Complete with a Project Update from Robin's Nest!
June, 2026

WBA Delegation Ventures to Table Rock

 

 

Our friends at the Heartland Classics Chapter of ACBS are known for their full season of shows and gatherings in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. One of their most popular shows every year is held at Table Rock Lake near Branson, MO. The WBA loves this lake, with its hundreds of miles of shoreline nestled in the Ozark Mountains.

This year, Loretta and David Sheets, John Ables, Phil Wolff, Inna and Jim Donovan, Patty Hanson and Robert Aldrich, and Bill Mott represented the WBA at the event. Many of these folks are also Heartland Classics Chapter members. Despite the rain, the group had an enjoyable stay. There will be a full report at the WBA meeting on Thursday, June 18.
Cars, Boats and Fun at Wood, Waves & Wheels Show!

A beautiful day-before-Mothers-day welcomed a fine group of classic boats, cars and even motorcycles to the gorgeous grounds of the Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake on Saturday, May 9.

 

 

Several members of the WBA displayed their boats on land or on the water, and enjoyed seeing some of the coolest vintage boats and cars around. Thanks to Trey Bull for his key role in organizing the event! Video here!
Club Views Keels & Wheels, WWW Videos at May WBA Meeting!

 

 

During the May 21st meeting of the WBA, President Phil Brosseau reviewed the standing agenda items, including upcoming events and activities of the club. The meeting also included Treaurer and Secretary reports, and project updates.

For the presentation, David Kanally showed his walkabout video of the most recent Keels & Wheels Concours d'Elegance, held at the Lakewood Yacht Club on April 25 and 26. The WBA provided the launch crew and entered several winning boats in the show. You can watch that video on YouTube by clicking here. Trey Bull's video of Wood, Waves & Wheels was also shown...watch here. The WBA's meetings are informative and well attended. If you happen to live out of town, you can still attend via Zoom, which is a great way to stay connected to the club.
Updates from the Robin McGeorge Boat Shop and Beyond!

Quality Assurance Chief Inspector Lew White (center) along with daughter Deb, recently made a pop inspection of work at the shop, including Carl Lapiska's (left) Super Sport.

The donated 1955 Yellow Jacket Capri is coming right along, with six coats of varnish now on the deck. The deck's grain is highlighted in the photo above.

Bill Mott has brought his boat trailer to the shop for painting. Here, Bill uses an angle grinder to trim a couple stray metal tabs from the trailer's frame.

Jeff Hill is our newest shop resident. He quickly noticed that the shop could use some updated tools, and generously donated an oscillating sander, a surface planer and a bench belt/disc sander. Thanks, Jeff!!

Chris Sterlacci takes the Century Partners' '65 Century Sabre for a spin on Lake Lavon as they prepare the boat for a journey to California for the Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance in August.

Carl has completed the painting of his boat's gunwales, covering boards and king plank in a gloss black. Carl's work is a nice reflection on him!

David Kanally checks for runs on the most recent coat of varnish on the Yellow Jacket. A few more coats, and the varnishing will be complete.

Chris McKeehan uses a creeper she restored to gain access to the underside of Bill Mott's trailer to finish up the priming. Bill plans to paint the trailer in an aqua color.

Jeff Hill (center) talks through some of the details of his 1926 Disappearing Propeller Boat with Carl Lapiska and Mark McKeehan. Jeff is preparing to flip the boat for bottom painting.

Phil Brosseau was happy to launch his Chris-Craft Cavalier recently, after several months of performing touchup work on the hull sides and bottom.

Next Monthly Meeting June 18, 2026

boatOur next meeting will be Thursday, June 18th, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Two Guys From Italy in Dallas. Come at 5:30 and join us for the pre-meeting dinner. 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, or print book of the lucky winner's choice, or a complimentary design of a boat show placard. This month's presentation will be a photo and video and in-person report from the Table Rock Lake show!

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: Boat Fun with AI

Ever since ChatGPT introduced its Images app, a few fun-loving WBA members have been using it and other AI tools to create boating-related art, or to modify photos in amusing ways. At left, your Bilge Pump editor created a WBA recruiting poster from a photo of Miss Cheryl and himself in their Cowell outboard, taken at Horseshoe Bay by Lisa Robinson.

At right, Pat Vinson used AI to make a group of us jump for joy at the Keels & Wheels awards ceremony in April, when the Oppenheimer/Vinson Yellow Jacket won a best in class award. AI is the only way we could have gotten this far off the ground!

In both cases, AI is being used for good. While we can imagine all kinds of bad things about the advent of Artificial Intelligence, we see no harm at all in using it to capture some of the excitement and joy we find in the classic boating hobby!

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.