Alexandria Bay's 47th Annual Vintage Boat Show in Pictures

The 1000 Island Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (TI ACBS) held the 47th annual Vintage “User” Boat Show in Alexandria Bay, NY on July 25th. There were 39 boats in total on the docks. The weather was perfect and there was a steady flow of visitors to enjoy the event. Most of the boats came from the Thousand Islands region, but several came from the neighboring ACBS Lake Champlain chapter. In addition, there was one boat from Arizona and one from Florida. There were also several fine examples of the featured Hutchinson boats.

As you might expect, this boat show had no shortage of gleaming mahogany and bright smiles. It also had a wide variety of antique and classic boats, including some non-wood boats. Then there were those boats that don't fall into the traditional categories.

Sometimes the back story of the boat makes them even more intriguing. Miss Sierra, who won Best Restored, is a good example of this. Tom Kopf, from Green Valley, AZ, found her abandoned in the desert. After a careful restoration that included several modern features, he now has a nice 23 foot 1980 Steury houseboat that can be towed behind his truck. Tom had grown tired of going to parks and watching all the boats go by. He solved that problem with what could be considered an amphibious camper. When in the water, Tom sleeps in Miss Sierra. When on the trailer Tom sleeps in Miss Sierra! Now he is on an extended 6,700 mile trip with his dog Ellie. They have been to the Dallas area, Tennessee, the Adirondacks, and New York's Finger Lakes. He has had a great time visiting places and friends from earlier times. We are happy that Tom and Ellie found their way to the Thousand Islands.

The 42 foot Bits-N-Pieces won Best Non Wood category. She was originally built at the Algan Shipyard in Gananoque, ON, in 1984 for the owner of the Gananoque Boat Lines. Algan Shipyard also built all the Gananoque Boat Line's tour boats. Bits-N-Pieces was built from the leftover materials. She was used mostly off the coast of Florida as a fishing boat. Eventually, the boat made it back to Ivy Lee, ON, and fell into disrepair. Tim and Janet Ketchum of Lansdowne, ON, bought her and started on what turned into a three year restoration. The boat was completely refurbished and the original diesel engine was replaced with twin 400 Hp Mercury engines that provide much better overall performance. Rene Longtin (now 90 years old) who owned the Algan shipyard was onboard Bit's-N-Pieces in 2025. He gave it his seal of approval.

Quarters is a 1963, 25 foot Lyman. Bud and Diane Ames from Wellesley Island have owned her since 1984 and are excited that the next generation of family members also love the boat! This year she left the docks with the Best Preserved award. Much of the preservation credit goes to Ron Waterson of Fishers Landing, along with Dave Nagle, who installed a new engine in 1987. For a while Quarters was featured on the Sperry Topsider shoe boxes. The name Quarters could refer to "captain’s quarters" . . . however, Bud owned several laundromats and emptied the coin boxes frequently. It took a big pile of quarters to buy Quarters.

The winner of the Hutchinson award was Spray – a 1949, 22 foot Hutchinson owned by Tom and Nadine Neely of Redwood, NY. Spray underwent a multi-year restoration that included: 66 new ribs, several planks, a new keel, a new engine, and much more. In short she is beautiful.

Visiting from Florida, Seasharp – owned by Robert Breidert – won the Peoples Choice Award. She is a beautiful example of an antique Chris Craft and was built in 1929. She is 28 feet long and powered by an enormous 8.2 liter Chevy engine.

Tom Boy is a 1937 Hutchinson side steer (uses a lever mounted on the inside of the hull for steering). When Saint Lawrence Restoration procured her, Tom Boy had not been in the water for quite a few years. It took several days of slowly lowering her into the water for the wood to swell up and stabilize. She floated, the engine ran, and they drove her to Clayton, Now work is underway to preserve this unique and beautiful boat.

Well Done, is a 28 foot Baby Gar that was built in 1929 by Gar Wood. She now has a GMC 454 V8 engine and is owned by Mark and Patty Siegenthaler of Washington Island. This Gar Wood was very expensive because she came with a large boat house and a wonderful summer home.

Richard Calabrese's Cub is a 1917 U.S. Navy troop transport/utility boat. Boats like Cub were often used as a ship's tender and with a change of the bow flag, could become an admiral's launch. Cub came to the River in 1934. Built with solid mahogany planks and a 2 inches wide keel, she was built to last. The story is murky but at some point she sank to the bottom of the River. However, that was just a set back. During her working years, Tommy Mitchel, a builder from TI Park, used Cub to haul materials to his island projects. She was re-powered 50 years ago with an 80 Hp Mitsubishi engine and gets annual maintenance to keep her seaworthy. Cub is always a popular boat at this show and Richard loves spending the day sharing her stories.

Along with the award winning boats there were many other wonderful and historically significant boats that entered in the show. Her are a few of them:

Pictured below are the boats that were visiting from the Lake Champlain ACBS Chapter.

This show is made possible by generous sponsors, who include: The Gali/Blight Family, The Ledges Resort, Saint Lawrence Restoration, Watertown Savings Bank, Tom & Nadine Neely, and Jeremy Smith. Please visit www.1000IslandsACBS.com for a complete list of donors.

As a result of our sponsors, TI ACBS is able to support these local organizations: The River Hospital, The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, The Thousand Islands Boat Museum in Gananoque, ON, the Alexandria Bay Community Food Bank, Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service (TIERS), The village of Alexandria Bay dock fund, and the Cornwall Brother's Museum (ATHS).

Now that this years boating season is winding down, plans for next years' boat show are in the works.

Watch for it next July!

Note: There are many deserving boats and stories at this event. The primary reason the above boats were selected is that they happened to cross in front of my camera in good light . . .

By Larry Asam, Grenell Island

Larry Asam has lived in and around Stowe, VT, since 1974, where he taught skiing, then spent several winters at Snowbird, UT, continuing to teach skiing. In the 1990s, he started photographing Vermont weddings. By 1997, wedding photography became his full-time occupation, and this continued for almost 15 years. Now his photography is mainly focused on nature, old boats and the people he encounters. Since 2014, Larry and his wife, Kym, have been part of the Grenell Island community. As of mid September 2026, Larry will serve as president of the Thousand Islands Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. His photo gallery can be viewed at www.RiverGloss.com. Larry can reached at Larry@LarryAsam.com for those who have questions about their submitted photos.