Uandi Homecoming Story Captures Boat Show Prizes
Returned To Blain Family, Boat Takes Top Honors at 29th Annual Les Cheneaux Event
By Amy Polk

A compelling homecoming story captured the attention of judges and spectators at this year's Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show to help Uandi, a 26-foot, 1926 Hacker Craft, Dolphin Deluxe win the show's two top prizes.

The vessel's owner, Dr. Norman Betts, spent 10 years trying to bring the boat home after a 30-year absence from the Les Cheneaux Islands. He finally acquired the boat this year, much to the surprise and delight of the Blain family, longtime Cedarville cottagers.

The story of the boat and her unique, sleek look helped her win the 2006 Best of Show award and the People's Choice award. Best of Show is a juried category, judged by volunteer and Antique and Classic Boat Society members. The People's Choice is selected by popular vote, through ballots provided in spectator programs. She also won second place in her class for runabouts, 25 feet and longer.

Uandi's appeal to both groups of people demonstrates why her family loved her so much and why Dr. Betts worked so hard to get her back. The boat has a narrower hull that slopes toward the back to give an elongated appearance. She has green leather upholstery and a brass-faced instrument cluster features Hacker's four standard gauges of engine temperature, AMPs, RPMs, and oil pressure.

Unique features include a wood-framed windshield and striking engine hatch covers made of a single piece of mahogany. The boat has a straight six-cylinder, 427 Greymarine engine, which was unusually large for a boat of this type at the time it was installed, Dr. Betts said. Instead of a regular boat horn, Uandi has a siren that sounds like a fire engine. Chrome trim and "about 15 coats of varnish" round out the smooth, eye-catching package.

The boat was once owned by Dr. Betts' in-laws, the Blain family.

Dr. James Blain was a general surgeon in Sault Ste. Marie, and in the 1940 bought a lakefront retreat in Cedarville. The cottage came with a boat named Uandi, which was used by Mr. Blain's four children, AnnMarie Blain LaRocca, Sada Blain Fretz, Adella Blain, and James Blain Jr., on weekend and summer visits to the cottage.

Dr. Betts married AnnMarie's daughter, Keeley, in 1987 and heard many stories about the boat from family members.

"They all used the boat, and all the kids drove it," Dr. Betts said.

Keeley's mother once took the boat to Mackinac Island with a group of friends in the late 1940s. The boat was pounded by the waves while crossing the Straits of Mackinac, but the party made it to Mackinac, docked the boat, and went into town. When they returned, the boat was gone. They thought it had been stolen, but it had sunk, its lines still tied to the dock.

"The waves had pounded some of the planks loose on the way over," Dr. Betts said. "That was the first time the boat underwent a full restoration."

The Greymarine engine that is now in the boat was also installed at that time.

After her husband died, the boat was sold by Mrs. Betts' grandmother, Sada Blain, in the 1970s to local restorer Jim Mertaugh, who refurbished it and sold it to someone outside of the islands.

The Blain family never forgot the boat, and Dr. Betts made it his goal to bring the boat back when he could afford to.

"They didn't have any boats at the property at the time, and the family always talked about the Uandi and how they wished they had it back," he said.

With the help of friend and neighbor, Mary Baker, and Tom Mertaugh of Classic and Antique Boats of Hessel, he began his

search 10 years ago. It took five years to locate former owners in upstate New York, and another five years to convince the subsequent owner to part with the craft.

He and his wife kept the purchase of the boat a secret from the family until they could bring it back to the Les Cheneaux Islands.

"Two weeks ago," Dr. Betts said, "we had the name put on it, and six days before the show I drove it home, where the whole family was there to receive it."

The name on the transom is reproduced from Keeley's grandmother, Sada Blain's handwriting.

"We found the name on a boat registration from 1954, written in her handwriting," he said, "and John Grenier was able to recreate the original name in her cursive."

Dr. Betts drove Uandi to the Blain cottage Monday, August 7, and his mother-in-law, AnnMarie, was able to get behind the wheel of the boat for the first time in 30 years.

"It's been a dream of mine to do this for 10 years, and it was so great to see everybody's reaction. For this family, having the Uandi back was like having a family member return," he said.

Norman and Keeley Betts own two other wooden boats that were originally bought as replacements for Uandi. One is a small kit boat built by Bruce Patrick of Cedarville, called Wee and Us. The other is Silent Woman, a 17foot, 1959 Chris Craft ski boat.

They have three children, Kearney, 16, Michaela, 14, and Nico, 10. They live in Ann Arbor and spend vacation time at the Blain family cottage in Cedarville.