It's about to start! At least it seems as if the still deserted hall is just waiting for its doors to open to expectant visitors. Trade fair visitors. Everything is ready: Fabric panels in the colours of the starry banner adorn the ceiling and walls, the stands have been cleaned, the information boards have been set up and overview maps are available at the kiosk in the middle. "Welcome to the 'National Motor Boat Show'" is boldly written above the entrance.
All the big names in the industry have come to show their bestsellers, flagships and most beautiful pieces
Gar Wood Incorporated, for example, "the Greatest Name in Motorboating", as they say themselves. The company of the sports and racing boat pioneer is exhibiting, among other things, its Baby Gar from 1927, the fastest production sports boat in the world at the time. Thanks to a twelve-cylinder Liberty T-25 aircraft engine (which was readily available after the First World War), the 33-foot glider was capable of more than 40 knots. The price? Not even 10,000 dollars. Sure, the average American worker currently earns no more than 1400 a year. But that's a dream come true, isn't it? Otherwise, there's the Speedster from 1935. Slightly smaller, but almost as fast - and at a tenth of the price. Deal?
The Electric Launch Company - Elco for short - has a more leisurely approach. After all, they specialise in comfortable motor cruisers. "Your home afloat" is their motto. Two models have been brought along, including the Forty-Two, a forecastle with elegant lines and a sharp stem - but which still offers space for seven berths. You can see this for yourself during the tour on board. And so it goes on in the hall: Dodge Boats, the Consolidated Shipbuilding Company and of course Christopher Columbus Smith and his sons, better known as Chris-Craft, who also present their barrel-back De Luxe Runabout from 1942. Mahogany, chrome and brass everywhere: a glamorous gathering.
But appearances are deceptive: of course, this is not a boat show in the true sense of the word. Nothing is for sale here - fortunately! Even travelling back in time is an illusion. This is neither the "Golden Twenties" nor the booming fifties of the last century. And the setting is not New York City, where the first real national motorboat show in the United States took place in 1905.
A museum with the world's largest collection of classic motorboats
The treasures so appropriately presented here are just a small part of the collection of the "Antique Boat Museum" in Clayton, in the far north of New York State. This region at the junction of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River, right on the border with Canada, has always been a mecca for water sports with its many islands. Its name: Thousand Islands. The perfect place for a museum that has the world's largest and most fascinating collection of classic motorboats. Last year, the museum celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.
Boats connect people with each other, with the water and with the world around them - that is the philosophy of the "Antique Boat Museum". And while initially only the rich could afford this hobby, it soon became accessible to an ever wider section of society. This trend continues to this day and is also reflected in the history of the collection. However, as is so often the case, it all began by chance: on a warm summer's day in 1964, the Youngs noticed an old wooden boat that had apparently been lying unused on land for some time. The couple were from the area, acquired the find, which turned out to be a Hutchinson Launch built nearby in 1924, and had it restored.
When "Idyll Oaks" was finished the following spring and shining like new, the two were so enthusiastic that they invited friends and acquaintances who also owned classic boats to a get-together. The subsequent get-together on the water was so enthusiastic, not only among the boaters, that they decided to repeat it every year. More and more participants came. The first meeting for classic motorboats in North America was born - the "Annual Antique Boat Show".
The existing premises of the new museum soon threatened to burst at the seams again
The next milestone followed in 1968 - albeit far less spectacular than in many other areas of daily life. In this year, the still relatively young but already successful event came under the organisation of the regional museum in Clayton. They settled down and bought their first plot of land right on the water. The building on it had previously been owned by a shipyard. Now the existing pleasure craft treasures were made permanently accessible to visitors for the first time under the new name "Thousand Islands Shipyard Museum". Now the story really got rolling: A dedicated group of supporters were able to secure not only more and more wooden oldies for the exhibition, but also many other originals relating to motorised water sports, thanks to their ingenuity, perseverance and passion. A lot was donated by companies and private individuals. In any case, the existing premises were soon bursting at the seams - not only with boats, but also with engines.
There are also some real pioneers among the outboards
There are also some interesting examples of this in the exhibition hall. For example, the inboard engines: From the Palmer NR-3, which at eleven horsepower was already twice as powerful as a stagecoach in 1914, to the Scripps 302. Barely 20 years later, this thoroughbred big block was already putting 300 hp on the shaft. In terms of technical innovation, there are also some real pioneers among the outboards. The Caille Pennant from 1927, for example, already had a controllable pitch propeller that offered its owner options that hardly any other manufacturer had at the time: forward gear, neutral and reverse gear.
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The Zephyr, on the other hand, was a bestseller when it was launched in 1949. As the smallest four-cylinder in Evinrude's product range, the lightweight yet reliable 5-1/2 hp engine was so popular that it played its part in the rise of the brand, which is still successful today. The future also looked bright at Outboard Motors Corporation for many years. At the beginning of the seventies, business was still running like clockwork. In 1971, the millionth outboard motor bearing the traditional name Johnson, which belonged to OMC, was produced at the Peterborough plant, just next door in Canada. Reason enough to "gild" the 50 hp Seahorse. Today, the heavy, angular one-off has a place of honour in the gallery of the exhibition hall in Clayton and still shines as brightly as on the first day. But the paint has long since worn off Johnson: 2007 marked the final end for the brand.
For the Thousand Islands Shipyard Museum itself, however, things have only gone in one direction since the 1970s - upwards. The collection grew, and with it the exhibition site on the Clayton waterfront. The site of a neighbouring sawmill was purchased and new buildings were constructed. The now very extensive library was also given appropriate premises. In 1986, the state of New York recognised the importance of the collection as an educational institution - the accolade for the dedicated work of all those involved since its beginnings less than twenty years earlier. The museum was aptly renamed the "Antique Boat Museum" in 1990.
Under the high roof truss in the museum, it's no longer about relaxing on the water, but about excitement
What has happened in these years becomes clear when you leave the Haxall Building with its entrance area and cross Mary Street. With the French Bay Marina and its full jetties to the right and the gleaming silver spire of St Mary's to the left, you come to the new Morgan Building. "The Quest for Speed" is written next to the entrance. Under the high roof truss of timbered beams, it's no longer about relaxing on the water - but about excitement. The great era of record-breaking races is immortalised here. The "Gold Cup", which began at the same time as the "National Motor Boat Show", and which Gar Wood himself won for five consecutive years between 1917 and 1921. It was the era of gentleman racers - and no less ladies.
Delphine Dodge from Detroit, for example. The automobile magnate's daughter was famous for her radiant smile in the ballrooms of the Motor City. On the water, however, behind the wheel of "Miss Syndicate", she flipped the switch: in 1927, she became the first woman to win the coveted "President's Cup" on the Potomac River in the capital, Washington. Shiny trophies, shiny engines, shiny boats: "Detroit VII", as fresh as the day she was pushed out of the Gar Wood shipyard in 1923. Winner of the 10,000-dollar, 150-mile "Sweepstakes Race". Or "Chrysler Queen". Together with its driver Buddy Byers, the wooden hydroplane won the US championship six times. Top speed: 270 kilometres per hour.
The "Antique Boat Museum" itself also offers superlatives: Today, the exhibition site comprises ten buildings with around five and a half square kilometres of usable space. But even that is nowhere near enough to display the more than 300 historic boats, hundreds of engines and thousands of other exhibits at any one time. The majority of them are in storage, but they are constantly rotated so that as many of the treasures as possible are on display. Because if there is one thing that runs counter to the principles of the museum, it is letting the collection gather dust.
So "Miss" takes us out on the river and into the labyrinth of the "Thousand Islands"
The route to the last highlight therefore also leads back to the main grounds: through the lobby and across the veranda, past the "Stone Building", in whose workshop one of the many restoration projects is currently underway, past the state house boat "La Duchesse", it leads to the "Mc Nally Yacht House". Here, the museum's in-water fleet awaits visitors who not only want to see, but also feel and hear. Six classic wooden boats are currently part of the "active" fleet and can be booked for various occasions. Originals such as "Gadfly", a sedan commuter from 1931 in the style of the car boats of the time, or replicas such as "Teal", which nobody would realise is only thirty years old. The original design of the elegant 28-foot mahogany runabout was created by Gar Wood in 1937.
"Miss Thousand Islands II" from 1999 is another perfect replica. In this case, a triple cockpit from Hacker Craft from the 1920s was the model. Anyone who drops into the heavy leather seats will immediately be surprised at how solid and safe the boat feels. The "Miss" takes us out onto the St Lawrence, into the labyrinth of islands with their ancient trees and white villas that gave the Thousand Islands their name. And at the latest when the throttle is pushed forward, the V8 from Chevy with its full 7.4 litre capacity really comes to life (the 454 model was also used in the legendary Corvette Stingray from 1971) and you can no longer understand your own words in the rear cockpit, then it becomes clear why this hobby is the best in the world ...
Visitor information Antique Boat Museum
The Antique Boat Museum is located in Clayton, in the US state of New York. The distance by car from New York City is 540 km (5.5 hours' drive), from Boston 625 km (6 hours), from Montreal in Canada 270 km (3 hours) and from Toronto, also in Canada, 330 km (3.5 hours).
The museum season runs from the beginning of May to the end of October. Opening hours: 9 am to 5 pm. In addition to the exhibition, the museum offers other activities such as boat trips, events and workshops. A library is also available.
The latest news can be found on the Internet at www.abm.org. Information about Clayton and the holiday region of the Thousand Islands in general: www.1000islands-clayton.com
