(owned by Tim Jackson & Ruth Giles & Family)

This is our 1963 15’ Richardson Aquacraft Playboy.

The original owners bought the boat in 1964 as a replacement for their cedar-strip boat that had been stolen. They used the boat from their home on the Otonabee River, just below Lock 19, in Peterborough, Ontario.
Over the years, this family replaced the transom and helper ribs were installed in an attempt to keep the boat usable.
The boat remained in that family for several decades. It was used at their cottage on Stoney Lake, north of Peterborough, Ontario, until it became unusable. It was then put into storage.

Upon attending my first Trent Severn Antique and Classic Boat Association meeting, some of the members, upon realizing that I didn’t yet own a boat, set out to find me one.

In 2002, following one of their leads, we purchased the boat complete with all the original parts including the windshield, hardware, original motor {1962, 40 hp Evinrude Lark} and original trailer. How very fortunate for us! The boat was in poor condition but restorable. The total restoration became a family project.
Over the next 4 years the boat was stripped to bare wood inside and out. We replaced 34 ribs using steam bent white oak. The crumbling transom was removed and a new transom was built out of African Mahogany using the old one as template. We also replaced the inside and outside bilge stringers, the keelson and the keel. We put epoxy on the bottom using 4-oz. cloth and the West system. Four coats of Pettit EasyPoxy polyurethane red paint was applied and the remainder of the boat was finished with 10 coats of Epiphanes.

The restoration was completed in the spring of 2006. The first time in the water in decades for this boat was on May 21, 2006, on Little Lake, Peterborough, Ontario. Present for this “maiden” voyage were the boat's owners and their children Tim Jackson, Ruth Giles, and Rebecca and Cassondra Jackson. All life jackets were done up tight, “just-in-case”, but she ran like a dream and remained afloat!

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COMPLETED - SPRING OF 2006:

The Jacksons show off their restoration accomplishments at the re-opening of the Lakefield Wharf - May 20th , 2006

OUR NEXT PROJECT: 1951 Canadian Canoe Company (Avalon) 15 foot....

If you have any questions about this vessel, you can contact the webmaster (*important - remove "nospam" in address to send email) for information on how to reach the owner.