My 20’ custom barrelback, Serendipity, is a one-off creation of a gentleman from
Canada who hired the Shipwright Company of Annapolis, MD to build it like a 1939
Chris-Craft barrelback, but a little longer, and completely out of 3M-5200 sealant. He
purchased a set of the Glen-L plans for such a design and told the shipwrights to build
it around a special engine he had in his garage – an Oldsmobile 403 Starfire (from a
442 none-the-less). He even instructed them to customize it in the marinization process
by installing a heat exchange system because he intended to run her in salt water.
Twenty-five years later, I stumbled upon this custom-built boat at a classic car
auction in Auburn, IN. She looked pretty good and was not bringing a lot of bids, so I
decided to take a chance and bought her without either a visual inspection or written
survey. When I got her home in Michigan, I discovered that the engine had seized up
and the varnish was in poor condition.

I hired Jonathon Reus at Macatawa Boat Works in Saugatuck, MI to deal with the
tired varnish and to re-build the trailer. When he was getting the engine out of the boat,
he discovered that the fuel had also turned into tired varnish, so we had to strip out
everything.

Serendipity’s custom, but seized engine was shipped out to Casey DeHollander
at CD’s Engines for a complete re-build. He did an outstanding job! She is the quickest
20’ wooden runabout on Lake Michigan.

I have shown Serendipity many times since the completion of the restoration,
including at Algonac, Hessel and Holland, Michigan. Most people who view her are
surprised that she is only 35 years old, does not have a single screw or bung in her
body, and has enough power to pull four water skiers.