Antique, classic boat show flows into Fort Myers

The 1937 Chris Craft Deluxe Runabout Love & Luck, with its gleaming lacquered mahogany hull, polished copper exhaust pipe, honeycomb stern light and rich russet leather seats, is the pride of owners Kent and LouAnne Caldwell of Fort Myers.

It is one of the 48 classic and antique boats confirmed for the first Antique and Classic Boat Show on Saturday and Sunday, including wooden and fiberglass boats, said Kent Caldwell, a show organizer and member of the Sunnyland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society.

The Marina at Edison Ford will have the boats on display in the parking lot, while the Edison and Ford Winter Estates will play host to trailered vessels on the Coconut Grove Lawn.

“Ultimately the goal is to put us on the map and have people come out and see the events,” said Kevin Rooney, event manager for Pinchers and Big C Events. “There is not another show like this in Southwest Florida.”

Featured boats include a Gar Wood 25-foot triple cockpit, several Hugh Saint custom boats built in Cape Coral, 16 Glasspar fiberglass models from the ’50s and ’60s, Jersey speed skiffs, Aristocrafts, and a 1942 Thompson Runabout.

The ’85 22-foot fiberglass Donzi Classic the Caldwells bought to celebrate their anniversary in August is wrapping up its refurbishment and will be at the show. They are excited to see it and could have out on the water in the next week.

A 29-foot Hugh Saint built for Rumrunners restaurant in the Cape will be on the water.

Kent Caldwell said he was leaving for a show with a friend a decade ago when LouAnne called out to ask whether he was going to buy a boat. “Hell, no,” Caldwell replied. Thirty minutes in, he saw Love & Luck, and within three hours of arriving at the show, he’d bought it.

They don’t run the boat in salt water because of the havoc it would wreak on the original engine, and typically take it to their lake home in Georgia. The boat was crafted in Algonac, Mich., off the St. Clair River that flows from Lake Huron toward Detroit. Chris Craft, the company originated in 1861, moved in the early 1980s to Sarasota, and gained even more fame when one of the fiberglass boats was featured on Miami Vice.

“I own a new one, too,” Caldwell said.

The most difficult part of maintaining the 1937 boat is keeping water spots off the mahogany finish.

“It’s an ongoing process of maintenance,” Caldwell said. “... a lot of love and sweat goes into them.”

LouAnne Caldwell said that he can spend a whole day polishing Love & Luck from bow to stern.

“We never get tired of seeing it,” she said. “It’s breathtaking.”

Rooney said the organizers at Pinchers, Edison/Ford estates and True Fort Myers, which offers sunset and river cruises, are “partners on the river,” and the show along the Caloosahatchee is part of the initiative to create opportunities that showcase what they have to offer.

“Edison himself was certainly fond of the water,” Rooney said, adding they want the antique and classic boat show to be annual.

“These are boats you don’t normally see in the water and have true artistry.”

BOAT SHOW

•What: Antique and Classic Boat Show with at least 48 boats on display displaying the progression of boat building techniques, materials and styles and showcasing some of the most beautiful classic boats. Live music includes Wilder Sons from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and The Good Bad Kids performing from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. Food by Pinchers.

•When: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

•Where: The Marina at Edison Ford, 2360 W. First St., Fort Myers, or Marker 54 by boat on the Caloosahatchee.

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