January , 2009

CABBS at the Cleveland Boat

and Waterfront Lifestyle Expo

The 2009 Boat Show has shoved off and is over the horizon. Can Spring be far behind? As usual, our CABBS display of finely crafted wood boats provided a welcome visual relief for the public weary from the sight of white plastic boats. The number of those WPBs was greatly diminished again this year as this event slowly morphs from a boat into a home improvement show. On the other hand, CABBS benefited from this trend as our booth area was 1000 square feet.

Max Peterson , CABBS member and president of the Three Rivers Chapter of the Wood Canoe Heritage Association displayed his beautiful 16 foot cedar strip “Chestnut” canoe.

 

 

People marveled at the construction, bright finish, light weight (63 lbs.) and even the caned wicker seats. Many people could hardly believe that Max uses his canoe on a regular basis and when their attention was directed to the gunwale decoration that reads ‘Max Peterson 2007' in Morse Code they would burst into laughter. Great job Max! It was the centerpiece of our booth.

 

Mark Zalonis , a friend of Max and WCHA member displayed his North American Eastern Woodlands native birch bark canoe. It was built from one piece of birch bark, 16 ft. long by 4 ft.-4inches wide, with eastern white cedar staves and bent ribs.

 

 

All are lashed together with spruce roots and wood pegs and represents an authentic example of this ancient craft. It was built by 11 people, over 6 ½ 10-hour days, in a class at the Wooden Boat School in 1998. Mark was the winner of the end of class canoe lottery, thus having the pride of ownership.

 

The side by side display of Max's and Mark's canoes created an opportunity to educate the public about canoe development. Here was one canoe created using materials, tools and techniques of the stone-age culture sitting next to another canoe built with present day technology. Yet the form and function of these two historically separated objects are IDENTICAL! Try to name another object that has remained unchanged from the stone-age to today.

 

Jim Batteiger had his Wee Rob decked canoe on display. Jim did a terrific job on this lap strake design by Iain Oughtred.

 

 

 

 

 

Jim was particularly proud of his double paddle design which has a two piece pop together joint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ric Blamer displayed his scaled down model of a skiff similar to an Acorn with nail fastened lap strakes. The similarity to full size boat building techniques piqued the interest of many viewers. Nice display, Ric!

 

 

 

The Bailey Boat made its second appearance at the Boat Show. The starboard deck pieces were temporarily in place in contrast to the non-decked port side.

 

 

 

 

 

The spars, built by Ric Altfather , were rigged for the first time by Jim Batteiger and Hank Vincenti , and the sails, sewn by Ric Blamer , were hoisted for the first time.

 

 

 

 

Bob Buddenhagen's finely crafted rudder and tiller were hung on the transom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was sitting on her trailer, newly painted by Ric Altfather and assembled by Hank Vincenti and Jim Batteiger. She is approximately 70 per cent complete with the general construction finished. Final assembly, trimming and sanding, painting and varnishing are yet to be completed. Hot Dog Day 2009 is the goal for her launching and sail trials.

 

Ric Altfather assisted by Paula Smith and Ric Blamer had another successful year leading the CABBS Kids toy boat building with 250 boat kits available. Ric also displayed a rack of his artfully built canoe and kayak paddles.

A big THANK YOU goes to all those CABBS members who volunteered as booth workers. We couldn't do it without your support. We had a number of inquiries about CABBS and hope some of the Boat Show enthusiasm carries through with some new memberships.


 

 

 

 

 

 


 




 

 

 

February 3, 2009