Doug,
I've been holding out, but I made a find in December that's keeping me awake at nights.
I had a meeting in Chico, which is 90 miles from where I live. On the way home I had some time to burn, so I decided to hit a few seldom traveled country roads, looking for you - know - what. I was sorely disappointed to find no old junkers sitting around. Just as I waps ready to give up, I had that familiar "I tot I saw Puddy Tat" moment. We all have them don't we? So, I turned around & took a closer look. Looked like a early 70s cabin boat. I took a chance & ignored the "trespassers will be eaten" sign & knocked on the door of the shanty nearest to the boat, which was some 200 yards down an ajacent hillside. An old timer came to the door looked at me like I was nuts for wanting to look at the boat. He agreed to let me look at the boat as long as I didn't hurt myself & sue him. I sloshed through the mud to look closer at the boat, and all of the sudden, realized I had hit the jackpot. The 70s cabin boat had been obscuring the real treasures. 8 thats EIGHT vintage boats, all overgrown by giant blackberry bushes, bushes the size of a small house. Some boats are so overgrown, that all you can see it the tip of the bow. Others are still recognizable. The ones that I could make out:
Powercat 60-16
A big starcraft runabout with little portholes & fins
An unidentified glass runabout with fins just like a Herters (not herters though)
A Wizard convertible hard top cabin boat, black & white gelcoat (police boat Kelly)
and 3 perhaps 4 more boats that are SO overgrown that just 3 to 4 inches stick out of the brambles!!!!
This is so exciting I cant stand it. Problem is, I can't get in there till late spring when the ground dries out.
The old fellow said I can have them all for free.
So, I've got a friend who runs heavy equipment who I hope can take a big flatbed 18 wheeler & backhoe down for one hell of a rescue effort. I plan to film the whole thing.
This is a true story - not even I could dream up something this fun. Even if all the boats turn out to be crap, it'll be worth the adventure. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, so you will just have to trust me on this, till I get up there again.
Bruce