Word: crafting
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...1920s through '50s. Scherb is currently restoring 18 old runabouts, for which he will charge as much as $500 a foot. At the same time, Scherb maintains 40 woodies in varnished and polished condition for their owners and conducts a growing business as a broker of the vintage craft...
...investments and status vessels, antique boats have come of age. The most sought-after models are runabouts of more than 24 ft. in length, which often contain three leather-upholstered cockpits. In mint condition, a runabout built by a prestige manufacturer such as Chris-Craft, Gar Wood or Hacker is worth...
...good, unrenovated woody is hard to find. The frame must bear the original manufacturer's number if it is to be considered vintage. Boat brokers and their scouts comb through the backwoods of Michigan, New England, Canada and even Scandinavia in search of suitable craft. The cold freshwater lakes and the long, dry winter-storage seasons in those areas make them prime hunting grounds for well-preserved hulls...
Many prized vessels have been found, dust-covered and forgotten, in old barns and boathouses. Scherb, for example, paid $750 for a 1948 Chris-Craft Racing Runabout that had become landlocked inside a remodeled tavern. (The sellers used the money to pay for a new door to the bar.) Today, in pristine condition, the Chris-Craft is worth $20,000. The competition to find such abandoned treasures is becoming increasingly fierce, since the number of still undiscovered boats is estimated to be only...
Nostalgia is part of the attraction. Richard Tobin, a Miami market-research executive, fondly recalls how he spent his summers speeding around a Michigan lake in the wooden craft. Nowadays he keeps several old runabouts at the same lake so he can take his family on rides and picnics. Says he: "It's a trip into the days when our cares were a little bit different." The most fervent of all collectors is probably Alan Furth, former vice chairman of the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Railroad, who has acquired 61 boats. Over the years he has sold only...