As she emerged triumphantly from the shop this morning, our 1946 Chris-Craft Brightside U22 roared (literally) though her mother of all milestones this morning.
Shauna Whiting, Kocian Instruments, Forest Lake, MN, (http://www.kocianinstruments.com) transformed her gauges into perfectly-functioning objet d’art.
Mickey Dupuis, D & S Custom Metal Restoration, Holyoke, MA, did the same for her hardware.
We added a True 5200 bottom after having executed major frame, keel and chine repairs. Happily, we saved every piece of original mahogany and then applied 24 coats of Interlux Perfection Two-Part Varnish.
Buffing all surfaces and reassembly completed the project.
Her engine, having been rebuilt completely by Robert Henkel, Peter Henkel Inc., Marine, MI, (www.chris-craft-parts.com) turned only briefly before roaring to life and running smoothly, cooled first by water and then seven gallons of antifreeze, and finally fogged and shut down.
Our only disappointment is that what seems to be our new weather reality made doing her sea trial impossible, given the early onslaught of freezing ambient and plummeting water temperatures.
She will now rest in our storage facility until we can take her to Lake Champlain once temperatures recover next spring.