by Tom Skramstad
I would like to pass on some history about our 1967 Century Venturer, a boat that has spent its entire life on Lake Minnetonka. This year will be its 35th year on the water.
My history with wooden boats goes back to my childhood. My parents first boat was a Shepherd, later replaced with a 1940 Chris Craft hardtop cruiser, then a 30 foot Owens cruiser and a Higgins runabout. When my wife, Gai, and I moved to the Lake in 1972, we purchased a 1960 Century Resorter 16, still one of my all-time favorite boats. I joined the Antique and Classic Boat Club in 1976 (I think it was) and have been a member of the Century Boat Club since it started.
The Century Boat Company probably made fewer of the mahogany Century Venturer than any other boat in their history. Only a few were manufactured in 1966 and a few more in 1967. While Century had a cruiser manufacturing facility in Maryland from 1958 until 1966, they built the Venturer in their Manistee, Michigan factory. This factory was best suited for the various runabout sized boats that Century was so famous for. According to the Century people I spoke with years ago, trying to build a boat of this size in Manistee significantly slowed down the assembly line of the smaller boats. This was a major contributing factor in their decision to discontinue the Venturer.
During the 50s and 60s, the Lake Minnetonka area dealer for Century boats was Tonka Bay Boat Works, then owned by Ed Ahlcrona. It was Eds brother Bertil T. (Bert) Ahlcrona who originally ordered the Venturer that is the subject of this story. Bert ordered the boat for delivery in the Spring of 1967 (I have the sales receipt). At one point he flew to the plant to supervise part of the construction of his new boat. The factory specification for the boat called for an L shaped kitchenette; since Bert never planned to allow anyone to eat on the boat (true!), he asked that this feature be deleted and replaced with a second captains chair. Bert never used the boat at night so ordered it without a spotlight. Bert took care of his things in an exceptional manner. He stored the Venturer on a trailer that he had custom built: a 22,000 pound capacity trailer (for a 6,000 pound boat!). I still have the original order ticket, warranty card, owners manuals and two spare props that have never been out of their boxes.
We had known the Ahlcrona family for years and went to see the boat when we found out it might be available. We had seen the boat many times on the Lake (Bert lived on County Road 44 in Minnetrista, just across the Upper Lake from us). Once we got inside, we decided that it would be perfect for us: a huge cockpit, beautiful classic lines, and in outstanding condition. We bought it in March of 1977.
There is a humorous story associated with our first attempt to get the boat to the water. I worked on getting it ready for the Lake while it still sat at the Ahlcronas home. Once we got the boat ready for the water, I hooked it up to the family station wagon and headed for the boat works. I pushed on the gas pedal and nothing happened. I got out to ensure that the wheels were not chocked, and they were not. I kept pushing on the gas pedal and finally the boat and trailer started to move. This was a heavy rig! Onto County Road 44 goes this poor station wagon pulling this wonderful (and heavy) boat. Onto Highway 7, heading East with my foot on the floor. The temperature gauge was
heading North as the gas gauge headed South. At the big hill just before our Smithtown Bay turnoff the speedometer was heading South fast and a line of cars was accumulating behind me. I finally got off the highway and was able to navigate the back roads to Tonka Bay Marine. Once unhooked, the car heaved a sigh of relief; and never again would we try to haul the boat by ourselves!
Some details about the boat: Its length is 27 1/2, beam is 10 2. Engines are GrayMarine 327s with 220 horsepower each (American Motors blocks.) There is a huge back deck over the engines where we have eight deck chairs and a table. Move towards the bow, step down 3 steps and you are in an area with two captains chairs and an additional L-shaped seating section. In a traditional boat of this size this area would be under a hardtop, but in the Venturer, this area is still cockpit-open to the sky.
Move forward a few more steps and you reach twin mahogany doors that open into the V-berth with a marine head. The mechanicals on the boat have never been touched and the upholstery is original.
The mahogany Venturer was mentioned several times in Bill Wittigs book The Story of the Century but many statistics and measurements in the book are not accurate. The boat graced the front cover of both the 1967 Century catalogue and the rear cover of the 1966 catalogue. We entered the boat in the Land-O-Lakes ACBS boat show in 1980 and it won Best Modern Classic. It is also on the Century boat poster that Bob Speltz put together years ago. Bob Speltz loved our boat. In all of his research and travels he had only encountered one other Venturer, and he told me it was a basket case.
In 1976, Century began to reissue Venturers, this time made out of fiberglass. This continued for three years or so, and there are many such plastic Venturers on Lake Minnetonka with some similarities, but many differences, from the mahogany model).
Uffda! (a term my Norwegian grandmother used often) has been on Lake Minnetonka its entire life and we hope to keep it that way. One of its distinguishing characteristics is its rear flagpole. The five foot pole flies three flags: a traditional yacht ensign, a Norwegian flag (Uffda!) and an Australian flag (Gais homeland).
We hope you have had a chance to see our boat at some point or another. If not, we hope to cross your path some time soon. Happy Boating!
A Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society
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