Windarra

Vehicle

Thousand Islands Boat Museum

Name/Title

Windarra

Entry/Object ID

2012.1.1

Description

Windarra Windarra was built in 1954 for Alfred Cowan by F.S. Crate & Sons out of Keswick, ON. Cowan wanted a fast boat that could be used for fishing, but was also seaworthy enough to withstand rough waters of Lake Simcoe. He wanted the reliability of a twin engine watercraft, but he also wanted speed, a low center of gravity, good seakeeping and fishing features (and had to be a particular size to fit into his boathouse). Current designs at the time didn't have all the features he was looking for (his previous boat was a Chris-Craft), so he spent some time making a design of his own which he approached Fred Crate to build. Fred's son Harry was the principle shipwright for this boat and once the designs were finalized he began work in fall of 1953. The next thing Alfred needed to acquire were engines. He wanted something modern, and conveniently Chrysler just made available the Crown 47S engine at the time. They contained dual carbs, liquid sodium cooled valves, integral V drives and transmissions which operated like hydraulic ones since the manual shifting had a hydraulic assist with a separate oil pump. Once these were installed, Windarra launched on July 20th, 1954. Windarra was sold with the cottage property in 1971, and was sold again, neglected, then bought by Scott Beattie in the mid 1980's. Beattie had some restoration done by the Crates but not enough and by 1990 it was no longer seaworthy. Mr. Beattie then properly stored the boat, removed the engines and had them stored as well, and waited. In 1995 Alfred's son John Scott Cowan of Kingston, ON traded a Chris-Craft utility boat for Windarra from Mr. Beattie and had it sent to Millar Potter Boat Restorations in Manotick, ON, in March of 1996. Restoration concluded in 1997. John Scott Cowan donated Windarra to the Thousand Islands Boat Museum (Trust) in 2012.

Collection

Boat Collection

Make and Manufacture

Manufacturer

F.S. Crate & Sons

Manufacture Place

* Untyped Manufacture Place

Keswick, ON

Manufacture Date

1954

Total Produced

Contributors and Customizers

Contributor or Customizer

Alfred Cowan

Role

Co-Designer

Make and Manufacture Notes

Material: Wood; Mahogany plank on frame, clinker built Hull type: Semi-displacement Engines: Two 135-HP Chrysler Crown M47S engines, serial no. 7989 (port), 8125 (starboard), both blocks stamped 1953. Fuel type: Gasoline

Vehicle Numbers

Number Type

Serial Number

Number

50E4740

Dimensions

Width

9 ft

Depth

2 ft

Length

26-1/2 ft