As the most prestigious name in American boatbuilders, the Chris-Craft is a lovingly crafted vessel with wood hulls, swank chrome and brawny motors. Color photos take a look at the history and details of this beloved boat. 100 photos.

Chris-Craft: The Essential Guide, by Jerry Conrad, provides full specifications - from hull materials and fuel capacity to upholstery colors and numbers built - for every cruiser, runabout, roamer, kit boat and other pleasure craft ever built by the legendary Chris-Craft Corporation. Revised second editions is illustrated with more than 700 black-and-white photographs with updated information and new photographs.

Step back into the golden age of the American runabout, with the smell of varnish and leather, and the sight of glittering brightwork and deep-hued mahogany. This historical look at the origins and development of the runabout speedboat in America traces the growth of recreational power boating along with details about the boats that made the era so memorable. Learn about men like Chris Smith, Gar Wood, Horace Dodge and others whose search for speed served as catalysts for a new and popular pastime. Eventually, new materials and mass production brought the curtain down on this era of fast wooden boats, but they did not erase the artistry and innovation that the boats of this era represent.About the AuthorPhilip B. Ballantyne is a builder of antique powerboats who owns and operates Philip B. Ballantyne Wooden Boats near Lake Tahoe in Truckee, California. Ballantyne's writing has been featured in Classic Boating magazine.About the PhotographerRobert Bruce Duncan is one of the preeminent antique and classic powerboat photographers in America. His work has appeared in a wide array of books, magazines, and calendars. A former charter boat captain, Duncan lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Gary Ashbaugh - I just finished reading your book. Boy, did that ever turn the clock back. I think that described life in those small towns to a tee. Congratulations on getting it published. TOWN and TIME ... My cycle of life began January 12, 1945, seven months before the end of WWII, in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, a borough of some 800 souls, where generations of my father's family had lived and died. Emlenton, which lies partially isolated in the hills of northwestern Pennsylvania, offered few outside distractions, so we relied heavily on our imaginations and the natural resources that surrounded us. The swimming holes along Richey Run Creek, the Indian cave below the town cemetery, and long hikes along the railroad tracks that followed alongside the majestic Allegheny River offered plenty of adventure and diversion. Our lives revolved around paper routes, baseball, pin ball machines, hotdogs, French fries, 5&10 stores, dances, and dating. The freezing cold winters involved basketball, deer hunting and fur trapping. A youthful fertile mind, interested in science, led to rocketry, homemade motors, crystal radios, moonshine, and motor scooters that provided a lifetime of memories. The stories shared are sometimes funny, poignant, and often laced with mischief. Emlenton seemed to be magical, and those times now seem idyllic. This is where I grew up, and this book is about the time, the place, the people, and the events that formed my coming of age in the 1950s.

The river‚"‚€‚"any river‚"‚€‚"is another planet, with its own language, rules, and culture. River Queens is a story of the unlikeliest of fellows (and a dog) coming to the river‚"‚€‚"and what happens to them once they arrive. At first glance, it seems to be a how-to manual for any adventuresome (but perhaps foolhardy) type who's ever thought of restoring a wooden yacht and sailing it halfway across the country. Second glance, however, shows that it's a classic travel narrative in which two intrepid (but perhaps foolhardy) explorers head out to tour what is usually called "a distant, alien world."