Elbow Grease Required-Steve’s New Project

What images do the words Vantage, Dauntless, Outrage or Conquest bring to your mind?   Boat names maybe or the title of the latest hit at the movie theater.   If I throw in Super Sport or Montauk, does that change the image?  These are all model names of the unsinkable boat known as a Boston Whaler.  

Harvard graduate, Dick Fisher ran a company which built small light weight boats out of balsa wood. In 1954 he built a sailing dinghy out a new material– polyurethane foam. The boat he built was similar to a Sunfish.  Fisher showed his design to Raymond Hunt, a naval architect.  After two years of experimenting with hull design, the two came up with a hull upon which both could agree and the original Boston Whaler 13 was born.  

In 1958 the Whaler was manufactured  by Fisher-Pierce company.  Promoted as a boat with great stability, carrying capacity along with great handling capacity in rough weather, they became very popular.  Because it was lightweight and could be propelled by a lower horsepower engine added to its popularity.  The classic tri-hull design of the original boats was slowly changed over time the the deep-vee hull of today’s Boston Whaler.  The tri-hull design was completely phased out in 1996.

Most people see this boat as a sport fishing boat.  However these boats have been used for water skiing, as a runabout or as a tender for larger yachts.  Both the Navy Seals and the Coast Guard used these boats in the Vietnam War as rescue boats.  

These boats have developed a profoundly dedicated loyal group of fans and owners. Is it any surprise that I am married to one of these profoundly dedicated fans who has just recently become an owner?   Say hello to the latest addition to Mr. Adventure’s boating collection.  She is a rib-sided Boston Whaler in need of some love and care and a fair amount of elbow grease.  

Joy