The Ski Antics (circa Mid 1950's) By Fred Huff

I write this remembering part of my life as a child growing up on Gull Lake when times were so different and much less complicated than today.  My parents owned Bar Harbor Resort which was located between Big Bar Harbor and Deauville (now Zorbaz).  Back then skiing was allowed in the bay in front of the harbor.  We skied everyday for our guests at the resort.  An unspoken rule (clockwise circle) was the route for pulling skiers. Those days boats were smaller and a 35-40 horse power motor was the norm.  There were some inboards around such as Chris Craft and Century, but more common were 14-16 foot runabouts.

The Ski Antics held shows at the original Bar Harbor and often practiced there too.  My brother David skied with them upon occasion.  Jerry Murphy was a regular member and his parents owned Murphy’s Boathouse which was located approximately where the modern day Bar Harbor is situated.  Tommy Pankratz was a regular skier too.  His family owned a resort on the bay across from ours.  Most of the people skiing also worked in tourist industry related jobs, so shows were scheduled irregularly.  The main “ski boat” was a white Higgins inboard with red trim, blue seats and a cut down windshield.  The ski jump was left in the lake all summer near our resort’s Cabin #1 dock and pulled to the opening of the Lake Margaret channel for the winter.  

Skis for the jump were wood with metal bracing on the tips and back edges to prevent splitting when landing.  Skiers would first pass by the jump on a slalom ski to spray it and then one or two people would jump at a time. Another piece of equipment was a surf board which was a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood with handle and rope attached.  People would ride that and turn around, sometimes placing a chair on top for standing or sitting.  Trick skis were short and tipped on both ends allowing 360’s. Another option for doing 360’s and various tricks was the saucer, a round disk about 40” in diameter.   We also had “Bears’ Paws” which were round disks with harnesses about 14” in diameter. Once up on these, we did full turns and wake jumping.  Barefoot skiing was magical and impressed everyone, but most boats were too slow so only a few crafts could pull skiers fast enough to accomplish that skill.  There were no life jackets but some people would wear a ski belt which was small and fit around the waist.

There were always a couple of guys who clowned to entertain people, and lots of people showed up to watch the Ski Antics’shows and practices. They skied off Bar Harbor docks using the one closest to the road where there were fewer weeds.  Our docks were packed with resort guests whenever they skied.  Once in awhile I would get to ride in the boats as a spotter. Other skiing on the lake stopped during the shows.   In the late 50’s the club’s activities kind of stopped when many of the participants left the area or got into full time jobs.

Jerry Murphy had the traditional Ski antic jacket that was blue.  Everyone had them.  He gave me his one day and I wore it for years. I was a little kid and Jerry the big 18 year old so even though that jacket never did fit me, I was so proud!  I even wore it to school a lot, until it finally got so bad my mother threw it away.  These memories were written through the eyes of that boy, who grew up in the 50’s on a resort.  Life was good.