The Thunderbird is probably Americas most famous wooden boat. Back in 1996 I got a phone call from my Uncle, who offered to fly me up to Reno Nevada where he lived so he could treat me to a three day fishing excursion on beautiful Lake Tahoe.
After arriving in Reno we drove up to Tahoe and rented a cabin. For the next three days at sunrise we arrived at the docks to board a fishing charter called the "mackinaw" the same name as the fish we would be catching, which are also called lake trout. At the end of the second day I was asked if I was having enough fun to go fishing for one more day. Being an avid trout fisherman I said yes of course. So after catching our fish on the third day we floated into the dock and exited the craft.
As we were leaving something caught my eye. I think it was the most beautiful wooden boat I had ever seen and being a master carpenter at the time I thought the red Mahogany wood work was amazing. I just happened to have a camera with me so I got it out and proceeded to get a handful of pictures which I enjoyed doing.

So that was then and this is now. I just decided to enter Killerpix photo contest on steemit because the theme is boats and I remembered these photo's of this boat I took so many years ago. I dug up the images and was ready to enter when I decided to search for info on this seemingly special boat. I was quite surprised at what I found.

As well as being Americas most recognizable wooden speedboat, its also Lake Tahoe's iconic wooden boat. In 1939 Navel architect John Hacker was commissioned by George Whittell Jr for the job. The yacth was supposed to be designed to express the combination of the styles of his personal aircraft and Duesenberg automobiles. the boat cost $87,000 to build, in todays money that would equal 3.3 million dollars. The Thunderbird was launched July 14, 1940. Made with Honduran Mahogany hardwoods at a length of 55 feet it has elegant crystal inside with polished stainless steel and chrome outside. Along with its two V-12 vintage Allison aircraft engines this dreamboat can cruise the lake at speeds close to 70 mph.

The Thunderbird has been used for more than 70 years to transport people to and from the Thunderbird Lodge and other locations around the lake, don't forget the high end cocktail hour cruises and exclusive events. Some of the big name celebrity guest include Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Dean Martin, Jack Dempsey, TY Cobb and Howard Hughes. Its rich history also includes transporting scientist, sports legends, movie stars and US presidents.

Had it not been for joining steemit and this synchronicity of events I never would have known what a special boat I had pictures of. By the way in the next picture the man standing on the dock next to the boat with the cool sunglasses on is my late Uncle Richard Irvine. I hope you enjoyed my story, thanks.