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Old 01-12-2016, 11:52 PM
  #31  
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One day At a time Charlie. Sad to see your old girl go but I know you have many other irons in the fire. Still sad.

Any news on progress on the old 32?
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Old 01-13-2016, 12:04 AM
  #32  
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Sorry 38Banana but I just want to say this and I will let you get back to the glory and fun.
Hey Skip, I hear what you are saying but.. (and please no one take offence at what I say)
The bottom line is two things. People are just to f_in lazy these days and others hold on to things for much longer then they should. There is no reason these few boats with 320 million people in this country can’t find homes.
Lazy. What I mean by that is a lot of people don’t want to get their hands dirty. They think there is nothing I can do so I would have to pay for it all. For some that is true but if you can watch a you tube video and paint a wall with a roller you can do fiberglass. Not saying you will be ready for the body shop but doing stringers and transoms in rough glass is not that hard. But most would rather get themselves in 30 years of payments for a boat they won’t have 30 years from now just because it’s ready to go and their neighbor has one a tiny bit smaller. The days of buying something cool outright and fixing it up has gone by I guess.
Then there is the owners/sellers that just because the boat has a tiny bit of history (or they just won’t let go) wants gold bricks for something rotting away behind a warehouse or boatyard. When they are lucky enough to find someone with interest they chase them away with insane numbers or a shotgun. It makes me mad that they don’t think of the boat’s future. They act like they love it by holding on to them but then they let them rot away without so much as a tarp over them. They also have to know that when they are gone no one will protect them any longer and they will be at the mercy of a back hoe after the reading of the will. You ever try to estate sale an old wrecked race boat? If I had one thing to say to a race boat holder/sellers is, think of the boats future. Like a child it’s your responsibility to secure it future. There is only a small group of us willing to do these boats. If you have to because they don’t have the money give the boat to them and help them fix it back up any way you can. There is already a list of historical race boats that are just missing and gone forever. Help the history survive. If you can’t find a single person to take on the project then look into groups into boats or maritime museums, high schools shop classes whatever it takes to get these historical boats out of the weeds and to carry on the history.
It’s not only boats. They just found the first stock car to break 200mph sitting in a field for 30 years behind a garage. The owner knew what it was but just didn’t want to sell it. So instead of packing it away in an air tight bag he lets it sink up to it floor pans in mud in a field. WTF????????????????????? How selfish can one be? If it was mine it would be sitting in my basement. I would have to stand up to see the TV but who cares, checkout my historical stock car!

You can also add;
People’s misconception that re-building a race boat will cost a fortune. Most race boats are bare bones. You are not going to find a high dollar salon with 30 grand in stereo equipment in a race boat. In my boats case it’s a 1967. The finest of all race equipment from 1967 is pretty easy today. The hardest part I have is trying to keep today’s expensive stuff out of it. Not saying that race boats don’t have their own issues and I have been through them all with 2 motors to 1 prop but after restoring classic production boats I prefer race boats. Everything is pretty basic and right there in front of you.
More about the money, how much do you really think it will cost to restore a race boat? You also have to keep in mind race boats come in all sizes. You don’t always have to start with a 50 foot triple engine monster. With the internet today it comes up to nowhere near what a new boat cost.
More about money, most of your cost when it comes to race boats is motors. If you don’t plan on joining the race circuit no one says you can’t start off with something a little cheaper. I used 2 simple Merc 340’s 454s or what I called my show motors for a couple years until I got enough money and parts together to replace them with off shore race motors I copied / built this past summer. Before the boat was worth more than the motors. Now the motors are worth more than the boat. Lol.
It does shock me that some of you guys with money (real money), the same folks that are on here talking about dropping 5 grand on a cooler for their boat or have garages with their own zip code (you know who you are) don’t have a trophy race boat sitting around. Even a trailer queen. What better status symbol would it be to have a historical race boat sitting at your place? Not like there’s many of them out there. If just the people with money to burn on OSO went after these boats they could all be picked up in a week there’s so few. Then you would have something no one else has or can get because they aint making them anymore. Then there is that with any real race boat (especially offshore) is a first class ticket into any boat show. So now you get to hobnob with other boat nuts on a peer level.
They are not for everyone. If you just like to be on the water to enjoy the day with the Bimini top up and the wife in the salon with the AC on they may not be for you. If you like to go out and drive a raw ass boat and feel it then you may be headed in the right direction.
Getting these old boats out of storage lots and backyards and restored back to their glory even helps the environment for all you green folks.
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Old 01-13-2016, 12:30 AM
  #33  
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f_screenname ..........If anything, no one can knock you for being so passonate about this subject!....and I'm also sorry to detract on 38banana in his pursuit to returning the glory to the old girl.
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Old 01-13-2016, 12:55 AM
  #34  
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As scippy said, you really are passionate about your classics f_inscreenname. Agree with pretty much everything you have said but I'll just add, when fully restored, I suspect the majority of these boats will not be an every day boat, they will end up rarely used and more for show. That means you've got money tied up in a boat that may restrict you financially on your day to day boat.

Admire the o.p. for his vision and work to date. If the boat is complete, pretty much anything can be copied in Thailand and copied very well. I think this will be a great story and look forward to following the saga.

I too would like to get into something similar as a project. Biggest problems are shipping, he did well to get it in a container sideways. Couldn't have done that if it had motors I suspect and his shipping costs would have skyrocketed. Towing the boat is a smaller problem with typical tow rigs capable of pulling 7700 lbs maximum. The law won't be an issue in Thailand if your well over but towing any distance safely needs common sense. Biggest issue I can foresee is power plants. I guess it's still a fair way off for this Banana but I can't wait to see what goes in. We don't have big engines here in cars, trucks or boats. One Mercury dealer in the country and they don't handle blue engines. Biggest available is the 496. Never heard of an engine builder here because there are no big engines here! He may have to import everything, just depends how much power is going back in to the boat. With everything you guys have available in the U.S. it's near impossible to imagine how limited the resources are in Thailand for rebuilding a classic offshore boat.

I'm sure he's got most of it worked out and will do the boat proud. Lots of work, and im sure lots of headaches and beers but it will be worth it in the end.

RR

Last edited by rak rua; 01-13-2016 at 01:03 AM.
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Old 01-13-2016, 01:20 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by scippy
f_screenname ..........If anything, no one can knock you for being so passonate about this subject!....and I'm also sorry to detract on 38banana in his pursuit to returning the glory to the old girl.
Sorry too, I really just think people are missing out on something, something important and big and the cost is nothing (for now) compared to other collectibles. After buying it I don't have 25 grand in mine over 6 years. It's an ACBS winner. I do everything myself but still...
I cant believe that some of the more wealthier members haven't snatched them up and dropped what they spend on greens fees for a year into one and have a show piece that gets them front and center at any rally, boat show or gathering and even car shows at will. Take Banana's boat. 30 grand to get it floating again (in the U.S)? Lot of bang for the buck. 30 grand in a car and you wont even get closer parking in the parking lot of a show. His boat with 30 grand spent wisely and it will be in the show front and center if he wants.

Last edited by f_inscreenname; 01-13-2016 at 01:23 AM.
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Old 01-13-2016, 05:30 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by xxxxxxx1
Congratulations on your purchase and your vision to get your boat to home, your home. I can not imagine what it costi in US dollars to get from the US to your car port. !
All of us seem to take the road less traveled with our powerboat purchase; from the vision to make it what you want and getting in the water !
This example here is what it Is all about, following a dream plan!
well it was cheap to get it to thailand including making the cradle loading the boat and then from new york to bangkok around 4000$ thanks to ;

mike,

who i can strongly recommend to anyone who needs to do a transport,the top banana arrived without a scratch or anything a very solid job i transported boats before but can say that this is the absolut top !

[email protected]
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Old 01-13-2016, 05:45 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by scippy
I agree with f_inscreenname about the cost of shinning new big power (boats) as opposed to the endangered (ever shrinking) number of old skool "glass classics" that have gone & never to return.
Very interesting statement by 38banana about the lack of interest (in US) for the 38' banana with a history & win(s) ...I wonder if Charlie M ever considered a re-purchase of his 38' for a HORBA
restoration......- or - was it not a boat significant enough for HORBA?.........Charlie??.
Back to the cost question (and it always seems to come back to that) if you have the means ($$$) to restore a classic ...sometimes it's a bare hull that's in bad shape worst times less engines & drives.
it's generally easy to acquire, but significantly expensive to reach the full restoration of a boat. we all see half restored boats sold off for lack of funds!....The idea that 38' banana was cheap on the dollar to purchase here in the US is because the full potential of it's restoration won't be cheap.....unless you have the means$$$...and it always seems to come back to that!
38banana............I think you know that here in the US (if you don't know how to do glass repair & you need a capable glass man) it could cost you $75 to &100 an hour for as long as you need.
Besides your "cost" of shipping the 38' and what engines & drives would be .....I would think that the rest would be pennies on the dollar for glass work in your part of the world compared to the US.
that is all correct but like,, inscreenname,, mentioned ; It kills me to see these lost pieces of history just melt away.you can not let a piece of history like top banana just rotten away,they belong in a museum at least
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Old 01-13-2016, 06:13 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by f_inscreenname
Sorry 38Banana but I just want to say this and I will let you get back to the glory and fun.
Hey Skip, I hear what you are saying but.. (and please no one take offence at what I say)
The bottom line is two things. People are just to f_in lazy these days and others hold on to things for much longer then they should. There is no reason these few boats with 320 million people in this country can’t find homes.
Lazy. What I mean by that is a lot of people don’t want to get their hands dirty. They think there is nothing I can do so I would have to pay for it all. For some that is true but if you can watch a you tube video and paint a wall with a roller you can do fiberglass. Not saying you will be ready for the body shop but doing stringers and transoms in rough glass is not that hard. But most would rather get themselves in 30 years of payments for a boat they won’t have 30 years from now just because it’s ready to go and their neighbor has one a tiny bit smaller. The days of buying something cool outright and fixing it up has gone by I guess.
Then there is the owners/sellers that just because the boat has a tiny bit of history (or they just won’t let go) wants gold bricks for something rotting away behind a warehouse or boatyard. When they are lucky enough to find someone with interest they chase them away with insane numbers or a shotgun. It makes me mad that they don’t think of the boat’s future. They act like they love it by holding on to them but then they let them rot away without so much as a tarp over them. They also have to know that when they are gone no one will protect them any longer and they will be at the mercy of a back hoe after the reading of the will. You ever try to estate sale an old wrecked race boat? If I had one thing to say to a race boat holder/sellers is, think of the boats future. Like a child it’s your responsibility to secure it future. There is only a small group of us willing to do these boats. If you have to because they don’t have the money give the boat to them and help them fix it back up any way you can. There is already a list of historical race boats that are just missing and gone forever. Help the history survive. If you can’t find a single person to take on the project then look into groups into boats or maritime museums, high schools shop classes whatever it takes to get these historical boats out of the weeds and to carry on the history.
It’s not only boats. They just found the first stock car to break 200mph sitting in a field for 30 years behind a garage. The owner knew what it was but just didn’t want to sell it. So instead of packing it away in an air tight bag he lets it sink up to it floor pans in mud in a field. WTF????????????????????? How selfish can one be? If it was mine it would be sitting in my basement. I would have to stand up to see the TV but who cares, checkout my historical stock car!

You can also add;
People’s misconception that re-building a race boat will cost a fortune. Most race boats are bare bones. You are not going to find a high dollar salon with 30 grand in stereo equipment in a race boat. In my boats case it’s a 1967. The finest of all race equipment from 1967 is pretty easy today. The hardest part I have is trying to keep today’s expensive stuff out of it. Not saying that race boats don’t have their own issues and I have been through them all with 2 motors to 1 prop but after restoring classic production boats I prefer race boats. Everything is pretty basic and right there in front of you.
More about the money, how much do you really think it will cost to restore a race boat? You also have to keep in mind race boats come in all sizes. You don’t always have to start with a 50 foot triple engine monster. With the internet today it comes up to nowhere near what a new boat cost.
More about money, most of your cost when it comes to race boats is motors. If you don’t plan on joining the race circuit no one says you can’t start off with something a little cheaper. I used 2 simple Merc 340’s 454s or what I called my show motors for a couple years until I got enough money and parts together to replace them with off shore race motors I copied / built this past summer. Before the boat was worth more than the motors. Now the motors are worth more than the boat. Lol.
It does shock me that some of you guys with money (real money), the same folks that are on here talking about dropping 5 grand on a cooler for their boat or have garages with their own zip code (you know who you are) don’t have a trophy race boat sitting around. Even a trailer queen. What better status symbol would it be to have a historical race boat sitting at your place? Not like there’s many of them out there. If just the people with money to burn on OSO went after these boats they could all be picked up in a week there’s so few. Then you would have something no one else has or can get because they aint making them anymore. Then there is that with any real race boat (especially offshore) is a first class ticket into any boat show. So now you get to hobnob with other boat nuts on a peer level.
They are not for everyone. If you just like to be on the water to enjoy the day with the Bimini top up and the wife in the salon with the AC on they may not be for you. If you like to go out and drive a raw ass boat and feel it then you may be headed in the right direction.
Getting these old boats out of storage lots and backyards and restored back to their glory even helps the environment for all you green folks.
agree 100% many thanks you saved me a lot of writing !
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Old 01-13-2016, 06:16 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Top Banana
Re question on weight. It was built all glass and plywood, no Kevlar. Boat ready to be rigges at 38 feet was 3,800 lbs. Lot of time chipping out hardened resin the day following each layup.

Don't forget this boat held off for a full year of racing, the new 37.6 foot Cigarette, which later became known as Top Gun. Even that race, the 1980 Bahamas 200, we were leading with 5 miles to go and one engine started tightening up and we slowed enough that Ajac Hawk beat us by 30 seconds.

Yes, I tried to buy the boat back when it first came on the market, but found dealing with the guy selling was a bit much. I thought I had a deal ,but then he changed it, truck had to be included and then someone wanted the truck, so it all changed again. All I wanted was the hull and deck.....the rest was junk. So my next plan, after restoring my Benihana, may be to build a brand new Top Banana, painted the same with modern engines and drives. One day at a time.
ehhh ??? a new top banana,i go quickly take a patent on it !!!!

i can make a mold and send it to you,this is the land of the copies after all.lol

Last edited by 38banana; 01-13-2016 at 06:19 AM.
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Old 01-13-2016, 08:51 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by rak rua
Any aproximate, idea what the weight of the empty boat was? Have you seen the weigh bridge certificate from the U.S? May be lost in your masses of files from the export/import, just still wondering what I could get away with towing.

RR
hi,weight on bill of loading is 9000 lbs / 4082 kg,but that must be including the container ?

Last edited by 38banana; 01-13-2016 at 08:59 AM.
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