Reply With QuoteGiddy its not about the buck in the end unless u plan on selling it, my caribbean is a older model but measures dead on 5.7 meters i donno what that is in foot and inch but the old caribbeans were that oddish size not to the foot in length
Hi all.
Last weekend I responded to a Gumtree ad for an 18' half cab that wasn't too far from home.
When I saw it, I found the filthiest boat I've ever seen, covered in moss and leichen.
It had been parked under a tree 7 years previously and not touched since.
I did however find a very pleasing hull shape, very reminiscent of the 18' Bertram and the old reverse-chine Haines/Bertram.
Upon inspection, the fiberglass of the hull appeared sound, the cabin not so much.
The braked single axle trailer looked to be solid and there was even a 115 blueband which I was assured ran when the boat was parked.
I thought it would make a great centre console or wave-break fish chaser, given that I considered the cabin and deck to be beyond salvage.
After a price was agreed, I towed the old girl home.
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Gave it a 6 hour scrub with foam sanding blocks from 80 grit to 240, and it cleaned up quite well:
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Surprisingly, the floors and the girders seemed to be sound. The transom was predictably soft.
Most gratifying was that the hull wasn't hogged and the chines were dead straight.
So, my question is - What is it?
The cabin looks like a Caribbean Crest Cutter, except the cabin top appears too short, or the screen sides too long, and it doesn't have front windows.
It's not a Barron, as they weren't reverse chine...
The discolouration at the back of the sides under the old stickers suggest it may well be a Caribbean, just which model?
It measures 18'9" on the gunnel, which is how these old dears were measured.
It's not a Bertram or a H/B, as it is missing an inner running strake and it doesn't have a slip over gunnel joint.
Can anyone tell me conclusively what I have bought please?
I am very reluctant to put months of work into this if the hull has no providence.
Giddy its not about the buck in the end unless u plan on selling it, my caribbean is a older model but measures dead on 5.7 meters i donno what that is in foot and inch but the old caribbeans were that oddish size not to the foot in length
Chop that cabin off and glass up a hard top she'll reel in the bucks than
Pongrass? Pride?
it must be a caribbean model, like you say close to the crest cutter shape. if you compare most half cabins, the side windows are near all the same however on this rig the side windows have a unique shape on the end where it mitres back in instead of a slope down. good luck could be diamond in the ruff.
It actually lòoks like a Stejcraft
Don't think so - couldn't find any with reverse chines, but I'm happy for you to prove me wrong. The Crest Cutter still seems the most likely suspect...Originally Posted by gazza2006au
Guys, the whole deal would be to make a buck at the end of the day. I have the Mustang 24 for fishing an the Haines 1600SO to do happy laps in. I really don't need 3 boats, but I do enjoy boat building and I need to keep busy.
This was the 1st boat I restored, circa 1995.
It was an old 19' Haines Bertram that was almost in as bad condition as the current Caribbean.
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This is how it turned out. I can't take too much credit for it. All I did was completely strip it out (floors, stringers, transome and deck and fit-out when it came home), and then tell Arnold exactly what I wanted :
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This boat was an absolute weapon. We used it to chase Tuna and offshore sports fish. Carried 450 litres fuel, live bait tank and kill tank.
A mate of mine bought it off me 22 years ago and still has it today. Since repowered with a 175 Yamaha.
You can imagine what that boat would be worth today. With a newish 4 stroke motor, I've seen guys asking stupid money.
Would it get the same money if it were a converted/rebuilt Crest Cutter? I doubt it, but the effort would be exactly the same.
So I guess it may be best to wait for a Haines hull...
What could go wrong.......................
That hull has a really sharp looking pointy kind of bow that looks unique to the stejcraft but all the stejcrafts are 14, 15, foot perhaps this one was a custom or not many made of due to the market back in the old days and the cost of a 5.5m boat
its got a window like a Nova tho
when u do wok like that Giddy i think anything will sell it doesnt have to be a hains or something special its what your making of it that will sell its self, interested to see a build a long diary of your progress if u do convert it
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&sour...45097672981728
Those reverse chines are the give away.
I really thought it was a Bertie, but when I compared it to the pictures of my old HainesBertram, I realised that the inner strakes were missing!
Another older guy on Oz Boat Racers was adamant that it was a Crest Cutter and photos of the Mk1 version seem to back him up, except the windscreen placement seems different. The hull appearts identical.
I guess I'm in denial and I'm hopeing someone will say "yes, thats a 1972 Bertram - I had one exactly the same"!
OK, that's not going to happen, me thinks.
But I still reckon the Haines/Bertram will bring the bacon at the end of the build...
Giddy my hull is a 1973 Caribbean it's an American hull i think as the boat was sold in the USA also under the name of Fiberform 18 foot half cabin
if yours is a Caribbean i think it is much newer design than the 1970's mine has strakes but not reverse chines
Gazza, the reverse chines were done on the earliest attempts at moulded fiberglass boats.
Mauufacturers went to "normal" chines quickly, as the reverse chines can't be released from a mould - the moulds had to be in 2 pieces and joined later.
If anyhing, my little boat seems to be a product of the 60's, but for the gunnels.
The earliest moulded fiberglass boats (early Haines, Bertrams etc) had a slip over flange at the gunnel, which was covered by and alloy strip with rubber insert. Formula 233's had a lovely polished S/S gunnel.
Manufacturers swapped to a flanged joint (and stapled the decks to the topsides through the flange), I think in the early 70's, so they could then replace the alloy capping with a rubber gunnel.
The problem I see with my boat, is that it has the early reverse chine and was therefore a 2 piece hull mould, but it also has the flanged joint, which should have come later. I've not seen one with the other before.
Giddy this is the first time i have ever seen chines like your's on a glass boat usually u see them on aluminum boats
From my limited knowledge on boats was the upper hull in my drawing is normal chines and the lower drawing is reversed chines, whatis that big length of flap along the side of the boat called?
Gazza, I dont know how they got the name "reverse"chines. Maybe because they reverse on themselves and stick out?
The common useage of the term has the "reverse" sticking out past the side profile of the topsides.
The hull of the boat is what is underwater and joins the chines.
The topsides are the vertical bits between the chines and the gunwhale
The deck is the horizontal bit that sits on top of the gunwhale.
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Have a look at the reverse chines above.
If the mould were in one piece, how could the moulding (that which was laid up unside the mould), be released?
It couldn't. The mould would have to be in 2 halves - split down the centre.
Spliting the mould is wasted time and money in the manufacturing process and early fiberglass boat builders quickly realised that if the chines were made as per your post above, the mould would not need to be split.
The reverse chine is a hang over from timber boat building days. Look at old Hartley's or even the original Moppie - the outside spray chine is a triangular piece of timber screwed flush to the side of the hull/topside join, as it is time consuming to make the "modern" chine.
But for a moulded boat, it only has to be made once for the mould. And, they arguably look better. If they didn't, there would still be new boats sporting reverse chines.
I personally like them as they are uncommon and very agressive looking.
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