by Maureen & Jerry Valley
The Sunnyland Chapter of the ACBS , under the able leadership of new President,
Gerald Dake, created a ground-breaking event in May. Gerald led a contingency of antique and classic boats from Mt. Dora, through Haines Creek, into Lake Griffin, up the Oklawaha River, onto the Silver River and ending at one of the oldest and most beloved parks in Florida, Silver Springs.
Silver Springs (touted as Natures Theme Park) offers its attendees the simple pleasures of old Florida constituting glass bottom boat rides, a fabulous zoo with animals ranging from giraffes to panthers to Kodiak bears to monster alligators.
Silver Springs features a bird sanctuary that defies description. BLACK SWANS — yes, we saw black swans, in addition to flamingos, macaws and birds of prey. But the piece de resistance was the sighting of monkeys swinging from trees and coming to the riverbanks to greet us as we went by. It seems that when the Tarzan series featuring Johnny Weissmuller was filmed in the 30s, monkeys were brought in to add to the realism and lo and behold … the monkeys did what monkeys do … eat, sleep and procreate. As a result there is a healthy population of monkeys in numbers that have never really been determined.
Thirteen boats made this trip in spite of previous suggestions that parts of the Oklawaha River had hidden dangers such as submerged logs and debris caused by the hurricanes of 2004. Those of us that ventured forward found this to be one of the most beautiful stretches of waterway that Florida can offer…the REAL Florida as it were. As one approaches the Silver Springs Theme Park, the water becomes crystal clear enabling boaters to see 30 feet into the limestone bed that makes up the springs from which 550 million gallons of water emerge every day. Terry and Harriet Tsocheff were our guests on board Reenie Anne and at times we were speechless at the beauty that unfolded as we slowly wound our way through the narrows of the Oklawaha. Only one tiny incident occurred. We DID hit a submerged object and Reenie Anne came to a dead stop.
It jarred us for a moment and caused us to break the stems off our plastic wine glasses, but but being the stalwart pioneers that we are, we quickly recovered, refilled the glasses and merrily went on our way. Terrys cell, however, sleeps with the fishes as this piece goes to press.
The boats in attendance ranged from our 16 ft. Lyman (Reenie Anne) to a 16 ft. Glen-L design called a Cracker Box Gentlemans Racer, featured in photo with builder Mike Yobe at the helm along with his wife Karen protecting herself from the sun with her umbrella.
It took Mike two years to complete THERAPY, finishing her in 1990. She is a show-stopper. She runs with a 4.3 Lt V-6 230 HP engine and cruises at 50 MPH. She is a sight to behold when shes running full tilt, leaving the rest of us in her wake.
Other boats in attendance included two Dispros (Dippys), a beautiful 1962 Chris Craft (Mayflower Madame) owned by Ray and Judy Alden and an 18 foot Sea Skiff owned by Ray and Valerye Garratt.
The boats were all very well received by the patrons of Silver Springs and many of the owners were on hand to answer the many questions that always arise when there is a gathering of old wooden boats. We all thoroughly enjoyed our free time exploring.
A Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society
©1999-2005 BSLOL ACBS Chapter