Complete with a Project Update from Robin's Nest!
September, 2025

Fall Boating Event Season Just Around the Corner!

On October 4, Yellow Jackets galore will be on display along Main Street in Denison, TX, as part of the community's Fall Fest. Let Dennis Cheatham know if you can bring your Yellow Jacket to this town-wide celebration! Dennis is negotiating with the city for the best possible placement of our boats, and is doing a great job. We need a couple volunteers to bring two YJs from the shop to Denison and back.

Be like John Ables and attend as many boat shows and rendezvous as you can! October is the perfect month for boating with your WBA and SWACBS buds!

 

 

October 10-12 brings the party to Lake LBJ for the annual Austin Hill Country Boat Show at Horseshoe Bay. Details are forthcoming, but you may want to look into your lodging arrangements now. Horseshoe Bay Resort (877-611-0112) is offering a 25% discount on room rates for our Boat Exhibitors. Other hotels in Marble Falls and various VRBO and Air BnB properties are also available, but will fill fast, so make your plans as soon as you can.

October 18 is Cruisin' Lewisville Lake at Pier 121 Marina. Be like Phil Wolff here, and bring your boat out to show and ride! Area car clubs will have cool cars there, too!

Port Aransas Show Adds to October Excitement, Oct. 24-26!

The Port Aransas Wooden Boat Festival, October 24-26, 2025, is an annual three-day family friendly event that features handcrafted kayaks, paddleboards, skiffs and sailing boats — as well as historic Farley boats.

 

 

The Festival was created by the staff and volunteers at Farley Boat Works eleven years ago to provide a venue for showcasing the fine craft of wooden boat building. The Festival celebrates a heritage that started locally in 1915 when the Farley brothers began making some of the first production fishing boats in the US right here in Port Aransas. The Farleys closed their doors in 1975.  In 2011, The Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association (PAPHA) purchased their last location. After retooling the machine shop, PAPHA gathered and trained a group of volunteers and manager to restart the tradition of building boats on the island.This festival celebrates the success of Farley Boat Works (about 120 boats have been built there since it reopened) along with other wooden boats built and designed by individuals and kit companies from across the country. We encourage WBA members to participate!

ACBS Vintage Boat Week in Clayton, NY, Sept. 15-21!

The ACBS is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the 2025 Vintage Boat Week, September 15-21, on the extraordinary St. Lawrence River. Hosted by ACBS International at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY, the event will feature cruises, the ACBS Annual Meeting and the International Boat Show. More than 200 boats will be on display along the docks of the Antique Boat Museum, joining the museum's formidable in-water and on-land displays.

The WBA and ACBS have worked closely together over the years. Happy Birthday, ACBS! More here.

 

 

Club Learns About Bois d'Arc Lake at August Meeting

 

 

The August 21st meeting of the WBA was held on Zoom and at Two Guys from Italy in Dallas. The agenda included the usual officers' reports as well as reminders of upcoming events and activities of the club. The program was provided by Jennifer Montgomery of the North Texas Municipal Water District on the topic of the recently completed Bois d'Arc Lake in Fannin County, just northeast of Bonham, TX. The Water District began the process to permit and build the reservoir in 2003. Crews broke ground on the lake in May of 2018, and Bois d’Arc Lake was formally dedicated in October of 2022. Water delivery began in March 2023. It provides up to 82 million gallons per day for the over two million residents and businesses served by (NTMWD). The lake's surface area is around 26 square miles and offers three boat ramps. Who will be the first WBA member to come back with a boating report? Thanks, for an informative presentation, Jennifer! More here!
Project Updates from the Robin McGeorge Boat Shop!

(Above) Alan Oppenheimer paints the cabin sole of the Yellow Jacket he and Pat Vinson own, with a little lighting help from David Kanally.

(Above) Gordon Spriggs fine sands a coat of two-part primer he applied to the hull of his Glen-L barrel back. The primer dried really quickly in the summer heat!

(Above) Carl Lapiska is in the final stages of fine sanding and scratch removal on the aft deck of his Super Sport. While we're eager to see the finish go on, Carl knows that surface prep is the name of the game.

(Above) In its continuing march toward perfection, the Century Partners' Sabre's 327 AMC V-8 received a new oil pressure sensor, and has been primed throughout the engine's complex oil circulation and cooling system.

(Above) Chris McKeehan gives another coat of spar varnish to their Continental's burgee pole after varnishing the interior trim pieces. The boat is at the upholstery shop.

(Above) After that first coat of red paint dried, Alan scuffed the surface with a sander in preparation for coat number two.

(Above) Although the Glen-L appears to be white as snow with its coat of primer, its hull will soon look very different with a few coats of deep "Hinckley Blue" topside paint.

(Above) After fighting fast-cooking fairing compound in the hot weather, Carl devised the perfect solution: West System epoxy with extra slow hardener, thickened with microlight filler, dispensed in a DYI caulking tube.

(Above) Gordon Spriggs helps Phil Brosseau adjust the valve lifters in the AMC 327. The white sheet keeps the engine clean while the valve covers are off for this operation. Run test on September 30 was successful! Let's go to the lake!

(Above) Carl Lapiska shares a lighter moment with Mark McKeehan during a recent Saturday work session. Fellowship at the shop is part of the WBA culture.

Next Meeting September 18, Featuring The Lawson Center. Don't Miss It!

boatOur next meeting will be Thursday, September 18th, 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. Our presentation this month will be given by longtime WBA member Pat Baldwin, who devotes much of her summer in support of the Lawson Center for Boating Heritage in Bemus Point, NY, Pat's summer home. Join us to learn more about the Lawson Center's displays and mission.

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 about 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: Keels & Wheels 2026 Registration Opening

In a move to maximize awareness and participation for Keels & Wheels, which will be held April 25-26, 2026, a committee of K&W board, SWACBS and WBA members is already in action. The group has gathered and analyzed survey data from past participants to understand the motivations and barriers related to repeat attendance, and to solicit ideas for improvement of the boat side of the event. They have printed postcards for a direct mail campaign not only to past participants and classic boat owners. To support responses from this mailing, boat registration for Keels & Wheels is slated to open on September 1, 2025. Finally, they've made contact with area vintage boat clubs to encourage their participation in the show and to build awareness through their clubs' social media.

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.