by Steve Lapkin compliments of Lapkin Photography
The boat in the masthead is owned by Brian and Kathy Fair named Sarah Lee which is a 1956 18' Century Arabian. Winner of the 2021 Best Century Award ACBS International Boat Show, CDA, ID and the 2021 Best Century & Dick Werner Award Lake Tahoe Concours d’ Elegance, NV.​​
2024 Chapter Officers
President: Ron Yandt
Past President: BK Powell bk@ofcpros.com
Vice President: Wes Yandt
Treasurer: Mike Wilson
Secretary: Kathy Dutro
Membership: Petyr Beck
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Scuttlebutt/Webmaster: Alan Wardsworth
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Sponsorship: Tom Yake
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Activity Chair: Paul Rodkey
Board Of Directors
Doug Brooke
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Tim Murphy
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Alan Wardsworth
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Petyr Beck
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Glen Dutro
Message from the President
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My goals as your President is to improve communication to our members and to have more activities to use our boats and have some fun. The Board has seriously taken steps to get our Website up and running like it was a few years ago. And for the fun part, we have set the dates for all three boat shows that we sponsor. In addition, we have planned four 4 other events starting with the Spokane Boat Show in January. Next, there will be a Car/Boat Garage Tour in April or May. Then we will have a Show & Shine in early June. This is a tune up for the Whitefish Woody Weekend in June, and finally use your boat Rendezvous on Lake Coeur d’Alene. There will be lots of other events to use your boat and meet other chapter members. So get your boat shined up and ready to go for 2024.
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Happy Boating,
Ron Yandt
Our Mission:
To bring people together with a common interest in historic, antique, and classic boats, sharing fellowship, information, experience, and exchange of ideas.
To protect the heritage of boating by promoting, first, the preservation and, secondly, the restoration of historic antique and classic boats.
To promote, further, and encourage a love and enjoyment of all aspects of historic, antique, and classic boating.
To serve as a communication channel for our membership, the public, and any other entities regarding information relating to historic, antique, and classic boating.This includes serving as a clearing house and referral service for all information relating to historic, antique, and classic boating. To serve as the governing body and parent organization for such chapters as shall be formed and created under our auspices; this includes providing support for and communicating with these chapters.
To inspire and support quality boat shows and related events among our chapters; to establish and maintain standards for classifying boats and conducting boat shows.
To educate our membership and the general public concerning safety and protocol as it relates to historic, antique, and classic boating.
Boat Show Chairs
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Sandpoint - Don Robson
Coeur D’ Alene - Kodie Woodhead
Dry Rot Priest Lake - Brian Fair
Summer Picnics - Paul Rodkey
Scuttlebutt Newsletter Calendar
General Issue Updates
Winter - January 1
Summer - June 1
Fall - Oct 1
Article Updates
January 30 (Spokane Boat Show)
June 30 (Whitefish Woody Weekend)
July 15 (Sandpoint Boat Show)
August 15 (CDA Boat Show)
September 15 (Dry Rot Boat Show)
November 15 (Elections)
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Contests Dates: February 1-30 March 1-30. April 1-30
Time to Winterize
Your Boat!
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If you live in a colder climate, winterizing your boat at the end of each boating season should be a standard part of your boating best practices. Doing this does take some time and effort, but in the long run, it’s one of the best ways to keep your boat in its best condition and ready for the next boating season. It’s also a crucial “safety first” task to protect yourself, friends, and family when using your boat. Even if you don’t live in a cold climate, if you plan to store your boat or don’t plan to use it for any length of time, a good “winterization” process helps protect your boat in storage so it’s ready for you when you’re ready to get back out on the water.
Why You Should Winterize Your Boat Every Year
We touched on it above, but one of the best reasons to follow a thorough winterization process after each boating season is to get the most out of your boat and your time on the water.
Boats are expensive toys! Skipping essential maintenance and upkeep tasks can lead to a boat that doesn’t function well (or at all) when you’re anxious to launch for your first water outing of the season. It can also get expensive to fix preventable issues that you could avoid with a simple winterization checklist each season.
Without proper winterization, your boat is prone to cracking and bursting. Overall degradation becomes a significant problem, too.
Get Out on the Water Faster Each Season
Maximizing your time on the water means you get the most out of your boat and time with friends and family every season! However, if you’re spending valuable boating days taking care of maintenance issues that should be part of last season’s boat winterization, you could be missing some of your best days on the lake.
While it might not be the most fun you have with your boat, taking the time to winterize properly will get you back out on the water faster when the weather warms again.
Stay Safe on the Water
Boat winterization helps you keep an eye on every aspect of your boat. It also helps you catch problems early and prevent other issues that could lead to safety concerns when it’s time to get back out on the water.
Even if you don’t live in an area with a lengthy cold season, if your area experiences a hard freeze or you simply don’t plan to use your boat for a while, its highly recommend follow this checklist to take good care of your boat while it’s out of the water.
Should You DIY It (Or Find a Professional)?
Is it a good idea to winterize on your own, or should you pay someone to do it? With the checklist provided below, any boater can work through this task on their own.
Keep in mind, though, that it is a complicated process. It’s not hard but proceed with caution and follow the guide for successful winterization. After you’ve done it the first time, you’ll be better prepared to do it again at the end of next season (and every season)! However, if you don’t have the time or you’d rather pay someone else to do it, make sure you find a true boat winterization expert to handle this important process for your craft. The right professional can tackle this task efficiently without missing any steps to keep your boat safe and sound while not in use.
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Step 1: Check Your Boat’s Owner’s Manual
Review your owner's manual thoroughly and consider its instructions before taking any other action. Each boat comes with unique recommendations for winterization, so it's essential to follow the specific guidelines tailored to your boat. If you’re not sure where the boat’s manual is (or if you even have one), Discover Boating is a good resource for finding “lost” manuals. Then, with the owner’s manual as your guide for specifics, get started on the winterization process.
Step 2: Prepare the Inboard Engine
If your boat has an inboard engine, it’s time to change the oil and oil filters. You’ll also need to flush the engine (or multiple engines) with fresh water. Then, following the instructions in the owner’s manual, circulate antifreeze through the manifold. Before moving on from the engine, spray each cylinder with “fogging oil” to help protect it against corrosion. Finish by spraying a cloth with WD-40 and wiping down the engine. This helps clean and protect your engine by displacing moisture. If your boat doesn’t have an inboard engine, you can skip this step and move on to the next one for an outboard motor.
Step 3: Prepare the Outboard Motor
For boats with outboard motors, the first step is to flush the engine with fresh water. Make sure all water drains out. Then, give the motor’s exterior a thorough wash with soap and water. Rinse it thoroughly! Next, drain the fuel from the carburetor using the instructions in the owner’s manual. Then, lubricate all parts thoroughly and apply fogging oil on the pistons and cylinders. Use water-resistant grease on the threads and propeller shaft. Lightly wax the engine’s exterior. In the lower unit, be sure to change the gear oil.
Step 4: Inspect and Process the Stern Drive
This step applies to inboard and outboard motors. Start by inspecting the lower unit and removing barnacles or plants. Then, for boats with a rudder boot, check for pinholes or cracks. Once those inspections are completed, move on to the gear case, drain the oil, and check for excessive moisture. Too much moisture in your oil could indicate leaking seals that will need repair. Then, wash the unit’s exterior with soap and water. Grease all fittings. Then check the fluid levels in the lift pumps or hydraulic steering. Reference the boat’s manual again for these steps for any specifics or additional recommendations from the manufacturer.
Step 5: Add Fuel
Even though you won’t be taking the boat out on the water any time soon, it’s crucial to fill the fuel tanks at this stage. This helps avoid condensation build up in the tanks. You’ll also want to add a fuel stabilizer during this step. Then, change the fuel filter and water separator.
Step 6: Empty the Bilge
Don’t store your boat with water in the bilge. Empty the bilge and clean it with soap and water.
Then, dry it thoroughly and spray it with lubricant to help displace moisture. If it’s not possible to remove all water from the bilge, adding a small amount of antifreeze will prevent any remaining water from freezing while the temperatures are low. I have used a bilge cleaner that you simply pour into the bilge and it soaks up oils and gases which then can be washed out, it also smells pretty good.
Step 7: Drain Freshwater Systems
Does your boat have a freshwater tank or hot water heaters? It’s important to completely drain these systems during the boat winterization process. After draining, run a non-toxic antifreeze through the systems, then turn on all faucets and showers to run until you see the antifreeze running out. Add non-toxic antifreeze to the water heater, too.
Step 8: Empty the Head
Depending on where you work through these winterization steps, you might or might not have an appropriate place to empty the head (if your boat has one). To complete this step, “head” to an approved waste facility where you can safely empty the boat’s holding tank. Then, add fresh water to the bowl and flush a few times. This helps clean out the system for storage. Before using cleaning products on the head, consult that owner’s manual again. Avoid products that might cause damage to the system. After flushing and cleaning, add a manufacturer-recommended antifreeze to the holding tank, hoses, macerator, and y-valve.
Step 9: Don’t Forget the Interior
After completing the steps to winterize the boat’s equipment, don’t forget about the interior! Gather lines, PFDs and life jackets, electronics, flares, fire extinguishers, and any other “loose” equipment on board. Inspect each item to ensure they are working properly. This is also a good time to clean these items. For anything that isn’t in good working condition, remove these items from the boat and make a note to replace them before the next boating season. Next, check any lockers or storage areas, including the fridge or freezer – if you have these items. Remove items and clean each space thoroughly. Turn pillows and cushions on their sides to allow air circulation. You can also install a humidifier or use a moisture and odor-absorbing product to avoid moisture and mildew during the off-season.
Step 10: Cover the Boat
You’ve done a lot of work to clean and maintain your boat through this winterization process! Keep your hard work and your boat safe at this stage by covering it. Tarps are typically the most popular option for boat coverage. However, if you have the budget, shrink wrap offers a higher level of protection for the outside and interior of your boat. Shrink wrap fits your boat perfectly, where a tarp can leave gaps and expose part of the exterior to the winter elements.
Bonus Tip: Storing Your Boat
What do you do with your boat after it’s winterized? Store it properly! Boaters have two primary options when storing watercraft: out-of-water or in the water.
Storing Out of Water
Lifting your boat out of the water for the off season helps protect it from water and sun damage. It’s also a good way to protect the interior of your boat, including cushions.
When storing a boat in dry out-of-water storage, add a few more steps to your winterization routine, including:
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Removing batteries or use a trickle charger
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Pressure washing the hull
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Cleaning props and shafts
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Cleaning thru-hulls and strainers
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Opening all seacocks for water to drain
Many boaters prefer dry out-of-water storage when boats aren’t in use, but keeping your boat in the water for storage has advantages, too.
In-Water Storage
Keeping your boat in the water during the off season means you're a few steps closer to getting back out on the lake or sea when boating season starts. You won’t have to remove your boat from dry dock and lower it back into the water if it’s already there!
To keep your boat as safe as possible when storing in the water:
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Ensure the battery is fully charged
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Ensure float switches work and are free of obstruction
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Close the seacocks
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Check bilge pumps to ensure they are fully operational
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Ensure you or the marina staff check on your boat periodically
If the water at your dock tends to freeze during the cold seasons, make sure you have a bubbling system or de-icing device around your boat to avoid ice damage.
Boat Winterization Makes Boating Season Better
Boaters who understand when and how to winterize a boat have more fun (and time) on the water during boating season! You’ll also reduce repair costs and extend the life of a watercraft you love and plan to use for many years to come.
PRIEST LAKE DRY ROT 2024 SHOW by Kathy Fair
The weather was amazing, but for the boat participates that attended, even better. Such a fun, filled 4-day show, as I always say, Dry Rot show never disappoints and 2024 was no exception.
Meeting at our first spot Friday night, Nordman Restaurant, in my opinion is the best redneck bar and restaurant ever. Reconnecting with friends, great food and getting excited about what the 2024 show has in store. We sold our t-shirts and hats with an annual great design that Brian custom created, different each year.
We mixed up the Saturday Poker Run, 17 of our previous favorite
stops. Boats met at our dock and as our neighbor said, Brian
looked like a priest/minister giving a sermon on the ladder placed
at a shallow place for a group shot of all the boats. Not a timed
event this year, but go to as many stops as you can in 3 hours.
Extra bonus cards for heading south to stops and north, to the
mouth of the Thorofare. Boats picked their routes, and was totally
up to them. Dennis Riggs’s Joy broke down but Kaniksu offered
them a ride to continue on with the Poker Run. Hats off to John Forney for having boat issues, heading to his dock, changing boats, getting gas in his Resorter and continuing on. Great effort!
Saturday night as the Kaniksu tour boat arrived with our guests, Longhorn BBQ was setting up with their delicious food on our deck. Awards were handed out to Jason Rice who won for best poker hand with Dennis Riggs in 2nd place. Max Throop was awarded the youngest
and newest boat owner award with a 2-liter bottle of
Mountain Dew, since Max is the ripe, young age of 20, with
his 1973 Century Resorter Lost Temper. I can’t image being
20 and having my first boat. Excellent…raised right in my
opinion.
Sunday, everyone met up bright and early to get a prime
parking spot at Elkins Resort. For the first time, we revealed
our straw hats with Dry Rot patches to be sold. They were a
huge hit and sold out in no time. The Roar Off around Pinto
Bay and Indian Creek was amazing and so much fun to see
all the cabin owners on their docks, waving eagerly to get our attention. We had 2 large, Bernese Mountain dogs in our Hacker, appropriately named after our deceased Saint Bernard, Maggie. She is truly a user boat, complete with dogs.
Hill’s Resort, as always, welcomed us with empty dock space to safely park our wood boats. As was the same last year, the American/Apollo/Jolly Roger boats lined up on the beach. Love having the wood and American et al boat clubs meet up together with the Priest Lake Yacht Club. For those that don’t know, it is a play on words…anyone can be in the Yacht Club at Priest, you don’t even need a boat.
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Show awards were handled out after eating lunch and enjoying a Gin Fiz or two. Captain’s Choice was awarded to Darin and Gina Butler with their Chris-Craft Utility U-22, Little Toot. Dock Walkers award was handed out to Ken Cook and his girlfriend Jo from Flathead Lake, Montana. Tim Murphy won our 64 oz flask, complete with a gallon of Idaho Gold whiskey award. We thought it would be site to see him drinking that huge flask in his gorgeous new Stan Craft. Drink up Tim!
Monday, we cruised up the lake through the Thorofare and to the Upper Lake, meeting on a sandy beach for hot dogs and all the fixings. A well-deserved relaxing time on the beach was what all of us needed and the perfect ending to a great show. Slowly boats left to head down the Thorofare but not until we got a group shot of this hearty group.
Saturday morning looked to be a rainy day for our club day out on Lake Coeur d' Alene but as we got to the lake the sun came out and the weather was great. Four boats made the trip to Harrison where we then went up the Coeur d' Alene River to the Chain Lakes. We cruised up the river at a modest pace of 25 mph with a couple no wake zones. We went over 15 miles but probably less than 20 miles and ended up at Medicine Lake which is right next to Cave Lake and had to pass under a really small tunnel. We decided to head on back and not explore Cave lake because it had another tiny tunnel and no one was sure about our mileage so we headed back to Harrison and historic One Shot Charlies for lunch. It turned out to be a great time and we decided next year we will be traveling to St. Maries up the St. Joe.
On the road with Wes Yandt: ACBS 2024 Vintage Boat Week update from the Yandt’s. 3 days, 1300 miles, 100 gallons of Diesel, and 0
troubles got us to the Woody boat Mecca of the
universe. Today was the first of 2 days of boating
on the Whitefish Chain lakes. We are convinced
that you could boat for years and still not see all
the water here. Spectacular!!
Day two (Tuesday) of the 2024 Vintage boat week was a day of adventure for the Yandt crew. We felt like we wanted to go at our own pace, so we ventured out on our own to see the last three lakes in the Whitefish chain of Lakes, Cross Lake, Daggert Lake and Little Pine Lake. We then put Crew Sader back on the trailer and cleaned her up. Two days of water spots needed some attention.
Day three (Wednesday) we met the tour buses down at Maddens Resort. They took us 90min through the Minnesota countryside to Alexandria Minnesota where we were greeted at the Legacy of the Lakes Museum. We toured the different displays on our own and then were treated to a wonderful sit-down lunch. After lunch we listened to a very in-depth history of the Falls Flyer which was produced right there in Alexandria by the Larson Boat Company. This presentation was given by Lee Wangstaff. We discovered that one of the old Gar Woods on display was first delivered to the Yandt Boat Works in 1937. “Oracle” is on loan to the museum from Carl Mammel. I looked back through my old pictures and found what I think is this boat being unloaded from the rail car. WOW!!!
Wednesday evening was a welcome reception at John and Becky Allen’s Fort Mahogany. There are no words to accurately describe what we experienced that evening. It was sensory overload!! Three buildings chock full of the nicest antique and classics cars and boats that you can EVER imagine. The grounds were beautiful. Everywhere you turned there was food and drinks being offered. It was a wonderful evening. Now we pack up and head down to Maddens on Gull Lake for the show. Hope we still have the energy……
An update from Wood and Water II in Gull Lake Minnesota. Day 4 (Thursday) was transition day for us. We moved from the Whitefish Chain Lakes down ~40 miles south to Maddens Resort on the south end of Gull Lake. About halfway down we stopped at the Bar Harbor Supper Club to put Crew Sader in the water and get it positioned for the Show. Once that was done, we took time to look at some of the boats that were already in place as well as watch some of the boats maneuver into position.
That afternoon Rick and Jan Means from our chapter joined us for a two-and-a-half-hour cruise on the Upper Gull Lake chain of lakes. The big Caddy took us through three or four lakes to finally get to Nisswa Lake. Our leader slowed down to an idle and pointed to the house of Lee and Penny Anderson who would be hosting us on Friday evening. WOW!! Thursday evening eight of our group experienced what a Supper Club was all about. We dined at Bar Harbor Supper Club, and it was a treat.
Day five (Friday) It’s business time. All the boats (150 to 175) were in place and the army of ACBS judges all had their assignments. They descended on the docks with purpose. They worked in teams of two judges and met with the skippers at each boat. My hats off to those guys. They worked hard all day and thoroughly reviewed the accuracy of each of the judged boats. While the judges were doing their work, show attendees as well as all the boat owners were milling around on the docks looking at all the beautiful boats.
All week long the buzz amongst the attending was talk about the event on Friday evening at the Anderson’s. “You haven’t seen anything yet” was what everyone was saying about the venue. Well…….they were right. We had not seen anything yet. Lee and Penny Anderson hosted us at their house and boat house for Friday night’s ACBS fund raiser that benefits the ACBS scholarship fund. I heard that they could only manage 300 people for the event. Once again, I tried to take it in and appreciate what I was seeing but could not. Towards the end of the evening I was over whelmed and found myself walking by boats that were one of a kind and not even stopping to look. I will let the pictures do the talking here.