Vintage Herter’s Jon Boat??

[Mike Derenthal]

I’m in possession of a fiberglass / aluminum framed Herter’s boat. It measures 15.5’ bow to stern and 64” wide. 4 bench seats. I’m not sure if I want to turn this into a restoration project for someone else who might find the value in it, or if I want to customize (bastardize??) it for my own fishing boat. Anyone out there have any experience with these things? Thank you in advance!

 

[Carl]

Mike,
Welcome to the DHBP!
Where in FL are you located? I'm in Tampa.

These are pretty cool little hulls, I know some of the guys on here have experience with them. Hopefully someone will jump in soon.

 

[Mike Derenthal]

Thanks Carl. I’m over in Orlando. Yes, Google searches keep pointing me back to this forum, but I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any relevant threads now that I’ve joined. Curious to hear what I can learn about this cool old boat.

 

[Dani]

What kind of restoration is needed? And welcome to duckboats from another FL member! What places do you normally fish? Fresh water or will you also head over to salt water?

 

[Mike Derenthal]

Thank you Dani. If I restore it I'll clean it up and get it as close to an original paint color and such as I can. In that case trying to find some pics or insight. My other option (honestly my original intention) is to power it w/ as much as it can safely handle w/ a tiller outboard (looking for advice on that as well) and build out a casting deck over the front two bench seats (I think the added bow weight will be helpful actually), and possibly a floor deck in the remaining, and clean it up. I'd be using it mostly for inshore (bay, lagoon, ICW, etc) trout, red, snook fishing.

 

[Steve Sanford]

I’m in possession of a fiberglass / aluminum framed Herter’s boat. It measures 15.5’ bow to stern and 64” wide. 4 bench seats. I’m not sure if I want to turn this into a restoration project for someone else who might find the value in it, or if I want to customize (bastardize??) it for my own fishing boat. Anyone out there have any experience with these things? Thank you in advance!

Good morning, Mike~

Sweet vessel! I need more time to explore some of my older Herter's catalogs. Here is a similat boat from Herter's in 1966 and 1972.



This model is a bit beamier than yours.



More important, it does not appear to have the wonderful "tumblehome" of the hull aft. Tumblehome is a more traditional feature - in both boats and ships. Its practical benefit is that one can see the nets or fish or decoys that one is hauling aboard - where more modern flared hulls tend to hide all that.



I modified one very similar (but shorter) to yours that I got from my father-in-law. I have no "before" photo - but I removed all of the aluminum framing, cut off the entire transom, split the stem and cut the sheer lower. It became a 2-man "grassboat" or Sneakbox and served me well for many seasons.



In any event, others here on the site will know that I am notorious - as Commodore Stickler Fussbudget - when it comes to terminology. I would call your boat a "skiff" or a "cartopper". A jonboat (also jon boat) is a different vessel altogether. A typical jonboat has square ends and a flat bottom. Most are made of aluminum nowadays. (NOTE: Facebook Marketplace uses "jonboat" for any small, open boat - more properly called a skiff.)



Most are made of aluminum. They have great "initial stability" and are a wonderful craft on protected waters.

I will try to find your vessel in my older catalogs later today (once the rain begins and I have to halt my mowing et cetera).

Hope this helps!

SJS