Actually, since it’s a boat, it was really a “boathouse” rather than a “barn” find. Safely tucked inside a dilapidated boathouse on the Magothy, my friend discovered this wonderful wooden Chris-Craft cabin cruiser. A tune-up and a scrub was all she needed to get ready for the first summer she’d seen in years. I was there when she was discovered and have enjoyed cruising this boat on many occasions since.
She’s also a great example of where Chris-Craft was in the mid-1950s. This mahogany-planked, top-of-the-line classic from 1956 is a full-featured cabin cruiser. Her owner says she’s a 26-foot model that measures 25 feet, 10 inches, with a beam of eight feet, one inch. Her top-of-the-line status reflects where she fell among Chris-Craft’s small cruisers of that era. Some boat models were planked in mahogany, while other models’ planking materials included sheet plywood, lapstrake plywood, and within a year, steel. Chris-Craft also produced small cruiser kit boats in plywood for home boat builders in 1956. It would be another bit of time before Chris-Craft made production fiberglass boats.
“Mahogany” was a name that was used liberally in that era for a variety of materials. Chris-Craft used Philippine mahogany that was not mahogany at all, but instead a wood from the Meranti species. African and Honduras mahogany however are both in the Meliaceae (mahogany) family. Apparently Chris-Craft’s Philippine mahogany bends better, has a more uniform color, and sometimes is heavier per board foot.
Chris-Craft’s boat bottoms were double-planked, with each row of planking going in somewhat different directions. This planking was neither cold-molded nor hot-molded construction since no glue was used to tie the two layers together. Instead Chris-Craft used screws—about 150,000 per month!
One boat restorer believes that Chris-Craft built with the expectation that the boat’s first owner would keep it for five to six years, and then would trade up. Many of Chris-Craft’s models were designed to offer just a little bit more in styling and amenities as a step-up purchase.
The main line of Chris-Craft boats’ hull sides was made in a batten seam construction. Here the planks were fastened by screwing to longitudinal battens, which are inside the hull attached to the framing. The planks were butted against each other horizontally and attached to both the frame and to small battens, which allowed the planking to be screwed into the guts of the boat—even between the frames—via these basically horizontal battens. Caulking was then put into the plank seams. The wood swelled once the boat was launched, and the caulking that filled the slight gap between the plank joints allowed those boards to swell.
Chris-Craft boat design and building staff reported to A.W. MacKerer. He was a powerhouse who joined Chris-Craft after working at Hacker, Matthews, Curtis Seaplane, Niagara, Ruddock, and the Purdy Boat Company. He started at Chris-Craft in 1925, was let go due to the Depression, and was re-hired at Chris-Craft around 1934. For the next 30 years, MacKerer ran Chris-Craft’s design and engineering until his last boat design, the Commander Fiberglass 38-foot cabin cruiser, was introduced in 1964.
MacKerer brought production boat building to Chris-Craft, after developing his skills and expertise in efficient boatbuilding methods by working under Gil Purdy, George Crouch, and John Hacker. MacKerer was so highly regarded that he was featured as the subject of a book, “The View from the Bilge,” by his son Don.
Within a matter of months, MacKerer took Chris-Craft into production boat building. The company’s production volume exploded from 33 boats in 1923 to 946 boats by 1929. The techniques and processes MacKerer introduced in 1925-26 were still used successfully in 1956.
Then, there was the Smith family that owned the company. Chris Smith’s Boat Company primarily built custom boats until MacKerer joined them. The family had owned Chris-Craft from the outset, plus or minus a few partners along the way.
Founder Chris Smith later turned over control of his boatbuilding company to one of his sons, Jay Smith. By 1956 Chris’s grandson, Harsen Smith, was in line for the transition to the third generation of Smith family owners. Time Magazine featured Harsen in an article after he was actively running Chris-Craft.
We have MacKerer and the continuation of the Smith family to thank for the pleasure of cruising in this wooden C-C with its Chevy V-8 purring around 1800 rpms. This wooden Chris-Craft makes one forget the day’s worries. For me, that quality of relaxation is what this boat is all about.
by Chris "Seabuddy" Brown
Friday, September 30, 2016 - 08:00
Actually, since it’s a boat, it was really a “boathouse” rather than a “barn” find. Safely tucked inside a dilapidated boathouse on the Magothy, my friend discovered this wonderful wooden Chris-Craft cabin cruiser. A tune-up and a scrub was all she needed to get ready for the first summer she’d seen in years. I was there when she was discovered and have enjoyed cruising this boat on many occasions since.
She’s also a great example of where Chris-Craft was in the mid-1950s. This mahogany-planked, top-of-the-line classic from 1956 is a full-featured cabin cruiser. Her owner says she’s a 26-foot model that measures 25 feet, 10 inches, with a beam of eight feet, one inch. Her top-of-the-line status reflects where she fell among Chris-Craft’s small cruisers of that era. Some boat models were planked in mahogany, while other models’ planking materials included sheet plywood, lapstrake plywood, and within a year, steel. Chris-Craft also produced small cruiser kit boats in plywood for home boat builders in 1956. It would be another bit of time before Chris-Craft made production fiberglass boats.
“Mahogany” was a name that was used liberally in that era for a variety of materials. Chris-Craft used Philippine mahogany that was not mahogany at all, but instead a wood from the Meranti species. African and Honduras mahogany however are both in the Meliaceae (mahogany) family. Apparently Chris-Craft’s Philippine mahogany bends better, has a more uniform color, and sometimes is heavier per board foot.
Chris-Craft’s boat bottoms were double-planked, with each row of planking going in somewhat different directions. This planking was neither cold-molded nor hot-molded construction since no glue was used to tie the two layers together. Instead Chris-Craft used screws—about 150,000 per month!
One boat restorer believes that Chris-Craft built with the expectation that the boat’s first owner would keep it for five to six years, and then would trade up. Many of Chris-Craft’s models were designed to offer just a little bit more in styling and amenities as a step-up purchase.
The main line of Chris-Craft boats’ hull sides was made in a batten seam construction. Here the planks were fastened by screwing to longitudinal battens, which are inside the hull attached to the framing. The planks were butted against each other horizontally and attached to both the frame and to small battens, which allowed the planking to be screwed into the guts of the boat—even between the frames—via these basically horizontal battens. Caulking was then put into the plank seams. The wood swelled once the boat was launched, and the caulking that filled the slight gap between the plank joints allowed those boards to swell.
Chris-Craft boat design and building staff reported to A.W. MacKerer. He was a powerhouse who joined Chris-Craft after working at Hacker, Matthews, Curtis Seaplane, Niagara, Ruddock, and the Purdy Boat Company. He started at Chris-Craft in 1925, was let go due to the Depression, and was re-hired at Chris-Craft around 1934. For the next 30 years, MacKerer ran Chris-Craft’s design and engineering until his last boat design, the Commander Fiberglass 38-foot cabin cruiser, was introduced in 1964.
MacKerer brought production boat building to Chris-Craft, after developing his skills and expertise in efficient boatbuilding methods by working under Gil Purdy, George Crouch, and John Hacker. MacKerer was so highly regarded that he was featured as the subject of a book, “The View from the Bilge,” by his son Don.
Within a matter of months, MacKerer took Chris-Craft into production boat building. The company’s production volume exploded from 33 boats in 1923 to 946 boats by 1929. The techniques and processes MacKerer introduced in 1925-26 were still used successfully in 1956.
Then, there was the Smith family that owned the company. Chris Smith’s Boat Company primarily built custom boats until MacKerer joined them. The family had owned Chris-Craft from the outset, plus or minus a few partners along the way.
Founder Chris Smith later turned over control of his boatbuilding company to one of his sons, Jay Smith. By 1956 Chris’s grandson, Harsen Smith, was in line for the transition to the third generation of Smith family owners. Time Magazine featured Harsen in an article after he was actively running Chris-Craft.
We have MacKerer and the continuation of the Smith family to thank for the pleasure of cruising in this wooden C-C with its Chevy V-8 purring around 1800 rpms. This wooden Chris-Craft makes one forget the day’s worries. For me, that quality of relaxation is what this boat is all about.
by Chris "Seabuddy" Brown