| The Story
of "Bobbie G"
In early June
1999, I was doing some "looking around" on the
Internet, and did a search for "Chris Craft". I had
been hankering for a dip back into my childhood, remembering
the "good old days" when my dad would take us on
boating excursions aboard his 25' Chris Craft Cavalier. It was
a beautiful plywood, highly varnished cruiser that he owned
for a very short two years. They were, however, two of the
best years I can remember with my Dad. Pretty soon after the
sale of the cruiser, my folks split, and a whole new journey
was starting for all of us. I still yearned for those days
aboard the boat, and vowed one day to own one. It never dawned
on me to look on the Internet for one.
One afternoon
I stumbled across some Cavaliers and began making calls. I was
dumbfounded at the price of these great boats. I was soon to
discover that while they were breathtakingly beautiful, the
labor involved in keeping them that way was an art that many
had either forgotten or wanted to forget. Only a handful of
folks were willing to put the time and energy into maintaining
these beautiful wooden boats.
I became
obsessed (so Jamie would say). Everyday it seemed as though I
was announcing my latest "find", and how easily it
would be to obtain. We kept on the hunt.
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Rob(l) and
Jamie(r) aboard "Bobbie G" in November 1999
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| The Search
Continued
I began to
keep a file on each boat I found; its strengths and its
weaknesses, contact info, pictures, etc. The file was growing.
One in particular caught my eye. A 1964 Chris Craft
Constellation. I made arrangements to meet the owner, who had
the boat docked in Maryland. Jamie and I took a daytrip and
viewed the boat. It was massive. It was beautiful. It was in
sorry shape. Disappointed, we drove back home weighing the
costs of hauling, restoring, etc., and decided this boat would
not be in our best interest. It was also becoming silently
obvious that wooden boats might be more work than we could do,
based on our limited woodworking skills.
In the back
of my file was an ad for a 1967 27' Chris Craft Commander.
This boat was fiberglass, and at the time, I did not want
fiberglass. I wanted the beauty of the wood.
Having
exhausted my file of possible wooden cruisers, I began to get
dismayed, thinking I wouldn't find the "boat of my
dreams". And yet, for some reason, I didn't toss that ad
for the Commander. One Sunday, in September 1999, I decided to
call the owner to get the details on the boat. It was a call
that would change both our lives, and create a love affair
that continues to this day. |
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| A
Trip to Philadelphia
Jamie and I
hopped into the truck one Sunday (very early), and headed to
Philadelphia. We were making this a one-day trip and were
delighted to be spending the afternoon together. It was a
GREAT trip, and despite never having driven in Philly, we
found our destination quite easily.
We walked up
the swanky riverfront dock, and immediately recognized the
telltale signs of a Chris Craft early 60's cruiser. The owner
came out of the cabin, where he and a friend were watching
weekend football, and introduced himself. He took us on a
quick tour of the boat, and told us its ills and its
hallmarks. Having done my research, I knew the Commander was a
well-built cruiser, and this one appeared to be in modest
shape.
All the
woodwork had been painted (several times), the ice box had a
toxic spill in it, and yet we loved it! The asking price was
$2500., which was definitely something we could live with.
As we wrapped
up our visit, exchanging information, the owner told me he was
on a definite time crunch, and would let the boat go for
$1500.00 if we could get it out by October 30th, when his slip
lease was to run out. We told him we would definitely think
about it.
Before we had
left the parking lot of the marina, Jamie and I looked at each
other and said, "I think we've found our boat!".
We called the
next day and bought the boat.
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As she
looked, the day we bought her in October 1999
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Read
more about our 27' |
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