Oh, God, Not Again!
U-22 for sale on ebay and craigslist
Last night I got an received an email from fellow Woody Boater Ken Miller with an ebay link. On the surface, looks like a nice U22 for sale on ebay. But read the copy.. Now to be fare, and we always are. I think what the seller meant to say was, it’s just like the boat used in the film on golden pond.
The headline is right, the copy is strange.
The U22 is priced well, and looks cool with the black trim. Priced at $29,000 on Craigslist. Same copy. Baby Ruth has a cool history on it’s own, the black trim and off white interior is a very nice resto mod look. but the sort of “just like on Golden Pond” reference is the reason a lot of people think there are so many of them out there. We here at Woody Boater spent two years digging all this info out in the open, with Pat Curtin, the only person that knew the real story. The actual U22 – 1802 is up in Minnesota, and U22 -1460 the main picture boat is at Katz’s Marina in New Jersey and is NOT for sale. You can see it with Mariah the US mail boat in the show room.
The official letter.
Thayer IV U22-1460 all restored in Florida two years ago. Pat Curtin, seated in the back with the Nancy, owner that had the boat saved for close to 30 years.
Now, for the folks that don’t know what in the heck I am talking about.Here is the story from when we broke the story.
https://www.woodyboater.com/barn-finds/the-rumored-3rd-thayer-iv-the-barn-find-of-the-decade/
You can fish around Woody Boater if you are into this. It gets a tad insane. So Frank Miklos did a massive scene by scene, frame by frame investigation.
Here is a link to Franks story on the Century Boat Clubs website.
http://centuryclassicpowerboat.com/OGP/ogp/ogp.htm
Doodie!
Nope, just a Baby Ruth
Too bad the ad is slightly (and seemingly unintentionally) disingenuous on the point raised because otherwise, it is well documented and better presented than the majority of boats we see for sale. At least he has some decent pictures and a good number of them. It also seems well priced. Upon careful reading, there appears no doubt that the seller is not claiming that this is “the” OGP boat. I hope it moves, and the buyer enjoys it for what it seems to be – a nice user U 22.
Among the other cloudy statements he claims it is Chrysler powered. The photos show a Chris-Craft M series.
I agree Paul, it is a nicely presented boat, being well shown and for the price of 29K very reasonably priced. I would strongly earge anyone interested in it to have it looked at though. It is an older restoration. But these U22’s are going up fast in value. The other thing thats great about this one.
What about the 3rd one that was rotting outside a bar in the Florida keys 20 some years ago?
Jim, I had read in the past that the 3rd boat in front of the Motel, was hauled to the dump, infested with termites. Can this be backed up by any one out there? We all wonder.
From what we were told, that is the truth. We did not see it hauled there. I know that several parts though including a extremely valuable prop from the crash boat was saved and signed by Hepburn and Fonda.
Interesting that the boat is “Baby Ruth” but in the misleading text she is referred to as “Babe Ruth”.
Very nice looking boat though!
“and now for something completely different”
just got my new “boating” magazine, attached was the 2014 towing guide booklet (didnt read it)
did you get a tow truck, if so i mssed the post.
The new tow boat for Woody Boater will soon be announced. Ford? Chevy? Dodge? It’s all still up in the air.
Sounds like a Boeing.
Wait, you are getting a TOW BOAT? Will it be amphib or are you still looking at a truck as well? 🙂
This boat was owned for many years by a loyal member of the Philadelphia ACBS Chapter. Unfortunately he got to the age where he could no longer enjoy it and his children had no interest. He tried to sell it through most of the usual venues with no luck at any price. The boat was eventually sold for well under $10,000. I saw the boat at the Atlantic City Classic Car Auction just recently where it was for sale for the same asking price as noted here. It is in quite rough condition and has been a salt water boat for a long time. The name, which has now been removed, was Baby Ruth. The engine is an MBL
AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY!
Are you the new Paul Harvey of Woodyboaterville?
Babe Ruth is a 1950 Chris Craft hull #U-22-1802, and probably the most iconic Chris Craft mahogany boat ever built, thanks to her appearance in the 1981 Academy Awared-winning movie, “On Golden Pond.”
Flippers should be careful not to get caught in obvious lies in public. ‘jus sayin….
Troy, were you at the car show? How did you miss this F-Car hottie?
I get around JIMMUH!
Got my crew working on the F Car today!
Sorry to hear it was “recently ‘displaced’ at the Atlantic City NJ Classis Car Show.”
Matt if you have indeed not purchased a truck by now consider a double cab Tundra, We purchased one a year ago and could not be happier. 17mpg on the road with no load. After looking at F250’s for a couple of years and reading their forums about reliability problems I started looking at the Tundra, It will pull 10,000 lbs with the tow package and with the 5.7 v8 has 385 hp, you can add a factory supercharger to boost the hp up to 510, plenty enough to pull most boats we would be using and great reliability, ck Consumer reports for the latest car edition for this info.
Thanks Ronald. My neighbor has one with the blower on it. Its INSANE! Over the top performance and cool as hell. I am a Chevy Ford person though.
I have 28hp Yugo for sale (adoption)
Sorry to hear about the Golden Pond boat at the Holiday Inn at Key Largo….When you consider there are no registered antique boaters between Miami and Key West, I suppose it isn’t surprising that no one was on top of it. If I’d have known, I’d have gone and gotten it, had the termite people purify it and put in a sand box here at Carrabelle Beach. Shoot, it might have inspired me to get a Hooters or Twin Peaks franchise and built a bar round it. The boat certainly would have been a draw.
I remember seeing the U22 ‘crash boat’ set up like this in Key Largo…I was working the Burger Boat Rendezvous at the Ocean Reef Club nearby, and the boatyard crew stayed at this Holiday Inn where the Chris-Craft was.
She was fully exposed to the Florida elements and was a pretty crispy critter way back in ’95…I’m sorry she was lost, but she gave her life for a really great scene in the movie. I understand Katharine Hepburn did all her own swimming and diving to rescue Billy and Norman from that boulder!
U22’s are wonderful all-rounder boats, movie-stars or not.
Here’s another view of the lost ‘crash boat’:
Or, you read about both of them in my book!