Sea Scout

This is my 1967 Crestliner Sea Scout--the project boat--as it was when my wife and I first found her. Not bad structurally, but pretty rough around the edges. The windshield was cracked in several spots, the paint was showing signs of sun fade and wear, there wasn't a motor (the one in the picture is a 1970's Johnson that my father-in-law loaned me), and the interior (floor, side panels, etc.) was all rotten and falling apart. It's actually a small miracle we survived the test voyage.

Below is a picture of the boat today. I stripped everything off, sanded down the original paint, found an appropriate motor (a 1969 40 hp Evinrude Big Twin), and have put on a first coat of paint--a blue that is almost an exact match. The paint is a funny thing. It's actually a designer (Ralph Lauren) exterior enamel called "Mediterranean Blue." As I was painting I imagined that the inspiration for the color came from an old 1960's Crestliner ad. Hey--it could have happened.

I'm also painting the motor, and actually found someone who specializes in making decals for vintage outboards. Here is a picture from a 1960's Crestliner catalogue of a slightly earlier model of the same motor .

It's unbelievable what you can find online these days!

It's also, as I've already mentioned, unbelievable to me that I am increasingly concerned about bringing this boat back to its original look. What is driving me to the details of an old outboard, or just the right dash plate for the interior? It's as though I've been possessed by the spirit of some 1960's water skier.

On the Lake

I mentioned in my first post that this whole fascination with boats started with water. I grew up on a lake in Minnesota, and as far back as I can remember was either fishing, swimming, or on the boat with my family. Dad and I used to go out fishing at dawn on his pontoon--a rather scrappy looking thing, but common in those days. (Those are my grandparents in the picture.)

He had this old green 9 hp Johnson outboard on it, and the look of it resembled one of the motors I now own--a 1958 10 hp Evinrude Sportwin. It's a great motor for my small fishing boat. As one fellow boater said recently as I was launching "it runs great once you get it started!"

So, I guess this fascination with boats began back when I was having my first experiences on the lake. However, that doesn't fully explain why I had to have my current project boat, or why its vintage is so appealing to me. Nobody that I know had such a boat when I was growing up. We were more of a fishing and leisure (as in pontoon and folding chairs) family.

I own a 1967 Crestliner Sea Scout, and am currently in search of the propper dash plate for the 1969 40hp Evinrude Big Twin motor that powers it. It's the kind of thing I never thought I would obsess about. I sometimes wonder what (who?) planted this desire in me to be caretaker to this old boat. Who's memory is this, anyway?

This is the story of my boat fixation. It all started with water.