Researching Old Boats

[jim rosenthal]

MS,
Here is how I would try to locate the boat:

First, see if you can figure out which Hatteras dealer the boat was purchased through. Undoubtedly they will have closed, however the info will be in the Hatteras hull cards. This would probably be a company that was near where he lived.

Then, see if that dealership was taken over by another company- it is possible they may have old records of who sold the boat and to whom. You may get your answer that way.

Another way is to try to find old registration records, based on which state the boat was kept in. Either the boat was documented (under another name) or state-registered- one or the other. You may be able to find the boat's hull number or more about it's subsequent ownership through old registration data.

Lastly, most new boats were financed. If you know where your uncle did his banking, you may be able to find out from their old records which boat it was, because most banks would have recorded a lien or first-preferred ship's mortgage on the boat, if it was documented.

Good luck with this. You might also try to get production numbers of this particular model from Sam's. Boats get resold a lot. If you find out that they made, for example, only fifty of these, start looking at them on Yachtworld and if you see one that looks familiar, call the owner or broker. Hatteras Yachts last a long time. Probably better than 98% of them ever made are still out there running around on their own bottoms.

[MuckSavage]

It would help keep threads concise and helpfull if everyone would read the original post carefully and gain comprehension before posting replys. The original dude was quite clear. He has no hull number, he has no drawers or other artifacts and he certainly does not currently have possession of the boat! What he has is an old name, some dates and I'm sure the location of the boat at that time. Sorry, not enuf coffee yet.
Gary

Thanks Gary. Altough the thread did swing off topic, I enjoyed reading & learning from the posts. Thanks to all. My uncle (original owner of the boat) was William Reilly. I do not have posession of the boat, & my memories are sketchy since I was between 9-14 years old at the time. Thanks to all!