TOPIC: Another Mystery Boat ?

Hello everyone,
Grab a brew and get ready for a read…

If you want to skip the story look at the pictures ? What is it ?

I’m out of town for work right now. So to pass the boring time in a hotel room after work while tipping back a cold one or two, what is there to do ?
Well ? You go to the local Craig’s List and Facebook Market Place to look at what? …. BOATS !
I looked at all the boats, but I figured I’d narrow the search ?
As it goes, I’m not in the market for a new old boat UNTIL you see something that catches your eye.
Because good lord If I come home with another boat, the mean half will not be happy ! So I figured I’d compromise ?
I looked at boats 14ft and under, and less than 500 bucks, thinking there is no way in hell I’ll find something I like.
Because that size is mostly row boats. And also for the fact I don’t have a tow hitch for my new truck yet ?

Here’s the story:
As I’m looking on Craig’s and Facebook Marketplace I see this little boat leaning against the house. The picture is dark and semi-blurry.
But it looks like a Hydo-Mite or GW Invader for 200 bucks. Well I have a pick-up truck with an 8ft bed. My interest was peaked !
From the picture, the boat looks 4ft wide and 8ft long which was perfect my truck.

I contact the owner AFTER I had to sign up for Facebook. He tells me the boat has (2) holes in the bottom, but easily fixed. (so why didn’t he fix them ?)
We agreed on a day and a meeting time. The boat is 50 minutes away from where I’m staying. The day comes. I show up at his place. Out walks
a 6’-3” tall, semi-chunky, shirtless biker dude, I wanted to drop the money and run. Ha-Ha-Ha. Yep the boat had two holes in it, but they are fixable. I give the old owner 200 bucks.
We pick it up, put it in the truck and the boat is 8’-3” long, I can’t close the tailgate. BUMMER ! So now the bow is sitting on the top of the closed tailgate of the truck.
I thought no big deal, because my tour of work was suppose to end at the end of June (this was this past Monday pickup).
I find out yesterday, I’ve been extended till September ! I thought… SON OF A.... ?
So now I’ll have this boat in my truck for a few more months, providing someone doesn’t pick it while I’m not watching ?

So now THE SEARCH FOR WHAT IT IS BEGINS:
The first thing I do is come here to Fiberglassics to try to find what it is ? I thought I saw one like it on the site at some point?
I did a search on “Mystery Boat”, “ What is it” but I couldn’t find one similar ?
In other words ? So far I can’t find Shhh-tuff on this style ?
I will check the library next.

The next step:
There were registration numbers on the hull from Florida, but no sticker for the last year of registration ?
I figured the registration number would give make, model, year that the state has on record ?
So I call the Florida Tax Collector Office. After pushing the number 1 on the phone, then pushing the number 2, and listening to elevator music FOREVER !
A man named Mark answers. I give him a short story, unlike this one, I give him the registration number, and ask him what kind of boat, what year is it, has been stolen etc. ?
He say Hold please…. More elevator music….. He comes back on the line, and tells me, That boat registration number is currently registered and up to date. I thought WHAT THE .... ?
He starts grilling me on hull number blah, blah, blah
So I ask what kind of boat is registered ? He says it’s an aluminum 17ft boat. I asked him if Florida recycles registration number, because this boat is probably a late 60’s early 70’s made of fiberglass and 8ft long (+ that damn 3”, so it won’t fit in the truck)
and has not been registered for some time, and that means the boat is close to 51 years old. He tells me Florida does not recycle numbers, then he asks for the hull ID number ?
I said it’s a boat older than Hull numbers were assigned, which he knew. So He tells me I have to register the boat as homemade blah- blah-blah. All the time I Know I’m not registering it in Florida because I'm in Massachusetts, bought the boat in New Hampshire, and live in Ohio.
BUT now I have to deal with OHIO, so I’m guessing those registration numbers will disappear, because I don’t need an Ohio migraine from the ODNR, because the ODNR will tell me about the aluminum boat already registered, and hopefully I can register it as homemade there ? The good thing about Ohio is under 15 ft of length is not much of a problem ? Cross my fingers !

Now that the story is over ….. FOR NOW !

Does anyone recognize the maker of this boat ?

I got one of the other two to load ?

I'm guessing some kind of carnival/amusement park type boat.

Bob

It may be? It's set up for an outboard, and has about 4 layers of paint. It has holes from where controls were set up on the inner starboard side. Only a kid can sit in the cockpit BUT also has heel depressions for adults on the main deck ?
The plywood transom piece is is over an inch thick without the missing fiberglass, so I'm guessing you can put a heafty outboard on it ?

There is something familiar feeling about this boat, but I can't place it.

Looking at the non skidd tape, rope, very strait sides, painted eyes, I also feel that this was originally some kind of amusement ride boat.

Perhaps this was a modification project to a ride boat?

Very cool though...

I'm from NJ and old enough to have visited the infamous "Action Park". They had speed boats. If my memory serves me well, they looked very similar to this. You may want to look into it.