TOPIC: Flipping Ships

New TV show on Animal Planet. Next Friday- commercial says 9pm, schedule says 10pm... don't know why. But they show a vintage Sea King with FINS so it may be good, depending on what they do to it. If you go to Animal Planet's website and check the Schedule for next Friday, they show a short clip.

ah great now every fool with an old boat sitting in their back yard will be worth their weight in gold. better hurry up and soak up as many of these old beasts soon lol.

Yeah, it will be interesting to find out what they paid, or didn't, for the boat. Generally, those that think Old is Gold get a reality check when they don't sell their junk for high $$$$. I only hope they show how much it takes to redo a classic properly, so the average joe doesn't get delusions of adequacy and ruin a good project.

joe, shake, the rocket that I was going to give you, is now priced at 15 grand, lol frog

lol Frog, SOOOOOLDDD!!!!, Kerry, you are spot on my friend. You have no clue how many people I would like to give shake dips@#$ syndrome not just when it comes to boats, who sit there and think they can get x amount of money if thing x was restored, they forget all bout the sweat equity, not to mention parts are the most expensive part of projects when you add it all up. but watch if this show takes off, which I doubt it will, we are all in trouble, lol.

I hate what TV does to Classics. I don't watch many show. Cars for instance, They take a classic cut them all up and put them together differently and put those GOD AWFUL toy looking Wagon wheels on it and put it on the ground. Makes me sick. We all know how much time, energy and money these things cost.

This would be a really cool show if was aired about 10 years ago, everything is so fake/scripted now.

My friends dad use to buy and sell old motorcycles, specifically Indians. He'd find one in someones yard rusting away, offer them a little cash, take it home and clean it, then flip it. He said after American Pickers aired, everyone thought they had something really rare and started asking ridiculous prices. The worse part is some people would actually pay the high prices because they saw the TV show too and thought they could be 'pickers' as well.

We the enlightened know what those things are worth at any given condition. If it's hidden in a barn somewhere chances are and someone sees the program they'll dig it out for us. When it sits on Craigslist for a year and tires go flat in their yard they will want to give it away. Offer $200 and drive it away.
Going to watch the show just to see how they butcher that sweetie.
Cal

Checked again. It is 9PM Friday on Animal Planet. Set my DVR.

I'm watching the show right now. Talk about a piece of crap of a boat! And, yet by the end of the show it will look like a winner. Really good show and illustrates what one can do with junk if you have some good guys to help, a very nice workspace, and all the tools you could ever ask for. Oh, and a good sense of imagination helps a lot. An unlimited money supply is a big help.
Dan

OMG! What they did to that boat is unbelievable! Mahogany deck, brand new Evinrude, hydraulic drive, even a guitar to match. WOW! I wonder how much $ they have in this, just to give it away to a charity auction. They never did say how much it brought.
Dan

So how did the boat look when finished, I watched on line but never saw the finished product. From what I understand it had a mahogany deck?? Probably stole my idea

Well, one of my worst fears was realized. Seller wanted $600 for it until he found out it was for charity, then it was free, but still got $200 for the trailer. But they did show all the rotted wood and crumbling transom, and some of the glass work involved. I'm on the fence, so I will watch a couple more episodes before making a final judgement.

Hey, its a show about boats so who cares! Saw it today..time will tell..

They DID use your idea Cal, bet they saw it here! Like Kerry I'm going to have to see a few more episodes before I decide if I like it or not.

Now I have to watch it!
I actually got the idea from this site also

I am going to watch it now
Its on youtube at =

Mahogany deck? I beat them by three years. (1958 Chris Craft 32 Commander)



Nautilus Marine Restorations was approached to do a reality TV show about what they intended to call "Flipping Boats," not ships. We even made a video tape. I guess we just weren't interesting enough. At first, it was kind of insulting, considering the success of "Honey Boo Boo," "Hollywood Hillbillies" and "Keeping Up With The Kardashians." However, realizing that TV is programmed to the lowest mental common denominator, I'm glad we washed-out.

Now I'm glad I didn't watch it 'cuz that would put me in that mental midget area

wellll....we just watched it...(thanks Ronny).....the main thing they have that most of us don't is the ability to make a tv show that the average "talk a lot but do nothing" people would watch....and they didn't let much technical stuff get in the way!! hope I just missed how they vented the gas tank, or they may have built a bomb...and I hope those seats don't get soaked and squish water when you sit down...john

I remember explaining to the woman who represented the production company that we don't "flip boats," we restore them for clients. Anyone who thinks they can properly restore a boat and sell it at a profit is delusional or as in her case, totally clueless.

Now, of course, if we all had beards, were fat, missing a lot of teeth and spit every so often, we'd have been a big hit, especially if we had a big wall rack filled with WD-40, bailing wire and duct tape in the background. "Reality" shows are a joke...totally scripted. What you watch for 40 minutes (not counting commercials) has been gleaned from about 30 hours of footage that they accumulated over the course of a week.

Homework assignment: Watch the movie "Idiocracy."

OK, I broke down and watched youtube. Nice thing about that is you can flip through the whole thing in about a minute.
I wish the transoms I redo were all that easy to remove. Seems like most are half rotted and the other half is a bi---ch to remove, just sayin'
I'm not too impressed. I've seen better ideas and work from you guys on this site. The only flippin I do is a struggle to turn the hull upside down by myself.
Here's to "flippin' ships".....

I haven't watched any of this yet, but I am assuming it is like all of the other "Reality T.V.". It used to be fun watching these do-it your-self T.V. shows when they were real. Now they have become "what looks good on T.V. to people that don't have a clue about what you are talking about". They make it look good and entertaining and don't care too much about the real life facts. It is great that we have places like this for us that live in the real world!!!
Bill

Thanks for the link Ronny.
Have to agree with the majority,that there's a bit too much shop drama, and boring character development.
Concept is good, but more emphasis on techniques,and problem solving
would have been appreciated.

It's supposed to be entertaining, not educational. It's neither.

You really have to admit this forum is both entertaining and educational. Too much "drama" in those shows. They've become so cookie cutter if you see one you've seen them all. Substitute cars, trees, fish, boats, naked people, motor cycles, etc.

I watched it, and agree there was not much education content but that does not sell. It is your typical reality show with some characters, etc but at least it is on a cool product. Personally I hope it bombs, I am concerned with what it will do to price of boats on Craigslist. Everyone will think they have some priceless piece of history

well, all through out the show, they did enough knocking and talkin crap about the old boat that I wouldn't worry much about it driving prices up much.....10 min more about the boats history and 15 less bad mouthing would have been great....john

I was contacted by the producer in his attempt to locate some literature on the Sea King prior to the completion of this episode. I asked for a picture from him that I could use to locate the precise model he had. He was unable to provide one so all I could do was guess. I sent him a catalog I had but I see now it was a different boat. Never-the-less he was very appreciative.

I took the opportunity to include numerous 8-1/2 x 11 color glossy pictures of what I consider to be the most collectible fiberglass boats in an attempt to try to steer them towards something more exciting in the future. I sent a literature piece, an “as found boat”, and a restored example of each model I spotlighted. Yes, it looks like some of the stuff they are doing is just junk, like that pontoon boat in the opening credits for instance, however, I think with a little constructive guidance they could potentially make something truly excellent out of this show.

If they could be convinced to do something like a Bee Line Sapphire instead of a 1974 generic tri-hull then I think the public would start digging them out of the woods, posting them on our boards, and joining our clubs.

From my perspective, I'd have to disagree with a lot of the comments here. I started collecting these boats to preserve the art. There are still a lot of worthwhile boats being destroyed to clean up someones property. The best way to prevent that is to change the perception that they are worthless as only TV can do.

Believe me, we don't want to buy boats for 200 dollars. They are not worth the sellers time at that price and people will not go out of there way to sell them to us. Furthermore, if no one sees any value, then we'll spend 15,000 bucks restoring a Reinelle Jet Flight ('59 Chevy boat) only to find offers of 3,000 when we decide to sell it to finance another restoration.

I would not go too far in criticizing the show either. Has anyone here got a show on cable? I have wanted to do so for years and I don't have one yet. It takes money, effort, connections and perseverance by the container ship load and it is a lot bigger gamble than people think. With constructive guidance, if it were followed, a show like this could be made into something that would make our hobby really thrive. Let's not poison the well with a lot of negative commentary. Let's give them some support, they're going to need it in today's fickle market, and we can benefit from their efforts.

Just my opinion.

-Kevin Mueller, Rockton, IL.

They've tried just about every other venue a "reality" show can cover so it was inevitable that they would eventually get around to boats but I doubt that the show will be around for long. Restoring old fiberglass boats does not appeal to mainstream America. It's all about the ratings...no appeal/no ratings/no sponsors/no show. Now if the "restorers" were large-breasted women with plunging necklines and tight shorts, the light beer manufacturers would be coming out of the woodwork to sponsor the show and it's success would be guaranteed...and THAT'S reality!

All Girls Garage comes to mind

Actually the USA is the biggest boating market in the world so boating itself is very mainstream here already. There are lots of old boats sitting around and lots of dreamers. All you need to do is make it visually more interesting by doing better, more collectible boats, and sure, adding some water skiing bikini babes could really help (seriously).

That would encourage wanna be's to drag something home and buy a bunch of parts from Overtons, Harbor Freight, and West Marine who could certainly be sponsors. Hagerty would be a good candidate as well, not to mention Red Bull, Monster, various Breweries, and so on.

The dreamers needn't finish everything they start either, it would be just like the old car hobby, lots of cars are started by one person and finished by a second or third.

Restoring old boats certainly could appeal to mainstream America, it just takes the right approach and cable TV. Let's not be so quick to dismiss the idea.

It'll be great, till the first time some dude grinds into fiberglass without PPE....Oh, the fun stuff.

Will

With the advent of reality shows such as American Pickers, Pawn Stars, et al, the show "Flipping Ships" couldn't be far behind. It seems as though ANY hobby that includes buying and selling of goods, no matter how obscure, is fair game - this is especially true if the subject is transportation related in some way.

I've personally been "flipping ships", as it were, since I was very young. I was the weird kid in middle school who spent part of his summer break digging out an old Crosby just up the road, because it was vintage and unusual, and most importantly, free (Dad wasn't too happy though, so unfortunately it didn't get to come home with me). I must admit that I'm one of those 'dreamers' whom Kevin referenced above, but I submit that the 'dreaming' (along with the "thrill of the hunt", which is very important as well) has been a major contributing factor in a lot of these old boats being saved. I've dug a lot of old Glassics out over the years, wished I could've restored some of them, but most all of them were sent on to good homes. A few that come to mind are the Barnes Shark and a Feathercraft Golden Rocket - those kind of boats are VERY hard to come by, just like the South Seas Samoan that I have nicely hidden away in the garage which is not for sale and hopefully will be enjoyed in my eventual retirement. Not only are these kind of boats hard to come by, they also come with a big responsibility to restore them correctly, unlike the boat featured on the show.

I recently picked up a '58 Blue Star with decent fins - it's a good size and has nice clean lines, it's an intermediate boat so it's not really worthy of a full-blown concourse restoration so MAYBE, just maybe, I can get her on the water sometime in the near future. I believe this is the sort of boat we'll see featured on the show, interesting and visually appealing but nothing extravagant, because extravagant is very hard to come by.

I liked to watch the transformation, because at my speed of restoration, the show would be as long as reading a set of Britanica Encyclopedia
but I only wished there was a little educational part in there too to draw you in a little more ?
Mix in a little Like the guy on boatworkstoday.com ?

Isn’t it nice we can all make the show better with our suggestions ?

So here is my suggestion to draw more folks to watch…. Change the name of the show.

Be honest: if you were surfing the channels would you stop at show “A” or show “B”

“A” - “Flipping Ships”

“B” - “Bikinis, Boobs, Beer, Boats, & BBQ”

I thought so…. LOL

I'll keep watching just to see what I can pick up anything technical wise in the background.

Chuck, I choose "B".
When I first tuned into this thread I never heard of the program. Animal Planet was for stuff like National Geo used to be, African plains, elephants, lions etc. The old Mutual of Omaha program.
Then I hear of "Flippin' Ships" and this comes to mind.

There was one of those reality shows where a contractor would rescue these ships for scrap or a company to rehab.

IMHO it's a fad thing and will die out eventually like everything else and the true business people like Naut et al and the hobbyist like me will still be doing what we do. Been doing this to small boats for over 30 years, not to make a profit but because I love working with them, to see what can be accomplished, and to give someone who cannot afford a new boat something to be safe, affordable and proud of. No need to make a show out of it. I really don't like the term "flipping" because it gives the process a cheap connotation of fast turn around for profit. I never did a trailer queen nor really have the desire to do so but I enjoy seeing them and admire the work that goes into them knowing what's involved.
Meanwhile, it makes good fodder for discussion. Now back to work.

Finally got a chance to watch the show. My initial thought on the show was that it was going to be a " pimp my ride" kinda show for boats but I really liked it. I think it will be a positive for what we do both as a hobby and a passion. I would have added a pinstripe between the res and white to separate the colors and I thought the engine cover looked like an afterthought, but overall it came out really nice.

finally we come into our own and yeah its going to be like finding an old 56 chevy last one on earth prices yeah but wait no one watches animal planet why on animal planet??????? billy

Our boats, in most cases, are absolutely not practical/fuctional. Boating has become much more about dragging ten or more of your buddies and a cooler full of boose to party cove to tie up and act a fool. As well as a pissing contest to see who's stereo is the best or who's boat is fast/er/est enough to kill the drunkert and or any poor innocent victums who unfortunately find their way into the path of these morons. We will never have to worry about our boats becoming "mainstream" and anyone who thinks a tv show can do anything more than make our passion expensive is delusional. We are in this for our love of these cool little boats and the brotherhood we have here on fiberglassics.

Oh by the way Shake's back.

hey Joe, how was Iowa? I watched part of the show also. just had to turn it off, got tired of the hosts and how they were experts at everything they did. and the loud mouth advice. greg