The Eagle Mountain Classic Boat Club in Fort Worth , Texas was looking for a winter project and a member donated this true barn find. She seems to be a late 50’s / early 60s Cruisers Inc. 13’ with a 35hp Evinrude and a Tee Nee trailer.
I went over this morning a pulled her out after she had set there for 10 yrs and went down the road in a cloud of dust!
She may be early 50’s since the bow is so vertical and look at the style of the steering wheel.
She seems to be complete and loaded with boating accessories and dirt. Unloading, vacuming, and a good power wash are the first projects.
More posts to come as her progress moves forward!
What a fun find and project!
Dan Stober
1965 20' Cruisers Inc. 570 Seacamper
1962 20' Cruisers Inc. 502
1963 16' Cruisers Inc. 202 Seafarer
Weatherford, Texas
Man this is so cool! That boat is in good hands. You will do a great job on it.Post lots of details and pictures please.
From a friend in Wisconsin.
Cheers
Ron Pistohl
Ron Pistohl
1965 Thompson Sea Mate
1975 Yar-Craft Yankee
Oshkosh,Wisconsin.
Merry Christmas Andreas and Ron, good to hear from you. It was 70 degrees, sorry, when I picked her up but since has turned a chilly 30.... Andy came over the other day to help inspect and we found that she had slid too far forward on her trailer years ago and had fallen off the rear rollers, good or bad? The keel lays right on the trailer beam which seems to have kept it very straight but when she slid forward all the weight was left on two bunks amid ships. This seems to have left a hog on both sides at trailer axle.
They are not horrible but will have to be dealt with. Andy and I lifted her back onto rollers that sit right under transom.
I am begining to haul out old tanks and accessories today. She sure looks solid.
Dan
Dan Stober
1965 20' Cruisers Inc. 570 Seacamper
1962 20' Cruisers Inc. 502
1963 16' Cruisers Inc. 202 Seafarer
Weatherford, Texas
That's a treasure. Should make a real nice winter project for you guys.
From the picture the motor looks to be a 1961 Evinrude Big Twin 40 HP.
If that's correct the model number would be 35022. If it's a 1960 it would be 35018, but still 40 hp. Is the motor free (turns over)?
PS . really nice photos, Dan
Given that it is nice and dried out, is power washing the best idea...? It would give immediate satisfaction, but wouldn't it force water deep into cracks unneccessarily..?
If it is vacuumed, then it can be inspected, and the wood, joints, and crevices would suck up CPES and varnish when the time comes, w/o you trying to dry it out again...
You mention some good concerns John, but I'd think pressure washing still might be the best course. It will remove all the impacted dirt and any loose finishes. If the boat is indoors, it won't take long for it to dry out. Run a dehumidfier. You could use lamps or a heat gun to accelerate it.
One thing you guys need to remember is that "txcapdan" lives in Dallas - Fort Worth, TEXAS area where the weather is a bit warmer then it is in the northern state this time of year. Power washing the boat with what ever amount of water will not take that long to dry out before he is ready for any finishing. From his past posts on restorations this boat will go thru a lot of work before a finish goes on it.
Txcapdan keep us posted on your work.
Great find!
A good sinking does wonders for some boats! I had a chance the other day when the temps were in the 70s to wash her off! I vacuumed her out first to get rid of the large pieces and animal droppings so that they would not turn to mud when she got wet.
Power washing really unveiled a beauty! It stripped of 10+ years of dirt and did loosen much of the old varnish in places.
I have done this before to other hulls with great success. I will probably remove a few floor boards and vacuum and power wash her again. And yes the weather down here has a lot to do with this type of cleaning, she is almost dry now and we have a week of 60+ weather coming up for her to dry in the sun.
What a great steering wheel and the controls and motor amazed me as to how nice they look.
The ribs, keel, and keelsons look very solid and no water came out anywhere but the drains!
More to come....
Dan Stober
1965 20' Cruisers Inc. 570 Seacamper
1962 20' Cruisers Inc. 502
1963 16' Cruisers Inc. 202 Seafarer
Weatherford, Texas
The motor turns out to be a 1961 Evinrude according to numbers supplied by JoeCB, Thanks. We have a member that is a huge outboard motor buff and has offered to go through it. But he is not a big fan of the pull start.
I have not located a serial # yet, but this hull,besides laps, is almost entirely screwed together with slotted screws, does this give anyone a hint at hull date?
We have a meeting Thursday to show her to members and she is all dryed out and inside my shop.
The keel is very straight and solid!
More to come.....
Dan Stober
1965 20' Cruisers Inc. 570 Seacamper
1962 20' Cruisers Inc. 502
1963 16' Cruisers Inc. 202 Seafarer
Weatherford, Texas
