The skiff that wouldn't die... 1965 Fiber Craft AKA Project Native

[HOTSPOT]

That is a nice little boat with a purpose in life............inshore fun!!!

[iMacattack]

Wish I could help you with the image upload... I photobucket and it gives me the code to put into forums...

Here is a rare picture of the '65 FiberCraft. Looks a little different now.

[Capt. Len Roberts]

I had a 1995 Grand Slam 17'3" hull that was from a Fiber Craft Mold. The boat was built by Jule Klien for Glen Flutie. Jules made Fiber Craft Hulls back in the 60's down in Big Pine Key FL Keys and Stu Apt had some in put back then also. Jules only made 3 of these boats in 1995 then the company sold off the molds and they tried to alter the hull and cap. I tested one for Joan Wulff's son, and didn't like the ride or polling of the boat. Since then they have gone by the way side and the mold might have been bought again for another go around. I have since move on to a vintage Black Fin 24 that I restored. Before the Grand Slam I owned a Slow Poke for all that might know that boat. Guess I like the true originals.

[iMacattack]

Grand Slam, sweet boat! Mark Castlow, formally of Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder now under his new company, Dragonfly Boats LLC has the hull mold I believe. He's bringing back the 17' Grand Slam. I spoke to him a while back and he was filling me in on the history of Fibercraft's sourcing for the hull shape.

I'm just a sucker for the classics. I'm trying to schedule a photo-shoot on Bill Hempel's Challenger for my site. His boat was rebuilt by Capt. Karl from my article above.

We have a member rebuilding a 15 ShiPoke that was built by Fred Archibald's son. He popped on our site and helped to fill in a bit of the history.

Cheers

Edited July 27, 2009 by Capt. Jan

[wiley]

Hmmm, don't see a method of placing pictures in this... So, what is the secret here?

denny-o

Fixed... you should be able to upload attachments now.

[Mike Bennett]

Capt Jan, Tails up too, and Denny-O, Read your comments on the Fiber Craft. My dad was the founder of FC in 1950. I grew up in the company and can tell you just about anything you want to know. I was there from the first boat, three different factories, Two fires, going public, buying Rocket Trailers (Rocket International) until Dad left in 1966 and My uncle Roland took over the helm. That 14' skiff was one of the first Hulls built.

[BIGIRON]

Capt Jan, Tails up too, and Denny-O, Read your comments on the Fiber Craft. My dad was the founder of FC in 1950. I grew up in the company and can tell you just about anything you want to know. I was there from the first boat, three different factories, Two fires, going public, buying Rocket Trailers (Rocket International) until Dad left in 1966 and My uncle Roland took over the helm. That 14' skiff was one of the first Hulls built.

I love reading about these past skiffs and their development. I can tell you that when I first saw the Native Skiff, I couldn't stop going back to the Ankona site to check it out time after time. In this day of what seems to be identical shallow water boats and no really new innovatios to catch my attention, the Native Skiff really stands out in a class by itself....classic lines, matched with modern materials.....doesn't get any better than this.

[Tavana]

Isn't this a similar boat to the one Harrison & McGuane had in their documentary "Tarpon"?

[Blue Bayou]

Isn't this a similar boat to the one Harrison & McGuane had in their documentary "Tarpon"?

Capt. Jan,

Good seeing you here and great story about your skiffs, they look fantastic. David Mckenzie is a class act.

[Mike Bennett]

I love reading about these past skiffs and their development. I can tell you that when I first saw the Native Skiff, I couldn't stop going back to the Ankona site to check it out time after time. In this day of what seems to be identical shallow water boats and no really new innovatios to catch my attention, the Native Skiff really stands out in a class by itself....classic lines, matched with modern materials.....doesn't get any better than this.

I've never seen a Native Skiff. So, I don't know how it compares with the FiberCraft. I do know the FiberCraft was ahead of its time in that it was vacuum molded. The boat shown above that is said to be a 1965 FiberCraft is actually much older. We quit vacuum molding around 1958. The old boats had no serial numbers attached to the hulls so knowing the exact year of that boat can't be determined but it has to be built prior to 1959. I will search for some pictures I know I have and post them. One picture shows me sitting a 14' FiberCraft with over 2000#s of cement bags loaded on the deck. This was done around 1955 or 56 when FiberCraft sponsered the "Kirby Brooks" television show. They had to stop loading the bags on the deck because the wood cradle was breaking.