Let the fun begin

Since i was a kid in the early 60's spending my summers in Lake Geneva, WI I was fascinated with a locally owned manufacturer of mahogany boats "Streblow Custom Boats". A neighbor of ours had a 22 foot Streblow which was parked at our pier. Their son, Mike, was a friend of my older brother Andy. They would spend the day out on the lake on this beutiful boat as i stayed at the pier with my other siblings and friends swimming and fishing. I can still remember the rumble of the engine, it was sweet.

One fouth of July, can't remember the  year. Mike our neighbor took our whole family out to see the fireworks on the streb! I can still remember i sat next to him and the gear shifter stood up from the floor and i had strict instructions not to touch it! What a great ride. Man this boat even had wings!

Fast Forward, I moved to California in 1988 at the same time my Uncle moved full time to live on Lake Geneva. During this time he owned 2 streblows and I living on the west coast never seen either! by the time i moved back to the Chicago area my uncle relocated to Florida and the strebs were gone. 

Fast Forward, I was horsing around on ebay in the early fall of 2010. I plugged in streblow boat. no results. i decided to check completed listings. To my surprise a 15 foot outboard had just sold out of northern wi. I never knew they made an outboard. I figured oh well, next time and added the streblow search to my file. To my surprise, the same boat came back to auction, this time it was in south carolina! I put in a bid and was second to the winner, i sent the owner an email saying if the winner didnt buy to contact me. Well the owner contacted my and after a paypal transaction the streb was mine. (this outboard story to be continued later).

With my saved ebay search, i started receiving posts of some boat parts labeled "chris craft, century, streblow". After a couple of these i got to thinking, who would add streblow to this unless it came from a streblow. i contacted the seller, and he stated that indeed he had a streblow he was parting out. I asked him about it and went to see the boat parked in a tent. It didn't take long before i made him an offer on this 19 foot streblow, He accepted my meager offer stating he almost sold it to a guy that wanted to cut it up and make a bar out of it, i think he wanted to see it completed and sold it to me.

So i picked up the streblow and brought it back to my shop. Oh by the way the boat was missing, seats (had the front seat, but no seat cushion), engine, transmission, prop, shaft, back seat, windshield, floor boards (i have the one for the front and one for the  back side) and a few other items. But it was a streblow and i was on my way!