The Austin Wooden Boat Show was held on Lake Travis, Friday October 22, through Sunday, October 24.  The function was a lot of fun and the decision to schedule all events on one lake seemed to work well.  We also conducted our annual meeting at Johnny Fins, which was the site of our show this year.

          During the annual meeting we recognized Jon Stroble and his three years of service as a Director of the Southwest Chapter.  Since his term expires on November 30, 2004, Tom Croasdale was elected to serve as a Director beginning on December 1, 2004, through November 30, 2007.  In addition, we recognized Dale Lipps for his donation of the Mercury inboard, which was raffled at the Keels and Wheels.  We also presented the President's Award to John McCutchen for his great work with the Chapter this year.  He created our web site and has served as the Harbor Master of the site. He has been invaluable to our growth and chapter communication.  Finally, we elected officers as follows:

PRESIDENT-Ed Ueckert

VICE PRESIDENT-Robert Black

TREASURER-Robert Macaluso

SECRETARY-Chuck Webb

          Also, the Austin Boat Show was even more enjoyable this year.  The objective of the show was to have more riding and less show.  We had the annual Colorado River Cruise on Friday, and Lake Travis was nearly full and beautiful.  Even Mike Siegel made the trip in BIG BOY without incident.  The cruise was followed by a dessert party at our home on Friday night, and Craig Stanfield and Chuck Webb seemed to really enjoy the evening.  Saturday morning was devoted to cruising, and on Saturday afternoon we held the show at Johnny Fins.  The attendance was very good, and after the show a group of our boats motored over to Carlos and Charlies, which was holding an in-the-water show for new boats.  Of course, our boats were the show- stoppers.  Charlie Bickley described the incident as a silent drive-by-shooting.  On Saturday evening we had our awards banquet at the Nalle home on Lake Austin.  We had great Bar-B-Q from Chisholm Trail and presented the 911 Award to Charlie Beckley.  He had transmission problems on his Monk motor cruiser while trying to dock, and even his dog abandoned ship.  The People's Choice and Skippers' Choice awards are listed below:

PEOPLE'S CHOICE

    Dave Parker                             ' 47       ! 7'      Fairliner Torpedo

    Jim Brochette                         '46         25'       Chris Craft Sportsman

    Raymond Balsam                    '64         16'       Helton Runabout

    Jeff Hill                                    '26        18'      Disproof  Launch

SKIPPERS' CHOICE

    Chuck Webb                             '40       14'           Hater Runabout

    Mike Siegel                              '61       24'           Chris Craft Sportsman

    Darryl Miller                            '57       15'           Lyman Runabout

    Andy But chard                         '63       22'           Thompson Sea Lane

          I want to thank Charlie Beckley, who served as our launch master; the Niles, who furnished their home for our Saturday dinner; Johnny Fins and Hurst Harbor; Lake way Resort; and all the attendees, who made our little show a success.

Ed Eckert

The Story of an Atom Skier

By John Kemper and Craig Stanfield

  I'm John Kemper, and Robert Black has been hounding me to tell this story of a boat I have hanging in my restaurant.  So here it goes, the story of my old Correct Craft. I bought the boat for the first time in Austin in 1979 for $600.  I do not know any of the history of the boat prior to 79.  The boat is a 1955 Atom Skier that was manufactured by Correct Craft.  It is 14" 6" long and is powered by a 60 hp Correct Craft engine.  It is made of plywood, like all wooden Correct Crafts.  It is a 4 cylinder flat-head engine.  The boat sold new for $1595.  One of the options on the boat is the "Ski Pull" that cost $50. Being the first production Tournament ski boat, it is the "grandfather " to the Ski Antique.

I sold the boat in 1982 when I purchased a new Ski Antique. I sold the boat for $1000 (a profit -imagine that! Editor) and the boat went to Lake LBJ.  After that,  I lost track of it.  Years later, a  Friend of mine spotted the 'old Atom Skier on the same lake. That was 1994. It was in terrible shape; hanging in a boat slip, engine full of water, cobwebs all over it. The wood and upholstery were in terrible condition.  I called the owner and offered him $ 1,000 (a loss - that's more like it!  Editor). 

 He accepted.  I retrieved the Atom and took it to San Antonio to a man who would restore her.  After a year and several thousands of dollars the boat was as good as new.   I used the boat every summer until about 4 years ago. She overheated and cracked an exhaust manifold, so I mothballed her.  After buying the old Jam' in House Restaurant in Marble Falls, my partner and I decided to hang her from the ceiling at the new River City Grille. 

She is still hanging there today and we receive comments about her on a daily basis.  Stop by, the next time you are in town to see the boat...and have dinner (unsolicited plug, from the Publisher)

The Puzzler by John StrobeTop of Form

 A Family Treasure: Found and Restored

By Dave Snicker

 My earliest childhood memories included boats and boating.  My father, Ralph Snicker, was a wooden boat builder who worked for his oldest brother, Gene, at Red Head Boat Company in Houston, Texas.  Gene retired early and Dad was more or less forced to go into business for himself in 1952, when I was 5 years old.  He moved a couple of miles down the road from Gene's shop to begin manufacturing boats he called "Kingcraft".

 He manufactured about 1100 boats from 1952 through 1965 and they were all mahogany plywood construction.  The vast majority of the boats made were outboards in the 15'-19' size range.  As inboard/outboards were beginning to come on the scene, there were a few of those that were basically I/O's in one of the larger outboard hulls. 

Our family spent most weekends skiing on the San Jacinth River in Houston, and our personal boats were almost all conventional inboards that he had made as custom designs.  In 1958 my father decided to begin offering an 18' inboard runabout to the standard product line, but only manufactured about a dozen of these over the coming years.  The first boat of this hull design was our personal boat, named AWOL V, which was outfitted with a 225 HP Gray Marine engine.  AWOL VI followed and had a 318 CID Chrysler engine.

By the early 1960's, I was working in the boat shop during the summers.  I assisted with woodworking, refinishing of boats, and making skis.   I loved the boats and the environment at the boat shop and spent all my free time skiing.  In early 1964, Dad made a revised edition of his inboard that appeared in the Houston Boat Show.  It was aqua and white (a departure from typical boat colors) and had white vinyl on the fore and rear decks and covering boards, as was popular in that day.  It was a beautiful boat!  Its engine was a 280 HP Gray Marine (401 CID Buick block).  This boat became our personal boat and was named AWOL VII.  Soon