tavares here we come...

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:08 pm

Geeze Matt. You should move to the midwest where the weather is mild.

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:08 pm

Ya know, I dont mind the snow. Pat was telling me today, that on top of the 2 ft base. 10 inches today. Now that is snow. Here its slush already. The turns to black ice...ahhhhh... For the record, this winter is more than welcome to quit. Leave, Go to Australia. Have a shrimp on the barbie...mmmm Barbie... I understand she had a Chris Craft on eBay a while back.....

rhysaccess · Post by **rhysaccess** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:10 am

Hey Matt,

You can keep your cold - cheers. Another fine day here in Australia. Around 25 dgrees celsius (75f).

Nice driving with the sunroof open....don't forget the sunglasses.

We call them prawns - not shrimps, and best not put them on a BBQ unless you're more estrogen than testosterone.

Regards,

Rhys

THE RAZZ · Post by **THE RAZZ** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:20 pm

Checking in from the West, its 58 degrees on San Francisco Bay today. :)

Pete DeVito · Post by **Pete DeVito** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:20 pm

Sounds like there is going to be a pretty good group at Mission Inn Resort during the festival. Maybe we can get together for a cocktail..

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:28 pm

Done deal. I'll bring the olives

Chad Durren · Post by **Chad Durren** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:53 pm

I'll bring my archive of filthy jokes and amusing bar tricks. My undergraduate degree from MSU will come in handy.

Pete DeVito · Post by **Pete DeVito** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:08 pm

Matt
Hopefully they are some good olives big spender...
enjoy your site and I think the woody babes would really upgrade my boat?? guess they won't be at Mount Dora....

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:26 pm

I can photo shop anything. Send a shot of your boat..

mcisaac inc · Post by **mcisaac inc** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:24 am

Matt, loved your Classicboating-Playboy and wood analogy as well......................mark

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:35 am

Todays story. Wet Swedish Beauties...

http://woodyboats.blogspot.com/2009/03/ ... -said.html

You wont be disapointed..

Don Ayers · Post by **Don Ayers** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:23 pm

I can hardly stand it. Only a couple of weeks till show time. We are gearing up for the trip. Got the boat out tonight and cranked it up. Desi is purring like a kitten and ready to run down a gator or two!!!

Can't wait to see all who are going. Please stop by the Chris Craft tent and put a face with a name!

Mark Christensen · Post by **Mark Christensen** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:37 pm

I'll have to walk to the mission inn for a couple drinks. I'd love to meet some of you guys.

Maybe a couple cigars are in order?

Mark

Post by **mattbyrne** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:09 pm

I can't wait, 11 days and counting. The boat is almost ready for Florida, I pulled the it out of storage this weekend to do a little prep work on it . Hopefully it still runs, it didn’t see the water last year. I'm waiting until next weekend to fire it up and avoid any chance of cold weather.

My wife loves it when there are two boats in the garage and we have to park the cars outside. I think there should always be two boats in the garage, it just a nice look :~)

Here‘s a picture, the work in progress in the background should be ready for Tavares in 2011, maybe? I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and hitting the water.

tom king · Post by **tom king** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:09 am

Damn, I usually try and make this show ever year but I've missed the last two years. Work seems to be interferring with my play time.

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:39 am

Tom, I wish you were going to be there. Last year at this event, we had a pretty good presence. Prior to the event, we sent out a couple of emails, and posted on Boat Buzz, "Lets meet at the Chris-Craft tent at noon on Saturday for a quick get together and photo. We didn't know how many of us attended this show, but we had a hunch it was somewhere around a hundred. Over the course of that weekend, I would all but guarantee that I shook hands with over 300 of our members, from as far away as Seattle, Germany, UK, Canada...all over really.

So, this year we decided we'd try another experiment of sorts. With Riva being the featured marque for this year's show, and with the historic ties between Riva, and Chris-Craft, we decided to throw a little party. You were all invited via Email and here on Boat Buzz. We thought we would have a nice little gathering of members, and Riva enthusiasts.

Well, over the course of 60 days, we watched as the registrations came in. 50, then 100. 150 the next week. 175 the next. 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, and now nearly 450 registered attendees for our little get-together. We have had such a tremendous response that we are working quickly to move the event to an outdoor venue...still at the Lakeside Inn. We quickly exceeded the capacity of their indoor facilities.

We're kind of new at hosting annual get-togethers. We're learning by fire, and we are looking at the participation here, and doing a bit of dreaming about an annual Chris-Craft Rendezvous, somewhere near you!

Thanks for all who have registered. I truly wish that all of our members could attend. What fun that would be.

Take Time · Post by **Take Time** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:33 pm

Bill/Group,

Have you thought about coming out to the left coast? The show at Lake Tahoe is great and the date has moved up this year to June. Rooms can be very expensive at Lake Tahoe, but you stay at a "ski condo" for $100 per night. Last year we stayed at the base of Squaw Yalley for that. The best time to go is on the VIP day on Friday. It is worth the price for the limited crowd, great food and boat rides.

Rob

tgfinn · Post by **tgfinn** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:06 pm

This is my first time at the fl show, I have been dormant over the past couple of years,I need a jump start to get me to finish my boat, so I stayed in fl an extra month to renew my interest !
kick me in the butt guys!!!
hope to see you there saturday!
Tim

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:02 am

Well, we made it. I just arrived to the show grounds after a day of setup yesterday. I'll try to post over the course of the day as things get underway.

dustoff135 · Post by **dustoff135** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:11 am

This is to wish every 'Boat-Buzzer' a safe and great time while in FL. I only wish I could be there to meet some boating comrades.

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:10 am

Weather is windy, but sunny. Lots of boats in the water leaving for the picnic. Will post a few photos shortly.

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:49 am

Heres Bill trying to load images. This is great. For the mean time you can see images and hourly uodates on woodyboater.com Woohoooo!

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:28 pm

Chris Craft put on a very nice reception last ( Thurs) night with 450+ people celebrating the friendship with the Riva Historica Society. Hagerty was the sponson.

Matt Smith · Post by **Matt Smith** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:51 pm

What an amazing show for Chris Craft and Riva owners. this year your Chris Craft Antique Boat Club pulled out all the stops. A great event with 400 folks... No arrests by the way... So it was not all that good.. HA. Hats off to Bill Basler for doing an amazing job litterly 10 hrs a day. And set up... All while having his family there with his wife just about due for #6 and we are not talk"n boats. At any given time there were folks at the tent talking and buying stuff. Bill Baldwin has the energy of a 20 year old... Dang... Don Ayers juggling his time torn between two lovers seamlesly Chris Craft, and Riva an after a 27 drive with his smoke'n hot wife...The father of the Chris craft club showed up. Bill will no doubt tell us abot that and some of the designers and workers from the old Chris craft days.. Also a story to come from Bill Baldwin on that for the Bell. Stuff was flying off the shelves, including the pink chris craft caps .. Yes Pink.... So when you get a chance clog up both Bills and Dons email with thanks. See more shots on WoodyBoater.com

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:26 pm

Matt:

A great event as you described...No it wasn't the father of the Chris Craft Club that showed up but if you go to the archives and click on Vol #1 # 1 of The Brass Bell you will see that J. Jean Vincent was one of the original founders of the Club back in 1973 and he was there with his wife Barb. I suppose the original founder of the club was Chris Craft Industries but they are no longer in business after several sell outs and buy outs. Dick Avery who designed the Lancers and some of the Commander topsides was there. Jim Wick and Bob Botham who were with Murray Chris Craft and now operate LPX services with an unbelievable supply of Chris Craft parts were there checking out a Lanver in the Boats for sale section when I saw them.
Chris Smith, the link between the ole company and those of us of today was there was there with his Chris Craft Rocket.
Herb Hall and Marti Felleta (sp) were there to make the Riva connection. There were also two guys from Italy with the Riva Historical Club to make the Riva Connection. Reva was the featured boat at Mt. Dora this year.
A tad windy but it got off to a great start...thanks to show organizer Terry Fiest and his committee of thousands who volunteered to make the show run.
If you needed a part, it was in the flea market.

Wilson

Mark Christensen · Post by **Mark Christensen** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:01 pm

http://picasaweb.google.com/stolte.dans ... ylandACBS#

Awesome show. great people. I would love to go again next year!

tuobanur · Post by **tuobanur** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:25 am

Thanks for the pics Mark, hope I can make it next year with my ride.

chriscraftrick · Post by **chriscraftrick** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:29 pm

Just got back from Florida, had a great time. Hats off to Terry and his gang, chatted with a lot of guys but missed a few. This was my first but not my last. Great job by Bill and the Riva guys. Lots of great boats. Thanks!!!

Post by **mattbyrne** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:11 pm

Here is a link to the pitures I took at the show:

http://blackhawkacbs.com/PhotoGallery/t ... fault.aspx
Enjoy.

Matt

57 chris · Post by **57 chris** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:17 am

Matt,
very nice photos, I surely missed a good time. I hope to be able to go next year-economy permitting.

Craig

tavares here we come...

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