Including Updates from the Lucas Palookas!

September, 2015

Still Room for Boats at White Rock Lake Sept. 19

We could use a few more boats in the water at the White Rock Lake event on Saturday, September 19. Closed to speed boating since 1958, White Rock offers this once-yearly chance to ply its waters in our classic watercraft. The White Rock Boat Club members come out in force to help this day be successful. Let's make an extra effort to have a healthy representation of our boats on land and in the water for this unique event.

Please let David Kanally (940-395-2742) know if you can bring your boat! He'll send you a detailed email complete with map. Launching will begin at 8 a.m. A parade of boats will begin at 3 p.m., haul-out at 4.

Register Now for Ride 'n Show at Pier 121 Oct. 2-4

WBA members always feel like they're part of something great when they show up for the annual Ride 'n Show, slated for October 2-4 this year at Pier 121 at Lake Lewisville. This year will be even greater, as we'll be the highlight of the Fall Festival of Boating sponsored by Marine Max.

As you may remember, Marine Max put on a lunch for WBA members last year during the Ride 'n Show (see above), and this year, in addition to the lunch, they're creating a festival featuring our antique and classic boats, as well as their new yachts, some classic cars, and maybe even a swap meet. Read more! Register now!

Hill Country Show at Lake LBJ Oct. 16-18!

The annual Austin/Hill Country Wooden Boat Show will be held Oct. 16-18 on Lake LBJ, TX. Scheduled events include: Friday, October 16: cruise to lunch at Sunrise Beach Marina Boaters Bistro for early arrivals. Dinner at Reichardt home at 6:30 PM. Saturday, October 17: Show at Horseshoe Bay Marina 10 AM-3PM. Dinner aboard the Horseshoe Bay Resort dining yacht 6:00 PM. Sunday, October 18: coffee and doughnuts at Frechette home 8:00-9:30 AM. Adjourn. Lunch costs for Friday and Saturday will be the responsibility of the participants. Cost of the Saturday night dinner cruise will be covered by the

Southwest Chapter for chapter members. There will be a cash bar on the dinner cruise. Non-chapter members can pay the chapter cost of $24.00 ea.to attend. Please let us know by Wednesday October 7 if you are attending, bringing a boat, and number of people for Friday and Saturday dinners and Sunday coffee run.

Horseshoe Bay Resort Hotel is offering us a show special room rate of $149/night. To reserve a room, call 877-611-0112 and mention you are reserving as part of the Wooden Boat Show.

Kanally Shares Info on Higgins and His Boats at August Meeting

David Kanally presented "Andrew Jackson Higgins and His Boats" at the August 20th meeting of the WBA. Higgins was a scrappy entrepreneur from New Orleans who built a boat-building empire beginning with humble fishing perogues and culminating in the mass production of WWII landing craft and PT boats.

Following the War, Higgins built a variety of pleasure craft including wooden utilities, runabouts and cuddy cruisers. WBA member Bob Germany has a couple Higgins that can often be found at WBA events.

The presentation given by David was an update of a presentation orginally given at a WBA meeting in August of 2010 by Hamilton Rial, who is from New Orleans and whose family had a Higgins runabout for many years.

Lucas Shop is Hoppin'

(Above) Mark Wilson (second from left) discusses sanding, staining and varnishing with his finishing crew. Mark is enlisting some pro help to overcome some problems he's had with evenness color in staining...an issue WBA restorers know all too well!

(Above) All the Saturday shop rats could recognize Stan Lehnhardt almost anywere, just by looking at his clean white shoes. Stan is expert in wiring, so Robin and Troy often call on him for that phase of their restorations.

(Above) Troy Marshall and Robin McGeorge use the gantry and chainfall at the Lucas shop to lower the 4-cyl. Chris engine into Robin's Cavalier. It was a snug fit, but it went in almost as easily as it came out. The engine has been "gone through", and boasts compression of 110 lbs./cyl.

(Above) With the engine lowered into place, Robin and Troy hook up the prop shaft, transmission, electrical wiring, water lines, fuel line and tach cable. Too bad you can't do all that until the engine is in that little compartment!

Next WBA Monthly Meeting September 17th. Don't Miss It!

Our next meeting will be Thursday, September 17th, 2015 at 7 p.m. at Two Guys from Italy at 11637 Webb Chapel Road, just south of Forest Road. WBA Treasurer and benefactor John Parish will be giving away one of his many boating and woodworking related books as a door prize.

Sheila Davis and Frank Bauer are coming in from Michigan to do the presentation for the September meeting. Frank is expected to speak about his adventures importing a Chris-Craft Cobra from its previous owner in Europe. Sheila, an accomplished boat letterer and gold-leaf specialist, will talk about her techniques and 25 years of experience in boat lettering.

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

The busiest time of our year is upon us, with a number of shows lined up for September and October. Before you know it, these events will be just fond memories, so the time is now to sign up! The more boats and people we have show up for these events, the more fun we all have, and the closer we come to achieving our club's goals! Join us, won't you?

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.