by Dave Doner

At our last board meeting, we discussed the progress concerning the restoration of the Chetek Aqua Flyer, or the “Speltz Boat”. For those of you who may be new to BSLOL, this is a boat once owned by Bob Speltz, the namesake of our chapter. It was donated to BSLOL by Bob’s sister, Mary and her husband Ray, with the understanding that our club would manage its’ restoration. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Bob’s family for the opportunity we now have to honor Bob’s memory by dedicating our efforts to preserving this important link to Bob. Incidentally, Bob was one of the founding members of our ACBS chapter.

Phase one was recently completed under the supervision of BSLOL member Larry Quinn. Larry dedicated a portion of his home garage in order to provide a suitable environment for the work which was to be undertaken. Several members gave of their time and talent by showing up at Larry’s home at periodic times in order to help out.

The preliminary work undertaken has been completed and we now enter the next phase. On behalf of the entire board and fellow BSLOL members, I would like to thank Larry (and his wife who furnished the pizza and liquid refreshments!) as well as those club members who took time out of their schedules to help out. We had fun, learned some things relating to boat construction, and enjoyed the opportunity to help out in this important cause.

Phase two will begin over the next several weeks by refining and adjusting the scope of work of the project and further defining what the requirements are at this time. Once that has been satisfied, we will be in a position to present the boat to several of our restoration contacts, as well as other interested groups, and solicit their input as to what they feel might be required from a time and cost standpoint. We would then like to be able to contract with
someone and have the work begin. Phase two then, will see the completion of the structural requirements of the boat including, but not limited to, further attention to the ribs, keel, stem, garboards, planking, gunwales, and decks.

Again, we thank Larry for his help with phase one. We are now very excited about the move into phase two. I will continue to furnish updates as they warrant.