Boat Show time

Urban Boatbuilders - skin on frame canoe built by apprentices.
Electric picnic launch built by class at Boys Totem Town. 

I spent the evening volunteering at the Minneapolis Boat Show for the Urban Boatbuilders program.  This is a great local program providing a working apprenticeship for at risk youth in the Twin Cities.  The program teaches basic woodworking skills, has the apprentice build their own paddle, and they work on projects like a skin on frame canoe, or perhaps a lapstrake copper rove launch.  While the boats may not be made with the same level of artistry as the Wooden Boat Schools down east, they are very well made, attractive and functional.  Whether a 40 lb canoe, or a 16' electric powered lapstrake picnic launch, they are boats of worth, and a program to be valued for the skills taught.  If you live in the Twin Cities, consider a donation or dropping in on Wednesday night for their volunteer program.

Aside from working the booth, I had time to wander around the rest of the booth we shared with the antique boat society.  My phone was running very low on battery, but I did get a few pictures.  The next few are of the 1926 Barnes Boat Company "Princess Paige".  Beautiful does not begin to describe the attention to detail, both from the original builder, and the restoration done by Muller Boatworks in New Hampshire.

26 feet of incredible brightwork

Scripps 4 cylinder, 60 horsepower. You could eat off the engine compartment floor

Leather, brass, stainless and bright varnish.  

the perfect afterdeck for sharing a bottle of wine and perhaps a cold chicken picnic

The reflectors blind out a pretty cool stern shot - big wheel of a prop, polished rudder, stainless fittings over a bright planked transom

Another view - note the line connected to the fenders (which are works of art in their own right).  It ties all the fenders together, and leads forward to an uphaul, allowing all the fenders to be pulled back and secured at one time.  Also note the canopy retracted to the center of the lateral rails.

Overhead view

Original bow figurehead.

Chris Craft runabout

Front view

Beautiful workmanship on this restoration

Uncas - a one-of-a-kind 'convertible' top.  Very interesting deck line!

Ice sculpture out front of the convention center.  After all - this is a big plastic power boat show.