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Tahoe Nugget #119:

Tahoe Speedboats Go Postal
August 12, 2007

This weekend at the annual Lake Tahoe Concours d' Elegance boat show, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled four new stamps that are now being distributed nationwide. All of the classic wooden boats featured in the new collector's stamps series, titled "Vintage Mahogany Speedboats," were at the boat show.

Each pane of the twelve, first class stamps will feature photographs of Dispatch (a 1931 Gar Wood from Carnelian Bay), Duckers (a 1954 Chris-Craft from Loomis, Calif.), Frolic (a 1915 Hutchinson Brothers launch from Danville, Calif.), and the famous Thunderbird (a custom designed 1939 vessel moored at the Thunderbird Lodge on Tahoe's East Shore).

Photo #1: Sheet of new USPS First-Class stamps

Photo #2: Dispatch is powered by a 625 hp engine and is currently owned by Tom Turner, who is the managing owner of Garwood's Grill & Pier located in Carnelian Bay. This boat has not left Lake Tahoe since her July 1931 launch at Tahoe City.

Photo #3: Duckers is a born-again boat that survived sinking and then storage for years until its recent restoration by two school teachers from Loomis, California

Photo #4: Frolic is a 30-foot launch with a hull built of Honduras mahogany

Photo #5: Close up of the stamp representing the Thunderbird

Photo #6: Thunderbird is the "Queen of the Fleet" of wooden boats at Lake Tahoe. Built in 1939 for $87,500, this muscular 55-foot Hacker Craft commuter is powered by two 1,000 hp Allison aircraft engines and can reach speeds of 70 mph