Barrel Back Barn Find Big Reveal!

Driving up a dirt road

Thanks for waiting and playing along with all the fun teasers. Today is the day we introduce the planet to this amazing Barrel Back Barn Find. Last Wednesday Jimmy called me to tell me about this little speed boat he knew of in Georgia in a Dairy Barn.
We talked to Larry the owner on the phone late Wed afternoon, and by Thursday at 10 we were on the road to Jackson Georgia, 12 hours of pure fun and excitement.

We arrived late at night..a sleepless night by the way. What could it be? I had a hunch from the talk on the phone that it might be a small Barrel Back racer from the talk. We didn’t share photos but it just felt right, and Larry is a real class act. The rounded stern was the carrot for the drive. Paint and such can be added, but in the end, the fun is the journey and the gamble.
The moment caught on a short clip.

We arrived at the farm at around 8:30 AM and were hit by how this was like every barn find dream looked like. An old barn on a farm with a cool something in it. But fantasies are never exactly what you imagine. Below is a video of the actual moment we turned the corner. WOW,

Jimmy and Larry two outstanding men in their field. OK, technically its Larrys field

Cause the little brick barn was a perfect hiding place for her. Sitting there for years, decades, Heck in 15 more years, a Century! Yikes.

Oh man! Its a racer!

Well. There she was, just sitting there. My knees went weak, a real live 16ft Barrel Back Special Racer. One of the first barrel backs ever made. They only built 167 of these from 1937-1940 Also noted as the first barrel back boat. As we go closer to her, we could see that she was all there, and looking a little ..OK alot like a rat toilet. But it just looked like dream to me.

Untouched since, well we aint sure.

After we got over the emotion of actually finding a rare barrel back sitting in a barn, we started the inspection.

1977 sticker

Well.. Good News bad News. The bad-ish.- She had been fiberglassed over completely in the mid 1950’s. The good news, she is tight and very straight. So in a strange way, the fiberglass may have saved her in the Georgia heat and humidity? We will never know. She wont sweep the shows, But this little gas sucker is going to just be fun Woody Boating the way she has been used for decades.

After we struck the deal, we got to extracting and loading her on the flatbed. No way we were trusting an old trailer.

We be woody boat barning!

Next get that sucker out into the open! Here for the first time in a looooong time, she sees daylight. Imagine the 2001 Space Odyssey music!

Ok, that was shockingly easy..

Now.. If you ever have had to drag a boat onto a flatbed with tires that are peeling of the rims in Georgia summer humidity, you can relate. I recommend bring a change of cloths. Yikes, I dint know I could sweat like that. But with an ear to ear grin!

Out in the daylight.

Back up the truck.. carefully!

Lets get her loaded up.. UGH

I was shooting sweat! Ha

Flat tires add a little drama as they peel off the wheels

Larry and jimmy

Ready to go!

Hey! Thats my boat, I wondered where it was.

After 3 hours we were on the road back to Reedville to spend the weekend digging into what we had just done.  Lets talk tooth picks!

The lights on the trailer kept flicking on and off. A little tooth pick jammed into the attachment saved the day! not one issue. Toothpicks! A simple thing that saved so much!

Phew. thats a drive!

We quickly ran over to Tiffany Yachts in Burgass VA to switch trailers and get her so she can be worked on and transported.

So, not to leave you hanging around. Tomorrow we show all her goodies. Including her hull number and an amazing rare engine part. Stay tuned. What? You think I am not going to milk this for all I got. Just look here at the tease.

Oh the things you can find in the daylight! See you tomorrow!