Taifun

Taifun Specifications		Captain's Log

The Taifun is a 1956 Aristo Craft Typhoon speedboat made of mahogany plywood that measures only twelve feet long. Its small size is not indicative of the amount of use it gets, however, even on Lake Michigan. Although it may be the smallest boat in the Heritage Fleet, it is probably the fastest boat, pound for pound. The hull itself weighs only 175 pounds, but is powered by a 1962 50 h.p. Mercury outboard of equal or greater weight. Although I have owned it since 1969, the boat did not have a name until I joined the Heritage Boat Club in 1983 and was prompted to come up with one for the HBC and Heritage Watercraft applications. The name Taifun is a double-entendre on the model name “Typhoon” and also plays on the oriental spelling of typhoon, which is “taifun,” meaning “supreme (tai) wind (fun).” The name Taifun translates loosely as “supreme fun,” because it is quite exhilarating to find some smooth water and open up the 50 horse Merc. The boat has great acceleration, and with only a foot and a half of freeboard, you experience the “G-force” of every turn (including spray), very much like driving a sportscar that hugs the ground.

The Taifun bit me with the boating bug when I was a sophomore in high school in downstate Illinois, where it was traded in for a VW “bug” at my father's Volswagen dealership in LaSalle-Peru (about 90 miles southwest of Chicago). I immediately glommed onto it and got my father to agree to let me use it if my friends and I "fixed it up," even though the previous and first owner, Chuck Zielinski of Oglesby, IL, had maintained the boat impeccably. Upon trading it in, he stated that it was the "fastest boat on the Illinois River." My high school friends and I promptly put it to heavy use cruising, water skiing, and exploring our area of the Illinois River, from the Starved Rock Lock and Dam going due west past Spring Valley and over to the "Great Bend" in the Illinois River. Unfortunately, the smoked green Plexiglas windshield was one of the first casualties of our youthful exuberance, and after it cracked in several places, the windshield and brackets were removed for additional seating. We continued to enjoy it for the sleek, speedy runabout that it was, and water-skied off of it year after year. I used it on the Illinois River near Spring Valley through college, and my father eventually gave me the title one Christmas, because he knew that it had become an integral part of my life.

After college I moved back to the Chicago area where I had grown up as a child. Now, living next to Lake Michigan, I simply had to take the boat out on it. I took the United States Power Squadron safety course and started monitoring the Lake under certain wind conditions. People would look at the size of the boat and ask incredulously if I were going to take "that little boat" out on Lake Michigan. I have to admit I was a little skeptical myself when I saw my first "nor'easter." But then I discovered the fleeting, but calming west wind, and the Lake reminded me of the placid waters of the Illinois River. For the Taifun’s first venture onto Lake Michigan, the wind was out of the west and the Lake was flat. We put in at Wilson Avenue and proceeded leisurely towards Navy Pier, staying very close to shore in case anything happened. Just before Diversey we saw some boaters waving wildly at us. My then-wife remarked at how surprisingly friendly Chicago boaters were. About that time, I heard some buckshot ricocheting off the water and realized we were right in the middle of the shooting range at the (now defunct) Lincoln Park Gun Club! We sped out of there and only later stopped to check the boat and ourselves for leaks.

Although the Taifun was built in 1956, the Aristo Craft Boat Company was founded in 1946. In the 1950s, Aristo Craft had earned a reputation for building wild-looking, speedy plywood boats, including the Typhoon "12," the Seaflash "13" and the popular Torpedo "14." Claude H. Turner started the company in 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia with only five employees and was somewhat of a pioneer in plywood boats. The two-seat Typhoon "12" was first introduced in 1947, and was last produced in 1956. The hull has a semi-vee bottom consisting of 5-ply 3/8" impact panel plywood. The decking and sides consist of 1/4" ribbon stripe mahogany plywood, with framing of Honduran mahogany. The fasteners were all silicon bronze, the hardware was die cast aluminum and the finish was epoxy resin instead of varnish. The color scheme of the Taifun has always been original: a two-toned stain, one mahogany and one very light, almost white, with the bottom painted yellow. Aristo Craft stopped producing wooden boats in 1959, and eventually went out of business in 1979. However, Bill Turner, the son of the original manufacturer, has recently started reproducing some of the old wooden boats and is thankfully selling parts. The Typhoon was originally rated for only a 25 h.p. outboard motor. But the first owner of the Taifun had strengthened and heightened the transom and put on a 1961 50 h.p. Mercury short shaft. I used the 1961 Merc, which was a pull-start only, until its death in 1987. I then “upgraded” to a 1962 50 h.p. Mercury with an electric start. What a difference one year made in terms of starting convenience!

After many years of heavy boating and promises to myself that I was going to “fix it up,” I was forced into my restoration project at the end of the 1991 season when the boat sprang a leak from dryrot along the port side sprayrail. I decided to completely restore the boat and pay my dues for all of the times I cut corners on maintenance because I had been too busy using the boat. The entire boat was stripped down to bare wood, inside and out. I then sought out “expert” help, including several HBC members, to try and get a consensus of how best to remedy my dryrot and other problems. Unfortunately, a consensus was impossible because if you ask six people, you get six entirely different approaches. Ultimately, I decided to use West system epoxy to repair the leaks, fill in the gaps, and seal the bottom. I had to replace the port side sprayrail and also the decking from amidships aft due to lifting of the veneer. I rebuilt the interior seats from scratch and reupholstered them in the original style. I even repainted the trailer and had a new canvas cover sewn up.

But all the while during the restoration, I was perplexed how to construct or obtain an original style green windshield, because last I knew, Aristocraft was out of business. When I was near completion, I happily discovered an ad in a boating magazine that Bill Turner was selling Aristocraft parts. I obtained an original windshield from him along with some historical information. In 1956, the list price of a Typhoon "12" was $387.00. In 1993, I paid almost that much for the windshield alone! But the addition of the sleek green windshield completed the stylish look of the boat and was probably instrumental in garnering me an award at that year’s Heritage Wooden Boat Festival in 1993. The restoration had taken one and a half boating seasons. By its end, I felt I could hold my own in any conversation about brightwork, or West system or non-ferrous fasteners, among other topics.

Although some wooden boat owners like to restore their vintage crafts only to exhibit them at boat shows, the “museum” aspect of old wooden boats should be secondary to their everyday current use. I like the fact that the Heritage Boat Club heartily embraces the philosophy of a “floating museum.” Now that the Taifun is completely restored, I want to use it more than ever, not only to show it off, but also to enjoy the fruits of my labor. At twelve feet long and drafting only eighteen inches of water (which is mostly motor), the Taifun can be launched and navigated almost anywhere. Since my boat is so small, I don’t keep it in the water, but rather trailer it for easy launch at Wilson Avenue or Diversey Harbor. Although I predominantly use it on Lake Michigan and the Illinois River near Spring Valley, I have explored all nearby waterways including all branches and channels of the Chicago River, the Little Calumet and Calumet Rivers, the Fox River, numerous Illinois and Wisconsin lakes, and also a stretch of the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien. I have even retraced the route of Marquette and Joliet along the Heritage Corridor (the old I & M Canal), traversing six sets of locks from Burnham Harbor to Peru, IL. I daresay I use my little twelve foot Aristocraft more times a year than three quarters of the boats parked in Chicago harbors.

Although Lake Michigan is my closest body of water, I am often precluded from using it by the fickleness of the west wind, since the Taifun is basically a smooth water boat. So when there is favorable wind, I am ready to put in at a moment’s notice, anytime between false dawn and late at night. It is not the size of the vessel that matters, but rather the desire and determination to use it. Carpe navem.