thompsondockside.com

Well, I guess the first place for me to start asking questions is to find really what I have, altho I haven't seen the paperwork for this boat in 30 years, I believe it was registered as a 1963. A few things I notice different from the model pictured here. First I'm sure you will soon learn, my knowledge of the proper boat terms is somewhat limited, I try my best to describe the areas I mean.
The front deck on mine and the areas along the side where you would walk (area under the side cabin windows) were all varnished wood About 8-10 inches wide and continues around the front where the light is. then the rest on the ft deck is padded vinyl just like the cabin top. Another difference I see is the dash area. On Dan's boat the dash appears to have a top that angles down, mine is taller, right to the top of the cabin roof line, and is flat. How my seats mount is also different. On the floor is a box that is bigger then Dan's boat. Each side holds a steel gas tank of about 15 gal (I guess) then another small door only about 6-8 in in front of that for storage. On top of that box is a much bigger box, maybe 18 in. cube that is just storage with a door on the back. The seats mount to the top of that. Judging by the color and finish of the wood, and the hardware used, which matches everything else My guess is this was all original. One last difference is mine came with twin Merc. 65's.
I know nothing really on the history of these and don't know if there were different models or if this is a different year. Is there anyplace that covers the history of these boats?

Well, I guess the first place for me to start asking questions is to find really what I have, altho I haven't seen the paperwork for this boat in 30 years, I believe it was registered as a 1963. A few things I notice different from the model pictured here. First I'm sure you will soon learn, my knowledge of the proper boat terms is somewhat limited, I try my best to describe the areas I mean.
The front deck on mine and the areas along the side where you would walk (area under the side cabin windows) were all varnished wood About 8-10 inches wide and continues around the front where the light is. then the rest on the ft deck is padded vinyl just like the cabin top. Another difference I see is the dash area. On Dan's boat the dash appears to have a top that angles down, mine is taller, right to the top of the cabin roof line, and is flat. How my seats mount is also different. On the floor is a box that is bigger then Dan's boat. Each side holds a steel gas tank of about 15 gal (I guess) then another small door only about 6-8 in in front of that for storage. On top of that box is a much bigger box, maybe 18 in. cube that is just storage with a door on the back. The seats mount to the top of that. Judging by the color and finish of the wood, and the hardware used, which matches everything else My guess is this was all original. One last difference is mine came with twin Merc. 65's.
I know nothing really on the history of these and don't know if there were different models or if this is a different year. Is there anyplace that covers the history of these boats?

Look at the section "What Do I Have?" and answer ALL the questions. This information is needed to properly ID the boat make, model and year.

The description you give about the covering boards and deck and vinyl are a very important clues. It was only two years that Cruisers, Inc. used those details 1961 and 1962.

There should be a hull ID stamped into the wood of the transom, inside the boat. This will give the model year, although it is not readily apparent from the numbers/letters. She's usually on teh starboard side. Sometimes stamped upside down. Sometimes covered up by some other component.

Andreas

I will order the CD.
Unfortunately the original transom is long gone due to an on road incident 20 years ago. I made a new one from two pieces of Marine Plywood, still in good shape. I did not know or see any numbers.
One other difference I did notice after looking at Dans pix daily My cabin door opens from the other side, and does not have louvers in it

Bob,
Check out my site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicoutboards/
There are more pictures of my 20' Seacamper on this site.
There are more in this site Thompson Dockside under "Lake Test".
Post some pics of yours, Dan

Will take pix soon, Its back under that tarp, been raining here for a week.
I have lots of wood to re do. In the past I have at times replaced several pieces in the deck going around the ft of the boat. Both times I talked with friends who knew something about wood, altho not specifically boat wood. Of course both times I did this, and sanded down everything else to re varnish, the new pieces never matched. Is there any way to really tell how the wood will match once its finished when you go out to buy it, or is this something that is just trial and error with custom staining to get it right.
I don't know much about stain but did make my living doing custom painting and airbrush grafix for 30 years, race cars and bikes mostly www.4cyclecentral.com has some of the work.
Right now I'm trying to find out if all of these had painted decks around the front and sides from the factory as I see in some of the pictures
My biggest project seems to be the cabin sides. The areas where the windows sit in and slide is rotted I guess from years of trapping water in the channels. Looks like I need to replace both sides.

Hull seams to be good, power washed and cleaned for two days, only a tiny bit of water leaked out in an area I had repaired before with that Geogeon (sp?) Brothers glass repair stuff. the only other problem, the small ribs that run cross ways, about 1/2 x 1 in and curve up the sides. Several are rotted away in the bottom of the boat in small sections. Not sure of the correct way to fix those.

just saw this, just went up, location near Milw. Wi
I no nothing about it other then this add

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/boa/1347256480.html

Bob,
If you have checked out my site at Classic outboards, I have a photo set called A New Boat that has multiple photos of how I repaired my cabin sides.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicou ... 2/pic/list

My cabin had a lot of rot where you are talking about. I cut out bad pieces and had them remade out of mahogany and replaced sections instead of entire sides. It did require removing decks and finding other structure that needed repair. I have an extensive catalog of photos of this repair.
Good Luck
Dan

Thanks Dan, took me a while to get back on to YaHoo, haven't been there in a long time. they do have alot of great groups. I got help there afew years ago on a 1964 Bluebird Motorhome I have.
I lived in Austin back in the early 70's, starting to miss that Texas weathe,r up here now getting down to the lower 40's at night. Luckily I collect vintage snowmobiles also