Never again, Again !

I bought the 96 nautique open bow from Nautique Jeff that he has listed for sale.
The sale included everything minus the engine and transmission.
I spoke with Sandra the owner of CS Marine in New Jersey and the remaining interior items are getting shipped to me.

First off, Jeff. Solid guy who stepped up and made a good deal a better deal by trailering the boat from North Carolina to Orlando. Obviously Jeffs a busy guy and had a reason to travel to Orlando but trailering the boat down as something he didn't need to do.

It gets better, 0400 the 21st en route to the er i call Jeff and leave a message, on the way to the hospital, hold off. Later that day from the hospital we text back and forth. Released on the next day and back home by 2030 hrs and Jeff says he'll come down monday with the boat.

So he put his business on hold over the weekend and delivered the boat in Orlando that monday.
Honest, straight to the point, clearly attached to these boats and his work, Jeff (Nautique Jeff) is a solid stand up guy that i wouldn't hesitate to do business with or reccomend him to my family, friends, and the members across 3 boating sites I belong to.

Next, Sandra at CS Marine in Jersey.
https://www.candsmarine.com/

Sandras shop is the only uholstery business licsened by correctcraft to reproduce factory vynil, color, patterns and embroidery and in business for 40 years. Please visit the link and read up about her shop and the work they do.

More to the point, I spoke with Sandra over the phone and upon hearing I was taking on the 96 nautique project from Jeff she offered to crate up and ship the remaining interior parts to me.
The combing pads are long and in order to help save on shipping she offered to make paper templates of them. Sandra has gone over and above helping me with this project and the rest of this story will have to wait until i speak with her again to forward the shipping costs.
Suffice to say Sandra turned the great deal that Jeff made me into an incredible deal.

Again, across 3 boating websites I will reccomend to all members that i wouldn't hesitate to do business with Sandra (C S Marine in New Jersey) as well as reccomend her to my family and friends.


I could go on about Jeff and Sandra both as to how they act professionaly as well as to the personality traits i observed while meeting and talking with them.
I can't thank enough for their time and help afforded to me connection with this project by both Jeff and Sandra.

We all know who Jeff is and the great work he does restoring these ski boats.Please consider calling Sandra at C S Marine for licsensed nautique upholstery as well as any upholstery needs you may have in any boat.

Pics in a couple days, parts cleaned, carpet pulled off and out to the bow eye (saving for patterns) including the carpet on the underneath of the bow rider. Who puts carpet there?

Thank you again,
Dan

One thing you should never do again is ship your old perfectly good carburetor to a guy in New Hampshire, saying you'll never need it again.

Your question on the front mounts......the brackets that bolt to the engine are different heights because of the change in mounting angle.

Alternator says motorola on plastic back cap.

Thanks for the kind words, wayoutthere!  I am really glad that boat is going to get another life.  I had to go to Orlando anyway to pick up a trailer that Ram-Lin refurbished for me, so pulling it down with me was no trouble.  Keep us posted on the progress!!

link

Well, looks like the 96 is headed to that big waterski lake in the sky. It's full of water front to back and from the bottom all the way up to the floor.
at first i figured defoam it but the stringers are full of water too and in some spots very soft. ( see videos )
the boat is structurally dependant on the foam the foams soaked and the stringers are only a few layers thick and flimsy.

I almost caved in a few months ago and considered dropping 10 - 15 grand on a boat so i could hit the water now. Glad i didn't but i can offer some advice;

If your looking for a ski boat go to the brochure section get the boats weight, call the trailer manufacturer get it's weight tell the seller i'll meet you at the scales and if it passes muster we'll go for a sea trial.
second, if you want a surf boat, save yourself 300 grand and buy a used ski boat, i mean they may as well fill them up with water at the factory.

called uhaul and cancelled the Ubox being dropped off at the upholstery shop tomorrow to have everything sent back to me.
I'll have to call sandra in the morning and apologize, even with a new set of free skins she was sending me, along with the rest of the interoor parts it's just too much to gut and bring that boat back.

the hull is great, the assembly as usual, stringers, foam and floor are what you'd expect, and heck i figured since roller boogie, disco and cocaine was a thing of the past and the guys at the factory aren't all hopped up on coke conga lining on roller slates around the shop floor hook shottin globs of over saturated chopped strand mat into the boat and callin it good were ever it landed ike they did on that 79 i had i figured assembly might be better this time but nope, not to be.
.dam it, I really wanted a bowrider ski boat.




https://youtu.be/n_nycYalEmA?si=FkyOBSyPjbv-fAcZ
https://youtu.be/Xqc6T-9NSpo?si=zSTJFa6f44yhV9Cq
https://youtu.be/cqDVL7bJCrA?si=XoHqSh9llqyiW44X

I'll go as far as laying out the stringers so we all know where they are located in case someone wants to fix their boat.

Cutting out most of the floor will maybe help that frog get out of it's pond, poor thing all stuck in that moldy waterlogged mess.

Boy do i have a once upon a time there was a boat builder story,
name of the company was just till the check clears craft and there are stories from the plant floor entered into a ledger and those stories and that ledger have been handed down to new employees as time magically went by.
Some day maybe i'll read a story or two here on the boards.

 Was not aware that our boats are structurally dependent on the foam. I thought that the composite stringers was the skeleton for integrity and the foam was just for flotation.  Also :  if the floor is composite -  what causes floor to flex like in the video ?  Do your stingers flex as well ?

Damn.

Update on both boats today, start with the 84. Ups dropped off the steel i ordered to make new load/launch uprights because, well look at the pictures. Ups also dropped off all the paperwork for the 84 in a big correct craft envelope, good news.

Ups came around 1900 after i got done working on the 96 and i got good news for all of us about that. I found a note in a ziplock bag stuffed in void under the driver side floor. I'lll post a picture of it later along with pictures of the stringers and floor after some foam chipping.

Like mentioned earlier, i have good news for all of us. There was a note in a ziplock bag located in the void under the drivers side floor. I'll read it aloud and then you'll see how it's such good news. It reads;

This Boat Holds Special Reverance to all who assembled her, for as the story goes,,,

Once Upon a Time,
The old man walked onto the shop floor and called the men to gather.

While placing a hand upon the deck of this creation of his, a tear ran from his eye and he spoke of his pride for his men & their work.

Once the old man left the men to their duties they choked back emotions and continued assembly of this boat.

Since the men were choked up, they could not Correctly finish their task.

Be it known then that this is the only waterlogged hull and that therefore all the other boats are perfectly fine & not blown full of industry leading technology like a whole tube of silicone to fill a gap in the floor.

Signed,
The men who work for The Old Man Himself
this day 3-28-96

That is a great story told by pictures and script!!         Seriously the photos are very interesting and do explain some things.  I had a 96 ski many moons ago and it had lamination issues at a young age.  Soft spots in a few areas and the boat always seemed heavy on the water.  Speed was never an issue but the wake was huge compared to my brothers 97 (I know its a bit different build).