History of Naden Boats

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Hello Everyone,

If you are reading this, you probably have an interest in Naden Boats. They were originally built by Naden Industries, in Webster City Iowa, a company which also built the famous Naden Scoreboards. Later, Naden Boats was sold, and began to be operated in Vermillion Bay, Ontario, where it was run for 35 years. In 2012, the company was sold again, and purchased by Andre Lamothe, owner of Temagami Marine, where it now flourishes, manufacturing aluminum fishing boats.

Unlike other boat companies, there is very little information online about Naden boats, which makes it difficult for those trying to find out about the history of a boat for boat restorers. There are several threads on iboats about Naden Boat restorations, which so far, has proven to be the best online resource I could find on Naden Boats.

The purpose of this thread is to provide a location for those interested in Naden Boats to post information, pictures, and links to sites dealing with Naden Boats history. If you have information, please post! If you can identify a particular model of a Naden Boat, please post the picture here, and identify the model.

 

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Re: History of Naden Boats

Boats first required a Hull Identification Number in 1972. HIN numbers will identify the year the boat was manufactured. Prior to 1972, the boat will have no HIN, and so you must turn to other sources of information to identify the year of manufacture.

FiberGlassics is a website listing the dimensions of Naden Boats made in Webster City Iowa, from 1954-1971. You may know that your boat is a Webster City Naden from the transom caps, pictured below. If so, you may be able to identify your model and approximate year of manufacture by comparing the dimensions of your boat to the dimensions listed on Fiberglassics. The website is Naden - Classic Boat Library

 

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Re: History of Naden Boats

A search for Naden on iboats reveals many threads about the boats.

 

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Re: History of Naden Boats

Northern Ontario Business wrote an article on the transfer of ownership from Vermillion Bay. Click on this link to access it. A new iboats user indicated that he helped move some equipment in Vermillion Bay when the ownership transferred, and he saw a great deal of literature on the company. Does anyone have any Naden literature from the Vermillion Bay or Webster City Naden manufacturers?

Currently, Naden is operated in Temagami. A link to their website is at www.nadenboats.com, and a detailed article on the company can be found on that site, concerning mostly recent history.

 

[pckeen]

Re: History of Naden Boats

Liz Cowan, of Northern Ontario Business, wrote this article on Naden Boats. It is reprinted here with her permission. Thanks to Ms. Cowan for permitting this.
[h=2]Well-known boat line manufactured in Temagami,[/h]
Printed in Northern Ontario Business, on 23 August 2012

By: Liz Cowan

Andre Lamothe, owner of Temagami Marine, has created 13 full-time jobs with a boat-manufacturing business.

When a Vermillion Bay boat manufacturer ceased production last year, Temagami Marine owner Andre Lamothe saw an opportunity.
Naden Boats had been manufactured in the northwestern community, west of Dryden, for 35 years. But it was having difficulty retaining employees who were enticed by the area's mines.
“I was a dealer for these boats so when I got the fax from them, saying that they wouldn't be producing any more, I thought this might be a good fit for us,” Lamothe said.
He bought Temagami Marine in 2007 and he had been searching for ways to provide year-round work for his seasonal staff.
“Naden Boats were well-known and they have a good reputation with tourist camps,” he said.
The owner agreed to sell and in December, 2011, transport trucks arrived from Vermillion Bay with equipment, and production started in February.
“That's when we started to build our own skills set,” Lamothe said.
The original designs of the Naden line, which has six models of aluminum riveted boats, won't be modified. A new company was established – Temagami Boat Manufacturing Inc. – which shares certain administration services with Temagami Marine.
“The original design is very good,” he said. “What we have done is changed the esthetics a bit, such as putting the aluminum trim on after the painting and not painting the rivets to give it a more distinctive look.”
The manufacturing process was modified to add consistency to the products and to tie in with Lamothe's environmental principles.
“We decided not to use a toxic automotive paint, which also uses a lot more energy in the process,” he said.
Instead, the boats are painted with a powder coating, which is a first in the industry. The aluminum is pretreated, painted with the powder, and then cured in an infrared oven. The only byproducts are water and carbon dioxide.
“After a lot of research, we developed our own recipes and the process uses 50 to 70 per cent less energy and has a smaller environmental footprint. In winter, we can heat the plant from the process heat,” Lamothe said.
As a result, the paint contains no acid and it is much tougher, making it more resistant to scratches and peeling. Even when the aluminum is bent, the paint doesn't crack nor peel.
The former manufacturer used wooden patterns and cut the aluminum pieces by hand. Currently, a new CNC machine is utilized to cut the pieces, which results in product consistency.
“Our target is to manufacture 1,000 boats a year,” he said. “And I want to get 75 dealers by Christmas. It used to be 25 to 35 dealers, but I really want to be coast to coast to coast. I want to be across the country and in the territories as well.”
Two agents cover the country east and west from Thunder Bay to develop a dealer network.
“Some dealers are new and others have been revived but we are marketing through our website and through shows, and reaching out to organizations like NOTO (Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario) since the company had a lot of sales with tourist camps,” Lamothe said.
The business has created about 13 new year-round, full-time jobs which were sourced locally.
“We picked our team and trained them and we are hiring for attitude because we want them to be proud of what they are doing,” he said. “I can't say enough about them.”
Future plans include entering the U.S. market in the northern states where fishing is popular, “but it's not on the immediate to-do list.”
www.temagamimarine.com