The Wooden Runabout Company, LLC

Miss Lisa wins Best Restored at Table Rock

Mike — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 01:31:17 +0000

Congratulations to Matt and Lisa Byrne on winning Best Restored boat at the ACBS International show. We were privileged to be a small part of the restoration of this boat, but most of the credit goes to Matt for all his hard work.

More restoration photos of Miss Lisa can be seen in our project gallery.

Two new projects available

Mike — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:58:05 +0000

We recently aquired two new projects that are available for restoration by The Wooden Runabout Co. Both are rare and worthy of restoration. More details are available on our brokerage page.

1954 Chris-Craft Land Cruiser Camper

1939 Century Sea Maid 16′ split cockpit

Dock Holiday wins first in class at Hessel and Traverse City

Mike — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:58:55 +0000

Dock Holiday, a 1952 Chris-Craft 23′ Holiday which recently underwent a complete restoration at The Wooden Runabout Co., earned first in class awards at both the Boats on the Boardwalk show in Traverse City and the Les Cheneaux boat show in Hessel, MI. In addition, “Dock” was awarded best boat name at the Hessel show. Thank you to all of the volunteers who make both of these shows such a great success each year.

Aristocraft Jr. Water Test

Mike — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:09:27 +0000

Last February my son, Henry, and I began construction of a simple plywood boat with the help of the Water Wonderland chapter of the ACBS. Construction was started at the Grand Rapids boat show and this coming Saturday some of the completed boats will be shown at the Boats on the Boardwalk show in Traverse City. We put the last coat of paint on Henry’s boat on Saturday morning and we couldn’t wait past Saturday afternoon before putting it in the water. The boat and motor (a 1 1/2 hp Johnson) both performed flawlessly.

Dock Holiday Wins Best Utility

Mike — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 01:24:24 +0000

Dock Holiday, a 1952 23′ Chris-Craft Holiday won best utility at the prestigious Bay Harbor Boat show on June 23. The 1951-1954 23 and 24 foot Holidays were likely the most luxurious and stylized utilities that Chris-Craft produced. Teak floors were standard, the second seat slides forward on hidden tracks to allow the motor box to hinge open, and the blonde shear strake and cover boards make a striking statement. Photos of the entire restoration can be seen in our project gallery.

Grand Rapids Boat Show

Mike — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:25:06 +0000

Thanks to the Water Wonderland chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society for inviting us to share our Chris-Craft Land Cruiser as part of their display at the Grand Rapids boat show.

Henry, the youngest member of our crew at The Wooden Runabout Co., also enjoyed participating in a boat building event sponsored by the Water Wonderland chapter. Look out for this Aristocraft Jr. at Boats on the Boardwalk in Traverse City.

Project Gallery Update

Mike — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:48:28 +0000

We’ve been busy working in the shop and haven’t taken much time to keep our project gallery up to date lately. We just added an album for a 1962 Chris-Craft 18′ Sea Skiff that is in the shop for extensive bottom work along with a new transom.

We also have a custom 32′ sedan in the shop for varnish work. This magnificent boat was built by Bruce Hutchinson of Gull Lake, Michigan. It it inspired by a John Hacker design, is powered by twin Yanmar diesels, and reaches speeds approaching 45 mph.

1954 Chris-Craft Land Cruiser

Mike — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:45:49 +0000

As you may have read in a previous post, we were fortunate enough to find a rare 1954 Chris-Craft Land Cruiser available for sale in the fall of 2010. Chris-Craft offered these trailers as kits for one year only. The kit included everything needed for the shell of the camper with suggestions on interior layouts that could be designed and installed by the purchaser.

With the exception of the plywood floor, which we replaced, everything pictured in the photo above is still original to this trailer.

We completed the restoration on the trailer in time for the ACBS international boat show at Lake Geneva in September. After the show Texx from Woodyboater was kind enough to run a feature story on the camper. I’ve included a few photos that Texx took of the camper as well as a link to the full story.

1966 Century Coronado wins “Best Coronado”

Mike — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:53:06 +0000

Once again the Century Boat Club hosted another great show in Manistee on September 10. We had the privilege of bringing a freshly restored 1966 Century Coronado to the show for a customer and were honored to receive the Best Coronado award.

Goose takes two awards at Hessel Boat Show

Mike — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:39:12 +0000

Goose, a 1957 Chris-Craft 23′ Continental, was awarded two awards at the Hessel Boat show this past weekend. She received not only Best in Class, but also was recognized as Third Best in Show.

You can read more about the unique history of Goose in a recent story from our friends at Woody Boater.