33-FOOT 1935 ‘POLICE PATROL BOAT’ STAR OF ACBS SHOW SATURDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Peter Moore was in rescue mode Saturday.

The owner of a dozen or so antique and classic boats brought one of his latest prize catches to the 42nd annual ACBS vintage boat show.

“Patrol Boat No. 7” is a 33-foot 1935 former Toronto Harbour Commission craft that took prime position at the end of Dock A at the Muskoka Wharf.

It was its first official run of the season after two years of restoration by Curtis Hillman of Milford Bay and finishing by Patricia Ross, of Bracebridge.

And while other lesser boats tooted their horns, Moore showed off with a siren that could be heard the other side of Greavette Island.

It’s a sound Moore used a few years ago when he helped rescue a group of people who tipped their longboat during dragon canoe racing in Toronto.

“I had to rescue a number of them after they fell in,” he said yesterday.

This 33-foot 1935 J.J. Taylor long-deck ‘Police Patrol Boat No. 7,’ owned by Peter Moore, not only looked good up close, but headup up Lake Muskoka was a sound and sight to behold.

No. 7 is only one of only three remaining police patrol launches left — that he knows of — after the harbour commission got out of policing waters under the new Metro government structure.

One recently emerged in Minnesota. All of them were individually numbered and after each was decommissioned a new boat replacing it received the same number. So there were multiple No. 7s — but his is the last of all of those that were numbered and put in service.

Moore plucked his J.J. Taylor long-deck launch out of the water 13 years ago after it had been severely damaged in 2010 and was being sold as a “project boat.”

He ran it in to the pandemic before it started taking on some boat due to wood and seam expansion.

Luckily COVID helped the cardboard box manufacturer pay for refurbishing when packaging and shipping demand orders tripled.

So he’s glad to get her back in the water and happy to be back in Gravenhurst, where he’s had other great classic and antique boats in the show over the years.

His was among more than 100 boats docked and shown off for thousands of browsers who took in their sights on a lovely mid-20s day.

Peter Moore, a Simcoe cardboard box manufacturerer, made the best of COVID by having his boat restored.
Boats of all ages and classes filled the Muskoka Wharf with hundreds walking the planks to view the vintages up close.
They came by big and small watercraft, like this “dippy” with a conent and comfortable couple at the helm.
On shore the marketplace offered a glimpse of boats before and after restoration like this Peterborough pair.
Up the lake without a paddle? Kids got a chance to carve their own with finishing touches using chisels to scrape away the rough edges of the roughed-out shapes offered on hand.
This Peterborough canoe, complete wih unusual sail, was among a few that had the coveted ‘100-year-old’ balloon atached. Behin were three amphibian cars – on shore after a toot around the Gravenhurst Bay harbour. 
Out on the old federal wharf – town dock – skiers offered great photo-ops for photogs and sitting ducks.
X-Treme ski show performers managed to get this six-person, three-level pyramid up – but they had a lot of trouble with several other performance acts in a brief show.
But fans out on the town dock enjoyed attempts by the skiiers who perform weekly throughout Muskoka, including here and at Gull Lake Rotary Park.
A day that started with more amenible morning temperaures blossomed throughout the afternoon with warm, sunny temps that were pleasing to most after rain and heat of late.

Here’s how one race boat looks on the water.

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