The story of the acquisition of the Llansakes is a bit unique. She had been owned by the Sweeney Miller family at Llanlar on Lake Rosseau since her completion in the spring of 1919. One day in 1959 Bob Purves was at Gravette Boats in Gravenhurst (recently acquired by his good friend Herm Heintzman) and watched the delivery of a brand new mahogany inboard outboard to Miss Sweeney of Llanlar n Lake Rosseau. He then noticed the Llansakes and inquired of it and was told it was taken as a trade against the new boat; “What did you give her for it?” asked Bob, “Oh $1,500” came the reply “What if I gave you $1,500 for it?”, “Then it would be yours!” This exchange elicited a telephone call to Betty Purves with terse instructions to get in the car (Bob had arrived by float plane) and bring the cheque book..and thus began Llansakes life with the Purves family (Betty’s boat as it was her cheque) on Prospect Island in Brackenrig Bay, Lake Rosseau.
Llansakes is a twenty-nine foot launch built by Julius Borneman at Gull Lake, in Gravenhurst. She is somewhat like a Minett with the rib hull construction and a massive foredeck, but I bit more substantial in freeboard and general mass. She arrived with a 193 99HP 6 CYL Kermath Sea Price engine (since replaced by a 1948 100hp flat six Buchannan) and as my brother and I so noted in our disappointment, her topped out speed was about 17 mph “with the wind”. She has a small navy top covering the driver and one passenger but this qualified her to be our “foul weather” vessel. Many a misty or rainy trip was taken with two wet boys aft and two fairly dry parents cutting through the waves on our way to the Wheaton’s on Lake Joseph for dinner.
The boat was used constantly for general transportation, especially by my brother and I. She attended teenage parties far and wide, was a picnic favorite gently run up on a beach and a great spectator boat for watching Albacore sailing races on Lake Rosseau.
Bob Purves died in 1980 and Betty didn’t make as much use of the Llansakes but the family continued to see to her welfare with stripping and fairing the decks and cockpit in the mid nineties and recently replacing the bottom. Funny Betty’s two granddaughters thought they would be driven to their weddings in the Llansakes but as it turned out Betty re-married in 1994 and had that special ride from Brackenrig to Morinus on a sunny, but blustery October Saturday afternoon with the girls onboard.
The Llansakes is heading into in her 103nd summer and has been in our family for 62 years. She looks like the day she was delivered to Llanlar, and she still has much of her original wood save a new bottom she received in 2014.