Gray Man, Inc.

[DRIVEN]

If you go back a couple of pages you'll see that I was smitten with the idea of buying a Dorsett about a year ago They built quite a few of them, but 60+ years later, they don't pop up very often. One just came up for sale locally and I'm afraid if I go look at it, I'll probably drag it home. I could really use some encouragement during this trial of my self-control.

[wayno]

All I know it is a life style, if you use them(boats) you tend to use them a lot, kinda like me and hang gliding, I at one point was flying between 100 and 200 days a year, during the summer 3 days a week which equaled at least 5 flights or more a week, sometimes one on Friday and three on Saturday, and two or three on Sunday, and I flew everyday in July unless it was not flyable.

Would you use it with the family and then see more of the family?

[DRIVEN]

Wayno, I can justify just about any (poor) decision. But seriously, I grew up with boats. We used to be on a lake or river just about every summer weekend. My dad had a Ski West franchise and sold tournament boats in the early '90s before they were bought out by Malibu. You'd never know it now, but I was a serious skier and barefooter up into my 20s, then grown-up life happened. We still do week-long trips to Shasta every few years though as a group with my parents and my brother's family.

That whole wakeboarding/skiing/barefooting thing is mostly behind me now. I can still scratch that itch with my brother and his boat if I feel it. These Dorsetts are just for cruising around and soaking up the summer. The cabin is pretty small but 2 adults could sleep up there and most had provision for a small portable toilet, so you could theoretically spend the night anchored in the middle of a lake. It's small and light enough to tow behind my wife's Venza. I definitely don't need another project, but if I did, this would make my short list. The buy-in on this one would make it pretty painless. Boats are never a good investment but nice Dorsetts can bring $20-30k.

I'll probably keep an eye on the ad. If it's still up next weekend I'll probably go look at it. I'm probaby an idiot. Probably.

[Taterhead]

I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. You can’t take it with you. If it wouldn’t sit too long at your place and you could get to it before it was too far gone I’d go ahead and get it.

Of course I’m notorious for making bad decisions too so there’s that…

[DRIVEN]

Well, the boat is still for sale and the price is dropped. I'm staying strong so far.


In other news, I finally pulled the engine out of the flipper Outback.







#2 rod bearing is wasted. There's enough shiny shrapnel that the idea of bandaiding this engine probably isn't a wise play. I'm exploring options.

[Taterhead]

SBC

[wayno]

SBC

[DRIVEN]

BBO

[DRIVEN]

"Ran when parked."

I'm probably an idiot.

[Taterhead]

Gonna be a lot of fun when it’s done though. I never knew those things existed but I love the way they look. I’d love to have a good tri-hull with walk through windshield.

I’ve always said you can fish from a riding boat but it’s hard to ride in a fishing boat.

[wayno]

[wayno]

I have always thought it would be fun to own a boat, I bought one of them foam sailboats used and took it on the Columbia river once and had fun sailing across and back across the river, everyone I passed by looked at me like I was crazy, I never had an issue sailing it even though it was the first time I ever used a sailboat, I understood the basics of sailing/controlling the boat, never even came close to it blowing over sideways, but I flew hanggliders for over 20 years, so I kinda understand wind and sails.

[DRIVEN]

The guy who designed it was beyond prolific. A guy like him probably scribbled it out on a bar napkin and never gave it a second thought. Here we are, admiring it 65 years later.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Loewy


It'll be a huge project if I let it snowball. First order of business will be to see if the engine is any good.

Pros: All of the trim and emblems are there. The "glass" is all there -- many others are missing the upper windshield. The engine spins free and seems to have compression. The controls and cables are there and, along with the engine, appear to be original to the boat. Came with 3 tanks. The transom seems solid. The cushions for the cabin are there (for patterns). Trailer has brand new tires. Boat has a clean title.

Cons: The interior is a mess and the floors will need some work. The dash is destroyed and the steering mechanism will need to be repaired or replaced. The wooden bulkhead is rough and will likely need to be replaced. The seats are missing and/or incorrect. There are some sub-par hull repairs on the bottom -- probably functional, just ugly. The trailer needs some clean-up and reconfiguring, and it has no paperwork.

There's a bunch of junk piled inside. I need to spend a couple hours cleaning it out and doing a more thorough assessment.

[wayno]

The red one in the last photo is different than yours, the hull of yours has side trim below the deck line(where the red starts) that looks like it is built into the hull itself, yours has a trim piece there, also yours has trim pieces behind the side window, these may be just different years/trim packages.

Yours looks bigger, but that may be an allusion, as there are no people in your photos.

[DRIVEN]

Yeah, there were subtle changes during the production run with trim and such. Mine is a '59, which was the first year and seems to have a little more brightwork. The '59s had a bull nose on the front, whereas the later ones don't and have the bow light up there instead of on the roof.



It's only a '17 boat but it's hard to see just how dinky it is without scale so I posted the red one with the guys in it. This is a Catalina and most had provision for a portapotty in the cabin. Mine has one just ahead of where the helm/dash would be. Most of the others I've seen placed it at the front of the V under a plywood hatch that the bench cushions hide.
There was a slightly longer model called the San Juan that has a small galley too, but i think they're a little less common. These things are more novelty than anything. Kind of like a floating VW camper.

[Taterhead]

Well I like it. Just the right size to have some fun. I figured it was smallish since it has that upper windshield. My assumption was it was for if you stood and drove.

[BLUE]

Super interesting

[DRIVEN]

[DRIVEN]

[wayno]

This is a motorcycle engine, correct?