Every poster tells a story

2008 Car-Boat event ad shows a beautiful blast from past

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Aug 21, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A 1929 Mercedes and a 1929 Chris Craft are perfect subjects for the poster advertising the 2008 Collector Car and Wooden Boat Show on Sunday in Lake Oswego. The event will have 250 cars, 30 boats and over 2,000 people.

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Genuine class.

That is what observers of the poster for Lake Oswego’s 2008 Collector’s Car and Wooden Boat Show must think when they view Mike Mayer’s 1929 Chris Craft and Mike Eshaia’s 1929 Mercedes.

Of course, 1929 was that not so wonderful year in which the American economy took an unceremonious nosedive into the Great Depression.

But it was still a great year for classic cars and boats. Especially when someone has taken as much care to restore and maintain them as Mayer and Eshaia, both of Lake Oswego, have done.

“Hair-raising and expensive” is the way Mayer describes the process of getting his wooden boat ready for exhibition in the first boat show in 2007.

“There were the hull, sides and bottom, and then all the detail work,” Mayer said. “Now it’s sound and safe and Coast Guard approved. This is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Mayer has gratefully learned that the first year for restoring a classic wooden boat is the hardest.

“Once you’ve done it, it’s relatively easy to stay on top of it,” he said. “Keeping it that way is pretty easy.”

It was in May of 2005 that Mayer bought the ’29 Chris Craft from a friend in Connecticut. He then took the boat to North Carolina, where 85 percent of the restoration work was done, then moved it to Lake Oswego last year.

While it was a huge task to get the boat ready for exhibition, it was also a dream come true.

“I’m a long-time wooden boat lover,” Mayer said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. My dad was a lifelong woodworker. It was the movie On Golden Pond that sparked my dad’s interest. He found an old Chris Craft that had never been finished.

“Since then we’ve bought every one we can find. At one point we had a lot of boats and none of them worked. But now we’re making momentum. I estimate we have 15 total boats.

“I love everything about them — the sight, the smell, the sound. They have a lot of dimensions that will keep me coming back for more.”

Eshaia has just as much love for his 1929 Mercedes, a gray two-door convertible that has many fine qualities: six-cylinder super charge, twin ignition, overhead cam, body by Sindelfingen, etc.

Eshaia has had a few headaches in getting the car ready. That is what happens when alcohol is used as fuel.

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