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I don't know of many other brands of boat much less anything of collectible or practical value that we put so much time, labor, and well, money into other than a Boston Whaler. I know that even if I could buy a "classic" 15' striper or 19' Outrage decked out with the finest mahogany interior, chromed brass, stainless fixtures and hardware, teak hatches and doors, that they would cost an astronomical amount. I know our friends and neighbors that watch us go through a modification or a restoration wonder why we don't just go down to the local marine dealer and buy a new boat. But we know the difference. That some, or at least the ones in my price range are rigged merely for price point. Pretty much under powered and generically propped, and everything that is chromed is plastic or pot metal. But when we get our whaler completed, and it turns out like new, we know that no amount of money could buy that kind of quality and craftsmanship. If the restoration on my whaler costs as much as a whaler wannabe like so many boat manufacturers have come to be, I'll take the real thing.

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My Pop calls it Whaleritis!

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It was a balmy 36 degrees this afternoon so I crawled under the shrinkwrap and removed the console louvre teak doors from my newly acquired 1986 Montauk. The temperature started to drop and the wind picked up, but I decided to begin sanding the teak. My hands started to freeze so I gave up, but not before gaining satisfaction that I am another step closer in my quest to restore this Boston Whaler to like new condition. There is no cure for this obsession other than just working towards perfection!

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So far, there are 27,179 members on this website, I am not alone in my endeavor. Every time I hear a acquaintance or co-worker mention their brother-in-law or something has a whaler sitting in the back of a field somewhere rotting my heart sinks.

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I remember when whaler central had 7,000 members.

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Have you heard of OCB? I admit to suffering from BWOCB. I can't help it it's a disorder!

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My third Whaler was delivered this morning!

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I'm 68 years old and have built and restored things my whole life. I know first hand what a drawn out affair it is to rebuild something from the ground up and the satisfaction that comes from searching out every detail and not cutting corners. The end result usually turns into a work of art. Many people today seek instant gratification or lack the time or skills to carry out an involved restoration project.

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My Whalers have a place in my heart equal to the same affection that I have for my dogs.
Hence, I have two dogs and two Whalers. Coincidence?

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One trend I have definitely noticed with a lot of members on this site is that they like me, want to either keep, restore or replace the boat they had in their childhood or youth. I restored my grandfather's 1979 11' sport just because of all the memories the subsequent generations have and will make in the years to come. Then last year I bought a 15' standard so I could customize it into a striper model, again trying to bring back a piece of my youth.

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Nice thread Huck ! My thoughts on why we do it is cuz we know the meaning of quality..safety..timeless workmanship..more value and quality..old fashioned values..to me whaler got it right ..right from the beginning..the founder was simply brilliant..wish i had a whaler project earlier in my life..but our simple, frigal mirrocraft did it all for us on our lake up here in nh..cruising, skiing and fishing..ive summered on the maine coast for decades, and its taken me this long to get on the ocean on our own craft...I live for this boat..at the first crack of mild weather i will be launching..it really does make one wonder ..why are we so in love with our whalers.. nice thread

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I agree, it's about the craftsmanship. I have a 28 year old Outrage hull and after a few thousand dollars and a lot of elbow grease it's a great boat. there aren't too many hulls you can say that about. Plus the fact that my 18' hull rides as good as many 20' hulls. The design is timeless and it always turns heads where ever you go. It's a beautiful Hull!

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My Outrage 18 is 25 years old and I could not have wrote it any better myself.

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X2 I have spring fever real bad . Just this week I got a Lowrance gps/chartplotter and ordered replacement decals for my Outboard for the much needed spring repaint. I have most of the wood off the interior and stripped of varnish. I only have to order my new rub rail when my wallet recovers.

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I could only imagine what it's like to be in those northern latitudes. Poor ol weatherly is having to work between knuckle freezing days when it is a cool 65 here. Because of that, I'm almost done with my custom striper, but I will also have to wait for the savings account to recover before I get motor decals.

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yea we like to "boat" year around but when the water is "hard" and you can't apply paint or even strip varnish because it is freezing(been there done that) all we can do is read these threads and wish for spring to start early.

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I took my wood trim off the boat and am working on it in the basement.

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Got to be careful when re fitting your Whaler..
You could like I have, try to recapture the original "brand new" shape and in this quest spend way too much time and money doing it.
The refit will never be quite and totally done.There always will be some obscure details to be addressed.The payback will dwell in the fact that the more you will look at the boat ,the better the boat will look.
And in the end will be a monument to your good taste and of your artistic expressions.

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Ritzy, you are so correct. After I got the gelcoat looking good the wood looked bad. After the wood is done the faded outboard needs painted and then the stained rubrail will look bad. I guess that is the fun of it within reason while not trying to make it look brand new.

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Exactly ritzy and wannabe, and also don't make a museum piece, unless you are trying to do so. I want a boat that looks good and that i can catch bait off the bow of and not cringe every time a net full of mud and oyster shells hit the deck.

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In my case, I bought a nice 1986 Outrage 18 like I always wanted...used it, then made the mistake of putting it on a new custom built trailer that actually fit the boat. Next thing I knew I started noticing all the flaws in the gelcoat, flaws in the wood finish, etc., etc. - next thing I know I really NEED 10000 in electronics...now I have the boat under COMPLETE refit to my custom specs !!! I never knew I was going to go this far when I first purchased this boat...I don't really know why I am doing it now, I really want the rest of the boat I always wanted...I think it just happens. You keep using the Whaler and you see that it sure would be nice to have this or that, the next thing you know your just doing stuff to adapt the boat to exactly what you want to do with it. I don't expect this round of restoration and refit to be completed until April at this point due to wet weather conditions on the TX coast during the 1st part of this year - can't do the glass work in damp cold conditions - I bet I think of more stuff I wanna do within 3 months of putting it all to use after I finally fet it back!

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And in the Spirit 's moment..
What would we do without our special Whaler feel good moments?
Probably something else but never quite the same as having fun doing and chatting about it!

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I agree, to briefly explain my Whaler illness...when I was young my friend had a 13 SS with a 40. I had a 12' sears Jon boat with a 5 hp tiller that sunk to the bottom every time I left it in the water overnight. Since then I purchased a new 1995 Wahoo! 1750 CC, that was restored, customized and re-powered last year (where I got the 90 for the 15). Fast forward to 2009, the last new boat I owned, was a Fountain 34 CC, named Black Magic, got about ten hours on it and it was stolen from my dock the day after my 33rd birthday. It was never recovered. Since then I've been easing back into boating. The 9' tender and the 15' Sport I'm doing are for my younger boys. They are learning on the 9' now. My projects are above average, simply because I am in love with the 80's small Whalers, and when I was able to finally buy one, I was determined to make the boats better than the day they were built, essentially creating unsellable heirlooms, that I hope will last longer than I. Eric, the gentleman that builds these boats, shares the feeling, and he too enjoys the fact that I have never been one to settle for "stock". The boats are used constantly, detailed always, and stored indoors in a warehouse so they won't get stolen. If the boats get damaged, they get fixed!