TOPIC: What do I have?

Hello All,

I am new to this forum & the reason I registered...

I just yesterday picked up this boat. It has a fiberglass hull & wood transom, wind shield & seats.

There is no ID. except two letters on the steering wheel LA & a motor controller says MORSE.

Any help is great.

Thank you
John

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Boataddict,

1st, WELCOME ABOARD.

Looks like a SIMMONS SEA SKIFF, built in Wilmington, North Carolina, from the late 1940s to early '60s,by the late Thomas N. Simmons, Sr.
(or a copy of same. - After Mr Simmons stopped building boats, after his son, T,N, Jr, drowned, several boatbuilders copied his hulls. To my knowledge, Mr Simmons never "signed" his work, so there's NO really good way to tell an original from a copy.)

Mr Simmons "stock" sizes were 17', 18.5', 19' & 21'. - He also built to customer's desires, including the USCG & US Army Engineer Corps.
(at least one 14' hull was built for a man from Washington, DC to match a 10HP Evinrude in 1955 & at least one hull in 23' and one in 25'.)

NOTE: The Cape Fear Museum Shoppe still sells the plans for the SIMMONS, so people still are building his boats, long after his death.

yours, satx

A lot of things on that hull look a lot like an MFG but I'm not sure they produced one like that. I seen some very similar of MFG design. Here is a transom pic of mine. It has an internal wooden keel like my MFG. Better check it good, looks like it is awful wet for a long time. I replaced part of mine.Last time I painted my hull I took this while it was upside down. Oh by the way, WELCOME ABOARD. www.fiberglassics.com/library/MFG

BoatAddict; all,

FYI, i was emailed a while ago (by a SC "fishing buddy") that you have what looks like a COPY, in glass/wood, of a Simmons, built W/O the inboard motorwell.
He stated that it looks like the work of Rivera Boatworks on the Outer Banks of NC, as they made "FG/wood skiffs" & Mr Simmons did not ever build a FG/wood "hybrid".
(Rob tells me that Mr Simmons & his son built about ONE THOUSAND boats total, by hand & that there are at least 5,000 Sea Skiffs currently in use, so "copies" far outnumber the originals.)

fwiw, the Sea Skiff was intentionally designed for going out into the Gulf Stream for deep-sea fishing, off of the Carolinas. - the 17 foot was intended for a 30HP Outboard motor & TWO fishermen AND will do an honest 30MPH in the ocean.
The 23 footer, otoh, will "ocean-fish" 4 people & is designed for a 50HP outboard & will do 35MPH.

NOTE: At least TWO boatbuilders made ALL Fiberglass versions of the "Simmons-STYLE Skiffs", which are rated for over 100HP outboards.
One builder was in Rodanthe, NC (High-side 23 footers) & the other was in Duck, NC (built Low-side 20 footers).

I hope that i have NOT bored everyone to death with NC history/trivia, but i've fished a Simmons 17 & the Simmons Sea Skiff WILL impress you with its "ride" in the rough/dangerous waters off Cape Fear.

yours, satx

Hey,

I received a reply from Simmons...... "Your boat is not even close to a Simmons. Possibly a Thompson or Lyman.

I own a Thompson & did some inquires there as well & we agree it is not a Thompson. I am waiting for a reply from MFG.

Hey Satx.

Could you or your fishing buddy send the web address for Rivera boat works. I did a search & only came upon an Italian boat maker & their boats look more like a Chris Craft. That would greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone for you help.

John

Boataddict,

Sorry, but i cannot imagine that you heard from T.N. Simmons shop, as he & his son are both deceased, i think his widow has also passed away & therefore i don't know who in the family that you could have heard from.
FYI, this tools, patterns & SEVERAL of his boats are IN the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington, NC.
(At his shop's "largest size", Mr Simmons had himself, his son & 2 part-time employees.)

Rivera Boatworks was (it's another tiny boatbuilding company that is "long gone". - Rivera MAY have had as many as 10 employees in the 1960s or early 1970s.) in Kill Devil Hills, NC on the "landside of" the the Outer Banks.
(Rivera Boatworks has nothing to do with RIVIERA of Italy, as far as i know. fyi, there is also a RIVIERA Boatworks in Australia.)

BEST WISHES on your project.

yours, satx