I am quite familiar with this model, as my Mom and Dad have one of these, and they've had great fun with it. They've had scores of guests aboard, they've had Alan Jackson drift by as they were at anchor and say "I like your boat". They run it on the Cumberland River near Alan's fish camp, and he's an avid Chris Craft guy. We enjoy seeing his boats, and we're glad he takes note of ours too!
Years ago my parents had a very important guest aboard, and he had us over to his house a week or so prior to getting the boat ride. We were wined and dined, and after dinner we went into his den, where he gave us a tour of his wine cellar. He then pulled out some fine cigars, and we had a smoke while enjoying a great after dinner drink.
So as the story goes...........Janet and I were already out and at anchor on the back side of Gower Island. I think we were reading the sunday paper at the time, and all of a sudden we heard the faint sound of a 31' Commander Sedan motoring in slowly. We were on a protected channel, and the 31 would be gliding right by our boat. Knowing Mr. "VIP" was on board, I decided to put a couple of my cigars in a zip lock bag, and tape them to the end of a long adjustable boat hook. Here came the 31, gliding by ever so slowly so as to exchange hello's and all, and there was "Mr. VIP" sitting out front on a deck chair just enjoying the day. As they approached, I hung the cigars out over the side toward him, and he couldn't believe his eyes! As he took the gift, he was exclaming all kinds of platitudes, and I know he really enjoyed the remainder of the trip. That's just one small day in the life of the boat, and if boats could talk, there would be so many interesting tales. It's part of the allure of owning a vintage boat, rather than something new off the showroom floor!
The 31' Commander Sedan my Dad runs, is powered by a pair of 230-hp 327Q motors. It gets up and goes just fine, and here's a shot over the transom during a recent test run we made together.
Prior to making the run noted above, I was in the bilge with a bright hand held spotlight, carefully looking at the fuel pumps, gasket connections, hoses, and the shaft-to-hub connection. I found a problem with the hub, it was eroded out so the key wouldn't hold things taught, so we tightened things down, took it for a spin, and ordered a new hub. Here's a photo of your forum host down there hugging a Chevy motor, prior to the test run
I'm quite impressed with the smoothness and speed of these motors in a 31' Commander. This boat is faster than my 427-powered 38, and we've had some fun documenting that point in the past.
Regards, Paul
