SOLD!

2021 CROWNLINE 265 SS Just in! Beautiful trade-in, 50 hours. Matching tandem axle trailer and a pump-out head. Powered by a Mercruiser 6.2L 300 HP, plenty of power for watersports. Full sun bed with filler cushions included. Asking $129,900. Contact PJ Tamer 424-424-9627 or pj@ centerpointesales.com. CNT owner, no accidents. Includes slip in Chicago. Many upgrades, cockpit cover. Asking $49,500. Contact 847-648-9755 or ronfohrman@ aol.com. MAY23

2021 RANGER TUGS R-29 COMMAND BRIDGE LUXURY EDITION. Great opportunity to purchase a one owner, 100% freshwater boat. We sold her new in April 2021. Kept on lift, stored indoors heated. Single Volvo Penta D4-320-hp diesel with only 141 engine hours. Generator, AC, full Garmin electronics, two helms, plus many more standard LE features! Options added: Aft cockpit sunshade, cockpit freezer, Kato Davit System and a 2020 Zodiac Cadet 270 UL Aluminum RIB with PVC tubes and a Yamaha F6. Asking $339,900. Call Brent @ 616-402-0189. RYS

1999 45 EXCALIBUR One owner, very clean, hoist kept, new seating, full canvas, new drawer Isotherm fridge in the galley. Stored inside heated. Located in Harrison Township, MI. Asking $124,900. Call 586-468-3031 or email jmcollision@wowway.com. MAY23

2018 CHAPARRAL 307SSX Freshwater, one owner. With Axius Joystick, docking this boat is a breeze. The joystick also includes Skyhook and autopilot. 196 original hours on twin 430-hp 8.2s paired with Bravo 3 X drives. No trailer. Asking $199,999. Contact PJ Tamer 424-424-9627 or pj@centerpointesales.com. CNT

2017 BENETEAU GRAN TURISMO 46 Redesigned main deck and cockpit, which includes two large electrically reclining seats. Offers the handling ease of Beneteau’s previous smaller model, while making use of many of the details found in her 49' big sister. Asking $599,764. Contact Terry Godres at 920559-0730 or terry@centerpointesales.com. CNT

I was fortunate to spend my teenage summer years in a family that enjoyed wooden boats. The boat most dear to me was a 1956 Chris-Craft 22-foot Continental named The Pearl after my mother. After my mothers’ passing in 1964, my father turned the boat over to me.

My two children learned, as I did, to waterski behind this beautiful piece of mahogany. I bribed my children to help me restore The Pearl by telling them I would take them to Florida. We renamed the boat Mister T.

After many summers of skiing and lots of maintenance, I decided to part with this family heirloom. Once the grandchildren grew, so did my dream to return to a wood boat. But not just any wood boat. My heart had been set on a locally built Streblow boat. I had seen these mahogany thoroughbreds on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin all through my teenage and adult years.

In February of 2001, I purchased a 1970 Streblow custom wood boat, which I renamed Mr. T III. This 23foot beauty had history. A gentleman from northern Illinois, William D. Wallace, had ordered the boat from Streblow Custom Boats Inc. of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr. Wallace was a partner in a silver mine with John “Duke” Wayne. They decided to name the boat HI LOW SILVER — a very fitting name. They operated the pleasure craft on Lake Delavan in Wisconsin for over 10 years. With the drop in the price of silver in the early 1980s, the partners decided to sell the boat.

Larry Streblow, and his son, Randy, purchased the boat and returned it to their factory in Kenosha. The Streblows remodeled the craft into the boats of that era. They removed the front deck-mounted breather and replaced it with teak strips on black vinyl in place of the king plank. The same design was modified for use on the rear deck. Upholstering along with the carpeting were also replaced.

The Streblow family kept the boat for personal use for a few years until it was sold to Gregg Liebovich of Rockford, Illinois. Gregg had to be the perfect wood boat owner. He kept the boat for 18 years on Geneva Lake. Every year, Gregg would say to Randy Streblow, “Randy, add a new stereo, replace the steering wheel, replace the wood dash, replace the gauges,” and finally “replace the engine!” I could not have asked for a more perfectly maintained boat.

I am blessed to be the owner of this wonderful piece of art. I would later hear from other Streblow boat owners who stated that you don’t own your boat, you merely have a long-term lease with the Streblow family. You know this to be somewhat true when you watch the Streblow personnel retrieving their boats around the Geneva Lake shoreline for winter storage. Over 100 of these fine boats are returned every fall to the Streblow facility near Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

I had Lars Bergersen refinish the hull and remove the teak boards from the king planks. Following the restoration, the boat won the “Best Streblow” at the 2016 Geneva Lake Boat Show. The following September, Mr. T III received a Silver Award at the ACBS International Show in Racine, Wisconsin. The 2018 Sunnyland Boat Show brought another award!

—Don Taylor, Leesburg, FL