1938 Chris Craft Double Cockpit Forward Custom Runabout on Lake Champlain 8 3 2016

Following the test chronicled in this clip, I drove Flyin’ By to our summer camp on Lake Champlain. While the water is flat, flat, flat in the video, a stout following wind kicked up as I left the dock. Based on a handheld GPS reading, Flyin’ By, having jumped up on plane, ran easily at 40 mph as she powered through the chop like it wasn’t there. Guess she is a keeper for sure!
Flyin’ By (hull # 48264), a 19’ Chris-Craft Double Cockpit Foard Custom Runabout was delivered to her first owners in Detroit, MI on August 12, 1937. Her ownership passed to the Aikens family of Bloomfield Hills, MI in 1960, who enjoyed her on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair until we bought her in July 2016.
She is a (racing) model 824, powered by her original Chris-Craft Model LC engine that produces 148 HP.
Chris-Craft’s Ed Dooley, who designed both the pre- and post-WW II Chris-Craft logos, hand painted her transom and registration lettering.
Other than her updated Corinthian leather upholstery, which matches the original exactly, and her updated 12 volt electrical system, she stands before you as she did that August day in 1937, when she left Algonac.
While she will benefit from a bit of freshening next winter, we will make every effort to preserve the patina she has developed, and certainly Dooley’s lettering.

[@Hyperbole77]

"I think... we've got a winner" I think so too. Just gorgeous. Congrats.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Thank you! Hate to see winter - and ice - coming and see her just sitting in storage until spring!

[@brookesmilbourn3188]

Can't beat that inline six sound what an incredible machine !

[@est08301967]

Mike, it's Dave from Henkel's. The boat looks good, hasn't seen water or daylight in years. Brings back lot's of memories, as the boat use to come to my parents cottage for parties when I was a kid, and many boat shows. Wow is right. Good for you !

[@snakemtboatworks]

Thank you, Dave! I am so sorry to have failed in replying to you! Robert found her for me. He also rebuilt here engine before I took deliver. As the clip makes clear, we completed her preservation, entered her in some shows, several of which she won. Then a fellow appeared out of the blue and offered way, way too much for her. I wish I had said no! Michael

[@kc72186]

That beauty deserves many great summers to come 🍻

[@simoneastland]

Our town, Eastbourne, UK, used to have one of these for pleasure trips off the pier. She was called 007. Thanks for posting!

[@snakemtboatworks]

007! What a perfect monicker, albeit for someone else. She was christened Flyin' By on day one. I hope any future steward has the good sense to leave good things alone.

[@paulzupon246]

Beautiful boat!

[@paradiseroad6405]

...WOW...beautiful in every sense of the word...

[@peter1708]

Congratulations, what a fine turn of speed!

[@snakemtboatworks]

I had her out yesterday. She really loves to turn at speed!

[@royworks28]

What a beautiful boat, I love how it sounds

[@Chevy4x4dawg]

That is one amazing craft!!! True work of art!

[@johnspinelli9396]

Those boats are so beautiful 😍

[@mmanut]

just love the lines of that hull. killer boat.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Agreed! I so wish the industry had maintained this design after WWII.

[@allaroundgoodtimes]

This is exactly what i want...need one of these for my toy collection

[@snakemtboatworks]

She could be yours. Check out her post preservation video, which I posted two weeks or so ago.

[@bigjay6743]

What a beautiful boat I've always wanted one from the the late twenties early thirties hard to come by if you find one there usually rotted to nothing...

[@coolhandluke5557]

Stunning

[@robertsupercalifragilistic7404]

I want one so badly, classy in every way

[@armandomederosjr.1247]

Love the originals like this one. Wow it was hauling

[@swampfox946]

Beautiful boat! Didn't know Champlain was so hilly, either. Looks like a damn nice part of the country.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Those are the Adirondacks in NY State you see across the Lake. Yes, it is God's county for sure.

[@bduff007]

Thing of beauty

[@snakemtboatworks]

That she is. Thank you!

[@q95oldies57]

We had a 47 model years back. Looked very similar. Only had the 60 hp 4 cyl.

[@9sec93lx]

Looks great, nice job guys.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Thank you!

[@geewhite32]

You can feel the lurve. Lovely boat. Enjoy. Gee x

[@stephenlandry9061]

That sound. My uncle had one and it was the best

[@jscottmaclean226]

VERY nice!!!

[@pjwpsw1]

Beautiful!

[@jeffbennett8093]

Do you ever take your boats to tahoe for the Christmas Craft show?

[@jeffbennett8093]

+Jeff Bennett Chris Craft

[@TobiasVandenbempt]

What a great boat ! Any new manufacturers copying and rebuilding this design?

[@snakemtboatworks]

There is an outfit in Lake George, NY that builds new Hackercraft runabout replicas.

[@LarryLunchbox]

You bet she’s a keeper…if not, I’ll take her

[@avioncamper]

I love it. RJ was having too much fun. :) The exhaust was superb, in-line 6?

[@snakemtboatworks]

Yes, she is powered by a flathead six and dual carbs that produces 148 HP.

[@cjgardner8516]

Classic

[@shawnkeeler]

The windshield looks more to be a 50s style the 30s were still pretty squared off. My 1938 utility has a drop down windscreen.

[@snakemtboatworks]

You are 100% wrong. Those are Chris-Craft Pre-WWII windshield brackets. Remember this boat is a DOUBLE-COCKPIT-FORWARD RUNABOUT, not a utility with its engine beneath a dog house. You are trying, and failing to compare two entirely different models; sort of like comparing a truck (the utility) to a race car (the runabout) Yes, the upswept deck and fold-down windshield was offered on utilities, especially on triple cockpits in the Pre=WWII era.

[@snakemtboatworks]

See more below, but here is a brief video-based introduction to Pre- and Post-WWII windshield styles: 1948 20’ Truscott Runabout and 19’ Utility: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nneTopaZbLdloq8 1953 18’ Chris-Craft Riviera: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYvQlqylds-nnJo 1959 17’ Chris-Craft Sportsman - The correct Chris-Craft Post WWII two-piece windshield brackets: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4u0g6CYaKmqrNU (Chris-Craft switched from flat two-piece to Plexi one-piece windshields in the mid-1050s.) 1953 22; Model 110S Shepherd Runabout: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpbQe3mBoayajMk 1937 20’ Lyman Runabout - flat fold-down): kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH-xeZxuZ8uorZo

[@scottjones2673]

Question! What do you mean by, "leave her in the water for a week, let her finish soaking up"? Can you explain? Thanks.

[@bigjay6743]

What he means is the boat needs to sit in the water and the wood absorb water into it and swell so the joints are Tighter and it keeps it from leaking. All wood boats are like this. Whiskey barrels work the same way but backwards...

[@Hungry_Tree_Ghost]

Yes, sir. Big Jay has it. Wooden boats will have spacing in-between wood planks. In order for them to seal up, one would sit a boat in a lift or tie off to a dock for a few days with the bilge pumps set on auto, or someone would periodically check the bilge to run the pumps. Once it's soaked enough the boat is considered water tight. On extreme cases where the wood planks have shrunk in width from drying out from decades not being in the water, a boat would be set in a slip while being cradled by a belt hoist, because the pumps wouldn't be able to keep up with the amount of water coming into the bilge. If the boat doesn't seal up enough after a few days, being that it's being cradled by a hoist, it can be lifted out, and set somewhere for any repairs, or wood work that would be needed to ensure water tightness.

[@jimcole6423]

I have one I found in a building. very good shape. Whats the value of something like this?

[@snakemtboatworks]

Sorry, I am neither a surveyor or a broker. The Hagerty Insurance Website offers market valuations for your boat.

[@jimcole6423]

@@snakemtboatworks Thanks.

[@MaximusMerideus]

I was wondering if I wanted to buy a beautiful boat like this, how much would it cost? Thanks for any help.

[@snakemtboatworks]

If you can find one that has been properly preserved and has near 100% original wood, expect asking prices in the range of $55,000 - $65,000.

[@ElectionFraudHasConsequences]

They didn't dramatically change the look of their boats until 1965. 20 years after the war.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Maybe, but with those design changes came cutting corners everywhere possible, which cheapened wooden Chris-Craft vessels dramatically. Remember, by 1965 Chris-Craft, along with the other iconic marques, were fighting and ultimately losing the war against inexpensive fiberglass hulls.

[@ElectionFraudHasConsequences]

@@snakemtboatworks They were still making mahogany halls in 1964 You might want to check that. Hence my original comment. An authority on Chris Craft you are not sir. I have a 55 and a 41.. Which models do you own?

[@snakemtboatworks]

@@ElectionFraudHasConsequences YUP, Jimmy boy, which is what I replied. However, Chris began cutting corners in every way imaginable - fewer frames, thinned plywood inner skin, cheaper mahogany, fewer complex curves, almost no tumblehome, softwood stringers, cheaper hardware and on and on and on. You own two? Good for you. We've preserved well over 100 dating from very early Pre-War through some of the last hulls manufactured in the sixties. I know of what I speak, my friend. If you must know, I have owned multiple 20's vintage Cadets and runabouts, 1930's barrel backs, and deluxe runabouts, including Flyin' By; and multiple early 1950's 17' Deluxe Sportsmen, two mid-1940's cedar-planked U22's, a 1950 18' RIV and a 1956 22' Deluxe Sportsman. I have just purchased Owen Smith's fully documented and personally designed and owned 1937 21' Utility Deluxe Angler, complete with his original and signed hull card, #35252. You can come and see her at the ABM ACBS show in Clayton, NY, next August.

[@snakemtboatworks]

In case you wish to inform yourself, you might buy and read a copy of The Mariners Museum's Jerry Conrad, "Chris-Craft - The Essential Guide. And, it took me a while, but here is an excellent article that answers the question, "When did Chris-Craft Stop Making Wooden Boats?" The last model offered, I believe, was the 57'' Constellation, which Chris-Craft introduced in 1968 and stopped producing in 1972, according to Conrad. Then, of course there are all of the Chris-Craft kit, racing and sailboats that Chris-Craft moved into in a failed attempt to forestall fiberglass wiping out wooden boats. (Remember, Chris-Craft's first foray into glass was in the late 1950s.) If you can find a copy and are willing to pay a very hefty price for it, I recommend J. Lee Barrett, "speedboat kings," which chronicles the long relationship between Christopher Columbus Smith and Gar Wood on the St. Clair River and in the Algonac factory in upper Michigan. Finally, there is the richly illustrated and deeply researched, Jeffrey L. Rodengen's, "The Legend of Chris-Craft," with Peter Henkel roaring across the dust jacket on the St. Clair in his beloved 1928, 26' Chris triple runabout, Climax. (The Legend ... is still available from book sellers, but it is not cheap. www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30670099892&cm_mmc=ggl-_-COM_Shopp_Rare_noclick30-_-product_id=bi%3A%2030670099892-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3rKQBhCNARIsACUEW_bwYgchp3kzh7fLq0nk5TFDhLn-X_BMLydmnJ-ub76yjUnEPTD_fI4aAn7OEALw_wcB). Enjoy and be sure to inform yourself about all things Chris-Craft

[@snakemtboatworks]

Maybe this 1967, FIBERGLASS! 30-ft Chris Sportsman strikes your fancy, Jim. www.antiqueboatamerica.com/Boat/30_Feet_1976_Chris_Craft_Sportsman_42097 She can be yours for the give-away price of $250,000! :)

[@marceloblauth933]

like a charger

[@snakemtboatworks]

One terribly misguided C-C addict harangued me on and on, asserting that all C-C wooden hulls are built to precisely identical dimensions, which, sadly, even Chris Smith admits is woefully wrong, wrong, wrong. Just for yucks and chuckles, here is the article on the topic published in the November/December 2020 issue of Classic Boating Magazine, "Chris-Crafts Weren't Precisely Built by Master Craftsmen?" Having set my sheer line from the original offsets, there is a hump in the sheer line. Original covering boards (or should I say their remains) appear flat/straight. I know that most 1940 barrels have a straight sheer line, or is this just another custom thing? What's a poor boy to do make the sheer line straight by shimming or planing? I just hadn't worked on the 23' Custom and was hoping to get advice from someone who had. I've done a number of 17's and 19's, and those are flat sheers. Is your hump local or a long sweep like the 20' Custom or the Continental? I'd been meaning to ask a fellow restorer how he takes lines off of barrel backs, and how he decides which side of the boat to use for his half-breadth measurements. I've worked on a half-dozen each of l T and 19' Customs (barrel backs) over the years and have never yet seen one that was not at least 3/ 4" different from one side to the other. I had two 19's in the shop, a '39 and a '41, and the centerline of the former was 15/16" off center while the latter was 1-1/8" off center. On the '41, the original deck planks were 1-1/ 2 inch longer on the port side of the fore­ deck than they were on the starboard, because of this ballooning shape difference. In 1992, I was pondering this problem on a 1940 17' when Chris Smith visited. I asked how this could be. It wasn't hogged, and clearly had never seen restoration before. He leaned over, looked at the hull number, and said that it was most likely the factory hull form that was at fault. He surmised that perhaps that framing station had a 100-pound guy on one side and a 200-pounde guy on the other side. He Went on to explain that these boats were not built by craftsmen, but by laborers who know one thing only, and that I shouldn’t expect so much perfection from these boats. (Consider this caption appearing beneath one of the article’s photos: “These young seasonally-employed farm boys can hardly be regarded as shipwrights.) This was when he first explained Chris-Craft’s marketing strategy of a six-year turn-around. This was when their average customer bought a new boat, and the old boat was sold to someone who would work on the leaking bottom. A couple of years later, I rebuilt a gray, 1940 19' barrelback. The transom looked strange and, sure enough, the starboard topsides planks measured 1-1/ 4" longer than the portside topside planks. The transom was that crooked. Don't expect too much perfection from Chris-Craft or any other production wooden boat. We have more than enough purist preservationists romanticizing that ideal. By the way, how did your half­ breadth measurements fare? Did you use a laser line? How much of the deck framework was rotten pine? Why should their heights- measurements be any better than their half-breadths were? I have not totally made the transition to the laser, a little here, a little there. The guys working on my boat were more likely a 300- pounder d a 100-pounder. Thanks again for all of the help. I've also noticed that ea.ch time I read restoration books, there are answers to questions that I missed the first time or two. ….. Hey, I've warned you before, do not expect perfection from Chris-Craft: especially from the barrel backs, which seemed to be an ongoing experiment. I just purchased hull #48510, a 19' barrelback, delivered August 18, 1938. It is extremely original, even to original crash padding (animal­ chewed remnants). It has been in storage since 1973 and does not even have loose bungs. I told you before about how off­ center the barrelback centerlines could be, and I haven't even done that yet (just got it home), but look at these deck planks! The portside plank at this point is 9-3/8" wide. The starboard side plank at the same point is 7-7/8" wide. That's a difference of 1-1/2", and completely original. Classic Boating November/December 2020 pp. 26 & 27

[@nikkirambo]

I'd give a body part for that boat.

[@snakemtboatworks]

Ouch! I wont ask for one....

[@Hungry_Tree_Ghost]

Flip to salesman: "Sir, I'm willing to give you $15,000 and 10 eyelashes."

[@bodiewest9202]

It’d be cool to be rich

[@horseplayjones6795]

sounds like a lawnmower

[@mr.butterworth]

@Horse Play Jones like a WWII fighter plane is more like it.