Recent Awards

Over the summer many several of the boats we have the privilege of restoring or servicing received awards at local boat shows: Jitterbug: 19′ Barrel Racer designed and built by The Wooden Runabout Co. Platinum Award:  ACBS International Boat Show; Gull Lake, Minnesota 1st in class: Les Cheneaux Islands Wooden Boat Show   1960 Century … Read more

Time-Lapse Boatbuilding

We spent 6 hours Saturday assembling the framework for hull number one of our 19′ special race boats.  Hull number one was purchased by Matt Byrne and he came up to the shop to help with the assembly.  Everything fit together perfectly.  This boat is available for purchase in any range of assembly from a … Read more

CNC Router

We have added some information to the site detailing our CAD programming and CNC routing capabilities.  We are currently building a 19′ special race boat utilizing both of these abilities.  The entire boat was drawn up in-house using CAD software and our CNC machine was used to mill all of the framework for the boat. … Read more

Top Drawer wins best Coronado at Century Boat Show

A couple of weeks ago we had a great day at the Century Boat show.  We brought along a 1966 Century Coronado fresh out of the shop after a restoration.  Congratulations to owners Steve and Janice Vogelzang for earning the Doc Atkinson award for best Coronado.  

Miss Lisa wins Best Restored at Table Rock

Congratulations to Matt and Lisa Byrne on winning Best Restored boat at the ACBS International show.  We were privileged to be a small part of the restoration of this boat, but most of the credit goes to Matt for all his hard work. More restoration photos of Miss Lisa can be seen in our project gallery.

Two new projects available

We recently aquired two new projects that are available for restoration by The Wooden Runabout Co.  Both are rare and worthy of restoration.  More details are available on our brokerage page. 1954 Chris-Craft Land Cruiser Camper 1939 Century Sea Maid 16′ split cockpit

Dock Holiday wins first in class at Hessel and Traverse City

Dock Holiday, a 1952 Chris-Craft 23′ Holiday which recently underwent a complete restoration at The Wooden Runabout Co., earned first in class awards at both the Boats on the Boardwalk show in Traverse City and the Les Cheneaux boat show in Hessel, MI.  In addition, “Dock” was awarded best boat name at the Hessel show. … Read more

Aristocraft Jr. Water Test

Last February my son, Henry, and I began construction of a simple plywood boat with the help of the Water Wonderland chapter of the ACBS.  Construction was started at the Grand Rapids boat show and this coming Saturday some of the completed boats will be shown at the Boats on the Boardwalk show in Traverse … Read more

Dock Holiday Wins Best Utility

Dock Holiday, a 1952 23′ Chris-Craft Holiday won best utility at the prestigious Bay Harbor  Boat show on June 23.  The 1951-1954 23 and 24 foot Holidays were likely the most luxurious and stylized utilities that Chris-Craft produced.  Teak floors were standard, the second seat slides forward on hidden tracks to allow the motor box … Read more

Grand Rapids Boat Show

Thanks to the Water Wonderland chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society for inviting us to share our Chris-Craft Land Cruiser as part of their display at the Grand Rapids boat show. Henry, the youngest member of our crew at The Wooden Runabout Co., also enjoyed participating in a boat building event sponsored by … Read more