14' Aluminum boat with dash and covered bow.... can i make it open bow?

[waterpotter]

Thanks for all the replies so far.
While I hate to be the one to temper the excitement a little, i'm pretty sure this boat is an aeroLine, not an aeroCraft So mine is probably nothing special

But, I see the appeal of not cutting up an old boat. I kinda figured this one was like a pop-out standard assembly line thing. Maybe I'll fish it like this for a while and see what's what. I guess I don't really use the bow space that often.

Happy to hear any other input! thanks!

 

[jbcurt00]

Aeroline was a part of the Aerocraft family of boats.

 

[waterpotter]

Ah! Did not know that. Of course, now that I've actually read the link provided about the history of aerocraft, they say that in there

Apologies... I had thought they were different brands!

Thanks again for all the info

 

[jbcurt00]

Although it was mass produced, it was in the late 50s early 60s, making it a 55+yr survivor......

I've got too many interesting old boats already but every now and again something comes up that also interests me, so, I go get them. 7hrs each way to NY was back in early Sept, one of 4 similar length trips. And 1900miles one way to Salt Lake City was back in April....

 

[smokeonthewater]

Beyond the talk of value... This SKINNY boat would be TERRIBLE with a casting deck... Would be VERY tippy....

Clean it up, get it working well as is and sell it.... When someone buys it you can go shopping for a much wider open hull.

 

[oldboat1]

^^^think that's right. And as in other posts, the decking and seats are structural components -- at least have to assume they are. Currently have a 14' Starcraft, and seats are absolutely part of the structure (hull rigidity).

don't mean to twist your arm, waterpower -- just talking options.

 

[waterpotter]

nope, you guys all make good points. aside from the valid point of not destroying a piece of boating history when someone out there would actually want it as-is and bring her back to her former glory, just hearing that the bow MIGHT be structural is enough for me.

I'll clean it up and sell it to someone who will do it justice.

thanks!

 

[oldboat1]

well yeah, but you ought to dunk it and give it a run if you haven't already!

regards.

 

[waterpotter]

No Title

Hi everyone:

Finally got this boat cleaned up this weekend. Had to buck a few rivets to stop some drips and wash it out several times to get it clean but it's looking decent now! I decided not to cut it up, despite the fact that I'm 90% sure the bow cover it not structural. It's so flimsy and barely held on with a few screws, i wouldn't even stand on it.
Figured I would just throw it up on craigslist and see if I can get enough to buy a boat without a bow cover or if someone wanted to trade for a fishing dinghy type of thing.

So, turns out it is definitely a 1960 AeroLine boat. So thanks for all the ID help! Might be back if any craigslist buyers have any questions I don't know how to answer I attached some better photos so y'all can see what it looks like... I did promise some photos, and the only one i had at the time was pretty bad. these aren't much better, but there are more of them!

Thanks again

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

You're correct the flimsy bow deck doesn't give support, it's the board for the dash that acts as a brace and gives the sides the support they need.