I've had many adventures in my 17-foot standard Grumman canoe built by Marathon, including a near fatality (my fault, not the canoe's). I grew up on a lake in N.J. with beautiful wood and canvas canoes. They were works of art, but only good for flat water and a headache to maintain. I got the aircraft-gauge aluminum Grumman from by brother in the early '72s and have used it primarily on the Potomac and rivers in N.J., Delaware and West Virginia, both white a flat water. It's keel helps it track, but it's too heavy for serious racing.
In the late '80s I used it to shuttle in two trips my wife, three young kids, our dog and all our gear to an island campsite on Lake George. During one trip down the Potomac south of Great Falls the canoe was swamped plowing through giant rooster tails. We never tipped over, we just sank! Unfortunately we hit a rock and put a 5-inch split in the hull. It was patched and has never leaked. A partner and I attempted Little Falls (against my better judgement) and we quickly swamped. We spent several terrifying moments under water before popping up downstream. Ten minutes later the nearly submerged Grumman floated past and we retrieved it and all our gear.
I outfitted the boat with a sail kit which I modified to make the cumbersome sideboards work automatically. My partner and I had some thrilling moments standing nearly straight up on the gunnels to balance the boat as we soared across the Potomac near Mt. Vernon in summer squalls. Now in my 70s, the boat is becoming heavier than I care to haul and I now use kayaks for my paddling. (I compare kayaks to sport cars and my Grumman to a station wagon.) I'm about to pass along this boat to another generation as it will last far longer than I will.
Comments
Serial Number Idm Gratis
- I don't know, but...
Here's a link to those who do...
http://www.marathonboat.com
Have fun,
T - H I N
The Hull I.d. Number is in the rear of the boat.
The HIN gives you the date of manufacture.
That # up front is just a model #....I think.
Go check it out at this web site , and click on hull # on the left.
www.phrf-nw.org
Good luck
JOHN - not totally sure
but if i remember correctly, i was told that the month year etc is listed (must be the first part) then the weight of the hull as there was a heavy model and a more lightweight model - possibly the middle- that would leave the 17 as the length. Call Grumman (Marathon Boats) they will tell you - grumman serial number
I found out from Marathon. The first five numbers are the serial numbers. The B means 1960s date of manufacture. The 5 means 050 thick aluminum.
Paul - B or G
Now I wanna go look at mine.
B or G means 1960.
I think mine (was Dads)is a 1965 model. - serial
Woops where did I get B from? The letter on mine is G! Hello! This looks like an old thread but I was hoping one of you could help me identify this boat. I picked it up from an Estate Auction. I believe it may be mid 50's? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.Call Marathon Boat Group...
607 849-3211
It's probably the same age as the motor. The motor has been repainted, but has the shape of a Johnson or Evinrude (those two companies were basically identical in the 50s and 60s, if I'm not mistaken). It should be relatively easy to pin down the approximate age of the motor based on its styling, because there are certainly websites for enthusiasts of vintage outboard motors. Just based on childhood memories and very little else, I'd guess that the motor could be from some time in the early 60s.
I'm no expert, but to me, the gearshift/throttle control looks to have been added on relatively more recently, like maybe as far back as the 70s or 80s, and the steering system looks more modern than the 50s as well. The original steering was probably a spool on the steering shaft, wound with a pair of cables running through pulleys along opposite sides of the boat to the motor. You may know all that, but if not, might find it interesting.
@Guideboatguy said:
...The motor has been repainted, but has the shape of a Johnson or Evinrude (those two companies were basically identical in the 50s and 60s, if I'm not mistaken)...It looks like someone got a deal on red paint. He painted the motor, the interior, the trailer and even the trailer's hubcaps!
And you're right, both Evinrude and Johnson were owned by Outboard Marine Corp (OMC) of Waukegan, Illinois who also owned ChrisCraft, Grumman's boat division, Lawn Boy, Cushman and a slew of other names. Unfortunately, OMC went bankrupt in 2000 and Bombardier bought up the Evinrude and Johnson brands.
Hello, Thanks for all the info. The motor is an Evinrude Speeditwin. I believe 28hp. It looks as though the Gentleman was restoring and modifying it before he passed. It's a very nice little boat.
Evinrude made various models of Speeditwins from the late 1930's up to 1950. . Most of them were 22.5 HP. Is there any sort of ID plate on the engine.
Yes, we found the ID numbers on the motor and it is a 1962 Speeditwin 28. The trailer had a title but the boat did not. Because of it's age it has no HIN plate to be found. Just the Metal Boat Company plate with w
hat appears to be 10.6--14R ..? I did find and purchase an ad for 1955 The metal boat company Grumman Aluminum Boats and it appears to show a similar model called the High Speed RUNABOUT. Thanks.The interior of the boat is not just painted red. It appears to be powder coated. The paint jobs on the motor and trailer appear to be professional quality.
I'm glad you found out all the info and from your photos it certainly looks like everything was very well refinished.
That's all very interesting. I love those old boats and motors.
Grumman Canoe Serial Number 614b-5-13
Re: Help ID Grumman canoe? Yep, i gave them a call and they built boats in bunches, like 100 17 footers, then 50 15 footers, and the just used the next bunch of numbers. They told me that mine was the 112th boat of the 'C' series which ran anywhere from 1950 to 1955 but since that number is so low '112', the 112th boat os that series it was likely built in early 1950. Grumman was the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module that landed men on the moon. The firm received the contract on November 7, 1962, and built 13 lunar modules. As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle, but lost to Rockwell International.