Rambler Cruises Anew!
24th July 2014
Rambler Renewed and Glowing
By Tim Du Vernet
Rambler, long a well-recognized feature at the Muskoka Lakes Association Boat Show, has returned to the lakes refreshed and renewed and ready for a new life with Bobby Genovese at the helm. We hope she will once again come to the boat show this year for August 9, in Port Carling.
Rambler is one of those boats on Lake Rosseau that connects generations of summer residents. Parents remember it and their children will hopefully continue to remember it.
At 70 feet, she isn’t the most nimble or simple boat to care for and house. Through the years that Tim Chisholm owned her and since Genovese has as well, she has been kept in a boat house up on Lake Joseph and lifted each season using a complicated system of hoists. Soon she will have a new home on Lake Rosseau.
Paul Brackley, of Gravenhurst’s Brackley Boats, was given the task of restoring her. This was a huge challenge, given her size and state. It took nearly three years , working in very demanding conditions to repair and restore her 38 tons of mahogany on steel frames and oak decking.
Rambler’s effective, but somewhat smelly, 170 hp diesel engine can push her along at speeds up to 15mph. Although not as proportionately narrow as the Wanda III, she is still very narrow at only 10’. She was built by Polson Iron Works in 1903.
Unquestionably one of the most stately boats in Muskoka, Rambler’s colourful flags, now sporting her owner’s insignia, white hull and the rich tones of her oak decks and cabin combine to be a spectacular sight on the lakes during a warm summer’s day.
It must have taken a great deal of nerve and or skill for Tim Chisholm and his staff to drive her. Her tall form easily catches the wind and she originally only had a single screw and rudder to direct her.
In the process of her restoration, rational heads succeeded over originality and she now has bow and stern thrusters to help manage difficult docking situations. With a remote control at the ready, a simple push of a button can direct an effective push left or right at the stern or bow. I am sure the thrusters will save Rambler from possible damaging bumps with docks or worse.
Rambler will be a welcome site, coming through the Indian River into Port Carling. It will be easy to see her when she comes.
By Tim Du Vernet
Rambler, long a well-recognized feature at the Muskoka Lakes Association Boat Show, has returned to the lakes refreshed and renewed and ready for a new life with Bobby Genovese at the helm. We hope she will once again come to the boat show this year for August 9, in Port Carling.
Rambler is one of those boats on Lake Rosseau that connects generations of summer residents. Parents remember it and their children will hopefully continue to remember it.
At 70 feet, she isn’t the most nimble or simple boat to care for and house. Through the years that Tim Chisholm owned her and since Genovese has as well, she has been kept in a boat house up on Lake Joseph and lifted each season using a complicated system of hoists. Soon she will have a new home on Lake Rosseau.
Paul Brackley, of Gravenhurst’s Brackley Boats, was given the task of restoring her. This was a huge challenge, given her size and state. It took nearly three years , working in very demanding conditions to repair and restore her 38 tons of mahogany on steel frames and oak decking.
Rambler’s effective, but somewhat smelly, 170 hp diesel engine can push her along at speeds up to 15mph. Although not as proportionately narrow as the Wanda III, she is still very narrow at only 10’. She was built by Polson Iron Works in 1903.
Unquestionably one of the most stately boats in Muskoka, Rambler’s colourful flags, now sporting her owner’s insignia, white hull and the rich tones of her oak decks and cabin combine to be a spectacular sight on the lakes during a warm summer’s day.
It must have taken a great deal of nerve and or skill for Tim Chisholm and his staff to drive her. Her tall form easily catches the wind and she originally only had a single screw and rudder to direct her.
In the process of her restoration, rational heads succeeded over originality and she now has bow and stern thrusters to help manage difficult docking situations. With a remote control at the ready, a simple push of a button can direct an effective push left or right at the stern or bow. I am sure the thrusters will save Rambler from possible damaging bumps with docks or worse.
Rambler will be a welcome site, coming through the Indian River into Port Carling. It will be easy to see her when she comes.