Hi Bill,
First of all
WELCOME ABOARD , we're glad to have another Commander owner/restorer here on The FORUM !
Secondly, it sounds like a great boat, having lived it's entire life at Tahoe? I spent quite a lot of time on Tahoe over the years with the ACBS Rendezvous since the mid 1980s, and I'm familiar with many of the locals and hotspots around the lake. Alan Furth, now deceased, gave Janet and me a memorable ride aboard his custom Philbrick years ago, and we've been aboard numerous Allison, Liberty, Curtis Wright, and all sorts of American V8 powered boats, including some more exotic power as well. With 300 square miles of water, a 23' Commander sounds PERFECT.
You didn't mention the power, but it really doesn't matter because the boat will run with either option, and that hull works just the same either way. We have a line on most all of the parts you will need, and I'm sure Sierra can also get anything.
I don't know if Gar Wood's is still an establishment on the Lake these days, but we sure enjoyed pulling in there for dinner and/or a cocktail.
The Gelcoat on the 23 Commander is the exact same product used on all the Commanders of the era. You can find a nice writeup here on the forum about the integrity of the chemistry they used. The construction of the boats is very solid and they are quite restorable. EVEN ON TAHOE, where the standard for vintage boats is sometimes excruciatingly high in judged shows, you WILL get a lot of attention in a 23' Commander. They have the style, proportions, functionality, and performance that will get the attention of any informed boater, and many of them will quietly admire the seakeeping ability (which is far above and beyond many of the gleaming woodies on the lake).
Send photos (either upload them to a free source like photobucket.com, or email em directly to me at
chriscraftcommander@hotmail.com. The robin egg blue gelcoat they used is the same as what was used on some of the Lancers of the era, and I believe it was the same as used on "the only" blue hulled Chris Craft cruiser sized boat, the original 42' Sports Cruiser.
We have several very informed 23 owners here on The FORUM, severl of which have been all through the mechanicals. Please let us help you any way we can, and please feel free to share your restoration experiences here as well. The forum is read by many hundreds of thousands of people each year all around the globe, and we even had a couple of these fine boats appear in the Spanish Riviera and in France as well.
regards,
Paul
forum moderator
1966 38 Commander Express
FXA-38-3004-R
Original 427 power
1966 20' fiberglass Sea Skiff
GUA-20-0039-N
Upgraded 327F
Two wood 17' CC Sportsmen
95-hp 1957
300-hp 1956