Aroline

was

the

first

all

alloy,

aircraft

riveted

aluminum

boat

in

Canada,

and

arguably

in

the

world.

Founded

by

George

Narcisse

Giguere,

born

August

5,

1905

in

Keewatin,

Ontario,Canada,

Aroline

produced

thousands

of

practical,

affordable,

durable,

runabouts

from

the

1930's

until

the

company's

demise

in

the

early

1990's.

The

plant

was

located

at

26

Archibald

Street

in

Winnipeg,

Manitoba,

Canada.

Aroline

had

a

loyal

following

of

return

customers

who

had

come

to

realize

that

quality

doesn't

necessarily

mean

expensive,

and

the

company

went

on

to

fill

orders

worldwide.

At

it's

peak

in

the

late

1960's,

the

factory

was

employing

30

men

and

turning

out

an

average

of

one

boat

per

day,

year

around.

The

1965

price

of

$695.00

would

make

you

the

proud

owner

of

a

16'

"Cabinaire",

completely

rigged

and

delivered

to

your

home,

needing

just

the

power

to

complete

the

package.

Built

using

anodized

.080

gauge

aluminum,

sealed

with

"Plyo-bond"

and

double

riveted,

with

twice

as

many

ribs

and

keels

as

any

other

manufacturer

of

the

day,

Aroline

was

the

boat

of

choice.

Aroline,

being

the

first,

really

had

NO

competition

to

speak

of

until

"Lone

Star"

boats

of

Texas

and

a

few

others

jumped

on

the

bandwagon

in

the

early

1950's.

Soon

"StarCraft",

"Springbok","Lund","Crestliner"

and

a

myriad

of

others

ensured

that

Aroline's

market

share

would

be

shrunken

to

a

mere

shadow

of

it's

former

glory.

Nonetheless,

Aroline

managed

fine

until,

free-trade

and

shipping

tariffs

made

it

all

but

impossible

for

a

small

Canadian

boat

manufacturer

to

compete

with

the

massive

multinational

firms

sprouting

up

all

around

the

continent.

Aroline

sadly

closed

it's

doors

when

George

Giguere

at

age

90

was

too

old

to

manage the failing business and the end of an era had been reached.

Welcome

George (1957) at his beloved "Camp"

in front of Sireco 1

The

"Lake

of

the

Woods"

is

a

massive

lake

encompassing

two

Canadian

provinces

and

the

state

of

Minnesota,

boasting

65,000

miles

of

shoreline

and

14,500

islands,

and

so

George

built

a

larger

boat

to

access

his

"Camp".

It

was

a

25'

closed

canopy

inboard,

known

as

"Sireco",named

after

Echo

Bay,

where

his

"Camp"

was

located.

He

experimented

with

larger

boats

and

in

1967

launched

a

42'

aluminum

boat

for

his

own

use.

It

was named "Sireco 2".

George

spent

much

of

his

youth

fishing

and

hunting

on

"The

Lake

of

The

Woods"

and

returned

each

summer

to

his

cottage

which

he

called

his

"The

Camp"

where

he

spent

countless

hours

fishing

for

walleye

and

in

the

fall,

lake

trout,

when

he

wasn't

out

trying

a

new

hull

design,or

"tweaking"his

Aroline

Racer

the

"Speedaire"

with

a

Mercury

KG9

with

a

"quickie"

lower

end.

He

flipped

it

in

a

race

at

Lac

Du

Bonnet,

Manitoba,

on

July

1,

1952

the

day his only daughter was born, and almost drowned, ending his racing days.

Building Sireco 1 (circa 1949)

George

travelled

south

to

the

US

on

business

to

set

up

dealers

and

locate

suppliers

for

his

expanding

business.He

loved

the

American

entreprenural

spirit

and

hated

Canadian

winters,

so

in

1970

he

became

an

American

citizen

and

moved

to

Port

Charlotte,

Florida,

but

returned

every

summer

to

oversee

the

business

and

go

to

"The

Camp".

On

his

travels

South,

he

would

stop

and

go

to

the

Chicago

Boat

show,

and

in

Florida,

The

Miami

Boat

Show,

where

he

would

always

see

a

new

idea

or

innovation

that

he

would

laugh

about

to

himself,

and

when

questioned

about

it,

his

reply

would

be

"

I

tried

that

in

1940!"

followed

by

"It'll

never

work."

or

occasionally

he

would

praise

the

idea

and

immediately

go

to

work

to

improve on it.

George piloting a late 1940's Aroline Racer, The "Speedaire"

The

boat

that

Aroline

was

best

known

for

was

the

"Cabinaire",

a

16'

flat

bottom

runabout

with

a

closed

canopy

that

had

awning

style

opening

windows

on

the

front.

The

boat

was

such

a

sucess

that

it

won

first

prize

in

Milan,

Italy

at

the

"International

Boat

Show"

in

1957

for

"most

innovative

new

idea".

Thousands

of

these

little

crafts

are

still

seen

gliding

across

lakes

around

the globe.

Late 1950's "Cabinaire" The boat that won the hearts of

thousands.

George

had

many

"firsts"

in

the

boat

business,

and

not

the

least

of

which

was

the

all-alloy

aircraft

riveted

boat.

He

later

introduced

Styrofoam

floatation

to

the

boat

in

Canada,

and

had

one

of

his

new

16'

"unsinkable"

boats

brought

to

a

public

swimming

pool

in

Winnipeg,

where

he

had

three

men

lower

it

into

the

pool

and

defied

them

to

sink

it.

The

press

was

there

and

people

laughed

at

the

concept

of

a

metal

boat

that

would

float

when

capsized.

It

did.

Hidden

in

the

seating

compartments

was

the

new

"Styrofoam"

floatation.

The

boat

wouldn't

sink,

even

with

three

large

men

trying

to

push

it

down.

When

word

of

this

new

"unsinkable"

boat

hit

the

streets,

his

sales

doubled

almost

overnight!

Another Canadian first for Aroline.

Sireco II, At 42 feet is the largest Aroliner ever built

and now resides in Creighton, Saskatchewan, Canada

A 1950's Aroline "Deck Flag" showing

Early Logo

Did

you

know

that

the

original

spelling

of

Aluminum

was

actually

"Aluminium"?

The

"i"

was

dropped

at

some

point

in

North

America,

but

the

British

(and

for

that

matter

most

of

the

rest

of

the

world)

still

spell

it

with

the

extra "i"!!