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Healey Boat, First Voyage

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Editor_Reid

Editor_Reid

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Hope you don't mind a slightly off-topic post (but as a Moderator of the group, I guess I won't turn myself in), but I just got back from my maiden voyage in my Healey Ski-Master and couldn't help but share the joy.

I've owned the boat for almost three years, but it was geographically separated from me until about one year ago, and then with everything else going on associated with a cross-country move, I just never got to it, until today.

It fired right up after installation of a new battery, ran perfect, everything worked, what can say? I took it out for a 90-minute cruise on the Columbia River right here in Portland, Oregon. The weather was great -- warm, not too hot; a few clouds which by Oregon standards qualifies as a WONDERFUL lack of clouds -- and the boat just purred. For those not familiar with this model, this is the outboard model and it has a period-correct Mercury Mark 55E ("E" for electric start) of 1957 vintage. It may well be the motor that was originally sold with the boat.

This particular model is quite rare as there are only four known examples. Two of those are in England, and the other one here in the USA was purchased from a museum in the UK, meaning that mine is possibly the last surviving example of the model that was sold in the USA. (And you thought that the 100S is rare!)

While cruising along I let my mind wonder for a few moments and imagined Stirling Moss waterskiing behind it, with DMH sitting in back observing. Speaking of DMH, tomorrow is his birthday plus 106 years. I'm flying to southern California tomorrow to buy a big Healey to celebrate it. Life is good.

Drop by Portland sometime and maybe we'll go for a spin in the Ski-Master!
 
Sounds neat! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

The history of anything British like that fascinates me, still hoping to make it up to Edmonton sometime to see the Alvis Stalwart that a guy up there has...

On the same topic... May have have asked this before but forgotten, below is a picture of a "Healey" boat I saw at a British car show in Ontario last year (in the Austin-Healey section, but with no car information card on it), there was no engine in it at all, anyway know or have any thoughts on if it's an authentic Healey boat?

HealeyBoat.jpg


And I'll agree, I'd love to see pictures! I'm sure it's fair game to post the pictures in the Austin-Healey section here in BCF...
 
Sherlock, that looks like the real deal -- perhaps there are THREE Ski-Masters in North America! I'd love to contact the owner -- can you help me locate him/her?

As for a photo of my boat, here is my first attempt to post a photo on the British Car Forum... I'll be traveling for the next six days and unable to check my email and/or BCF very often during that time; perhaps if I mess this up Basil can delete it and I can try again when I return...
[image]https://reidtrummel.com/myboatonbcf.html[/image]

That didn't work, but tell you what, just CLICK HERE and you can go to the webpage that has two photos of the boat. (I'll study up on posting photos to the BCF when I get back, in a week or so; meantime please don't turn this thread into a tutorial on photo-posting.)
 
Hi Reid,

Nice boat! When I first saw Ski-Master associated with your name somewhere (member profile?), I thought you were into downhill skiing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Shows you how much I know about Healeys... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

What model Healey are you picking up down this way? Any special history to it?

Sharon
BN1
SoCal
 
[ QUOTE ]

That didn't work, but tell you what, just

[/ QUOTE ]

Reid, when you post a picture using the image tags, the URL must be the URL of the actual picture (i.e., it should end in .jpg or .gif, such as https://www. something/something/picture.jpg when you posted your picture, the URL used was for a web page (.html). To see what the URL of your actual picture is, just view the picture in your browser and right-click your mouse and look at properties.

By the way, that's a very cool boat!

Basil
 
[ QUOTE ]
AHCUSA said: that looks like the real deal -- perhaps there are THREE Ski-Masters in North America! I'd love to contact the owner -- can you help me locate him/her?

[/ QUOTE ]

Realize you're probably on the road right now, I'll still post this and also PM you. Hear from you in a week or so I guess with another new toy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The boat was seen at British Car Day (Oakville, Ontario) in September 2003, as I mentioned earlier... there was no identification cards on the boat (ie. car/vehicle owner information card for show purposes), and I now live about 2,500 or so miles away from Toronto/Oakville in Alberta.

Maybe the Toronto Triumph Club - www.torontotriumph.com - who hosts that show might be able to help. Or maybe some of the Healey clubs in southern Ontario might know more about this boat. Other than that it's hard to know for sure.

And unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the back end of the boat or any more detailed pictures of the inside, I guess just didn't think about it at the time, although as I recall the inside was pretty much an empty shell, this is definitely a project boat. I was curious at the absence of an engine, if it's what you think it might be (set up for an outboard motor) that would explain that. I also see your windshield is different from the one in Ontario (which is the proper one?)

But to perhaps help identify, anyone know how to interpret the numbers on the side of a boat? Are certain number sequences specific to different provinces/states/countries? That would help identify at the very least where the boat was last used. I'm a boating rookie so have no idea about any of that kind of stuff.
 
I'm trying to mine some Ontario folk about the owner/origins/authenticity of that boat in Ontario...

Been in contact with one person in Ontario who is restoring a couple of motor boats by other small British companies.

He has a 1959 Albatross boat (inboard Coventry Climax engine) and a 1958 Simmonds boat (inline Ford Consul Mk II engine), both currently being restored. So far no luck yet on any more information about the Healey boat in Ontario...
 
OK, back from SoCal now, although without the Healey I had intended to purchase there (it wasn’t quite what I expected; no hard feelings and I’d rather not name any names).

Sherlock,

Thanks so much for your efforts to locate the owner of that Healey Ski-Master boat pictured in your post. We should probably take the discussion off line, and my direct email is editor@healey.org Thanks again.

Healeygal,

Good to hear from you! Like I mentioned above, the Healey purchase didn’t work out this time, but I’m always shopping… as editor of Austin-Healey Magazine I get occasional inquiries from people who want to buy Healeys, so I always try to keep a lookout for nice ones that may be available so that I can hook up buyers and sellers. Since I love road trips so much, sometimes I even volunteer to go fetch tem!

Basil,

Thanks for getting my avatar straightened out. I remain technically challenged, I must admit.

Patton,

Thanks for posting those photos from my website in this thread. But please tell me, can I now delete them from my website without affecting their appearance in this thread, or are they somehow linked and dependant on their continued presence on my website?

Reid
Three Healeys: two roll, one floats, all are fun!
 

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Wow...nice boat.
I live on a lake and have always thought it would be neat to own one of those...but like any wooden boat they are a real commitment. I owned one lapstrake boat in my life and I had an Invader many years ago.....at the moment my fleet is limited to a 16" aluminum row boat.
Anyway, I recall seeing a "Mars" Sprite fitted with an "MGA marine engine". I mentioned it about half-way down on the link below a while back:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB30&Number=60311&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=3

Was this used in any of the Healey boats?
 
Hi Reid, I just got back from CA myself, unfortunately work, no Healey time. (I did see two just driving down the road in about an hour stretch in Napa three weeks ago) Sorry your quest was fruitless.

Yes, for those links to work you have to leave them on your site. I just found a solution if you don't want to do that which might work.

There is a website called https://www.imageshack.us/ that is there to store pictures for things like forums. It is definitely good for the side images, and I think it will work for other pictures as well. It even build the code for you to copy and paste.

[ QUOTE ]
Patton,

Thanks for posting those photos from my website in this thread. But please tell me, can I now delete them from my website without affecting their appearance in this thread, or are they somehow linked and dependant on their continued presence on my website?

[/ QUOTE ]
 
Thanks Patton,

Basil gave me a call last week and we figured out the problem I was having posting pics. Now I know how to do it, and the forum may never be the same...
67389-dr%20evil%20150.jpg
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Been in contact with one person in Ontario who is restoring a couple of motor boats by other small British companies. He has a 1959 Albatross boat (inboard Coventry Climax engine) and a 1958 Simmonds boat (inline Ford Consul Mk II engine), both currently being restored.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry my first post here is off-subject, but it was this topic that brought me here in the first place, so I'll apologise again and press on regardless.

I too have a Simmonds under restoration, and am trying to track down anyone who knows a bit more about them. Did you hear back from the guy in Ontario, Sherlock? In exchange, I know something about the Albatross!

At the risk of being mobbed even before I start (here in a Healey thread) I'm really a Triumph man myself - have a TR2 and a Dolomite Sprint, and a Sprint-based special called a Latham F2. A search on Google sometimes brings up a photo of my car, but no site of my own yet.

Thanks for any help - much appreciated.
 
Since my first posting above, I've discovered a little bit more about my boat. It seems it was originally owned by David Brown, founder of Aston Martin - so there is a British Cars connection after all!
 
Thanks Reid. I found the CMBA website a little earlier in my quest and have submitted an application, so I'll see what comes of that. I don't know Tony, but will follow up your suggestions there too. Many thanks.
 
NEWS FLASH!

Just received an e-mail tonight from the owner of said Healey boat in Ontario, the one mentioned and pictured previously in this thread... Just re-posted picture here for those who don't feel like scrolling all the way back...

HealeyBoat.jpg


He says it is called a "Ski-Master" and was made before outboard models in 1956... does this information make any sense to anyone? Reid?

I sent a reply back but haven't heard back again...
 
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