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looking for a v-drive
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
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I got turned onto West Coast style performance boats when Eliminator was running a shop up here in Wisconsin. I bought one of their 20.5 mod-V hulls with an outboard, and got hooked on the whole performance boat scene. Hot Boat magazine was big at the time, and reading the mag taught me a bit about the history of hot boats. It seemed that sitting at the top of the food chain was a brand with a weird name, Schiada. To someday own a Schiada became a goal, but I really never thought the goal would be met for two reasons, they were all on the West Coast, and expensive.
One Sunday morning I was browsing through the Milwaukee newspaper classifieds (pre-internet days, at least for me), and holyshit someone local had listed a 20' Schiada rigged with an I/O. I couldn't believe my eyes, and even though I wasn't looking to buy, and had always wanted a v-drive, I called to set a time to look at it. Sure as hell, it actually was a Schiada right here in Wisconsin. A deal was eventually made and I owned a Schiada!
The boat came to Wisconsin through considerable effort by the original owner, John Connors. He and his young family were into water skiing, but he didn't want an inboard tugboat. He somehow learned of the Schiada brand being built on the West Coast, and decided it was just their thing. So in 1979 he placed an order for a 20' bare hull, and drove from Wisconsin to California to pick it up.
Actually, John told me that he and a friend of his ordered two of them. John's was ordered baby blue, because he thought the Atlas Van Lines unlimited hydro of the period was cool looking. The other was ordered black with orange and tan stripes. Both hulls were sent from Schiada without power. John and his friend rigged both hulls with Mercruiser small block systems. If memory serves, John said they knew someone at Merc who helped put them together. One very unique feature of John's build was a custom barefoot boom, which put many, many kids successfully on the water.
The blue Schiada was used a lot with the Connors, running hundreds of happy hours, and held up really well to all the use. But, as John's family grew they got heavily involved in slalom skiing, and eventually the Schiada didn't meet their needs. So John put it on the market in 1996. I clearly remember John looking a little sad about the Schiada "leaving the family" when I hauled it away.
I owned the baby blue Schiada, which we named Elvis, for four summers. I loved that boat. Just about the perfect all-around 20' solution for speed, ski/barefoot wake, and rough water ride. I once called Schiada to ask some rigging questions, and Lee Spindler instantly remembered the blue boat. He said everyone in the shop thought the blue and white color scheme was a little odd while it was being built, but once it was out of the mold and out in the sunshine everyone thought it looked great. It does.
Elvis was kept on a lift at my friend Jim's lake home, and the deal was Jim could use it as much as he wanted in exchange for the free spot on the lift. Well, Jim ended up using it a lot more than I was, so he eventually just bought it from me. Now he was the owner, and I got to use it whenever I wanted. Perfect scenario!
Almost perfect. Jim and his wife got transferred to North Carolina, and Elvis went with them. They used him a lot down there, with the ski season extending almost year round, and Elvis racked up hundreds more happy hours. And the gel colors were a huge hit with all the NC fans on their lake.
Eventually though, as happened with the Connors, Jim's family got so seriously into skiing that Elvis didn't meet their needs, and they bought a tournament boat. So Elvis spent the last couple years essentially unused, just sitting on a lift. Jim recognized this wasn't the best thing for the boat, and asked if I wanted to buy it back. But my own kid is now so into wakeboard tournaments that just this spring we sold our Hallett 210 and got an Air Nautique (don't get me started), so I had to decline. Elvis was posted on Powerboat Listings, and we all felt a bad about him again "leaving the family".
Here's where the story gets awesome.
Meanwhile back in Wisconsin, John Connors' wife sent some old family pictures to her recently married son, Rob Connors, now age 32. Rob's new wife, seeing pictures of him as a child on a boat, asked if that was the boat he was always talking about, the boat he wished he could have back. He said "No, but I'll find a picture of one on the internet to show you." So Rob Googled "blue Schiada". Yup. Up came Jim's ad for Elvis on Powerboat. Rob says that he nearly fell over seeing the pictures. He told his wife that there may be some downsizing in the house they were currently building if this really was the same boat. It was.
This was one of the early emails from Rob to Jim.
Jim,
John is my father. I have wanted this boat back for years. ... My ambition is to get this boat here without my father knowing. I was born in 83 and this boat was built in our Thiensville home. I slept under bow of this boat for my infant years.
To have this boat back would mean more to me than I can explain.
Sincerely,
Rob Conners
So, after 20 years, the blue Schiada is again taking a long trip, this time back to the original family. Similar to his father's big boat adventure, this past Friday Rob drove down from Wisconsin, bought a trailer, and as I write this is driving Elvis home. All the more cool is that Rob is going to surprise his dad, John, with its return, and plans on re-rigging the boat with his dads help.
And I doubt it'll being changing hands anytime soon. Another email from Rob.
Jim,
I would be happy to give you a call if I ever decide to sell it, but I don't plan to let it out of my sight once we have it back though. To find this boat after 20 yrs is basically a dream come true. I am not an emotional person but I have one hell of a soft spot for this boat.
Thanks,
Rob
In each of the three sales (from John Connors to me, from me to Jim, and now from Jim to Rob Connors), the boat was sold for exactly the same price. What goes around comes around.
As a side story, the black and tan hull also spent a long time in Southern Wisconsin, and coincidentally I often saw it sitting on a lift on Oconomowoc Lake. I always told myself I should stop and make the owner a standing offer in case they ever decided to sell, but never did because we weren't really looking to get a second boat. Then one summer it was gone, and I thought I'd never see that Schiada again. Until it showed up here on RDP, back in California and getting a rebuild. Apparently the Schiada world isn't very big!
Elvis doing what he does.
Always looking good.
Jim (white shirt) making the deal with Rob.
Off to the next chapter.
One Sunday morning I was browsing through the Milwaukee newspaper classifieds (pre-internet days, at least for me), and holyshit someone local had listed a 20' Schiada rigged with an I/O. I couldn't believe my eyes, and even though I wasn't looking to buy, and had always wanted a v-drive, I called to set a time to look at it. Sure as hell, it actually was a Schiada right here in Wisconsin. A deal was eventually made and I owned a Schiada!
The boat came to Wisconsin through considerable effort by the original owner, John Connors. He and his young family were into water skiing, but he didn't want an inboard tugboat. He somehow learned of the Schiada brand being built on the West Coast, and decided it was just their thing. So in 1979 he placed an order for a 20' bare hull, and drove from Wisconsin to California to pick it up.
Actually, John told me that he and a friend of his ordered two of them. John's was ordered baby blue, because he thought the Atlas Van Lines unlimited hydro of the period was cool looking. The other was ordered black with orange and tan stripes. Both hulls were sent from Schiada without power. John and his friend rigged both hulls with Mercruiser small block systems. If memory serves, John said they knew someone at Merc who helped put them together. One very unique feature of John's build was a custom barefoot boom, which put many, many kids successfully on the water.
The blue Schiada was used a lot with the Connors, running hundreds of happy hours, and held up really well to all the use. But, as John's family grew they got heavily involved in slalom skiing, and eventually the Schiada didn't meet their needs. So John put it on the market in 1996. I clearly remember John looking a little sad about the Schiada "leaving the family" when I hauled it away.
I owned the baby blue Schiada, which we named Elvis, for four summers. I loved that boat. Just about the perfect all-around 20' solution for speed, ski/barefoot wake, and rough water ride. I once called Schiada to ask some rigging questions, and Lee Spindler instantly remembered the blue boat. He said everyone in the shop thought the blue and white color scheme was a little odd while it was being built, but once it was out of the mold and out in the sunshine everyone thought it looked great. It does.
Elvis was kept on a lift at my friend Jim's lake home, and the deal was Jim could use it as much as he wanted in exchange for the free spot on the lift. Well, Jim ended up using it a lot more than I was, so he eventually just bought it from me. Now he was the owner, and I got to use it whenever I wanted. Perfect scenario!
Almost perfect. Jim and his wife got transferred to North Carolina, and Elvis went with them. They used him a lot down there, with the ski season extending almost year round, and Elvis racked up hundreds more happy hours. And the gel colors were a huge hit with all the NC fans on their lake.
Eventually though, as happened with the Connors, Jim's family got so seriously into skiing that Elvis didn't meet their needs, and they bought a tournament boat. So Elvis spent the last couple years essentially unused, just sitting on a lift. Jim recognized this wasn't the best thing for the boat, and asked if I wanted to buy it back. But my own kid is now so into wakeboard tournaments that just this spring we sold our Hallett 210 and got an Air Nautique (don't get me started), so I had to decline. Elvis was posted on Powerboat Listings, and we all felt a bad about him again "leaving the family".
Here's where the story gets awesome.
Meanwhile back in Wisconsin, John Connors' wife sent some old family pictures to her recently married son, Rob Connors, now age 32. Rob's new wife, seeing pictures of him as a child on a boat, asked if that was the boat he was always talking about, the boat he wished he could have back. He said "No, but I'll find a picture of one on the internet to show you." So Rob Googled "blue Schiada". Yup. Up came Jim's ad for Elvis on Powerboat. Rob says that he nearly fell over seeing the pictures. He told his wife that there may be some downsizing in the house they were currently building if this really was the same boat. It was.
This was one of the early emails from Rob to Jim.
Jim,
John is my father. I have wanted this boat back for years. ... My ambition is to get this boat here without my father knowing. I was born in 83 and this boat was built in our Thiensville home. I slept under bow of this boat for my infant years.
To have this boat back would mean more to me than I can explain.
Sincerely,
Rob Conners
So, after 20 years, the blue Schiada is again taking a long trip, this time back to the original family. Similar to his father's big boat adventure, this past Friday Rob drove down from Wisconsin, bought a trailer, and as I write this is driving Elvis home. All the more cool is that Rob is going to surprise his dad, John, with its return, and plans on re-rigging the boat with his dads help.
And I doubt it'll being changing hands anytime soon. Another email from Rob.
Jim,
I would be happy to give you a call if I ever decide to sell it, but I don't plan to let it out of my sight once we have it back though. To find this boat after 20 yrs is basically a dream come true. I am not an emotional person but I have one hell of a soft spot for this boat.
Thanks,
Rob
In each of the three sales (from John Connors to me, from me to Jim, and now from Jim to Rob Connors), the boat was sold for exactly the same price. What goes around comes around.
As a side story, the black and tan hull also spent a long time in Southern Wisconsin, and coincidentally I often saw it sitting on a lift on Oconomowoc Lake. I always told myself I should stop and make the owner a standing offer in case they ever decided to sell, but never did because we weren't really looking to get a second boat. Then one summer it was gone, and I thought I'd never see that Schiada again. Until it showed up here on RDP, back in California and getting a rebuild. Apparently the Schiada world isn't very big!
Elvis doing what he does.
Always looking good.
Jim (white shirt) making the deal with Rob.
Off to the next chapter.
