Including Project Updates from Several Skippers!
April, 2016

Ride 'n Show Returns to Rockwall, June 3-5!

The annual Ride 'n Show will return to Lake Ray Hubbard this year, after a couple years of low water. Ray Hubbard is plenty full now, though! We'll use the Hilton Dallas Rockwall as our headquarters hotel (reservations on your own, using the Hilton site or your favorite hotel web site.)

 

We'll have our Friday welcome party in a local restaurant near the Hilton, beginning at 6 p.m. The show this year will have both in-the-water and land displays, so please feel welcome to participate with a land-displayed boat as well! Read more! Register Now!

Keels & Wheels This Month! (April 21-24!)

Keels & Wheels, one of the premier boat and car shows in the country, is just a couple weeks away! Set in the lovely harbor and grounds of the Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, TX (Houston area), Keels & Wheels is a treat for antique and classic car and boat enthusiasts alike. As usual, the WBA has an important role to play.

  

The event is always worth the trip, and features the best display of cars and boats you could possibly ask for. The WBA will provide the launch crew for the event, arriving Thursday p.m., Apr. 21, for an early Friday launch schedule. Our launch crew is full--we'll meet at SpringHill Suites in Seabrook at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 21.

Texas House Ponders Wooden Boat Ban!

In a move that shocked even the most jaded observer in this season of political dysfunction, the Texas House of Representatives floated a bill that is sure to sink...a ban on wooden boats on Texas lakes.

"It just doesn't seem fair to us," said bill sponsor Oblivia Bilgewater. "Wooden boat people just seem to have more fun than anybody else, and there is very little trickle-down effect beyond the immediate family and friends of the wooden boaters themselves. We thought it is high time we legislated away this happiness that only benefits the 1%...the wooden boat community."

Texas Navy Admiral and Wooden Boat Association Treasurer Scott Reichardt responded on behalf of the wooden boat community: "Just when we thought politics had reached the pinnacle of ridiculousness, here comes this bill. It is so preposterous, it could only be APRIL FOOLS". Scott is RIGHT!

 

 

April Fool's artwork compliments of Lewis White.

Wood, Waves & Wheels, Eagle Mountain, May 7

 

 

The Eagle Mountain Classic Boat Club and the Fort Worth Boat Club will host the Annual Wood, Waves & Wheels Show on Saturday, May 7, from noon until 5 p.m. It's a great show, with a good variety of antique and classic boats, classic cars and even motorcycles!

This show is another good opportunity for the WBA to mix and mingle with our like-minded friends from the other side of the Metroplex.

Come on out for the day! Let us know if you can attend!

Marc Hill Recounts Restoration at March Meeting

At the March meeting of the WBA, Marc Hill shared dozens of progress photos documenting the fabulous restoration he's doing on a '68 Chris-Craft Grand Prix.

 

 

Marc brought the boat back from the brink, replacing several frames, and all the planking and decking. The project is a nice reflection on Marc...and the WBA!
Project Update: Lucas, Plano, Carrollton and Beyond!!

(Above) Seb Borrello attaches splash rails to the Baldwin boat while Ken Mattice sands the gunwales. Pat Baldwin has graciously agreed to share the proceeds of the sale of Bill's boat with the Club.

(Below) WBA VP David Sheets has been doing a great job getting his Skiff Craft ready for the boating season. After finishing some brightwork in the cockpit, he refinished the hull. Almost ready to splash!

(Below) The 1955 Chris-Craft Caribbean Kit Boat donated by James Cooper is now complete and ready for sale. The Evinrude 14hp Fastwin is running, and will be re-united with the boat soon, so think about a good next owner for this great little fishing boat and let us know.

(Below) Steve Griffitts has cut, bent and fitted a center covering board for his 1950 Thompson cedar-strip outboard just in time for Keels & Wheels. This will be the little outboard's second appearance at K&W.

(Below) Lew White and Bob Adair remove holding screws from an epoxy joint on the top plank of their sailing dinghy.

 

 

(Above) Seb pre-treats some of the primered areas of the Baldwin boat to achieve better coverage with the first full coat of red to go on this weekend.

(Below) Troy Marshall and Robin McGeorge have been building a Chris Craft 283 V-8 from donor parts of various engines, including a block recently donated to the club. Troy and Robin bought the block, and are now almost ready to put this engine on eBay. Robin says he's never seen one idle so well right off the bat. Transmission goes on next.

(Below) The new Kit Boat logo is identical to the original.

(Below) Steve has also been busy steaming, joining and fitting battens on his Speedliner, which is really beginning to take shape!

(Below) Lew and Bob will fit a keel next. They found a nice piece of 1" thick white oak in Dallas that will do the trick.

Next WBA Monthly Meeting April 14, 2016. Don't Miss It!

boatOur next meeting will be Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Two Guys from Italy at 11637 Webb Chapel Road, just south of Forest Road. The meeting is one week earlier than usual to allow for our Keels & Wheels participants to go the Seabrook on the 21st. WBA member and benefactor John Parish will be giving away one of his many boating and woodworking related books as a door prize.

Our meetings are a great opportunity to socialize with fellow WBA members and to talk shop on questions on everything from paint and varnish to carburetor kits. We'll talk final details for the Keels & Wheels launch crew, the major news of our upcoming Ride 'n Show June 3-5 in Rockwall, and enjoy an informative program on the Sunnyland Chapter's recent Tavares, FL Boat Show by Steve Griffitts.

As always, we'll have generous helpings of fellowship and Italian food.

Join us for a light meal and moderate libation at 5:30 p.m. at Two Guys from Italy prior to the meeting. We encourage you to join us for dinner, so we'll always have the required minimum number of diners to avoid a room charge.

Shop Talk and Musings

First things first: a hearty welcome and thank you to Jack Hogan who has stepped up to become the new Secretary of the WBA. Jack's nomination was confirmed by unanimous vote at the March meeting. Jack's contact info is now on our Officers and Contacts page on the WBA web site. Thanks, Jack! Also special thanks are due to our outgoing Secretary, Gay Perry, for many years of faithful service to our Club.

Next things next: After gathering the contributions of several members to the "WBA Revealed" project envisioned by the late Bill Baldwin, Rick Allaire turned over the document to the WBA website development and maintenance department, and the result is the WBA New Member Welcome Center! Check it out...there may be some things about our club you don't know, even if you've been around for a while! (Like the time our club's founder, the late Ken Thompson and our master electrician Stan Lehnhardt tried to put up a large helium balloon in Rockwall to advertise the Ride 'n Show. To read that, you'll need to hit the link to the early history of the club found on the New Member Welcome Page.)

Word is out on Facebook that WBA Prez Steve Griffitts and Patrice Mozelewski are now engaged. Rumor has it that he didn't go to Jared, he went to Home Depot. Patrice gets to pick the month of their marriage, and Steve gets to pick the year. There are only a couple steps left on Patrice's journey to sainthood. Cheers to you both!!

And finally, please take a look in the shed or garage for leftover parts or other salable items you can donate to the club. Bring them to any WBA meeting, or contact David Kanally at david@historywithheart.com for pickup.