Bob Speltz's love for classic wooden boats — runabouts, in particular — was so intense that he spent countless hours traveling in search of more and more information and photos, despite having to undergo kidney dialysis three times a week.

His books, a series of seven called "The Real Runabouts" — as well as others about wooden canoes and outboard motors — were mostly written in the 1970s and '80s but are still extremely popular among enthusiasts. Speltz, who succumbed to kidney disease in 1993, has often been referred to as "Mr. Boat." In recognition of Speltz's contributions to the hobby and to Hagerty, he has been selected to join the inaugural class of the Hagerty Classic Marine Hall of Fame.

"Bob's passion for classic boats had him going up and down the Mississippi and to local lakes, taking pictures, visiting with people, cutting photos out of newspapers," said friend F. Todd Warner, owner of the Mahogany Bay Boat Company in Mound, Minn. "He loved wooden boats — researching them, writing about them. He couldn't get enough."

Tony Brown, who befriended Speltz while living in Minnesota, said Speltz encouraged him to take his boat restoration skills to Lake Tahoe and work with legendary Dick Clarke. Brown now owns Western Runabouts, which has locations in Auburn, Calif., and on Lake Tahoe's west shore.

"Bob was a real gentle man," Brown said. "He was extremely knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. He was a high-quality individual who really believed in what he was doing."

Speltz, who grew up on the shores of Fountain Lake in Albert Lea, Minn., fell in love with classic wooden boats at an early age. His family — which included father Stanley, mother Angela, older sister Mary and Bob's twin brother, Art — enjoyed the water. But it was Speltz's dad who really influenced his passion. Stanley Speltz owned three different inboards during Bob's youth, and Stanley presented his son with an 8-foot Chris-Craft Pram on his ninth birthday in 1953. It was the first of many boats that Bob would call his own.

"We would go out on the lake every day when we were kids, and there really weren't many people with boats at that time. Now there's a dock every three feet," Bob's sister, Mary, recalled. "Bob loved the wooden boats. The older he grew, the more interested he became in them."

Speltz eventually turned his second love, teaching, into a career. But after only two years on the job, his kidneys began to fail. He became dependent on dialysis — three times per week, as many as five hours per day. No longer able to maintain fulltime employment as a teacher, Speltz began to use his time to research runabouts and boat builders. He travelled as much as possible and wrote hundreds — perhaps thousands — of letters in search of information.

Gar Wood expert Tony Mollica, who often shared details and photos with Speltz, wrote of his friend's love of research in the forward of one of Speltz's books.

"Bob was the consummate researcher and would follow every potential lead to chase down every bit of information possible," Mollica wrote. "He was always thankful for details and photographs and always made his contributors feel that their material was extremely important to research.

"He often said that the most exciting event of each day was the arrival of mail with new information. In a relatively short period of time he became the world's most significant source of information on runabout production."

Speltz's first book, "The Real Runabouts," is so popular that it has been reprinted at least 14 times since its release in 1977. With the unfailing help of his mother, Speltz kept writing. Tony Brown jokes that Speltz actually had no choice because information just kept pouring in.

"I remember going to Bob's house at 505 Albert Lea Street," Brown said. "There was so much stuff you had to watch your step and weave your way through."

Todd Warner said Speltz's dedication to the hobby went beyond writing. Warner and Speltz helped form the third chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, the Land-O-Lakes chapter. Warner was the first president and Speltz the first secretary/treasurer. Speltz and Warner were also involved in the formation of the Century Boat Club.

"Bob was dedicated and humble," Warner said. "He had a lot of fun doing it. I think it gave him a real sense of purpose — a real connection to the world. He answered every letter and spent a lot of time on the phone. He was just very connected to the boats and their builders and their owners. He absolutely loved it."

As time went on, Speltz's kidney disease took its toll. He knew his time was growing short, so — according to Mollica — "he planned to have his ashes placed in a mahogany urn with white stripes to resemble the deck of his favorite runabout." Speltz died in March 1993, just shy of his 50th birthday. His family completed the final volume of "The Real Runabouts" series in 1996.

"Despite his short time on earth, Bob never had a moment of regret," Warner said. "He was just a grateful guy with a great sense of humor and a survivor's spirit."

In his honor, the Land-O-Lakes chapter petitioned the ACBS and was granted permission to become the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chapter. It's no wonder that Warner calls Speltz's induction into the Hagerty Hall of Fame "fitting."

"You couldn't honor a better guy," he said.

Tony Mollica knew long ago that Speltz's research would impact generations of classic wooden boat enthusiasts.

"Bob's research ultimately identified 289 individual boat builders who produced noteworthy runabouts," Mollica wrote. "Many well-respected marine historians would be hard-pressed to identify the names of more than 20 runabout builders. Bob's runabout series has become essential library for serious research on every vintage runabout, utility and sport boat builder. Bob Speltz's books have become an important cornerstone for our hobby."

So, too, has Bob Speltz.