Selling an old concept to a new Muskoka crowd

[Spiel]

Selling an old concept to a new Muskoka crowd

 

 

Jun 25, 2008

Amberly McAteer / muskokan.com

 

 

Photo by Amberly McAteer / CLASSICS FOR RENT. Stan Hunter has been restoring classic wooden boats for decades, but has only recently offered a livery, whereby visitors can rent the symbols of Muskoka. Hunter is precise about every little detail, including the classic keys and shiny silver touches.

 

The wooden boat is an icon of Muskoka, yet few visitors ever experience driving one. Renowned boat builder Stan Hunter had an idea: why not bring back the wooden boat livery, once the mainstay of wooden boat companies in Muskoka.

 

My first thought… “How easy is it to operate one of these things? I mean, can anyone do it?” I ask Stan Hunter, distinguished Port Carling boat builder. We’re standing in his boathouse, overlooking a handful of classic wooden vessels gently bobbing in the water.

 

Before I know it, I’m cruising Lake Muskoka, behind the wheel of a shiny 1948 Duke Playmate, restored to its original beauty, with Hunter riding comfortably in the passenger seat.

 

The motor is surprisingly quiet; it reminds me of my mom’s old sewing machine. The waves are high and the sky is bright, and here I am driving Hunter’s boat.

 

This isn’t the story I’d come for, nor the spontaneity I expected from Hunter.

 

I’ve come to speak with him about his livery, his newest venture of renting his refurbished classic wooden boats to the fractional ownership crowd.

 

For $1,200 a week, visitors can rent one of his treasures, have it delivered wherever they’d like — their home, cottage or hotel — complete with a full tank of gas. When they’re done, they just leave it at the dock. No mess, no maintenance, no storage.

 

From the driver’s seat, I slow down and soak in the awesome scenery. I’m certain that Hunter has proved his point: anyone with a pleasure craft operator card can do this, and anyone would cherish it.

 

The livery is simply “history repeating itself,” he tells me. Boat builders Duke, Clive Brown and John Dunn were renting out their boats in the very beginning of Muskoka tourism, he explains.

 

The Ditchburn Company grew in size because of the need for rentals, when people were flocking to Muskoka and yearning to be on the water.

 

Now, half a century later, Hunter says the same need has arisen: people want to experience owning a classic boat, waving to dockside sunbathers on a breezy July afternoon.

 

“It’s the newest trend, but the oldest concept,” he says. “It’s a new idea, but at the same time it’s not new at all. It’s owning a piece of Muskoka temporarily, have it be yours. And when you’re done, forget about the upkeep.”

 

Hunter says the idea to have a livery has always been in the back of his mind.

 

“Wooden boats are all over the promotional stuff but nobody’s figured out how to get them into the customer’s hands,” he adds.

 

Hunter’s shop is packed with shiny, wooden boats of different sizes, years and models. Some he and his crew are restoring for customers, and some are Hunter’s personal boats. On the water, we slow right down and bob carefree in the lake.

 

“How did you pick which models to put in the livery?” I ask.

 

“Well, what a good question,” he answers. He’s silent. Smiling, he looks intently across the water.

 

For a moment, I think he’s forgotten about me.

 

Hunter is a lot like the boats themselves. He’s slow moving, leisurely. Classic. Spending an afternoon with him, I feel like I’ve gone back in time, to an era without all the rush. I’ve been transported to an age where I could spend all day, all week, on this water with Hunter and his boat.

 

“It’s safe, it’s slow,” he says of the Duke playmate, a vessel with only 25 horsepower. “It would be difficult to do any real damage to it. It’s easy to operate, but also I’m appealing to the sort of person who cherishes the classics. They’ll want a Duke. There is magic here.”

 

I learn that “easy to operate” is an understatement. A silver switch in the centre of the steering wheel determines the speed.

 

“Docking the boat is the trickiest part,” says Hunter. He will personally guide the boat’s temporary owner in a short lesson on how to dock, but it’s not complicated and will only take a matter of minutes, he says.

 

I speed up — a simple push of the switch — and look back to see the boathouse disappearing.

 

“We’re all responsible for our own wake,” says Hunter quietly. “My dad taught me that.”

 

Classic wooden boats have a modern appeal, he says, as they are quiet and as eco-friendly as boats can get.

 

“And I admit I have this romantic ideology about them. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone floated around out here, instead of speeding by on wakeboards and fibreglass?”