Finger Lakes Boating Museum

Eight years, over 100,000 man hours, a lot of expertise, and unending dedication. That's what it took to get the Pat II back in the water. We're happy to say all of those things have paid off and Keuka Lake's newest tour boat has never looked more at home. If all goes well with inspections and training, the Pat II will be ready for tours in later June out of Hammondsport. Stay tuned!

We have some awesome events coming up at the museum! On May 13th long time paddler Adam Dwyer will be talking about his favorite spots to canoe and kayak! On May 22nd Pat Smith will be helping us build our own dragon boat paddles and May 23rd launches the Finger Lakes Concert series with area favorites Tommy Gravino and Mary Monroe! Details can be found at https://www.flbm.org/academy

And just like that, the Hall boat has color! Thanks to everybody who has been following this awesome project!

If you planned to go to any of the Finger Lakes today, you may have found that the weather isn't exactly cooperating. Luckily for you, we also have a lake and the collection of boats on it probably couldn't be found anywhere else.

When it came to boat racing in the early 1900's, the Penn Yan boat company was hard to beat. Their lightweight (and colorful) boats tended to dominate the competition, even setting a speed record in 1929. We're lucky enough to have two Penn Yan racing boats on loan to us so you can imagine flying across the surface of the water at what must have seemed like breakneck speed!

It's going to be a beautiful day in the Finger Lakes region! Enjoy the sun and the warmth with a trip to the museum!

While the Gumman VIP might look a little dingy now with it's gunmetal gray interior and banana yellow exterior, this was the party boat of the 1960's. Not only did it feature "fins" similar to popular cars of the time, but the VIP featured an on-board radio perfect for relaxing on the lake and listening to music! Thanks to Michael O'Brien for donating what would have been referred to as a pretty "far out" boat!

Similar to how cabs work today, Canandaigua steamboat captains operated not only through ports, but through individuals hailing them via white flags. These were referred to as "Flag stops" and they often outnumbered port pickups. The standard fare for the pickup and subsequent ride was usually twenty-five cents and took about two and a half hours depending on the destination. Credit to Lynn Paulson and the Daily Messenger for this awesome article! https://www.mpnnow.com/article/20130428/NEWS/304289945

PlayStayEat is an awesome travel blog that goes all over the world and informs readers about places they can, well, play, stay, and eat. Recently they made their way to Hammondsport for a fall weekend and outlined all the cool places they visited, one of which was the Finger Lakes Boating Museum. Check out their awesome article featuring the museum and other locations in Hammondsport! https://playstayeat.com/a-fall-weekend-getaway-in-hammonds/

Another beautiful day on the Finger Lakes! Make sure to get out there and enjoy this gorgeous weather!

While some steamboats were totally lost to sinking or fire, others managed to have parts of them reused in other boats. For instance, the Finger Lake's largest steamboat Elmira (bottom) used the engines recovered from the Ben Loder.

Thanks to George Lawson and the Observer-Review for putting the Pat II front and center in the December 2nd issue! http://www.observer-review.com/news.php?viewStory=73

Just getting/sending a gift certificate can be a dull experience. Spice it up by sending your family and loved ones an FLBM gift certificate in a custom Sandy Cook FLBM Christmas card! The process is simple; go to the FLBM store, select "Gift Certificate and Card Combo." Select your card style, input your gift certificate amount, tell us the name of the person you're sending it to, add a little note and we'll take care of the rest! (Remember, if you're sending the card directly from the museum put the recipient's shipping info or the card will come to you.)

The calm after the storm? Either way, the museum has never looked better!

While many of our boats show their age, this Henry Sutherland looks like it came off the line yesterday!

Part of the holiday season is taking pictures. Whether it's for cards, personal reasons, or even a cool social media post, we invite you to use our doors as a backdrop (preferably when our sign isn't casting a shadow.) If you post them on social media, remember to tag the museum. We love seeing how creative everybody got!

Our Skaneateles Boat and Coach has a new view in building nine! For you Skaneateles fans, you get a unique view of the interior of this amazing (and heavy) boat.

Unfortunately, PV on the side of the Pat II does not stand for Pleasant Valley. But we'd forgive you if that's what you thought. It does, however, stand for Public Vessel and we can't wait to reveal the Pat II to the public!

Steady progress with more big stuff coming up!

While code enforcement prohibits us from letting guests into our new wing (for now) we're making steady progress on our rowboat room! This includes our Finger Lakes mural. This wall-sized mural is a small part of our massive plan for the building which is being spearheaded by great volunteers!

Properly winterizing your boat is important to protect it from snow, rain, sleet, ice and all the other inclement weather the Finger Lakes suffer from in the next several months. Join us this Saturday the 17th, at 10:00 am for a winterizing workshop hosted by the Finger Lakes Boating Museum and taught by Dave Rockwell. For more information check out our events page!

If you've taken a look at the FLBM levels of membership you might notice that membership levels of $125 and above include a membership to the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) What is NARM though? Consider it a library card, but for museums. By purchasing a $125 or above membership from the FLBM you will get admittance to other museums included in the NARM network. Read more about it here! https://narmassociation.org/

The Finger Lakes Boating Museum has some awesome events coming up! We'll teach you how to winterize a boat (so important here in the Finger Lakes) Give you great tips for ice fishing and show you how to prepare surfaces for primer, paint and varnish. You can check out all our upcoming events on our website or by clicking on "Events" on our Facebook page! https://www.flbm.org/academy