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Let Me start off by introducing myself and saying Hello! My name is Randy, I am 23, and I live in central Florida. I acquired my classic 13 about a year ago and have been restoring it(with help from a buddy who worked for Sea Ray for many years). It will be hitting the water for the first time since being in my possession within the next couple weeks.
I have been all over this site as well as continuous wave trying to identified a couple of pieces of hardware that came equipped on the vessel.
The first set of hardware I am trying to identify is located in the front 1/3 of the boat on the rails. The parts are brass plates with a hole approximately 3/8 to half inch. They appear to be for oars and I have seen them on other Boston Whalers but haven't seen the part identified. The reason I question this is because they seem to be quite far forward to me.
The other set of hardware that came on it were a couple of stainless cleats that were quite small about an inch and a half long. I do not believe these are original and cannot find them listed anywhere but would hate to toss them if they are original. I would post pictures of these but I took them off around the time that I acquired the boat and currently don't remember where I stashed them. When I find them I will post pictures.
One more question. On the port side gunner rail at the back near the transom I have a vertical hole ~3/8 inch which I can't figure out a purpose for. My first thought was stern light but then that doesn't make sense (i.e. wiring would go to the outside of the boat) and I would figure it would be on the starboard side anyhow.
Those are for oars. Don't ask me why they are so far forward. Don't know about the stainless hardware. The hole was/is for wiring. I've still got some wires there. Do you have a similar hole at the bow light?
Yeah, those are oar lock holes... my 13' had them too, but they were in bad shape and during restoration I decided they weren't worth trying to replace (too difficult) and most likely pretty useless (I love to row, but a whaler is most definitely not a row boat). So I dug them out and filled the void with a block of wood and fiberglass/resin. Don't expect I'll miss them.
The second item is not original but may have been for some type of canvas top or someone installed them to tie their fenders to.
The third item may be the spot for the junction block for the stern and bow lights.
You don't mention the year of your boat but various years had these on different sides.
What side of the boat is your stern light on?
Again, not knowing the year of your boat and you did not list it in your profile, we don't know if the wires ran under the rub rail or in the hull itself.
Sorry it took so long for me to get back to this post. At the time I was not sure of the year of my vessel because of someone had painted over it and I wasn't sure of the original placing of the HIN. I just recently found it and have discovered it is a 1969.
The cleats were installed just above the step in the sides that hold the benches/rails in the front half and have come to the conclusion someone put them in for their own personal purpose. I'm almost definite now that they may have tied their fenders to it.
