WTB-Cary 28
 

wanted to purchase a cary 28, anyone know of any?

Very rare. Only saw one in northern NY many years ago. Why the interest in this particular boat?

Gerry didn't I speak to you once.. You fish on Long Island and had a Magnum?

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There was a 28 blackfin (same hull) on Facebook marketplace in NH There is another 28 cary in Wareham, MA setup for a single that was used for commercial fishing (beat to a pulp). Both are big projects. I know the location of wareham cary 28.

Gerry, I sent you an email with pictures. Bo .

yes, I sold the magnum, on the hunt again ,

Gerry you are looking for the fishing boat model correct?

This could be construed false advertising. Arnesons and those cast iron anchors are gone!

Yeah Pete a friend of mine with the 35 Fountain and Arneson s put that on to bust on me...

You looking for a hull to build or a complete boat ?

Found a couple of Elton Cary produced 28''s that might still be available. The 1973 looks like the 1972 hull #31 that Jim, OSO signature Buizilla sold around 2008 for about $50k. The current asking price in the teen$ a couple months ago indicates that it's maybe another Cary or that it's been less than properly maintained. It used to be one of the most original Bristol condition Cary 28 around, probable bar none the nicest. Can't find any contact info on the seller. The 1968 for sale looks ok, but the price is up there so it better be really nice. The owner, Ted Kramer, has owned the boat many years and he''s supposedly a well known sportfishing fellow, so the boat is probably well setup for fishing. Best of luck. The Dreamboat video below I think you'll find inspiring. Nothing better than a Cary 28 in its class. There''s a nice project Cary 28 here in SoCal that might still be for sale. It''s been stretched around 2-3 feet.

https://hardeeville.allboatlistings...._17315722.html

https://www.boatsfsbo.com/104096
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Cary 28 around 12:30 mark in the video.

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----There are, I think, two very nice Cary 28s on Lake Saint Clair. Both fresh water boats and already restored. Sadly, neither for sale to my knowledge...….Bill S

Had a little more time to look into the subject and the news are mixed. The 1972 Cary 28 ad is 2 years old and it was Jim's boat. Guess it was for sale with engine issues. Jim had 1992 twin 454's. If I was chasing a nice Cary 28 I would still contact the broker, 411 Marine, Hardeeville SC 29927, Ph. 843-784-5797 and see if they would consider a finders fee if the boat could be located and a deal done on it now. Never hurts to try. Here are a couple of photos of it when Jim sold it in 2008 and a comment by Allan 'Brownie' Brown on OSO about the Cary 28 model's heritage.

BROWNIE
https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?ur...xMkTyvDINg--~C
RegisteredMy Boats: 4 BOATS KILLED :)Join DateMay 2002LocationMIAMI, FL More.

"In 1965, Aronow cut down the full height 28' Donzi and made the "008" mold, and made the infamous low-slung raceboat that won the 1966 Houston Channel Derby, with Don, Bobby Moore and me. Don and I were both 6'2"+, and we stood in it only to our hips. We won the race by going from a half mile behind to a half mile ahead of the Merc Offshore team in 2 miles, by never slowing down over some free-running tug and tanker wakes. We jumped so high, that the strut bearings would dry out and squeal, nearly drowning out my screaming. We built 3 or 4 raceboats for Mr. K, and sold/gave the mold to Elton Cary to make the great little 28' Cary fishboat, which was popped to make the Salt Shaker, Performer 28 CC, and a couple of others. The full height 28' was popped by Dickie Ridgeway, later becoming a 28' Performer. I think they (Performer, Billy Elswick) bought the 40' Cigarette mold, and made a 36', 40' and 44'. Cobalt popped the entire Donzi production line. The 23' Formula turned into everything that Harry's 23' didn't, The 23' Formula and the 23' Magnum started more boat companies than you can count. If they a boat DNA test, Harry and Wynne/Walters would have a 'lot of 'splaining to do!' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My reference to Harry and Jim/Walt is that they were unwilling fathers of a s**tload of boat companies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"

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----Lars,,,Jim may see this and straighten me out but I thought his 28 went to somewhere in Europe. These 28s are fantastic useable boats. Just love 'em!..…...Bill S

Jim mentioned to me that he sold her to a fellow in Georgia, who was keeping her at a lake. The Florida reg. number in the two year old ad photos confirmed it to be his Cary. The boat was advertised to be just across the Georgia border in S.C. too. Makes me a little sad that she deteriorated in condition after Jim sold her. Maybe it was Jim's 1980 Donzi Criterion that sold to Europe? Miss Jim here on the OSO forum. He knew all the legends and locals around Thunderboat Row, plus his knowhow about performance boats and cars are tough to match. Such a humble gentleman too.
Happy holidays Bill!
Cheers, Lars.

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----Thanks for the update, Lars! Don't know how I came up with that memory. I do see Jim on Facebook quite a bit. And,,,Happy Holidays to you as well...…..Bill S

There’s at least 1, possibly two Cary 28 hulls for sale here in south Florida. They’ve been on Craigslist for months both are below $3k. Hulls only from what I remember.


https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/boa...020625976.html

FYI, I’ve been in possession of the 1972 Cary 28 mentioned and shown above, that previously belonged to Jim, since Mar 2019. I’d like to post current pics but apparently can’t until I’ve recorded a certain number of posts. She actually re-launches today.

You need 10 posts before the system will allow pics to load.....most just make up the count by throwing a succession of short posts to hit the number...great boat!

Thx speicher lane. Here come 9 more posts, and maybe I can make them relative, but it’ll most likely sound like typical internet advertising dribble where they provide you continuous tidbits to keep you reading;-) Post 2

I bought the boat from the really cool TowBoat US guy in Savannah, after he posted it on the Blackfin Forums, where I’m a member and a Blackfin owner. I can’t recall how he came across it after the guy near Savannah bought it from Jim, but the boat was the unfortunate victim of basically sinking by filling to the floorboards/scuppers on the trailer, while in long term storage with a cover that became compromised. It apparently sat like that, unnoticed for quite some time as the engines were ruined. It was sold/purchased with this full disclosure, hence the low price referenced in this thread. It came down significantly lower to where I had to buy it.

Post 3: The nice tandem axle trailer that I believe Jim possibly put under it did not convey, but nonetheless came with the current and decent triple axle trailer which just needs a little work.

Post 4: We immediately pulled the the corroded 1992 454s and assessed and removed what marine conversion pieces we might need that weren’t compromised. We had an existing set of 1970-71 vintage 427 Crusader 320hp freshly rebuilt just sitting, originally for another project, a 1969 Chris Craft Commander 31, but that boat by now had some newer 454 TBI’s from another Blackfin I’d had. So the 427s just needed a home and this was a natural. We just swapped over some cooling system parts for a more plug-n-play installation.

Post 5: The 1992 swap to 454 Crusaders from original 440 Chryslers resulted in some 4” to 3” to 4” exhaust plumbing so we replaced the entire exhaust system including the mufflers, which ironically are still made identically. While I’m not complaining, she is rather quiet, but my very pro-boat wife bought into this unique and extra roomy boat as our version of a Lake Norman pontoon. We’ve been classic boaters for 30+ yrs. The boat will spend the majority of her, or my, remaining years here on fresh water Lake Norman in Mooresville, NC, with the occasional trips to the NC inner banks.

Post 6: Installed new Lenco electric trim tabs. Original Bennett parts spent too much time submerged. Also original tabs extended outside of chine-line because of the radius of the transom, which had me scratching my head and trying to imagine the extra drag and spray esp from the 90° turn-downs on the edges when deployed.

Post 7 Cary 28: For the past few years before my purchasing she apparently sat outside without a top, just maybe the large bimini, and the result was the abundant teak taking a beating. We removed what we could easily remove, including all of the strips surrounding the inside of the aft cockpit, and refinished it and other teak in-place. Looks great now. Also added teak pieces around the helm to cover up previous penetrations no longer needed. We’ve got a few more pieces we still may replace.

Post 8 Cary 28: In the cabin we replaced the original hull-liner ceiling carpet along with the side panels. All of the original teal vinyl upholstery was professionally cleaned and still looks unbelievably remarkable. (And I’m assuming it’s original as it still has the old mfr’rs tags on them). We plan to borrow or re-purpose back sides of several cushions to create forward combing pads as was an original option, and will hope to cover some less than attractive repainted and worn surfaces. The hull was repainted sometime before Jim bought the boat as he told me in a conversation last year. The paint job was very well done and has held up well but they did paint over several thru-hull fittings which I’ll clean up later. And where moist cushions sat on the paint for the extended period it naturally did some damage. We had the floor panels repainted with non-skid as had been done before so unfortunately the original plank molded look in the gelcoat is long gone,

Post 9 Cary 28: Replaced the entire steering system as any parts under the floor were corroded, and plus it was 48 yrs old. Surprised it was original cable but we went with what matched with input from the mfr. Apparently the steering wheel was replaced from what’s shown above as we got it with a 3 spoke black rubber grip, which we may be replacing, not sure. Steers great now but we’ve not put her thru her paces yet, only idling around last Saturday during a soft launch and engine cooling test, as we’d never seen her in the water yet, and only run from the hose n bucket. First run last week was with no interior to allow for access to engines/systems etc.

Post 10 Cary 28, whew! I plan to re-launch in the coming hours, with most all interior parts reinstalled except for the front built-in seats which are still out for painting. The complicated four-piece engine boxes are now back in as well, and helm box bolted back down as last week we had it securely balanced with ratchet straps fore and aft for testing. Cardboard on the floor is obviously protecting the new finish until all testing is complete. We also replaced the badly worn clear acrylic covers over the engine gauges and port-side cooler?? with classic tinted acrylic. Maybe I can now post a few pics.

i’ll post up more pictures as the progress continues, and maybe some running footage from today if we’re lucky.

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VERY cool boat!... and great to see in it's period correct form!

I always wondered where that went after Jim sold it . Thanks for keeping us informed and I look forward to seeing more.
That boat is just off the scale in terms of classic originals from the beginning/early days .
Can't help but be reminded of the Magnum 40 hull every time I see one of those .
Lucky guy ! !

Ran her again yesterday and today. I’m most always optimistic but try to remain realistic as well when so often dealing with these older boats and vintage engines. The boat performed great, while the engines, props, and fuel system still need further attention. Port would only turn 3500 and Stbd 3700 with what I believe are the original 1972 factory 16x20.5” wheels, but this still made 37.5 mph. I’m sure these stock 427s are down slightly to the 1992 carbed 454s that it last ran 44-45 mph per a conversation with Jim, but I didn’t think it’d be off quite this much, so it looks like we’ll need to lose at least and inch or two of pitch. Plus we’re now losing fuel prime on the port engine which the factory supplied electric fuel pump won’t overcome if she sits for an hour, so any input on that issue would be appreciated. I’ve got 40 gal of fuel in the single 125-130 gal tank. The stbd engines pulls fuel fine and the pumps are both brand new.

In the video below of her running around 30-35 mph, I was pleased to see her carry the bow as high as she does, as later Blackfin versions had hook added to the bottom, I guess to make it act more like a fishing boat. And for the second time since install several months ago, one of the tabs refuses to work. It’s in the switch assembly and not the actuator and I had even previously received an RMA from Lenco to send it back and then it started working again. But I believe the tabs will be used mostly for weight distribution as she planes off incredibly easy. The boat certainly looks a bit more sporty or racey with the bimini folded forward, and definitely makes it easy to picture this hull as the race boat it originally was.

Few more pics and video.


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Fantastic update. Congrats to a classic beauty that was pretty much a step above anything else quality-wise when she was new. Glad she found a great home. Enjoy!