Anyone know about mid-70's Southwind O/B's?

[67'Charger]

I bought a 1975 Southwind 18'2" shallow-vee o/b. with a '75 135HP Evinrude. The hull and engine are from the same year, so I'll assume they are the originals. I can't find ANY info on this boat. Every Southwind of that era is either a jet or v-drive. I've seen print ads referring to Southwind by Jemcraft or the like, but never as an o/b.

The engine is no problem, lots of parts sources and manuals available, but nothing referring to the hull.

 

[danond]

Re: Anyone know about mid-70's Southwind O/B's?

My experience with smaller boats from the 70's and early 80's is that if the manufacturer isn't still in business, you're not going to find much about the hull, and at the end of the day it's not important to service and maintenance, anyway.

Do you want it for nostalgic reasons or is this something maintenance/repair related?

 

[67'Charger]

Re: Anyone know about mid-70's Southwind O/B's?

Mostly out of curiosity...

Long story (almost) short, the boat was bought new by my uncle, a CHP officer, in 1975. An LAPD officer saw the boat in '76 in my uncle's driveway and asked about it, and ended up buying it. He owned it until his son, a L.A. County Sheriff, bought it from him in '05. I bought it from his son last year. The interesting part is that his son is my brother-in-law (older sister's husband). It happened to come up in a random conversation that the original owner was yet another law enforcement officer that lived in Simi Valley named Paarsch. Then we realized it was actually my uncle. It has stayed in the family for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, my uncle is not around to ask, so I'm stuck looking around the internet for info. My BIL's dad doesn't know where it originaly came from or anything about the manufacturer.

 

[chevy_69_chevelle]

Re: Anyone know about mid-70's Southwind O/B's?

I have a '73 Southwind
It originally came with a Chrysler 115HP. Now sports a '96 Mercury 125HP ELPTO. Have had it up to 53-54mph at 5200rpm.

Its good to hear of another person with an outboard in a southwind...you and I are the only ones I think

We also have similar stories.

My dad bought this boat new in '73. Sold it to a friend in '84. It sat in a garage until '04 when my dad bought it back from him and gave it to my wife and I as a gift.
I have video of my dad with me in his lap in the drivers seat when I was like 3-4 years old in the same boat. So its nice to have it back.

The outboard version of these boats run very smooth. They are very light boats (at least mine is) Take a look through the deck when its sunny outside and you will know what I mean.