmiuk wooden boats.

Custom wooden boat builder of ore sail and power boats traditionally built with old world craftsmanship.

Born from knowledge passed down through generations.

Custom built and restoration service at kozmiukwoodenboats.com The Grundy Insurance Classic Boat program was born from their family sailing tradition, offering vessels full agreed value coverage, protection from uninsured boaters, marine environmental damage, and search and rescue.

online@grundy.com Pettit Paint Captain's Varnish, available in pints, courts, gallons and aerosol.

This marine grade spray on varnish is made to protect wood from ultraviolet light drying to an amber color.

More information is available online at pettitpaint.com ACBS celebrating 50 years of vintage boating in 2025.

Chapter locations across North America can be found at acbs.org Closed captioning support is provided by Peter Henkel incorporated.

online at chris-craft-parts.com In today's episode, we visit the 42nd annual Vintage Boat Show in Gravenhurst, Ontario with Rick McGraw and his 1939 Gentleman's racer.

All right here on Vintage Vessels of the water.

- So my name's Rick McGraw and I'm a lover of wooden boats.

And today we're going down to the annual boat show, Eng Gravenhurst.

There'd probably be a hundred boats there.

And I'm taking one called the Jeffrey, which is a 1939 gentleman's racer, 21 feet long, 225 horsepower in it.

Very pretty boat.

It's like a little sports car if you know what a Morgan is, as in sports cars.

This is what, this is a Morgan on the water and very, very fun boat.

Going through the gap here into Gravenhurst Bay.

All traffic goes through here, including the steamships.

Very narrow passage, but very deep.

And it's like another section of the lake here.

And then we're gonna go down the lake a couple kilometers and we'll be at the, - I can't pull much on this, okay?

We can't get this ball in the right place.

Scooping in, jumping right off and do it all themselves.

I don't know how they do it, but I, - I'm Mike Gridley.

I am the chairperson for the A CBS Toronto Vintage Boat Show here in Gravenhurst.

We've got a lot happening today here at Muskoka Wharf and Gravenhurst.

This is our 42nd annual vintage boat show.

It has been on this site for 31 years now, so we're quite proud of that.

We have 134 boats in the water and on land here.

Full capacity for the show this year.

No more room for people that like to attend a vintage boat show.

We have everything from wooden boats built in the 18 hundreds all the way through.

And then of course, over the last number of years, there's a growing popularity in restoring and collecting vintage or classic fiberglass boats like my personal 1972 MX 15, a checkmate that I restored over Covid.

Lots to see and do.

There's flea markets, there's vendors, there's boats for sale.

If you're looking to get into the vintage boat world, you can buy a boat here.

We have great activities for the kids.

We have paddle carving with kids in classics.

We have model wooden boat painting and a test tank to float and play with them in for the kids.

Lots to do for the entire family for a great day on the waterfront.

Checking out vintage boats, collecting the wooden boats obviously has been been popular for a number of years and it really took off in the seventies and the eighties as people realized that these boats were, were quite valuable.

Their works of art and their worth saving.

And of course here in Muskoka, which was home to so many of the boat builders back in the day, the Dukes, the ditch burns, the GTEs, all of these companies that built boats here, a lot of them are survivors because of the boat houses of misspoke Muskoka that saved them and kept them here.

And then for those of us who didn't grow up with the older wooden boats we grew up with, you know, seeing thin fiberglass boats in the fifties when that started off and great ski boats or race boats in the sixties and seventies.

So there's a, a newer mature group of, of owners that are restoring the classic glass boats.

So it's, it's quite, it can be affordable or you can spend an awful lot of money.

You could get into a cedar strip boat for $5,000 or you can spend, I've got a boat listed for sale at four and a quarter right now.

- I haven't even heard of Fway stores.

Must be an American chain.

Yeah, absolutely right.

Great day.

Yeah, it is beautiful.

So this would be a, so how's it going?

- This is the boat show at 2023 Gravenhurst and yeah, we're just representing the brand here.

We got seven boats on display, - Three new, that's the going, - Three new boats here and then four restorations, like older - Boats.

She's also got - Another kind of shows both ends of the spectrum.

- Two 30 going - Out today.

Yeah, this is the apprenticeship at - Real Muskoka at the Steam ship's - Office.

It's kind of fittingly.

This is my first boat.

That's one my dad's kind of first signature boat cash injection for the dinner - Cruise.

- I believe we sold out that well represented here if you want.

- Yeah, modern, like clamps, modern, those clamps.

Yeah.

Very nice.

Yeah, the Chrysler isn't it looks like it.

- I'm Murray Gould, I'm with the Mantic Classic Boat Club and have been judging with ACBS for probably 30 years.

So I get to go to a variety of different boat shows, see old friends, look at wonderful boats and have a very good time.

The biggest thing about judging is originality.

So that's the, the high point for antique and classic boats.

So it can be everything from upholstery to engines to woodwork.

And then beyond that, the condition of everything.

So basically originality and then the condition - I I, I have, I have to attach it.

I have, oh, - You gotta - Work.

Yeah, I got this, I got the zip ties down there.

So - I'm Patrick Gallagher.

I'm the owner of Grand Craft Boats.

We're outta Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

And this is our main flagship model.

It's called the Burnham.

It's 26 foot runabout, all mahogany, all new construction.

Takes us about seven months to build one of these.

This is Hull number one.

Right now we're working on completing Hull number five, six, and seven.

And so this is, this lists for 479,000 US.

And it's, it's just an amazing, amazing beautiful boat that features the latest and greatest, you know, amenities and technology.

The, the engine is a 6.2 liter, V eight, 430 horsepower.

So it's, it's not only gorgeous, but it's just fast, fast as can be.

It's a, it's a great boat.

- Thank you so much.

I know everybody's got that protective like, oh my god, my God, oh my god, I got ya.

You got him better now where he should be.

But both being judged, - We were told not to put the bars - On it.

Okay.

Very nice.

Where - My daughter and son bought the boat for me as, as a retirement project - We - Found 12 - Years ago, found tuck away in an old, old marina.

Nice.

It was literally picked out of the water and put into storage and then abandoned.

So we found this boat in a very old marina where the family had simply just picked it outta the water and put it into storage.

And then the boat became abandoned for at least 20 years.

My brother and I were visiting.

We saw it tucked away, we inquired about it and we asked if it was for sale and he said, if you want it, I'll sell it to you.

So we bought it and surprised my dad with it one night and it's been a restoration project for him ever since.

And it's been a, a true joy to have in the family.

It's normally filled with a lot of grandkids.

- Kids came down, they were late for dinner.

I couldn't imagine why they were tied up.

And eventually they showed up and came into the house and said, oh dad, we got something to show you out in the driveway.

And I went out and Carrie and John had a big white tar pollen draped over it, holding it up.

And I walked out in the driveway, they dropped it and there was the boat in horrid condition.

You know, it was, it was great.

It's been a great project.

We - Appreciate all the heritage that is centered right here.

They encourage everybody.

Yeah.

Hundred 20 years.

Look how it's, - My name is Doug Potts and the boat is a Scott boat built at 90 dash 1 0 8 River Street, Toronto, 1932.

33 is when it - Was built on it.

- It's been, it was a a not in very good shape when I bought it and I totally restored it took me four and a half years doing all the work myself.

And, and this is a net result of what I had.

It's been about 12 years since I finished it.

And I have not refinished or anything since then, but I look after it and care for it pretty religiously.

I had a, have a number of boats and a friend of mine kept telling me about, go to see this boat, go to see the boat.

And I just kept saying, no, no, no, I got too many boats.

And one day we went to see it and this being a triple cockpit, which is what I always wanted to have, I ended up buying it and restoring it on it.

So it was in a barn, been sitting for 20, 30 years in a barn when I bought it.

And it had been taken from a boathouse and order to be taken to the boathouse to shore, it had to have tarps put on it because it was so full of holes and whatnot, the transom.

And that was totally rotted out of it.

And the bottom was in bad shape too.

So anyway, I ended up buying and spending four and a half years restoring it.

And this is what I have now.

And a friend of mine bought this about 15 to 20 years ago and he passed away two years ago and his family thought that I should also have the third one because him and I were very good friends.

So I ended up owning this boat and this I just as the first year in the water that I've had it, but it's, again, I have three of them identical.

The serial numbers are 17 91, 17 93, and 1794.

So they're all built at the same time in the production of Greavettes here in Gravenhurs They would be all on the production line at the same time, I'm sure of that in 1962.

But - Yeah, my name is Salvato, Gus Lucia, I had the boat in 1976, totally restored it and that's the way she looks now.

I picked it up for a thousand bucks in 9 19 76.

And this boat's got about 22 custom features on it, which most boats you buy now don't even have, I got a builtin ladder in the back.

So if you go for a swim, you can get back in pretty easy.

And it's full top cover, custom windshield.

I got ashtray, power antenna, all kinds of stuff.

Had it, you know, for a long time.

Kept the original name originally it was, it was bought by a, Dr. Mackenzie was the original owner in 1953.

Bought it here and then launched it in Hamilton Harbor.

That little bit of history on the boat.

And that's about it, man.

I love the boat.

I try to get it in the show every year and that's about it.

Why did I have to have it?

Because a friend of mine sold it to me and then I got hooked on it became part of my family, part of the family, you know, just like my wife.

- Yeah.

My name's Carrie Price and this is a 1946 Chris Craft customer runabout.

It's 20 feet long.

I obtained her back in 2004 and she was a wreck and spent 13 or about nine years restoring her and finished it in 2013.

And she's been living up here in Muskoka since 2017.

Why did I have to have it?

I I, I saw it and I, it brought back something from my child.

We're gonna see - Some amazing fiberglass playing their, those skiers in a little - Bit.

I had looked at lots of boats.

I - Wanna talk a little bit about - The Ronnie HeLOCK best.

- This was the project I want.

Cool.

- The company is Amfi that made the car in Germany and they only made it for three years from 62 on and they were made for the US market.

So they came over here and made 3,800 cars altogether in the three years.

So these are the remaining ones from those years.

They're a lot of fun.

And the name of the boat car is, I swim too.

- It's - Been with me since 94.

Came from Upper State New York.

The Finger Lakes.

Yeah.

Steve came from a boat that was up at Elgin house.

Okay.

And used to take people for a ride.

And it was a chap that worked for my hus my ex that was in publishing.

And so he gave it to us, which was really special.

And I feel very privileged that my mother, who was born in 19, she was born in in 1912 and I made her drive.

Oh, confused.

Yeah.

And, and she, it was funny.

She was very, you know, leery until I got her in the driver's seat.

Yeah.

As soon as she had her hands on the wheel, it was like, it was 'cause she drove, she drove a car for over 80 years.

Yeah.

- Perfect.

- Hi, I'm Linda Stoddard.

I'm the owner of India Bay.

She's baby, and I've had her since 1994.

She came from upper state, New York, finger Lakes.

She was built in Lake Geneva.

She's an India Bay built by Fay Bowen in Lake Geneva.

And she's been up here since 1994.

And usually it's in a funeral, hotels in the hallways or whatever.

- But this one - Came - From, - My name is Lorraine and my husband is Jack and it is a 1928 Ditchburn manufactured here in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

It's all original wood except for the bottom.

And Mike Windsor and Mike WinDor Bolt works put a new bottom on it for us.

The best boat builder in, - In - Muskoka.

Why did we have to have it?

Oh, it was a dream to own a Ditchburn had to be a Ditchburn or a Minette shield and the Ditchburn came up for sale.

So we got it.

We bought it in Beau Morris.

It came out of the boat house it went into in 1928 and had not been outta that boat house until we took it up to Lake Joseph.

Yeah.

- Dunno, remember?

Oh yes.

That name Billy and I were partners in the globe business.

Okay.

Yes.

Years doing.

But I remember this boat years ago.

Oh yeah.

Well we, we have fun with it and yeah.

So I'm always much happier when it's working.

Yeah.

That they do.

Much more - Fun.

My name is Jeff Mitchell and our boat is a Miss Canada five.

It's a 1954 Grevett Streamliner, 22 foot with a one 10 Chrysler crown.

It was commissioned by my grandfather in 1954.

It's been in our family ever, ever since.

We come down to the show quite often and it's, it's great to be here.

We're, we're not a show winner.

It's a, it's, it's not a trophy boat, it's a boat that we go and enjoy.

And that's what, that's what boating's all about.

- He's a neighbor and I, he's asked me to go for a ride and I - Said, yep.

Go for a, yeah, we'll pull it in.

Use my shoulder.

Yep.

There you go.

There down little one.

- Perfect.

Have a great ride.

Thank you.

Thank you.

- Hello, my name is Karen Boyer and I live in Bracebridge.

And this is a 1950 vete, dispo or disappearing propeller boat or dippy as we factually call it.

We acquired it from the original owner a long time ago and it wasn't in operational condition.

And so my husband, he replaced planks and ribs and varnished, like ate coats of varnish on the, under the hull and on the inside.

And, and we just, we get so much pleasure out of it.

Now we have done something different.

It had the original motor in, it was a gas motor, but it was noisy and stinky and unreliable.

And we put an electric engine in it with a lithium ion battery that gives us about eight hours of running time.

And it is quiet now.

The most noise is water lapping on the bow or the, the rudder.

So we, we trailer it all over lakes in Muskoka and Perry Sound, Gonko Park dug to Georgian Bay.

My dad had a dippy actually two when I was growing up, when I was a teenager.

And we just, that was our only boat and we just got in it and drove it.

You know, we didn't know that it was anything different or special.

And then, so then when this opportunity came for us to get our own, I said, so we have to Yeah, when you grow up in Muskoka, it's, it's a pretty common thing.

- 1950.

It's the same age as me.

Me - Too First of all this is a race boat It's the oldest race boat in Canada, built in 1916 down in Toronto.

- Vintage vessels is made possible in part by -Kozmiuk wooden boats.

Custom wooden boat builder of ore sail and power boats traditionally built with old world craftsmanship.

Born from knowledge passed down through generations.

Custom built and restoration service at kozmiukwoodenboats.com The Grundy Insurance Classic Boat program was born from their family sailing tradition, offering vessels full agreed value coverage, protection from uninsured boaters, marine environmental damage, and search and rescue.

online@grundy.com Pettit Paint Captain's Varnish, available in pints, courts, gallons and aerosol.

This marine grade spray on varnish is made to protect wood from ultraviolet light drying to an amber color.

More information is available online at pettitpaint.com ACBS celebrating 50 years of vintage boating in 2025.

Chapter locations across North America can be found at acbs.org Closed captioning support is provided by Peter Henkel incorporated.

online at chris-craft-parts.com