Complete with a Project Update!
March 2023
Conroe Rendezvous Set for April 22!

Lindy and Lisa Robinson have booked The Landing at Seven Coves, a Condominium complex within the Seven Coves neighborhood in Willis, TX for the Lake Conroe Rendezvous on April 22. The address is 7031 Kingston Cove Lane, Willis, TX 77318. There is a protected marina adjacent to the Condos with a launch ramp and on-site trailer parking. The marina is owned by the neighborhood homeowners association. Some of the condos are available for short term rental, and the condo rental agency has 10 boat slips available to them for rental to guests. Conroe is a great lake for an early season get-together for the WBA, SWACBS, and the Antique Outboard Motor Club. You should have received a registration form via email from the Robinsons. Please register soon!

 

 

2023 Keels & Wheels Approaching Fast--Register Now!

The time is now to register for the 2023 Keels & Wheels Concours d'Elegance, slated for May 5-7 at the Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, TX. Former registrants have received printed invitations in the mail. You can also register online. The show gathers some of the finest antique and classic boats and cars in the nation, and yours could be one of them. Racing boats will be featured this year, and we're aware of a couple of those within our club's fleet.

Even if you don't have a boat to enter in the show, you can be a part of the event as a member of the launch crew. The launch crew arrives on Thursday evening, May 4, and begins launching boats early on Friday morning. If you are interested in being on the launch crew, please let David Kanally know.

The Lakewood Yacht Club is a breathtaking venue, with expansive lawns for car displays, a beautiful inner harbor for water displays of boats, and plenty of paved walkways lined with boats in land displays, sponsor booths, and other exhibits. Register now for this great event!

 

 

Wood, Waves & Wheels is Just Around the Corner -- May 13!

 

 

WBA Secretary and Eagle Mountain Classic Boat Club President Trey Bull invites you to bring your boat to the 2023 Wood, Waves & Wheels show on May 13th at the Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake.

The WBA has supported this show faithfully over the years, and we plan on continuing that tradition in 2023. The show includes the water and land displays of classic boats from canoes to cruisers, as well as a rich variety of antique and classic cars and motorcycles. The Fort Worth Boat Club has undergone extensive remodelling, and will be a treat to see. There'll be some good food, too!

Join your fellow WBA members and friends for this great show. Let Trey Bull know if you can attend.
Club Meetings and Presentations: Good Stuff!

The February 16 meeting of the WBA covered the regular business of the club, and an update to the calendar of events, to include the Lake Conroe Rendezvous on April 22 and the Denison Fall Festival on October 7. The presentation was an historical moment by David Kanally about the display of WBA member boat in Fair Park in Dallas in 2006 The March 16 meeting will include a presentation on the Red Fish Boat Company of Clarksville, TX which built both wooden and fiberglass boats in the '50s and '60s. Andreas Rhude, a longtime member of the WBA Facebook group, will join the meeting from Minnesota via Zoom to make the presentation. He has been researching Red Fish for over a decade, and has plenty of photos, brochures and information about the North Texas company's activity and products. Don't miss the March 16 meeting! You'll get an email reminder a few days before. Let Jeff Dils know if you can make a presentation or give an historical moment at one of our upcoming meetings!

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Project Updates from the Lucas Shop and Beyond!

(Above) We had a great turnout on Saturday, Feb. 25 for the flipping of David Kanally's Cowell. We used boat cushions and moving blankets to protect the hull during flipping to avoid getting black tire residue on the nice white paint.

(Above) Carl Lapiska put in some overtime getting his beautiful hull buffed and ready for its own flipping party on March 4. Let Carl know if you can help.

(Above) Ted Dysart removes fasteners from the stringers of his Centry Sabre in preparation for frame repair and bottom plank replacement.

 

(Above) Robin McGeorge, Ted Dysart, Phil Wolff, Bill Mott, Alan Oppenheimer, Chris Sterlacci, Phil Brosseau, Ray Widmer, Craig Godfrey and Carl Lapiska all helped David Kanally turn his boat upright and put it back onto the trailer last Saturday.

(Above) Robin McGeorge beams alongside the Merc 400 he restored with fresh paint, decals and pinstriping. The motor should be good to go, complete with a rebuilt lower unit.

(Above) Alan Oppenheimer, Phil Brosseaua and Chris Sterlacci put the finishing touches on the T-top of their Century Sabre. They're shooting for Keels & Wheels!

Next Monthly Meeting March 16th at Two Guys, Don't Miss It!

boatOur next meeting will be Thursday, March 16th, 2023, at 7 p.m. You'll receive an email reminder for the meeting a few days prior. We'll be continuing our door prize tradition, giving out an e-book of the lucky winner's choice, or a complimentary design of a boat show placard. The meeting will include a presentation about the Red Fish Boat Company of Clarksville, TX, as well as the regular business of the club.

If you can't join in person, you'll be using the Zoom application for your cell phone or your home computer. To make things easier at meeting time, it would be a good idea for you to go to your normal smart phone app store to download Zoom Cloud Meetings, or go to Zoom.us on your home computer and sign up. Prior to the meeting, you will be sent an email with a link to join the meeting, and further instructions. Those who wait to download Zoom will also receive a link to do that just before the meeting starts. If you are among those who need a few attempts to be successful with technology, you may want to get the downloading taken care of ahead of time.

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. Please join us on Zoom to be a part of our monthly fellowship!

Shop Talk and Musings: Grayson County's Boating Heritage

The Grayson County, TX Historical Society holds monthly meetings at Frontier Village in Loy Lake Park in Denison, and has invited David Kanally and Dennis Cheatham to speak at their March 14 meeting about the history of Yellow Jacket Boats of Denison, TX. In this 2018 photo, David and Dennis appeared in an episode of Texas Country Reporter TV show, during which Dennis' dad, Richard, told stories of working at the Yellow Jacket plant to show hosts Kelli and Bob Phillips. Dennis lost his dad in 2020, but Dennis continues to promote the Yellow Jacket cause whenever he can. Because Yellow Jacket employed over 400 people at its peak, there are very few degrees of separation between the current residents of the Denison area and Yellow Jacket boats. Many people there had relatives or family friends who worked at the plant; even more have fond memories of legendary TV cowboy and Yellow Jacket spokesman, Roy Rogers. Several people there own Yellow Jacket boats restored by members of the WBA. The WBA has played an important role in the restoration and preservation of Yellow Jacket Boats and promotion of the marque. We'll report on the outcome of the meeting in the next Bilge Pump.

And finally, please take a look in the shed or garage for leftover parts or other salable items you would like to donate to the Club. Contact David Kanally at david@historywithheart.com for more info.