If you looked at this page thinking it was just going to be about Boston Whalers, you now know that I bought a "project" boat. The boat is a 2003 Boston Whaler Sport 130 that was cut in half.
Here is the story.
I had noticed an interesting listing on Craigslist showing a Boston Whaler cut in half. Though I've had a number of boats over the years and done basic repairs to; wood, fiberglass and aluminum, I had never put a boat like this back together. But after thinking about it I figured 'For $300 I wouldn't be losing that much....' and made the offer. It was accepted. It turns out several other people had looked at the boat before me but all walked away. I always like a good challenge!
So, one evening after work, I met the previous owner down in Boothbay to pick it up. He explained that he was a retired boat builder, and had it for about a decade with good intentions to put it back together, but never had the time, and now that he had the time, couldn't work on it for health reasons. He was certain it could be put back together and thought it a shame to possibly take it to the dump, so decided to try and sell it. He told me he had purchased it from a Boston Whaler dealer, who had had also had it it in storage for about a decade before him. It turns out this boat was used a display model, not meant for sale to the public, and had been cut it in half to show the solid foam core and fiberglass. He then showed me on the hull where the HIN is usually located that it was clearly factory stamped as "Demo" and did not have a regular HIN.
I love a good story and a challenge.
So after a bit of wrangling onto my trailer, and a slow drive, I got it home.
After looking at it more closely the following day, it was clear the boat was, other than being cut in half, in excellent condition and had likely never been in the water.
Though I had a pretty good basic plan of how to put it back together, from talking with the previous owner and what he thought, I figured it would not hurt to reach out to Boston Whaler and ask for any information or suggestions they might share, as well as people in the fiberglass boat building community who might have suggestions or concerns to share.
