My first Boat

[alextexas]

This will be my very first boat. I do not have very much experience out on the water, I have been out maybe 5-6 times on a boat in my entire life. I am 21 years old and I am currently living in Houston, Texas.

Here is a few pictures of a boat I recently acquired.


I was looking for a good starter boat for under 500 that I could pull behind my small car. I found a ad on craigslist and it said make a offer. The owner was very kind and cool. He ended up letting me take the boat, motor, trailer for free if I agreed not to scrap it or junk it. The boat was purchased by his father brand new in 1955 with a johnson 25hp outboard. It is a fiberglass boat (I was hoping for a aluminum but this will keep me happy). He has owned it ever since his dad gave it to him some time ago. I am going to get the title and registration information from the texas parks and wildlife this week to get everything up to date. The engine is beautiful and he fired it up for about 4 seconds to show it ran. It has the original Johnson gas tank with a twin fuel line setup and a pressure pump to give pressure to the carb I believe.
I will post more pictures soon.

 

[alextexas]

Re: My first Boat

 

[LX Kid]

Re: My first Boat

Nice classic boat! Are you going to restore it or just fish in it the way it is? Looks like a fun project to retore it to it's former glory. Ron

 

[azlakes]

Re: My first Boat

... congrats Alex, good size for a first project. free is also a good start. specially if it fired up. make sure you get your paperwork in order as you said.

have fun

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: My first Boat

Frist, Welcome !!! there are some of the greatest people here , we all here to help , all we can !!1

She would make a great fishing boat , does it have a beck in her, and if it does how the wood !! is there any soft spots ??

thats a great little motor should push her pertty good !!

So keep them pics comming , and again welcome !! john

 

[alextexas]

Re: My first Boat

thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

The wood in the seats and the sides is all mahogany and is very solid. The front seat is plywood and is in fair shape. The rear transom is solid and extremely thick... if I had to guess I'd say 1 3/4 inch thick. I can't say I've seen one this thick before.


If anybody has any pictures of what this particular boat looked like in 1955 they are highly welcomed. I am planing on restoring the perfect (minus paintjob) 25hp Johnson's paint back to its former glory. I still can't believe it has reverse!

something like this above


it has a 15lb thrust trolling motor that works great.

I'm not sure yet if I want to paint the boat the original colors...If I chose not to I will paint several coats of marine grade gray paint. I plan on making the boat more pleasant, right now its a down right fishing/hunting boat. I want to add padding to the seats and a radio with 2 marine batteries for the lights,radio,aerator, possibly a bilge pump. I also want to install a drain plug but I'm not sure if you can do that on a fiberglass boat. I've decided to keep it a rear steer to keep more space for fishing (for now). I also want to get a depth finder and some down riggers. I'm a automotive mechanic so I'm going to be pulling the trailer apart, re wiring, bearing/race inspection and re-packing. I was happy to see bearing buddies when towing it home. I dismounted the tires and cleaned the surface rust off the insides of the wheels and coated them in wheel bearing grease and I'm hoping that will stop the rusting.

I've got many questions and I for once have money to burn...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: My first Boat

super find, congrats. this was my 1960's 14 footer with a 15 hp rude. found it covered in weeds. bought it for almost nothing.

 

[DrCox]

Re: My first Boat

Congrats on your first project! I too just started my first boat and believe me, this commuity is awesome for advice. Good luck and have fun!


-DrCox