ABA Boat Maintenance & Repair Questions and Responses

The information contained herein is the opinion of ABA member and marine mechanic Tim Harrington of Madison Marine Service, Harwich, Massachusetts. Tim is responding to a question solely based on the information an ABA member provided. Neither ABA, nor Tim Harrington, nor Madison Marine Service assume any responsibility or liability for events that occur due to actions you or others on your behalf take based on the information given in Tim's response.  You are proceeding at your own risk.

• Antique/Old Boats
• Docks
• Engines
• Gauges
• Hull
• Miscellaneous
• Propellers
• Regulations
• Serial Numbers
• Towing/Trailering

Antique/Old Boats

Q. I recently acquired a 1960's era rowboat. The serial number is worn off and I want to get it licensed. What can I do?

A. I would suggest you contact your State Boating Office to see what the regulations are in your state regarding registering a boat. Each state has its own laws, and I am not familiar with all the laws in all the states. You may get contact information for the Ohio Boating Office from the National State Boating Law Administrators website, www.nsbla.org.

Q. I am thinking about purchasing a boat from a friend. It needs some parts like a drive shaft. He says the boat is a 1971 Macanac. And I have looked everywhere on the Internet for this boat and I cannot find anything. Do you know anything about this type of boat? Also, I would appreciate it if you could tell me where I can find information about it.

A. It would be helpful if I had more info, but I will try to help as best I can. On boat year, you wrote 1971! This boat is currently 22 years old, so find out all you can about the shape of the boat internally and externally. It would be worth it to have an experienced boat mechanic look it over thoroughly so that you have a clear picture of just what you're purchasing. I personally have no knowledge of a "macanac" boat, so the best I can suggest is to try the Internet. I checked Google under "macanac boat" and didn't come up with anything. Double check the spelling with your friend to make sure you're searching under the right name. Try searching under "old boats" or something like this to see if anything comes up for it. You mentioned the drive shaft will need parts. I have a tough time addressing this issue as I don't know if it's an outdrive, prop shaft, or inboard. What I can tell you, though, is that based on my experience with helping clients to purchase boats and from doing many boat surveys, I would tell you to tread carefully. There are several good boat options for you to invest in, whether new or used. Do your homework and shop around before purchasing any boat. You want to make sure that what you purchase fits your needs and wishes and keeps you on the water more than off!

Q: I have an old boat and would like to know more about it. It's an old Scottie Craft made in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tag says 526. It looks like an old car with fins. I would appreciate any help.

A: My research next took me to Bill Morgan's place of business at Hacker Craft in Silver Bay, New York. While waiting for a return call I continued to research leads on the Internet. I made note of antique boat sites that may have put you in the right direction.

I had also placed a call to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA. The gentleman in the research library was extremely helpful! He told me that he would do some research and fax me his findings. This is what he found.

The boats were introduced to the market place in 1957. The manufacturer was in Miami, Fl. There was an advertisement for your boat in the January 1957 issue of Motor Boat magazine on page 16. The factory list purchase price was $1295, although the ad stated "And new for '57 - low prices from $735 that will set the pace for others to follow!" A copy of this ad has been faxed to the American Boating Association.

Regarding your plate with the number 526, that is the number of the boat made to that date.

I hope that you find this information helpful. It was certainly a challenge to find! If you want more information, you can contact the research library at the Mariners' Museum, library@mariner.org but take note, they do charge for their research time or the Antique & Classic Boat Society atwww.acbs.org