Make Your Own Classic Boat History.

With all the hub bub about preservation vs rebuilding I thought, if you are going to rebuild every plank of wood on your boat, why stop there. Rebuild the boats history as well. Here are the simple steps. First you need a boat. It really doesn’t matter what kind of shape its in because your going to make up a story anyway. You need to do some research, sorry, but even counterfeiters need to know what they are doing. Make sure when you add stuff you do it in the period that your new treasure is supposed to be from. You know, correct period lights that sort of stuff. .. OK that’s the hard part. You need documents. So, tell the marine title people what ever you want. Under 12-15 feet they don’t care, considering most states back in the day required no paperwork. OK so now you have a spanking new 1950 something or other. With papers to prove it.
Now, you need a story. Like it belonged to a fighter pilot, that sort of thing. It needs a name, the kind of name that is from that time. And some graphics. All paint for gods sake, no vinyl.. Be bold, remember these boats were just boats, not the shrines they are today.
Now it gets tricky. You need photos, because according to some out there all the experts just look at photos. So lets make some photos. Here is the 3 step method to doing so.
1st take a shot of your boat. Put stuff in the shot, off the center kinda out of the way that says 1950, or when ever.
2. You need Photo shop for this part. Sorry, it ain’t cheap being a cheat!! De saturate the color and take out red. Red fades fast on old prints. Then find an old photo album. Scan the old shots in there so you match the paper, now strip in the faded shots into the paper. Add some grain and bingo, you have photo proof. Add in some other shots while your at it. Some Black and white ones, those add texture to the story.So there you have it. Instant history. You can now brag about your cool boat. Possibly even write a book and have a fancy web site, all devoted to you and your amazing collection of historic boats. When folks speak up and cry foul. Stand your ground, use anything to back up your mission. Safety and concern for structural issues is always a good one. Who can argue with that? After all, all you were doing was restoring the boat to her former self. The paper work, well, you restored that as well.