Ride the River

By Michael Joyce

The Antique Boat Museum keeps maritime history alive, humming and in the public’s hands.

The varnished surface of the triple cockpit Gar Wood speedboat flashed and gleamed in the sunlight as she eased out of her covered slip. The  captain turned his head in the direction of his passengers said,, “Hang on folks.” As the boat suddenly rocketed out of the bay and deep into the heart of the Thousand Islands for a tour, I said to myself, “Now this is my idea of a museum!!”

If you love the history of boats, the Antique Boat Museum belongs on your bucket list. Its campus is located directly on the St. Lawrence River in the heart of the Thousand Islands in Clayton, New York. While there are several great maritime museums scattered around our country, none compares with this gem tucked away on the New York-Canadian border just north of Syracuse yet it has surprisingly strong ties to Florida.

In this temple of wooden forms, not only does history come alive, you literally get to experience it. Museum Executive Director John MacLean laughed as he explained, “we spent our first thirty-five years collecting hundreds of antique boats and artifacts and placing them securely in buildings. Now with our new marketing theme, Ride the River, we are almost trying to take down the walls  and move the collection back out to where the public can see it, touch it, and truly understand why these boating masterpieces are so important to preserve.”

To say the Antique Boat Museum’s “hands on” perspective is unusual would be an understatement. Can you imagine going through some other world-class collection like the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, Italy, and your tour guide says, “Hey, hop in and let’s go for a spin so I can show you why Dr. Ferrari loved this particular car?”

It’s one thing to see a varnished speedboat like the 48-foot John Hacker designed Pardon Me sitting on display under the lights,” but when you see the same Pardon Me floating on her lines in the brand-new Yacht House display and they fire up her enormous WWII Packard PT boat engine, you find yourself thinking, ‘this is unbelievable!”

The hands-on experience is not limited to speedboats. Every kind of watercraft that was prevalent in the Thousand Islands region from the late 1800s up until World War II is part of their in water display and demonstration program. Motoryachts, sailing canoes and rowing craft are all available to take you back in time. Even the themed static displays in their exhibition halls all have something that moves, talks, or otherwise engages every visitor.

This sparkling new $18 million facility houses creations of boating legends such as Gar Wood, Chris Smith, John Hacker, and Horace Dodge to name just a few. In the 40 years since its founding, the Antique Boat Museum has built up a substantial waterfront campus that encompasses 4.5 acres of public program space, 1,900 feet of dockage and 1,300 feet of St. Lawrence River shoreline. The 10 buildings on the campus contain hundreds of boats and rare maritime collectibles in 52,000 square-feet of exhibit, program, archives, library, and administration space.

On the first weekend in August each year the museum hosts the granddaddy of all antique boat shows, which is now in its 45th year.  The four-day extravaganza, culminating with a grand parade of boats and yachts along the waterfront of this delightful walking town, draws many of the 9,000 members of the Antique & Classic Boat Society and boats from almost every state in the union as well as Canada. On a bi-annual basis the museum also hosts the Antique Race Boat Regatta, which features everything from unlimited hydroplanes to Jersey racing skiffs and full throttle flybys that always provide some spills and thrills for the crowd.

The Museum’s ties to South Florida date back to its founding in the late 1960s when former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Bob Cox, a lifelong summer resident of the Thousand Islands, took up the challenge and helped create the museum with a handful of other passionate collectors in the area. Bob has endowed the museum with a theater and 1909 speedboat named Suwanee, which celebrates her centennial as the museum’s 2009 Antique boat of the year.

The museum, which receives no support from Federal or State agencies, relies entirely on their small group of supporters. “Only about 10% of our revenues come from admissions” he said, “and finding the other 90% is what keeps me awake at night.” Membership is a key source of revenue along with a core group of 300 contributors called “Friends of The Museum” who contribute a minimum of $1,000 per year.

During the winter season the Antique Boat Museum’s staff is busy planning new exhibits and reaching out to their constituents all around the country. They host gatherings for their supporters all around the State of Florida drawing 60-70 members at an event and they have brought small craft from their collection for display at events like the Mount Dora Boat Show (now moved to Eustis) and the Antique & Classic Weekend held at The Ocean Reef Club each December.

The next Antique Boat Show and Auction in Clayton is set for July 30 to August 1 with the Raceboat Regatta to follow August 13 and 14, 2010. For more information visit abm.org.