ArenaCraft to Dan Arena Boats
Good God Y'all!
Here is a quick, down and dirty history of the tribe! I am Dan Arena's son and have a good memory of the boats. I played in and around them as a kid, apprenticed in the trade in 1964 immediately after I came home at 6 am from my senior high school all nighter! (My dad was waiting for me when I stumbled in the front door with coffee and my work clothes). I apprenticed during the formation of the ArenaCraft Boat Company. Witnessed the disasterous sale of this great old company to Rienell Boat Company (in which they managed to destroy the entire line in about one year (1970)).
I came of age during the formation of the Dan Arena Co. My father started this company to do advanced tooling for the Rienell/ArenaCraft Company. And, sensing the meltdown, re-tooled the 21 foot ArenaCraft cuddy into a slightly modernized version, we called the 21 Dan Arena and it was built with engines from a small block i/o's all the way to some turbocharged big black v-drives. We later cut the hull sheer down about 5 to 6 inches and build a runbout version as well. Later, we built an 18 foot version in tow models. (sport and utility) (I currently own the 18' sport version now powered with a 300 hp 350 chev to an OMC I/O). The company was going well until the first gas shortage in the early 70's. We were underfunded and just could'nt quite keep up after a brief foray into designing some early offshore racers, it was decided that we close the doors in 1978.
My father went on to design a 23' offshore design and also a "Surf-Drive" surface drive system. He had a stroke in 1984 but still kept on working out of a little shop in Martinez until his passing. His entire life was built around "the next boat".
My humble contributions were with the Dan Arena Company. I built most of the boat. As it was a small company, we still managed to build about 100 boats. Inboard outboards and V-Drives. I did most of the gelcoat work, We had an old ArenaCraft crew come in nightly and do the fiberglass lay up. Then I would take over. With a very small crew we finished the rigging. My major contribution after the gelcoat work was the electrics and propulsion, rigging, delivery, lofting, tooling and sweeping the floor and cleaning the restroom. I also have a good recollection of the ArenaCraft years. While attending Jr. College I did most of the purchasing and learned how to handle a wrench. I was the youngblood apprentice then! I have also helped restore a number of old ArenaCrafts, Mainly Bonitas and Barracudas (early finned designs and later flat deck models), have spent many, many hours on them as a kid.
At present, I no longer work on any boats other than my own. But hopefully I can at least keep the history up to date.
Good luck with your boats.
Kit Arena
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