As previously mentioned, I believe my boat is and early 70’s, both because the previous owner said it was, but also because it has the no stringer floor. In stripping off hardware for restoration, when we removed what I thought was the rope guard bases, I came across an interesting cut outs underneath both rear corners of the splash well (see right and left photos). Do these look familiar to anyone, i.e. could they have been part of the original design to accommodate the steering of the original dual 115 set up? Also, do these help in determining the age of the boat? They appear well made in the cut outs are fairly precise, and they have been very well covered with what looks to be original resin, but I’m really not sure.
The answer to your question is here: http://www.hydrodyners.com/history/hydrocompany.php The non-stringer boats with no hull ID on the stern were built in Harlan IN by Midwestern Industries. Ab Crosby Sr. shut this plant down in 1972. Starting on Nov. 1 1972 the Coast Guard required hull identification numbers (HIN) to be stamped into the transom. Ab Sr. and Tom Miller started Crosby Marine Engineering Corp. in Spencerville in 1973 and built Hydrodyne's until Ab Sr. sold his interest in the Company. It is my opinion that the boats built in Spencerville were all stringer boats with the HIN in the transom. These boats have a HIN that begins with CMA. jim If there are exceptions, please let me know.
Those cut-outs are for the clearance needed on the hydraulic steering ram when running twin engines. Usually they are only on one side and they use a tie bar to turn the oher engine. If you plan on only running a single engine you don't need them, and could glass them closed again. Bob
thanks again Jim (I seem to say that a lot). With regards to the holes being cut during rigging, that is not surprising, but what is a little surprising is the size of the elongated holes they hacked out and did they need to go all the way into the upper deck? I mean unless they knew they'd be covering them with the rope guard supports, they're rather large. At first glance I thought maybe they were to support old clothesline type steering, but given there is no other sign of that, I though they must have just been to allow the main steering cable in on the driver’s side, and then allow for right turn extension on the passenger side, likely required with a dual engine setup. Still, I'm surprised how big they are. Not sure at this point if I'll fill them in, or just put back on the rope guard base's with rope guard (I’d have to make that piece as it didn’t come with the boat). At any rate, that detail is a long way off being decided. The core will come first, which will likely take more time than I have left this season.
thanks Bob, I didn't see your post until after my next one. You've confirmed my suspicions, although I'm still a little surprised about the size of the holes.
I have Rigged and owned 3 Dynes in the late 60s and early 70s and all 3 were twin rigs with 115 Merc's. I cut the elongated holes in the deck to clear the steering cables larger then you'd think because when you trimmed or lifted the motors the manual steering cables would roll so the holes had to be wide enough to clear the end of the steering bar (that attached to the motor) along with steering cable. If you ran duel steering cables one would have to cut both sides. This was done long before what they have today to offer.
Mike after looking at the pictures it sure looks like one of my boats that I rigged, I see you are from Canada, Do you know the history of the boat? My last boat was a 74 model year that I picked up in spencerville in person from Tom Miller and it did not have a hull number. So somethings ran under the radar back in those days. I cut the elongated holes by drilling a 2" hole with a hole saw on the top of the deck and one in the splash pan and then joined the two holes with a saber saw. My last 2 boats were rigged in Southern California and my first one was Rigged in Guam. I have no idea where any of them are at this time. The only one that I know of that I helped rig back in the early seventies belongs to Danial that Administers this site.
Cael; great info! Certainly makes sense for the cut-outs, and explains why they're so big. A bit of a shame, but then if they're strategically covered with the rope guard base, you don't even realize it until they're removed. History wise, I got the boat almost a year ago from an Ottawa-Hull (Ontario Canada) gentleman named Jean (I'll leave his last name out as I haven't asked him) who had it stored uncovered in a friends shared ctg parking lot for years. I thought he said he was the original owner, now I'm not so sure, and age wise I think he would have been around 16 in 1970, so he's likely not. I tried to go for beer with him last fall to pry the history out of him, but he was too busy. He's still and active barefooter, and spends time in Florida in the winter, but I believe his favourite boat these days is an O/B Mastercraft Barefooter. As you can see from my original post, the boat sat for many years in a parking lot hosting a swamp in the summer, and skating rink in the winter. I enquired about it a few years back but he wasn't interested in parting with it. Last year I think time and priorities finally convinced him to let it go to someone who had time for it. I thought, and was hoping, the balsa core was intact, as the hull is still flat as a board, but it's not. Test drills have revealed soggy wood everywhere. The transom has not been thoroughly examined, but what I have seen doesn’t look good. I’m still keen though, as is my 12 year old son, but I’ve suspended further exploration until I can find a suitable bunk trailer to support it before I cut further into the core. I know it will be a fair amount of work, but I have a reasonable amount of experience with rebuilds, and we're looking forward to resurrecting this. Any further info you might have would be great! I can PM you his full name if the first name means anything to you?
Mike; Thank You for the reply, If you could post a few photos of the boat that would be great. Can you tell how the Ski Bar was attached to the hull? Unfortunately the first name of the person you purchased it from doesn't mean anything to me, I do know that one of my boats was sold to a guy that used it for a while at Spring Valley Lake in Applevalley California.
