My Niagara

[Mark42]

Hi fellow MFG owners! Got my Niagara out a few weeks ago after sitting for two years. Cleaned up easy and still looks great! I am proud to say that the projects done to the Niagara have held up over the years, so I can endorse anything you see in my project in the sig below.

Because the Niagara wasn't getting used, I decided to give it to my sister who has a house a few hundred feet from the bay. Nice setup, so I thought if she had it I could get a lot more use out of it! LOL! Plus, she foots the expense of running and maintaining it. Best of both worlds.

I also wanted to mention that I am making the shark emblems again. If you are interested, send me a PM or email (find it in the project) as we are not supposed to be blatantly selling on these forums.

Hope to be spending more time on the forums after being away for a while. And it good to see people are still treating these old boats well.

Regards,

Mark.

 

[sphelps]

Re: My Niagara

Good to here your back at it! The Niagra heading to your sisters sound like a good plan .
I didn't think I would ever get My Edinboro in the water . Glad to actually do some cruising !
Later SP..

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: My Niagara

Mark42- your posts are classic and appreciated! I hope you get the bug and have the time to start another MFG restore. It is sad to see the MFG forum is so 'quiet' these days. These hulls are in an entirely different class than most of their contemporaries were- the Niagara in particular has amazing capabilities and freeboard-holding for its size.

For me- even I am feeling a little dilemma about my Niagara. Most of my fishing involves bigger water and trolling. The Niagara is a great boat but more than two adults for a day of fishing feels crowded. My 19' Starcraft project will probably hit the water for mechanical trials this fall, has sufficient space for 4 fishermen, and will deal with taller water without having to pay attention as much. If I sell the Niagara in the spring it could provide funds to finish the top for the 19-footer. Letting it go would be like a death in the family. My youngest daughter (17) freaked out a little when I mentioned selling it; she has her boating license and has no recollection of any time in her life that the boat was not an active part of our summers! What to do...

It's too bad MFG never made a 20-foot-class boat with the same versatility and structure of these smaller hulls. I would be on it in a minute! The 17' Sprint is a nice boat but they don't have the same versatility IMHO as their 14-16-foot offerings. The Sprint just isn't quite big enough for its size, but is too big and heavy for small boat versatility. Super good rec boat though!

But I ramble on... I hope your sister and family get to fully appreciate the great boat that it is.

 

[Mark42]

Re: My Niagara

Yeah, the fact that they are still around says a lot about the quality. I think the early model Niagara, Edinboro and a few others that had the "match die" hull press are the toughest around. I see some that have been converted into the nastiest looking crabbing and clamming boats because they can get into very shallow water with the shallow V hull. I get a kick out of what people do to make seats, etc. Most don't have the steering wheel or its not used and a 2x8 is bolted on the back as a bench seat for tiller steering! They are tough.

My sister picked up a 1.5hp Evinrude for nothing and I got it running well. Have it on the Niagara just as a back up if the 40hp dies. Was surprised how that little 1.5 is enough to push it along at about a fast walk with 3 adults in it. We got back in a inlet and wanted to explore to see if clamming would be good and I used the 1.5 to move us around in the calm water. Even though there was a tide current running, we did good.... no wind to speak of. Those little motors make a nice safety backup.

Anyway, have a nice weekend!

Mark.