The Ugliest Thing!

by Ricard Daley member of Okanagan chapter 

This 1962 Fiberform Boat was sitting abandoned in a marine repair yard in Lethbridge, Alberta. On Monday July 29th at 4 pm I picked this boat up in running condition. The night I brought it home my wife Maria looked at it and stated “that’s the ugliest boat I’ve ever seen!” The next morning a good friend
came by, looked at it and said the same thing. That annoyed me, but was the motivation to get this done quickly as I had a vision of what it could look like!

So here is what transpired: No mechanical repairs were required.
It was brought home and removed from the trailer and completely stripped.
The engine was left attached.The floor was repaired, seat frames reinforced and new seats built.The hull was power polished. The dash was dyed to match the new upholstery which was made to exactly match the original. The trailer was painted and bearings serviced with new seals installed. The boat was reassembled and final touches completed after only 10 days after purchase, and then was immediately brought to the Okanagan Antique & Classic Boat Show held in Sicamous, BC, where it won Best Non-Wood.

I had a great team help me with this project, Jesse Rawlings did the power polish, Glen Fensdtad from AFAB Custom Marine Upholstery did the interior
Jeff Saunders from Micro Dent dyed the dash, Mike Hunik did miscellaneous work.

Moral of the Story, these boats are out there, inexpensive and fairly easy to restore.The old boat hobby does not have to be expensive.