Crosby Sled

[i386]

I've been doing a little more digging trying to find out more info on my boat. The ID plate says it's a Crosby made in Mariana Florida.

According to fiberglassics.com:

"The Crosby Sled, other than the Crosby name, has nothing to do with Ab Crosby. After Ab sold Crosby to ADM, ADM continued to make Crosby boats until the early 60's when the company went belly up. The Crosby name was sold to a manufacturer in FL who started producing the Crosby Sled. This was a very popular line of fishing boats in the south. Crosby Sleds were made until around 1967 when a fire destroyed the manufacturing plant. Because the Crosby Sled uses Ab's name, and because they are a boat from the 60's we think they should be included in the site."​

There's really not that much info out there that I've found but I did manage to find a few pictures. It does appear that my boat is a Crosby Sled fishing boat. I've found a few threads here at iBoats where people were trying to get some info but didn't find much so I will post what I know here.

Here are a few pics. None of them are my boat but they appear to be the same model. I find the one with the casting deck particularly interesting since I've thought about adding one myself. I will get a pic of the ID plate but from memory it says Crosby Boat Mfg. Mariana Florida. Rated at 40HP max and 900 pounds. I believe they were made around 1968 and 1969.

I will try to maintain specs about this boat as they become available to me since there's not that much out there.

Rub Rail: The original rub rail for this boat is 3 sections of extruded aluminum. The closest replacement I've found is Taco Marine Part Number [FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA]A11-0226. I managed to get a small sample sent to me and it does not appear to be quite as substantial as the original but I think it's good enough to use.

Taco Marine: A11-226

Piece taken off my boat.
[/FONT][/FONT]


Search Keywords: Crosby Sled, Crosby, Mariana Florida, Crosby Rub Rail, Crosby Rubrail, Crosby Horsepower

 

[Mark42]

Re: Crosby Sled

I am sure that piece of rubrail is going to be expensive to replace from Taco. How bad is the existing rail? If you have all the pieces, I would sand it and fill any dents and gouges with epoxy and paint it with something tought like Rustolium hammered metal in silver finish. Easy to touch up when needed.. .

If the boat is missing pieces, that is another story....

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Crosby Sled

it's definately a Crosby, friends father bought on 1965 ish. keep it till he died.

 

[i386]

Re: Crosby Sled

I am sure that piece of rubrail is going to be expensive to replace from Taco. How bad is the existing rail? If you have all the pieces, I would sand it and fill any dents and gouges with epoxy and paint it with something tought like Rustolium hammered metal in silver finish. Easy to touch up when needed.. .

If the boat is missing pieces, that is another story....

The price of the rail isn't too bad. The problem is that it's made in 18' lengths and will only be shipped my motor freight. If you have to order this stuff you're better of ordering it from your local Taco dealer. It's sold as "canoe rail". If you can find a local builder that uses this they might sell you a few lengths of it.

I think I will be able to reuse mine. Others may not be so lucky so I thought I'd post what I knew.


Mark, I'm glad you popped in. I think it was your project where you made your own casting for your missing rub rail end. Well I have both of mine but they're a little unusual as they also form eyes for towing or maybe strapping the boat to the trailer. I may take some castings of these in case people need these parts in the future. I don't know if anyone will ever need them but if they do it's going to be next to impossible to find since the plant that produced these boats burned down.

Here's a picture showing the rub rail cap "eyes". There's also some pieces used to splice the rub rail together which I should also get some pics and castings of.

 

[i386]

Re: Crosby Sled

I have a little more info and more Crosby Sled pics that I'll upload later today. According to another owner, the Crosby shop in Mariana, FL burned in 1967. Production was then moved to Panama City, FL. From what I gather, models produced in Panama City were set up to run bigger motors (rated for 55HP). I'm also told by the owner of the boat made in PC that the deck is made more like a Boston Whaler with no plywood. I'd like to know if and when production stopped in Panama City and why.

I'm keeping the pics I find here.

 

[i386]

Re: Crosby Sled

I've been meaning to snap a pic of this...

 

[GregE]

Re: Crosby Sled

Yea, you know it's old when it says 4 persons "at 150 lbs per person."

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Crosby Sled

Not so, GregE! My neighbor's 2004 Sea Fox says the same thing.

 

[GregE]

Re: Crosby Sled

Not so, GregE! My neighbor's 2004 Sea Fox says the same thing.

Ahhh, I stand corrected.

 

[jtuttle7809]

Re: Crosby Sled

I have the same plate on mine, bu t I cannot find the serial number anywhere on the boat. My crosby is 14' tiller steer.