As the Lakes Drain
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Low Water Levels Are Leading To Increased Groundings

Well it has been an extremely busy August and I have not been able to keep up with postings.  The most common incident right now is the accidental groundings of boats on submerged objects.  The boats always loose.  Areas to be especially cautious include but are not limited to.

North Fork American on Folsom Lake where large rocks are catching underwater hardware and fiberglass.

South Fork American on Folsom Lake the Mormon Island Bridge is just below the surface and it is very damaging to the boats.  Hazard markers are out but they have drifted away from the bridge as the water level drops, so be sure to give them an extra wide margin.

Lake Tahoe around Rubicon Bay has some extremely large and hard rocks that are impacting the bottoms of the boats.

Union Valley Reservoir between the two forks has some large rocks.

Sacramento River watch for the wing dams and be sure to be mid channel of the Hazard Buoys.

 

Another Award!
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: First Place

On July 19, 2009 Classic Craft received another First Place award.  The  award was presented for a First Place win in the Decked Boat Class at the 2009 South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic.  Gary and Nita Minnis proud owners of "PERSISTENCE" accepted the award on behalf of all of us at Classic Craft.

This week is very busy with alot of underwater and major hull repairs.  Please remember while there is still alot of water, the levels are falling and staying clear of shoreline in the lakes will help insure your safe boating.

Projects include :

Pete is working on the right side of a 24 Mastercraft Maristar.  Some old damage had fractured the hull and deck over a ten foot area.  Pete first had to lift the deck back up into position and then refasten and rebond the deck to hull joint.  He then ground into the fiberglass laminate deeply in oreder to relamininate new glass/resin over the damage.  This has been finished and regelcoated with the original red and blue stripes on a base white hull.

Hilario has been working on two boats.  A ski centurion with major bottom inmpact damage to the hull and underwater hardware, and a Glastron with bottom grounding damge to the hull. 

Frank has been working on painting, staining, and varnishing a large Chris Craft Cruiser. 

I have been busy doing estimates, rebuilding a teak swim platform, and repairing a 21 foot Mastercraft with side hull damage and a broken fiberglass trailer fender.

Parts for the boats continue to be hard to obtain from the various manufactures because inventories are very low and as a cost cutting measure many manufactures have reduced their parts and shipping staff.

Welcome to the Classic Craft Blog
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: New Employee

Welcome to the Classic Craft blog.  My name is Gary Minnis and I am the owner and Master Boatwright of Classic Craft, Sacramento's oldest fiberglass and wood boat repair and building facility.  I began my boat building career in 1964 building and repairing boats.  Through my college years, I repaired a wide variety of boats and helped design and build custom boats of all sizes.  While in college I took independent studies in Small Boat Architecture and finished college with two BA's.  This is the start of our new blog I will be updating weekly about shop events, awards, and general activities.

My team consists of four associates.  The first of which is Frank Moyer, who has been with the shop since 1984.  Prior to working at Classic Craft, Frank had boat maintenance experience and has since developed a wide range of skills including glass repairs, restoring, refinishing, and repair of wood hulls.  He takes great pride in turning "basket-cases" into works of art.

Hilario Viorato has been part of our team since 1994.  He had already been in the composites industry for seven years.  He specializes in fiberglass hulls doing major fiberglass, gel coat, metal flake, fades, and expert color matching.  He prides himself on the quality and integrity of his expert craftsmenship.

I would like to welcome a new employee to the Classic Craft family.  Peter Van Dyke comes to us from West Coast Correct Craft.  Pete began his boat building and repairing career in 1968 with the Stevens Boat Yard, working and outfitting large yachts.  His career path includes working for such establishments as Ladd's, Enterprise Boats, Larson Marine and finally West Coast.  His 41 years of experience will be a great asset in maintaining Classic Craft's highly renowned national reputation for marine expertise.

Foremost is the association with Jack Keaton who began repairing boats in 1952 and started his own line of ski boat in 1959.  He started with inboard direct drives and by 1973 developed a high-performance jet driven ski boat which became legendary and a much sought after collectors item.  Jack continues to build jet pump parts and consult on the repair and performance of jet boats.

Classic Craft is located with Keaton Boats in Sacramento, Ca.  We are always happy to receive any comments or questions you may have regarding boats and their maintenance.  Thank you for your interest in Classic Craft and we hope you continue blogging with us.