How It Started
In 1995, four wooden boat owners got together to form the North Coast Ohio Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. Rich Baratha, Bob Otto, Les Demaline, and Jack Lynett met at the Holiday Inn in Montrose, Ohio and drew up the documents which permitted the new chapter to chart its course in the boating world.
At Skaneateles, NY, during the spring quarterly meeting of the ACBS directors, the proposed chapter was presented and approved; within 2 months, North Coast Ohio (NCO) held its first boat show at Spitzer Marina in Lorain, Ohio, on the south shore of Lake Erie. From then on, the
chapter grew rapidly. Our geographic area is from Toledo in the west to the Pennsylvania line in the east, south to Mansfield and north to encompass the Lake Erie south shore and its adjoining waterways. Our boat shows are held on the south shore of Lake Erie and the inland lakes in and around northeast Ohio.
Chapter Activities
Our members like to attend events and cruises in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Indiana, and Virginia. We enjoy “caravanning” to neighboring chapters to support their events. Our trips have taken our members to; Skaneateles, NY, Lake Chautauqua, NY, Indian Lake,
Ohio, Marietta, Ohio, Buckeye Lake, Ohio, Hammondsport, NY, Smith Mountain Lake, VA, Conneaut, Ohio and Lake Wawasee, Indiana to name just a few. We have hosted boat shows on Lake Erie and on many inland lakes within our chapter area, with our primary show held annually on the Portage Lakes near Akron, OH. We have managed this show successfully for 25 of its 48-year history.
We hosted a boat show annually at Lake Chautauqua, NY for over ten years and were instrumental in encouraging and assisting boaters in that area to form their own chapter, Twin Tiers (CLTT).
The love for vintage boats fueled the growth of our events. NCO is a very active chapter and over the years we have organized many boat shows, workshops, rendezvous, cruises, social gatherings, and our monthly board meetings. We hold nine-chapter meetings a year and
average attendance of 25 to 30 members. In addition to business topics, our members are encouraged to share restoration tips, experiences, memorabilia and memories. NCO also has helped grow youth activities such as model sailboat building and racing.
Restoration and Guidance
Several of our members are active in restoration of wood and fiberglass boats and mechanical repair. We are fortunate to have restoration facilities in our area for working on our boats and for guidance for those doing their own work. Over the years, several well attended workshops were held at member’s facilities where restoration methods and tips have helped our members in their individual projects. One of the things we are particularly proud of is our success in enticing local suppliers of restoration products to attend and make worthwhile presentations at our
workshops.
Since the beginning, NCO has always been one of the most active and involved chapters of ACBS. Several of our chapter’s board members have also been involved on the International ACBS board. Some of our members serve as judges at the ACBS International Boat Show, at neighboring chapter shows and our own shows. We also mentor young members to learn the judging process. Our members have travelled to new chapters to assist in training them in judging techniques. The continued growth of our chapter is evident as we were recognized as the chapter with the highest percentage of member growth in 2014.
Membership
Within our first two years of forming, we grew from our four founders to 57 members. Since then, we have had as high as 125 members and as many chapters have experienced, membership has fluctuated with the passing of legacy boaters. We are presently at 97 members
and have successfully signed many new and younger members.
One of our successful efforts in keeping members informed is the publishing of our monthly newsletter; the “Beacon”. We have a website and Facebook page. For many years, we published a quarterly newsletter but realized up-to-the-minute communication is much more effective in gaining and keeping members informed and active.
The North Coast Ohio chapter is positioned to grow and support the boating hobby in northeast Ohio. We are committed to furthering the education of young members in classic boating hobby and growing our membership for the betterment of ACBS.