Mr. Breeze is a loved Century ski boat owned by Dave and Nancy Bernard.

Mr. Breeze is a much-loved “user” boat. The 16-foot by five-foot-eight-inch traditional wooden boat has a center-mounted engine.

The boat was originally powered by a four-cylinder gas engine.

Now, Dave and his friends have installed a “built” 330-horsepower small block Chevy engine in this Century.

Century Boats started designing and building wooden boats in 1928. Prior to providing building boats for the World War II effort, Century built about 85 boats of this model Century in 1941. Century went on to manufacture 3600 boats for the military and received the Army-Navy E Citation for their efforts.

Dave and Nancy, on a cruise that they invited me and my wife, Dave knew instinctively what steering wheel adjustments were needed. We didn’t get wet from the bow or other spray.

This was a 90-minute cruise each way, to our lunch stop for casual food.

This was/is a top waterskiing boat, Water skiing itself has quite a history. It was invented in 1922 in Minnesota. Just six years later, Century Boats was founded and became a big part of this sport’s evolution.

Documentarian Chris Brown