Welcome to the North Carolina Coastal and Piedmont Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society
Photos from 2025 Chapter Events
March 1, 2025
Ahoy Mates,
Finally, the days are getting longer and the temps are rising! Fast approaching will be my “traditional start of the boating season”, which for me is St. Patrick’s Day. In the meantime, there’s plenty happening in March. But first I would like to thank Jim and Alice Dean, Bob and Molly Banta and my own dear mate for hosting our regional get-togethers. From the reports I got, a good time was had by all.
We start out the month of March with a workshop at Robert and Patsy Blanchard’s place on the 8th. Featured will be Steve Filarsky doing a lettering and gold leaf application demonstration, and yours truly to talk about and demonstrate line usage and proper knot tying. If you have never been to the Blanchard homestead, that alone is worth the trip.
Coming up a couple of weeks later is the Sunnyland pre-show cruise on the St. Johns River. This is a really fun experience that I was lucky enough to be a part of last year and rates as a bucket list item to me. Oh, and then they’re having a little boat show in Tavares, Fl (LOL) which is another bucket list deal. Make the trip and kick off the 2025 season on a high note!
Looking ahead to April, the Cape Fear Community College show is on April 12th. This is a fun show because it is held at the marine technology building, which will be open with students and faculty there to answer questions. Two other factors that enhance the experience is the fact that the Wilmington River Walk goes right through the show and downtown Wilmington is a short walk away. As you all should know, our chapter offers a scholarship to students in the wooden boatbuilding and marine service and manufacturing programs. We are also a sponsor of the show so let’s plan on heading down there for it!
Cindy Jordan has arranged with her family to allow us use of the Bath Creek house again this year. The dates are May 16-20. Falling within that timeframe is the Tar-Pamlico River cleanup day on the 17th. It would be a nice gesture for our chapter members to pitch in somehow to help with the effort. More on this later.
Members Rob Weller and Larry Lettick have been busy taking the lead on a couple of projects where we can get together as a group and be of service to others. See page 7 of the newsletter for details. We had the best response yet to our monthly contest regarding the Lust varnish. I guess it takes something a little racy to get y’all to participate! The contest queen has another one for this month on page 9, so please send in an entry. The category is “Tall Tales”, so I know there is plenty of material among us to have some fun with it.
If you have any boat stories or other anecdotes that the members might find fun/interesting, please submit it via email to the editor, and we are always interested in your ideas. Enjoy the newsletter!
Yours in classic boating,
Alan Hills, President
2025 What's New or News?
March 2025 Messing About in Boats
Click here to view the latest newsletter.
Chapter Workshop at CCFC makes ACBS Weekly Web Watch
The February 1st edition included an article submitted by our chapter on the workshop we held at Cape Fear Community College in January. Click here to read the article.
Chapter wins ACBS awards at 2024 International Show
Our Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Small Chapter Publication Award and the 2024 Chapter Growth Award—Greatest Percent Increase in New Members. We know we are winners, but it is nice to be acknowledged.
Chapter featured on ACBS Weekly Web Watch on 12/21/24. Click here to read.
Upcoming events
Watch the website and the newsletter for events that our chapter is either sponsoring or encouraging you to participate in. Here are a few key dates:
- 4/12 Cape Fear Community College Boat Show in Wilmington
- 4/23 Chapter Board Zoom Meeting at 7 PM—all members invited. Click here for Zoom link.
- 4/25-26 Lake Hartwell, GA Rendezvous—Blue Ridge Chapter
- 5/3 NCMM Boat Show in Beaufort, NC
- 5/16-20 Bath mini-vacation courtesy of Cindy Jordan
- 5/17 National Cleanup the Rivers Day
- 6/7 Chapter Workshop in New Bern area
- 6/20-22 Chesapeake Bay ACBS Boat Show in St. Micahels, MD
- 6/21 Lake Lure Trailer Classic Boat & Auto Show (proposed, but not finalized—Blue Ridge Chapter)
Organizing a Pop-Up Event
In addition to the events scheduled on our calendar, we invite members to create a “last-minute” gathering and notify chapter members of the opportunity to participate. This could be a workshop, an “I need help with…”, a run on the lake, or something else special that you have run across or want to do. Here is how it works:
- You identify the opportunity
- You email the details to President Alan Hills
- Alan will forward the information to all chapter members ASAP
- You take pictures, write up the event, and submit a them to the newsletter editor
2025 Chapter Board: (Below L to R):
Bill Conley (Dir). John Dougherty (Treas), Jim Alexander (Dir), Alan Hills (Pres), Judy Hills (Sec), Jeff Martinson (VP), Kevin Leiner (Dir), and John Justice (Dir). Not shown: Jim Hartman (Dir).
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