AC Boat Show BLOG

"I'm goin' to sleep in it tonight!"

That was his response when 11-year-old Hunter McGowan (front, kneeling) found out that he won the boat he built! Each year at the Atlantic City Boat Show, Sea Quest Kids gives a boat to one of the kids who build 10-foot skiffs. This year, Hunter stood out from the crowd. A great example of what kids with special needs can do, Hunter didn't let epilepsy and ADHD stand in the way of building a Sea Quest 100. In fact, he built one of the best Sea Quest 100s that has ever been built -- doing a phenomenal job of lining up the parts and driving in the screws. He has great plans for his boat, which he named "Mother Ship." His sister, Riley, and Dad, Mike, also joined the fun.

When he started building the Sea Quest 100 on Saturday morning, Hunter said that he and a friend always wanted a boat. At home they've nailed boards to a fallen oak tree near a pond they go to and float it out to fish from it and go exploring.

Also on the scene on Saturday at the Sea Quest Kids booth were KBN Sea Action News reporters Danielle, Gina, and Charley Ciraolo. They were great ambassadors for boating and Sea Quest Kids. Manning the booth, overseeing sales, and cruising the show carrying the Sea Quest Kids colors, they were quite popular with show attendees and exhibitors alike!

Photo by Stacy McGowan, Hunter's Mom

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Honoring the Long History of Recreational Boating

Brigantine Postmaster Jeff Willson (left) and Atlantic City Postmaster Harry Headrick (right) presented a framed enlargement of the new Vintage Mahogany Speedboat commemorative stamps, introduced just a few days ago, to the co-producer of the boat show, Jerry Flaxman, at the Chris-Craft boat display at noon on Friday, September 7.

The Chris-Craft exhibit was chosen, because a 1954 Chris-Craft Racing Runabout, Duckers, is illustrated on one of the postage stamps. Owners William and Nancy Kehoe of Loomis, Calif., boat with her on Lake Tahoe and the Sacramento Delta. The 19-foot model features a split cockpit and gleaming deck hardware. With its 158-horsepower MBL engine, this craft can exceed 40 mph. Chris-Craft runabouts remain a popular model among classic boaters who enjoy their sporty performance.

Illustrated on the other stamps are: Frolic, a 1915 Hutchinson Brothers launch; Dispatch, a 1931 Gar Wood triple cockpit runabout; and Thunderbird, a 1939 Hacker-Craft commuter boat.

The stamps will be for sale throughout the show at the USPS booth, # 118.

Photo courtesy of USPS, MIchael Behringer

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Looking, Considering, Buying

Who could not love boating on such a perfect day for the opening of the show! The sun was bright, the breezes were cool on the water, and the crowds were seriously looking at the over 700 boats on display. As things started winding down for the day at dusk, we captured a few memorable moments.

The show runs through Sunday. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Presentation of New Stamps at Noon, Friday, September 7

If you've always wanted to own a boat but could never afford one, you'll be able to own a fleet of four for the price of First-Class Mail postage at the 2007 Atlantic City In-Water Power Boat Show. The just-released stamps, commemorating the long history of recreational boating, will be for sale throughout the show. Featured are four boats on a sheet of 12 stamps, showcasing the polished mahogany and gleaming chrome hardware that characterize the nation's historic wooden motorboats. Built by four different manufacturers, each vintage watercraft is still in use today:
• Frolic, a 1915 Hutchinson Brothers launch.
• Dispatch, a 1931 Gar Wood triple cockpit runabout.
• Thunderbird, a 1939 Hacker-Craft commuter boat.
• Duckers, a 1954 Chris-Craft Racing Runabout.

Special Stamp Dedication Ceremony at the USPS Booth (#123)
“We’re excited that the stamps are available to coincide with this year’s Atlantic City show,” says Atlantic City Postmaster Harry Headrick. Headrick, along with Brigantine Postmaster Jeff Willson will present a framed enlargement of the commemorative stamps to the Atlantic City In-Water Power Boat Show co-producers, Jay Silberman and Jerry Flaxman, at noon on Friday.

See more: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007stamps/

Miss Columbia on the Selvage
The decorative area around the stamps features a recent photograph of Miss Columbia by Benjamin Mendlowitz of Brooklin, ME. The boat, created by Mark Mason and built by craftsman of the New England Boat & Motor Co., of Laconia, NH, is a modern re-creation of the original Miss Columbia, designed by George F. Crouch and built in 1924. Robert Devens of Green Cove Springs, FL, purchased the replica from original owner Phillip Sharples of Tubac, AZ, and berths her for the summer on the Muskoka Lakes of Ontario, Canada.

Carl T. Herrman of Carlsbad, CA, designed the stamp sheet and photographed the following four boats on the stamps.

1915 Hutchinson Brothers Launch
A popular style for touring and commuting, the long-deck launch was offered with a four- or six-cylinder marine engine capable of reaching 30 mph.

Powered by a 110-horsepower, six-cylinder Chrysler Crown engine, the attractive 30-foot craft on the stamp was custom-built in 1915 by Hutchinson Brothers Boat Co., Alexandria Bay, NY. Frolic owners Bill and Tish Kartozian of Danville, CA, dock her on Lake Tahoe.

1931 Gar Wood Triple Cockpit Runabout
Gar Wood 33-foot triple cockpit runabouts are considered some of the finest runabouts produced by the famous boatbuilding firm in Marysville, MI. Elegant and powerful, these craft were offered with either a Scripps V-12 or a Gar Wood Liberty V-12 engine and were capable of exceeding 50 mph.

Manufactured in 1931, the runabout appearing on the stamp has a 650-horsepower, 12-cylinder Rolls Royce engine. Named Dispatch, she is owned by Tom and Maurine Turner of Carnelian Bay, CA. Her Lake Tahoe berth is next to Turner's Gar Woods Grill and Pier Restaurant.

1939 Hacker-Craft
Based on the streamlined designs of John Hacker, Thunderbird is a 55-foot commuter boat featuring a distinctive stainless-steel cabin top that was built for millionaire George Whittell, who was fascinated with the latest aircraft, automobile and boat technology. Enamored with the lines of his personal DC-2 airplane, Whittell requested Thunderbird's hull and cockpit be built to resemble the fuselage of his twin-engine aircraft.

Built in 1939 by the Huskins Boat Co. of Bay City, MI, Thunderbird's original twin 550-horsepower Kermath engines were replaced in the 1960s with twin 1000-horsepower Allison V-12 aircraft engines. The Hacker-Craft is owned by Foundation 36, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting Nevada’s natural, cultural and historic treasures, and is berthed in Whittell’s original 1940 boathouse built for Thunderbird. The boathouse is connected to the main house by a 600-foot tunnel that was blasted through granite at the Thunderbird Lodge Historic Site on Lake Tahoe. Learn the fascinating story behind this nautical classic at: http://www.thunderbirdlodge.org/theboat.html.

1954 Chris-Craft Racing Runabout
A steady seller since 1936, the Racing Runabout exemplified Chris-Craft speed and design through 1954. Updated after World War II, the 19-foot model features a split cockpit and gleaming deck hardware. With its 158-horsepower MBL engine, this craft can exceed 40 mph.

Chris-Craft runabouts remain a popular model among classic boaters who enjoy their sporty performance. Duckers, built in 1954 in Cadillac, MI, has a 158-horsepower, six-cylinder Chris-Craft Hercules engine. She is owned by William and Nancy Kehoe of Loomis CA, who boat with her on Lake Tahoe and the Sacramento Delta.

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