It’s a slow process, one board, one screw at a time. The task is daunting, taking the ghost of a once proud boat and restoring it to its grand look. It is amazing, especially knowing the condition they are in on arrival.
"Mostly gray tired boats sitting out rotting," said Russ Arrand, . "Luckily, there are so many boats in Michigan. You can find someone with a similar boat if you have to go measure, see how the interior was done."
This is not a quick process, thousands of individual screws, many boards soaking for weeks, so they can bend into position. And the coats of varnish, oh the coats of varnish! There were many wood boat manufacturers, but the biggest was Chris Craft.
"About 1941 they expanded, they actually had a plant here in Cadillac from 1941 to 1968. At one time they had 8 plants around the world. They were the largest producer of wood boats in the world," said Russ.
Russ has spent the last 30 years restoring them. There is the classic warm look of the wooden vessel, and he says the wooden hull cuts the waves much smoother than the modern fiberglass. All of this adds up to a boat that even in disrepair is desirable to resurrect!
"Well, people my age thinking back to when they were younger. Their dad had a wood boat. They remember boating on Mullet or where ever. A lot of those people want a wood boat behind the cottage," explained Russ.
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