TOPIC: Should'a kept her

One of those boats you wish you had kept. Bought a few years back, real cheap. Early Glasspar DelMar with the cabin roof lopped off. Someone did a pretty clean job of it. Took me 4 months to get the title cleared. After a year or so I decided she needed too much work for me to ever get done. I sold her to the first looker for the same amount I paid. Looking back, that boat had a rock solid transom and floor, all good original hardware and windshield but needed complete topside repaint, interior, motor, controls, and electrical system. Should'a kept her just for the hardware.

A box of CrackerJacks to the first one who can name the author who used that boat name (Munequita) in a novel, and the main character in the novel. (You Florida guys should know this one).

That's ok, she's probably sitting neglected and rotting somewhere right now... but at least you weren't the one that did that to her.

The chopped off cabin with the helm in the center of the boat so far away from the windshield looks ridiculous. Such a shame to ruin a boat like that.

John D. McDonald's "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper."

"Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize - that's what you get with Crackerjack!"

...and yes, you should have kept the del Mar.

Excellent, Nautilus. Since you knew that one, I'll bet you also know the name of the main character in those books. Being a John D. MacDonald fan for many years, I have a whole bunch of his stuff, including quite a few that were published before he got going on the "color" themed titles. All in paperback, and although in good shape, they're so old now that the pages would probably fall out as you read them. The first time he mentioned the Munequita was in "The Last One Left", published in 1966, where she was found adrift in the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas. "Plain Brown Wrapper" was 1968, and by then his hero had bought her for his own. Great stuff. I'll email you the CrackerJacks

Jigngrub, actually the center helm was kind of a neat look, for me. Reminded me of a tender or workboat/utility boat. Interestingly, my current Delmar, a 1959, has a wood cabin bulkhead and helm, where that earlier one, a 1957, had fiberglass. The couple that bought it from me lived in West Texas, so I like to think it's still out there, maybe slowly being renovated.

Check these photos of the interior and paint when I got her. Several years in the New Mexico sun ate up the interior. Those nifty teardrop shaped grab rails on the gunnels were originally mounted on the cabin roof on the Delmars.