Salty Lady 53 #555 Pics when she was new.....

[tom5518]

This was taken in August 1979 at Walstrom Marine in Harbor Springs Michigan a couple of weeks after she arrived. My grandfather ordered her in the fall of 1978 and she was launched mid July of 1979 and the delivery route was up the east coast into the Great Lakes. My mother took these pictures with a Minolta 110 camera. I still have the camera. LOL

My Grandpa Dale

Me at 17. I weigh a little more now, but haven't aged a day. LOL

I hope you don't mind the history posted here. I did it also about eleven years ago but thought you might get a kick out of these.

 

[tom5518]

Interior pics....

 

[rsmith]

Decca 110 radar. We paid something like $5k in 76 but it was far superior to the super 101. You don’t look happy to be there.

 

[SEVEN]

Back to the future. Thanks for the share.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

In 1979 or 80, your Grandpa and Grandma pulled into Whitehall and docked next to my dad's 43DC. I was washing the waterline from the dinghy and he called out and said that he needed his washed too. I did it and he invited me aboard to pay me for my work. I was really excited because I'd never been aboard a 53MY. He made me sit for a while and your Grandma got me a soda while we talked. I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

[tom5518]

Decca 110 radar. We paid something like $5k in 76 but it was far superior to the super 101. You don’t look happy to be there.

My face belied my emotion to being there. The night before, me and my parents were at the Bluebird Lodge in Leland for a lake perch dinner, which was a rare treat for me. We had docked at Leland municipal marina that day and my dad had said he had enough, no more cruising north on the Trojan F-32. My mother, bless her heart, who was much more crafty than my dad, got him loaded up on a few whiskey and waters and showed how on the chart it wasn't that much farther to Harbor Springs from Leland. He said "well shit" and the next day was obligated to go on up to Harbor Springs to visit grandpa on the new rig. I was a little in shock that I was with my grandpa on a brand new Hatteras 53. It was the be-all end-all for me.

And I learned how to read radar on that 110. It was a bitch and made me grateful for the tech that was to follow.

 

[tom5518]

In 1979 or 80, your Grandpa and Grandma pulled into Whitehall and docked next to my dad's 43DC. I was washing the waterline from the dinghy and he called out and said that he needed his washed too. I did it and he invited me aboard to pay me for my work. I was really excited because I'd never been aboard a 53MY. He made me sit for a while and your Grandma got me a soda while we talked. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I think that was 1980 around the fourth of July. I think his best friend Dick LaValley and his wife Connie were aboard. My grandpa didn't really want to take the boat out but Dick reminded him that if they came up for the holiday my grandpa said they would take the boat out. So, off they went. What marina was that at Sky? The municipal wasn't built until 1981.

 

[rsmith]

My face belied my emotion to being there. The night before, me and my parents were at the Bluebird Lodge in Leland for a lake perch dinner, which was a rare treat for me. We had docked at Leland municipal marina that day and my dad had said he had enough, no more cruising north on the Trojan F-32. My mother, bless her heart, who was much more crafty than my dad, got him loaded up on a few whiskey and waters and showed how on the chart it wasn't that much farther to Harbor Springs from Leland. He said "well shit" and the next day was obligated to go on up to Harbor Springs to visit grandpa on the new rig. I was a little in shock that I was with my grandpa on a brand new Hatteras 53. It was the be-all end-all for me.

And I learned how to read radar on that 110. It was a bitch and made me grateful for the tech that was to follow.

Knobs and dials. But if you learned to balance the tune gain and sea state those old Deccas worked better than anything today. The British owned the radar market back then and every time the radar needed service it was always someone from the UK that came out.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I think that was 1980 around the fourth of July. I think his best friend Dick LaValley and his wife Connie were aboard. My grandpa didn't really want to take the boat out but Dick reminded him that if they came up for the holiday my grandpa said they would take the boat out. So, off they went. What marina was that at Sky? The municipal wasn't built until 1981.

It was at the municipal and we had a seasonal slip there that first year so it must have been 1981. Maybe they just pulled in there to see the new marina. I don't remember anyone else being with them.

 

[tom5518]

It was at the municipal and we had a seasonal slip there that first year so it must have been 1981. Maybe they just pulled in there to see the new marina. I don't remember anyone else being with them.

You're right, the municipal opened in 1981. I think maybe he did do one short trip without company. I think grandma insisted on going somewhere and not just sitting at the dock.

 

[Salty lady]

Tom. Thanks for the info. I can work backwards on the owners. I bought her from a gentleman (72)
in Onset Ma,in Sept 2020 (name Chasing Sunshine). He had her for less than a year. He decided living on a boat wasn’t for him. He purchased her from a gentleman(80) that loved her for 9 years in Narragansett Bay RI. ( name Drued) All he did was send money on her ( bow thruster, remodeled galley, varnished complete inside of boat, flybridge enclosure) He told me he got from a 81yo that he had for about 8 or 10 years on Shelter Island Ny. That covers about 20 years of her 43 year life.
It would be interesting to hear how she ended up on the east coast.
Thanks Again Bart Gaugh

 

[cww]

I’m the fourth owner of mine, after a pilot and two commercial captains. I had the pleasure of getting to know Bobby the last one, he and his wife are fantastic folks. They made me a platter of fried soft shell crabs to make sandwiches with on the way back, as well as breakfast for days. Just could not ask for nicer people. Prior to that I know the guy was a pilot who wrote a self-published mystery novel involving the boat. I know nothing of the first owner other than what he did for a living. Anyone who knows anything I’d love to hear it.

Me and my boat are the same age we were both launched in 1981. The boat has held up significantly better.

 

[Jims43DC]

In 1979 or 80, your Grandpa and Grandma pulled into Whitehall and docked next to my dad's 43DC. I was washing the waterline from the dinghy and he called out and said that he needed his washed too. I did it and he invited me aboard to pay me for my work. I was really excited because I'd never been aboard a 53MY. He made me sit for a while and your Grandma got me a soda while we talked. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was sitting in Whitehall this morning on our 1980 DCFB when I read this post, just spent one night here. Funny that it came up at that time.

You have some great memories.

 

[tom5518]

https://books.google.com/books?id=2...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

This is the boat in the June 1997 issue of Motorboating & Sailing. This family were the third owners of her. The second owner bought her from my grandpa's estate in 1991. The second owner was from Chicago and used her on the Great Lakes in the summer and Florida in the winter.

 

[cww]

https://books.google.com/books?id=2...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

This is the boat in the June 1997 issue of Motorboating & Sailing. This family were the third owners of her. The second owner bought her from my grandpa's estate in 1991. The second owner was from Chicago and used her on the Great Lakes in the summer and Florida in the winter.

I remember reading that article at boarding school 25 years ago. What an ungodly small world.