Sweet Cheryl

1982 Boston Whaler 15 Sport Page 1

What's a Boston Whaler? It's not an answer Mike knew when he first began to ponder the purchase of a small boat, although Cheryl says she recalls TV commercials featuring a Whaler staying afloat when cut in half. Mike was blissfully ignorant, somehow, of the boat brand (well, practically all boat brands, to be fair) as he began reading about boats on the various Internet forums and newsgroups devoted to the subject. Time and again, however, he would read the comments from owners of other type of boats comparing their own craft to Boston Whalers. Hmmm, thought Mike, Boston Whaler must be the standard by which all boats are compared. An overgeneralization to be sure, but not one without merit. Seeking online information about Whalers led Mike to the continuousWave Web site, which sealed the deal: Mike and Cheryl would start looking for a Boston Whaler.

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Finding Our Boat

New or used? That was the early question to answer, and at first Mike was pretty intent on buying a new 2003 Boston Whaler 170 Montauk -- the first year of the redesigned, beefier model. Soon enough, the realization came that our first boat should be a "pre-experienced" boat. In other words, a used boat we could afford, just to see how we liked owning a boat. A classic 17 Montauk seemed the likely candidate, although Mike also liked the family-friendly (from a seating standpoint) layout of the classic 17 Newport. Then we found this 1982 17 Sport locally, and the price was very right. Mike made the deal, and he brought the boat home on Christmas Eve, 2002. Merry Christmas! Here's how the boat looked on the dealer lot, where a previous owner traded it in on a much larger boat. (Note the big, new Contender in back.)

Needs Work, But Great Potential

The boat needed a lot of TLC and elbow grease. It's not apparent from this "before" angle, but the deck was coated with difficult-to-remove grease and gasoline stains. No product from the boat store worked, but coating the deck with Easy Off oven cleaner (not the lemon kind, unless you want a yellow boat) lifted off the troublesome stains in short order. This is an aggressive way of cleaning fiberglass and gelcoat, so don't use it unless you need the big guns. Repeated applications could be damaging, we feel. We were glad to find a 15 Sport with the optional bow rail, for safety and aesthetics. Mike determined right away that the factory-installed interior would be terrible for his back. He would raise the rear thwart seat and replace the original low side console with something more ergonomic. More power to anyone who wants to keep his boat all original, but in our opinion Whaler never came up with an ideal interior solution for its 15-foot hulls. The new Sport 150 models seem to suffer the same interior shortcomings, in our view.

Pretty Smile, Pretty Boat

Skipping ahead a bit, Cheryl takes the helm in one of our first outings, right after Mike installed the Ritchie compass atop the new console. The console is the small center console option from Carolina Skiff. A stainless steel destroyer wheel is Mike's steering wheel of choice.

On the Beach

Early in our first season on the water, here Sweet Cheryl is beached on the north end of Gravine Island in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. The old (1982?) Johnson 50 was never trustworthy power for us, having gotten us into trouble more than once due to starting problems. Here you see Mike has mounted a small kicker for "just in case." A Coleman stainless cooler in back provides plenty of dry storage, and you see the 8-foot VHF antenna mounted to the side rail.

A Customized Interior

Here is a closer view of the revised interior, showing the Carolina Skiff console mounted slightly starboard of center to allow a plenty-wide passage fore and aft on the port side. Mike installed the side grab rail and fire extinguisher pocket. This photograph was taken before we had the seat cushions made, so you can get a good look at the woodwork. Some of the wood is original -- stripped and refinished by Mike. Some of it is new mahogany to replace the pieces that were too damaged to reuse. Note the 18-gallon Tempo fuel tank under the rear seat, which has been raised and made stronger with extra framing.

At the Helm

Mike mounted the new fiberglass console starboard of center and fashioned a mahogany radio shelf to fill the gap between the starboard side and the side of the boat. The Ritchie compass, a nice Garmin 176 GPS unit and a cheap Garmin fishfinder sit atop the console. In the boat's second season following the refit, Mike upgraded the SONAR to a nicer color Lowrance unit. The gauges and electrical panel were also upgraded again in the second season, so this picture has become rather quite out of date.

Cool Weather Boating

The 15 Sport is easy to trailer even with a modest tow vehicle. We've hauled it all over the place behind a Ford Ranger. Here, Cheryl is wearing a warm coat during a wintertime sojourn up to Alabama's Logan Martin Lake.

New Top, New Cushions

Back on the Alabama Gulf Coast later in our first season, Sweet Cheryl boasts a new bimini top made by a local fabricator and seat and bow cushions made by Hall's Nautical. The front of the console, which has a cushion on it as well, makes for an excellent back rest for a passenger sitting on the forward thwart seat. Mike kept the front seat low for best visibility from the helm when carrying passengers up front.

First Whaler Rendezvous

Here's another view of the boat on the beach at Hatchet Point during a 2003 Whaler owners' rendezvous near the Alabama-Florida line. The Coleman stainless cooler in back is for dry storage, but the Igloo plastic cooler in front is loaded down with cool beverages on this outing. Note that the bimini top is mounted to the side rails and not the gunwales -- an atypical installation that has worked well for us.

Sweet Cheryl Beached

We had the smallest Whaler at this particular rendezvous. The 16- and 17-foot boats kept their stations pretty well on the beach, but our little 15-foot boat floated around like a leaf on a pond. Thank goodness for the anchor buried in the sand.

A Friendly Cruise

Our good friend J.D. and his daughter, Bronwen, are enjoying the new bow cushion during a pleasant cruise up Alabama's Fish River, on the eastern side of Mobile Bay.

Going For a Boat Ride

Sisters Anna, left, and Abigail smile big during a cruise around Mobile Bay late in the summer of 2003. The red burgee flaps in the wind, showing the pride of ownership that goes with being a caretaker of a classic Boston Whaler boat.

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Contents (c) 2004 Mike Brantley This page was created on Monday, October 25, 2004.