Antique wooden boats built around Georgian Bay are being lovingly restored by members of the Georgian Bay Heritage League (GBHL).
The group of dedicated boat restorers is keeping local 19th- and 20th-century marine history alive through their work.
While there are only eight active volunteers at the moment, they have restored close to 30 boats, most of which are power boats.
"Our mandate is to restore all the Georgian Bay boats," says Basil Lefreniere, GBHL president.
The club has restored boats manufactured by seven manufacturers along the shore of Georgian Bay from Meaford to Honey Harbour. They are Gidley Boats, Grew Boats, Norse Boats, Midland Boat Company, Watts Boats, Cliff Richardson Boats and Sea Bird Boats.
They also own half of Diversity, an Atlantic Challenge sail/row boat and several canoes.
While the club has been going since the 1990s, the GBHL have kept a rather low profile until recently with Lafreniere noting they are outgrowing their three boat shops as demand for restoration increases.
"We've got a lot of boats done and we've got a lineup to get in," says Lafreniere.
They are currently restoring a 1951 Grew/Gidley design and 1945 Norse built in Penetanguishene. They also have a 1963, a 1965 and two sailboats built by Grew.
On deck for refinishing is a mahogany triple cockpit Sea Bird built in Honey Harbour and a Cliff Richardson triple cockpit boat, built in Meaford.
The League is increasing its public exposure at local summer festivals in order to share boat history with the public and to raise funds to restore more boats. And because they have so many boats, they can tailor what boats they bring to festivals.
For example, they took part in Sidelaunch Days in Collingwood in August and brought Watts boats there for the display. Watts boats were built in Collingwood between 1842 to 1946.
In September, they took part in the second annual Heritage Boat Show at the Huronia Museum and brought Grew boats that were built in Penetanguishene.
"We try to get the boats looking good for the show we are going to," Lafreniere explains.
They don't sell any boats because their mandate is to preserve and display boat history.
"The club has a history of hanging onto the historical boats, so the public can see them down the road. If we sell them, we don’t have anything to show,” he says.
Lafreniere said they are always on the look out for boat to buy or be donated.
In order to raise money to buy new boats, the volunteers are taking on restoration work for clients and they raise funds by volunteering at the Delta Bingo in Penetanguishene.
Next summer they will be taking their Cliff Richardson to the anniversary of Cliff Richardson Boats, which has been in business since 1933 in Meaford.
"They don't have one wooden boat," Lafreniere says.
Lafreniere also has big plans locally. He is meeting with town officials to get a marine heritage festival next summer and he wants to see Penetanguishene build a marine museum with boat slips at the waterfront.
More volunteers are welcome to come out and work on boats. Lafreniere will train volunteers to scrape, sand, varnish and paint boats.
GBHL is incorporated, but they have not yet received non-profit status. They can accept donations but cannot issue tax receipts. For more information, click here or call Lafreniere at (705) 529-3237.
