TOPIC: New member, old boat. Please help.

Hey all, I'm Kolt. I'm from Alaska.
Last year I bought a house and the boat came with it. I've grown up around them, was a commercial fisherman and my dad had an old Stinger growing up, but I hadn't come across a boat with no hull ID till now. I read that a lot of boats before 1980 didn't have them, which is why I'm posting in disco fiber. I found a serial number, but the owner of the house couldn't tell me where the papers were for it. The trailer has no plates on it either. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what it is. It's been in my yard well over a year and I have the application for registration, just no info.

Any advice?
Thanks in advance
-kolt_45

Welcome aboard Kolt, glad to have you join us. Actually the hull numbers stamped in the starboard side of the stern started around 1973, just for reference. If you can post some pics I'm sure the gang here will probably be able to help you identify what you've got there.

heres some photos.
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And another

Kolt. Welcome aboard. Looks like a 26 footer circa 1981. Here's a link to one that was for sale. Looks similar to the "command bridge" but without the command bridge

Was built in Washington so it makes sense that it should be in your area. From your pictures it seems to be a strong boat.

Like Mark said, look on the starboard side upper transom where the numbers should be stamped somewhere in that area.
usedboatmarina.com/boat/1981-fiberform-command-bridge-1-8043

Some anomalies here. That is an old style Capacity plate from the 70's. The Serial number on it is a manufacturer's serial number, not a Hull Identification Number. It's a Fiber Form probably built in Spokane WA.

Facing the transom for outside the boat look in the upper right hand corner of the transom. If the HIN is not there then it may not have one, but look other places. In over 20 years of looking at HINs for the Coast Guard I found them in some very odd places. If the boat has a swim platform, look under the swim platform. (Don't ask me why they put them there)

Kolt_45,

WELCOME ABOARD.

In the event that there is NO "HIN" stamped indelibly on the transom, I would worry that it's been UNLAWFULLY removed (That's a federal felony.) as ALL "factory built hulls" MUST have one starting on all such boats built on 01NOV72 or later.
Note: HOMEBUILT HULLS, "ONE OFF" & "CUSTOM" BUILT HULLS may NOT have a HIN that conforms to the normal configuration, though such boats MUST have SOME indelible identification number, per USCG regulations.

The HIN is to be stamped in 1/4" or larger numbers/letters on the outside of the transom (Hulls without transoms have the HIN stamped within 24 inches of the stern & on the starboard side, not more than 2 inches down from the gunnel's top.), where it can be inspected from outside of the boat & every HIN built on 31DEC1983 or earlier has 12 characters.
(The 1st three characters designate the builder & are assigned to each builder by HQ, USCG, the next 5 characters are the hull serial number & the last 4 characters are the date of certification by the DoT/USCG.)

Fwiw, "A" is AUG, "B" is SEP, "C" is OCT, "D" is NOV, & finally "L" is JUL.

Note: SOME hulls built after 01JAN84 MAY have 16 characters, IF the serial number "99999" has been exceeded by that builder.

yours, satx

That data plate looks to be 71 or earlier. no HP rating, no USCG occupancy (Manufacturer, but not USCG). In that case, there probably will not be a HIN anywhere on the boat.
But I wouldnt mind a fiberform like that, could be a lot of fun!

Will

Yeah, I looked up and down, all over everywhere. No hin anywhere on the boat.

Kolt_45,

Your Nice-looking Fiberform sedan may be quite a bit older than you think. - Perhaps in the late 1960s.

yours, satx

I'm very ok with that... I guess I am just wondering what I should do about the registration and so on... Also... I'd like to find out more about it... Anyone know of any serial number decoder for this boat?