Custom-designed Music To Be Featured at Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show
By Karen Gould

Music, the 34-foot Grand Craft sport cruiser owned by Coryell Island summer residents Julie and Howard Veneklasen is prepared to be launched in early May on Lake Macatawa in Holland, Michigan. (Grand Craft photographs)

Moored among the vintage wooden boats at Hessel this year will be a three-month-old, customdesigned, 34-foot Grand Craft sport cruiser. Launched in May on Lake Macatawa in Holland, Michigan, the unique mahogany boat, Music, is a featured vessel at the 31st Annual Les Cheneaux Islands Antique Wooden Boat Show Saturday, August 9.

The classic design of the boat captures the best features of its forebears, Chris Craft, Hinckley, Riva, and San Juan, along with the original ideas of its owner, Howard Veneklasen, and the design team at Grand Craft in Holland.

"The inspiration of this boat," said Mr. Veneklasen, "came from over 25 years of looking at wooden boats and recalling aspects I like best of all the boats I ever saw."

Over the years, he said, the Les Cheneaux boat show has provided him with a wealth of information and discoveries.

Grand Craft engineers and the Veneklasens test Music's twin Volvo, six cylinder diesel engines, which propel the boat up to 45 miles per hour.

"Every time I attend the show," he said, "I find something new that I didn't know was made. They have a great representation at that show."

Summer residents of Coryell Island, Mr. Veneklasen and his wife of 28 years, Julie, have been coming to the area for more than 25 years and are not new to wooden boat ownership.

Once Mr. Veneklasen decided to move forward with the project to have a custom-built boat, he recalled features he had appreciated in other boats over the years, including a 1930, 24-foot Chris Craft Cadet, the first boat he owned. Mr. Veneklasen had that boat entered in the first Les Cheneaux boat show.

When he sold the Chris Craft Cadet, he took a hiatus from wooden boat ownership, although not for long. His love for the vessels quickly returned. Appreciating their beauty and uniqueness, he likes knowing that without even looking, a wooden boat can be identified simply by the sound the engines make as the boat cuts through the water.

"There's nothing like a wooden boat," he added, "as far as the looks and the ride."

In 2004, Mr. Veneklasen walked into the office at Grand Craft with pages of specifications and features that he wanted included in his next vessel. His design request broke new ground for the company, which had specialized in building 24-foot to 28-foot runabouts and 36-foot commuter boats. At that time, it was the company's first effort at building a larger sport cruiser.

With the final design approved, the keel was laid in April 2005. Striking a balance between form and function, said Mr. Veneklasen, was paramount.

The 34-foot boat with a 10-foot beam is fitted out for Great Lakes cruising and features a Global Positioning System (GPS), Garwin radar, and a complete set of Volvo instrumentation. The twin Volvo, six cylinder diesel engines provide a total of 870 horsepower and the boat tops out at 45 miles per hour.

The vessel weighs about 20,000 pounds.

Other features aboard Music include a galley with a microwave and refrigerator, Corian countertops, high quality marine leather trim, a non-slip cork floor, and heat and air conditioning. Music sleeps four comfortably.

Grand Craft was founded in 1979 by Chris Smith III, the greatgrandson of the founder of Chris Craft. At that time, Chris Craft was moving from wooden boat construction to fiberglass boats. James Sheely, who is in sales and marketing at Grand Craft, said the company produces vintage boats with lower maintenance with construction that does not require the boat to be soaked each year.

The boats built by Grand Craft have a nostalgic appearance, said Mr. Sheely, without the maintenance of an older vintage wooden boat.

All of the company's boats are custom ordered like Mr. Veneklasen's Music, said Tim Masek, owner of Grand Craft.

"I think it demonstrates to a lot of people that not only can we build a traditional wooden boat, it also demonstrates we can customize, add appointments, and modern conveniences that people would want."

"We worked to successfully produce a product that is stunning and a cool boat," he said of Music.

While she's docked in Holland, many viewers want to know how old the boat is, a question Mr. Veneklasen takes as a compliment. The question, he said, confirms the boat retains the heritage of classic wooden boats.

The Veneklasens expect to enjoy years of boating in the Les Cheneaux Islands and also long distance traveling. This summer's cruising plans include excursions to Milwaukee and Chicago.

"I feel good about what we did," he said of Music. "It turned out well."