Antique Boat Museum goes to the fair

pTimes staff report/ppA 1913 runabout with original equipment, country singer Alan Jackson’s 1955 cruiser called Flat Top, the 1929 Chris-Craft Sedan Topper, a Mullins Steel Sea Eagle and more vessels spanning 100 years of recreational boating will be featured in the new Maritime Heritage showcase through Sept. 2 at the New York State Fair in Syracuse./ppNew York Sea Grant, the Great New York State Fair, Boating Industries Association of Upstate New York and H. Lee White Maritime Museum will sponsor the mock marina exhibit organized with several contributing partners./ppThe exhibit’s lead designer, Michael Pittavino, curator of H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego, said in a news release: “This ‘Cruising through the Ages’ exhibit explores the rise of recreational boating in 20th century America with a special emphasis on New York State’s contributions to the boating industry and features boats with strong ties to New York’s maritime heritage.”/ppThe Antique Boat Museum of Clayton, the Finger Lakes Boating Museum of Hammondsport and H. Lee White Maritime Museum have provided classic boats and vintage engines for the exhibit. Current-day models have been provided by Smith Boys Marine, with locations statewide, and The Sailboat Shop, Skaneateles./ppVisitors will be able to walk through the mini-marina exhibit on a dry-land, elevated dock built by Empire Dock and Lift, Baldwinsville, in the NY Experience area of the showgrounds. /ppBoats in the 2019 New York State Fair Maritime Exhibit follow in chronological order:/pp1913 Matthews High-Speed Runabout: Skanendowa, renamed Golden Years, with original lights, instruments, hardware, copper gas tank, and Scripps 4 Cylinder engine still intact/pp1929 Chris-Craft Sedan: Topper, with a limousine top, likely displayed at the 1929 San Francisco Boat Show/pp1942 Mullins Steel Sea Eagle runabout: Steel Away, designed by Julias T. Herbst, with five floatation tanks that made it unsinkable/pp1948 Thompson TVT Lake Boat: Keuka Dew II, with a 1949 Evinrude Speedtwin motor/pp1950 Penn Yan Clipper: Challenger, with mahogany hull, oak gunwales and trim, spruce cockpit lining, bronze stem band; fully upholstered in Chinese Red Russialoid/pp1955 Chris-Craft semi-enclosed cruiser: Flat Top, donated to the Antique Boat Museum by country signer Alan Jackson/pp1957 Penn Yan Swift: 12-foot wooden hull vessel built in Penn Yan/pp1965 McPherson Comet: 16-foot molded fiberglass sailboat built in Ithaca/pp1967 Evinrude Playmate runabout: donated by the family of the late Robert H. Wood, a World War II veteran and career education in New York state, for use as the New York Sea Grant Discover Clean and Safe Boating educational vessel/ppCurrent-model boats representing modern hull and propulsion design, electric and propane-powered vessels, stern drive, traditional outboard motor drive, and a sailboat/ppAn interactive historic lighthouses kiosk, a New York Waters of War exhibit, a History of Sturgeon in NY display, and Clean, Drain, Dry safe boating information are featured in a mini-museum building at the exhibit./ppOn Monday, Thursday and Friday, the New York State Fair and the Antique Boat Museum will offer free “On the State Fair Pond Skiff Rowing” opportunities in the NY Experience area of the fair. Life jackets will be provided. /p