Owner - John Baumann
Home Town - Okauchee, WI
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Special Runabout
Length - 19
Year - 1938

Additional Information
1956 17 ft. deluxe runabout with original 6 cyl. 120 Horse power KLC engine. The boat spent most of it’s life on Delevan Lake, until I purchased it two years ago. The boat needed some minor repairs, some touch up to the varnish, and a little TLC. She still needs the decking to be re-calked, but that is a project for this winter.


Owner - Matt Byrne
Home Town - Aurora
Make -
Model -
Length -
Year -

Additional Information


Owner - Ted & Cindy Cartner
Home Town - Antioch, IL
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Custom Sedan
Length - 22
Year - 1950
Boat Name - SNOW CLOUD

Additional Information
Dr. Alvin Spire bought the boat new as a retirement gift to himself. Shortly after he became ill and didn't use the boat much. It stayed in his boat house unused for many years. After a few other owners we bought the boat with about only 180 hrs of use. We completely refurbished SNOWCLOUD to original.


Owner - Ted & Cindy Cartner
Home Town - Antioch, IL
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Super Deluxe Semi Enclosed Cruiser
Length - 27
Year - 1951
Boat Name - CHRYSALIS

Additional Information
CHRYSALIS spent a good deal of its' life as a Coast Guard inspected tour boat on Grand Lake Colorado. When we purchased it from Bill Gage it have been modified with seating for about 15 people. We took out the extra seating and pretty much re-did the entire boat. The engines were in pieces, bottom planks were broken from a cradle hat didn't fit, gauges and all shift linkages were missing, etc., etc., etc,. It took a couple of years to rebuild, but now this is one real fun boat.


Owner - Lance Ehrke
Home Town - Brookfield, WI
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Dual Cockpit Deluxe Runabout
Length - 18
Year - 1933
Boat Name - Miss Molly Ann

Additional Information
Our Chris Craft is a 1933 18 foot Dual Cockpit Deluxe Runabout. Built in the winter of 1933, she was delivered in early 1934 to Green Lake, Wisconsin. She is serial 33013 and is an early model of the Chris Craft family of Runabouts that were built over the next 5 years. She has a number of unique features: a black waterline, an oversized 1928 steering wheel, a nickel plated robe rail, the rub rails are from a Chris Craft Triple, an oversized front cockpit, and a finished mahogany front floor panel under the dash board. After a 25 year life on Green Lake she endured a lot of damage. A hole was chopped in her deck for a large anchor. Finally, dragged partially ashore, her engine was run until it blew up. Dirty bilge and burnt oil covered the interior and she was left partially submerged. The engine was removed and used as a buoy anchor. After about 8 years in this condition, we acquired the remains in 1968 and began planning to restore her to operating condition. We spent several years cleaning, reading, and retrieving records from the Chris Craft Factory. One summer, our 5 young children said they were bored. To relieve their boredom, they began the project of stripping varnish, cleaning oil soaked interior wood, and looking at pictures of what the boat would look like when she was restored. They never claimed to be bored again, even to this day.

In 1980, we located a replacement Model B engine in New York and Peter Henkel restored it. Restoration began in fits and starts. Cleaning and replating hardware, new windshield glass, checking and testing instruments, saving all of the 33013 stamped parts, and we salvaged virtually all the hardware, but the deck damage and the dried out hull were a mess. We stored her over the years at our stable in Dousman and storage shed at Green Lake. We attempted to repair the decks, but they were too far gone.
Finally, with the arrival of a 5 grandchildren we decided to completely restore the boat. A year in planning and a year in working with an excellent group of skilled, experienced help, the boat is now restored to her original delivered condition. She was finished at the beginning of July and is beautiful. She is completely restored and works perfectly. She has returned to her home on Green Lake. Our bored group of children, who spent hours working on her, and our grandchildren have now enjoyed cruising on a very happy Chris Craft. She is back at her Green
Lake home again with smiling, laughing children.


Owner - Don Emigholz
Home Town - Kewanee, IL
Make - Streblow
Model - Runabout
Length - 18
Year - 1960
Boat Name - Whisper

Additional Information
I purchased the boat in 1992. Two years later we refinished the hull and in 1995 we replaced the interior.

She was built in 1960 and is powered by a Y block Interceptor engine of 135 hp. Her original owners bought the boat off the show room floor in Mc Henry Illinois. They claimed a top speed of 51 mph when new. In 1982, they sold the boat and it was not used extensively until we bought her in 1993. She was completely refinished in 1994 and reupholstered the following year. Since that time we have enjoyed her
every summer attending boat shows and outings in the Wisconsin area. When I was a boy I had a horse named WHISPER, that was the joy of my life. Hence, the name WHISPER and she has filled that void admirably.


Owner - Jerry and Carol Petersen
Home Town - Elkhorn, WI
Make - Shepherd
Model - Hardtop
Length - 24
Year - 1954
Boat Name - Swingin’ Shepherd

Additional Information
I am the third owner of the Swingin’ Shepherd. She was delivered to Lake Vermillion, MN in 1954, and then later sold to a property owner on Lake
Minnetonka, MN where I found her in 2000. Her name is derived from the jazz tune “The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues”. Shepherds were built in Niargara-on-the-
Water, Ontario for the waters of the Canadian Great Lakes. I believe she is the only 24 foot hardtop in existence. With seats for 6-8 under the roof and roll up windows, she is a wonderful day cruiser. I have taken her with crew on the St. Lawrence, the Rideau, the Mississippi and the Hudson River ACBS cruises. I replaced her transom frames, transom, chine planks and modified her hydraulic shifter to a classic floor lever. The latter was essential for handling when docking.


Owner - Frank & Helen Petran
Home Town - Port Washington, WI
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Sea Skiff Sportsman
Length - 19
Year - 1964
Boat Name - The Run-A-Around

Additional Information
Frank and Helen Petran are the proud owners of the Run-A-Around. She is a 19’ Sea Skiff Sportsman by Chris-craft. Built in 1964 at the Cadillac Plant, it was delivered to Engle Marine Service in Oden Michigan on April 14, 1964. It is one of only 50 boats of this series that were built in 1964. In March of 1965 some of the 5/8” plywood lapstrakes started to delaminate and the boat was returned to the factory for repair.

On a trip in the spring of 2000 to Ohio to visit my son Byron, we stopped at the Antique Boat Connection for a visit with Lou Rauh. They had a 24’ Sea Skiff listed that was of some interest but upon inspection it didn’t fit the bill. He mentioned that he had another smaller Sea Skiff in the other building. This was just what my wife and I were looking for. We owned a 17’
1939 Chris-craft Custom Deluxe Runabout at that time. During the previous years, Helen had gotten quite a few showers from water coming over the bow, of course I just kept replying, “Just the nature of the beast.” But that started to get old. She wanted something just a little bigger and a whole lot drier. The 19’ Sea Skiff would fit the bill. I purchased the boat and told Lou to get all the paperwork together and give me a call at that time. I waited a month as still no word so I called Lou asked him what the holdup was. Some sort of problem about locating the title was what he said but don’t worry, I know the owner personally so as soon as he locates the
title he’ll give me a call. Another 2 months went by but no call so I called Lou and stated that if I don’t receive word that the title was located by the end of the next month the sale was off. The end of the next month I received a call from Lou saying my check is in the mail as the title hadn’t been located. In Spring of 2001, Lou called me and asked if I was still interested in the Sea Skiff and I said “Yes” so a trip to Cincinnati was planned and the Sea Skiff now had a new home. The nice part of the whole deal is all it took was a little paint and varnish, a lot of elbow
grease to bring it to where it is today.


Owner - Jim Staib
Home Town - McHenry, IL
Make - Chris Craft
Model - Sportsman
Length - 22
Year - 1951
Boat Name - Lucky 7

Additional Information
Original Lake Geneva boat. Has been trailered over 20000 miles and used in IL, WI, KY, TN, ID, NY, FL, AL, MS, and Canada