Diaries | Details
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Updated:
11/25/2009 (15 years ago)
Originally Posted: 11/22/2009
Total Views: 2,570
Owner: Larry Snyder
Forum Nickname: 71Nautique
Location: Marietta, GA
Model: 1971 Ski Nautique
Length: 18
Engine: Chrysler 318
HP: 225
Hours:
Hull ID: SN1839
Modify this Diaries Listing
Forum Nickname: 71Nautique
Location: Marietta, GA
Model: 1971 Ski Nautique
Length: 18
Engine: Chrysler 318
HP: 225
Hours:
Hull ID: SN1839
Modify this Diaries Listing
I’m the original owner of this Meridian Blue 1971 Ski Nautique. I picked the boat up at the factory in Orlando on Friday, April 16, 1971. I added the traditional inboard-style waterline stripe a few days after bringing the boat home (71s didn’t come with them).
My younger brother and I got this boat all by ourselves with no help from our parents. We ordered it through a well-known tournament skier in the southeast who had a dealership arrangement with Correct Craft and he saved us a lot of money. Our home lake at the time was Guntersville Lake in north Alabama and we belonged to the Space Capital Water Ski Club there.
In 1978 I replaced the plywood flooring and covered the new plywood in vinyl, although it’s not an exact match for the original. The observer’s bucket seat was replaced with a new-style love seat and the upholstery color was changed from blue to white at that time.
My wife learned how to ski behind this boat and our two sons grew up skiing behind her. In 1991 I found water absorption in some of the foam and some frame rot. That winter I removed the flooring and fuel tank and addressed all the problem areas. Now we go to great efforts to keep water out of the boat. She’s never in the rain and we climb in from the water on a folding ladder over beach towels spread over the rail and floor.
We use the old blue boat as much as we can every summer on Allatoona Lake in north Georgia and she’s still going strong.
My younger brother and I got this boat all by ourselves with no help from our parents. We ordered it through a well-known tournament skier in the southeast who had a dealership arrangement with Correct Craft and he saved us a lot of money. Our home lake at the time was Guntersville Lake in north Alabama and we belonged to the Space Capital Water Ski Club there.
In 1978 I replaced the plywood flooring and covered the new plywood in vinyl, although it’s not an exact match for the original. The observer’s bucket seat was replaced with a new-style love seat and the upholstery color was changed from blue to white at that time.
My wife learned how to ski behind this boat and our two sons grew up skiing behind her. In 1991 I found water absorption in some of the foam and some frame rot. That winter I removed the flooring and fuel tank and addressed all the problem areas. Now we go to great efforts to keep water out of the boat. She’s never in the rain and we climb in from the water on a folding ladder over beach towels spread over the rail and floor.
We use the old blue boat as much as we can every summer on Allatoona Lake in north Georgia and she’s still going strong.
