Chirrosis of the River - Page 9

The Lone Star Caribbean was built from 1957 - 1959. The later years were more stylish with a split windshield and added bow hatch. This '59 model was located about a hundred miles north east of Petersbourough, Ontario in Canada by noted wood boat collector, Patrick Wren, who knew I'd like it.

These were extremely sculptured and show the great diversity possible with the new material, Fiberglas. The nose is designed to deflect spray, Glastron used the same design in its early boats and it was directly copied by Redfish and many others. This is the most practical boat in my collection and could be made to be fairly luxurious with a well planned restoration.

Although a huge boat by the Fiberglas standards of the day; 19 feet long with a 7 foot beam, these had short shaft transoms for the small motors common at the time. I plan to add a long shaft transom to this one so it will not look so out of proportion from the rear and can take the more commonly available, long shaft, Merc 800's that I have for it. This will yield 160hp. There is a partially hooded motor well on these boats for quieter operation. I have a rare accessory, dual motor control, for these outboards. This was the most expensive boat in Lone Stars Line at the time and is represented by fewer than 10 known survivors at present. There were other cruisers in their catalog, with much more mediocre styling and lower prices, which were made from aluminum.