Reuben Smith and Tumblehome Boatshop are making the news, and have events planned throughout the year. Check out some of the Tumblehome news archives and see what we’ve been up to.
At a busy boat shop anchored deep in the Adirondacks, the founder works steadily at keeping historic lake boats alive and thriving. “There are a lot of good shops that restore mahogany speedboats and do a great job, but Reuben Smith’s true love is launches. And he understands what the boat was.”
Upon arrival, you will be instantly impressed with how Reuben and Cynde Smith have captured Adirondack chic by the sheer attractiveness of their building and the beautiful inviting gardens surrounding Tumblehome’s operation. Reuben Smith initiated Tumblehome in 1997, though he didn’t build a permanent structure till 2012, when he and a team of builders renovated a multi-purposed block building that was home to other industries and was once a town barn.
Every boat has a story and a history. In restoring a vintage boat, we aim to be as original as possible, using traditional methods and materials. Similarly, I think staging the boat is an opportunity to capture its true history, to explore and express what it might have been like to ride in that boat when it was new.
It was here — in the Adirondack Mountains about 200 miles north of New York City — that the story of the 1916 motor launch, Fanita Jr began. This Fay & Bowen torpedo stern launch was first owned by John Boulton Simpson, born in 1846, a veteran of the American Civil War, and a millionaire New York businessman.
Fanita, Jr, the 32-foot, 1916 Fay and Bowen torpedo stern launch once owned by Lake George Club commodore John Bolton Simpson, entered the waters of the lake for the first time in years last weekend, after a full structural restoration by Tumblehome Boatshop.
The Bolton Landing Boats and Boating Festival is a day-long event featuring dozens of small boats powered by oar, paddle and sail, sponsored by the Bolton Historical Museum, with support from Tumblehome Boatshop and others.
Among the boats coming to next weekend’s Bolton Landing Boats and Boating Festival in Rogers Park are two 32-foot, six-oared rowing vessels from Lake Champlain.
Two boats of the same design are a matched pair. Add a third, and you have a class.
Credit for that quip belongs to Reuben Smith, the builder and restorer of wood boats who is among those responsible for reassembling a class of One Design sailboats on Lake George – the Sound Interclubs.
Writer Art Paine talks with designer Bob Stephens of Stephens Waring Yacht Design and boat builder Reuben Smith of Tumblehome Boatshop about their collaboration on “Stella Blue,” a custom speedboat with element of a Gentleman’s Racer but with features that make it practical for a family boating on a small Adirondack lake.
Read the article.
The Fanita Jr, restored by Tumblehome Boatshop, is a Fay and Bowen that once belonged to John Boulton Simpson, and has always been on Lake George.
The Sembrich, the opera museum and performance venue in Bolton Landing, and Reuben Smith’s Tumblehome Boatshop in Warrensburg, have been selected to receive Preservation Awards by Adirondack Architectural Heritage.
Pick up a copy of this week’s Lake George Mirror and get all the news on El Lagarto and the Gold Cup Festival this September.
Reuben Smith opened his Tumblehome Boatshop in 2012, intending to build a business restoring antique wooden boats and, when able, constructing new boats based on historic designs. It was a successful gambit.
The January/February issue of WoodenBoat Magazine (Number 242) includes a feature article by editor Matthey P. Murphy on the restoration and reintroduction of the Sound Inter Clubs, “Caprice” and “Ghost.” On sale at newstands and online at the WoodenBoatStore.
Certain designs endure. If they’re beautiful, if they’re well built, if they are easy to own and easy to use, and if they have a history that resonates, then they become classics. The Sound Inter Club is one such boat.
The November/December issue of WoodenBoat Magazine (Number 241) includes a design review by Brendan Riordan on the Tumblehome 24, the custom speedboat designed by Stephens Waring Yacht Design and under construction at Tumblehome Boatshop. On sale online at the WoodenBoatStore.
“The new woman needed a new kind of boat,” That’s what historian Hallie Bond suggested last week at Reuben Smith’s Tumblehome Boatshop, where she presented, ‘“Canoes Seem Made for Girls:’ A Century of Women in Boats.”
The Gadfly is a 33-foot 1931 Hutchinson Island Commuter built specifically for folks living in the 1000 Islands area of the St. Lawrence River.
For Reuben Smith, the owner of Tumblehome Boatshop in Warrensburg, Stoddard’s photographs are not merely of antiquarian or aesthetic interest.
‘Ghost’, a 29-foot Sound Interclub restored by a crew led by Reuben Smith for Assembly Point resident John Kelly, won Honorable Mention for Best Professionally Restored Boat . . . .
Talking with Reuben Smith about his thoughtful approach to wooden-boat restoration and visiting his Tumblehome Boatshop just north of Warrensburg . . .
Tumblehome Boatshop has been selected by the Antique Boat Museum to restore its 1931 Hutchinson Commuter.
A 29-foot Sound Inter Club restored by Reuben Smith’s crew took first place in its category.
Wood Boat Builder and Restorer Has Found the Perfect Place to Continue the Family Legacy
A retired Lake George sailboat is making a comeback, and Mystic Seaport is following its progress.
A Craft Perfectly Suited to Lake George
