posted 02-16-2003 11:46 PM ET (US)            

There are several different ways to determine which model of Boston Whaler you have.

The first and perhaps most fun and rewarding is to peruse this web site. There is a tremendous amount of discussion of the various models in the FORUM archives. There is also the Reference section http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/ of this site that discusses many of the different models through the years. In the case of the 13' and 16'/17' hulls, there are even lists of hull numbers to help determine what year a given hull is.

Then there is the Cetacea section http://continuouswave.com/whaler/cetacea/ with hundreds and hundreds of photos of Whalers, all of them captioned with the size and model shown.

You can also buy one of my Boston Whaler Catalog Collections on CD-ROM. tomwclark.com/whalercdrom/htm This is one of the great uses for this collection. By having all the catalogs available to you, you can go back and see exactly what you have and how it was optioned and equipped.

You could also just post a photo somewhere and post a link to it and we will tell you what you have. You may also email a photo to someone for an identification. You may email one to me if you like.

You can also take the hull number you have and send it to Boston Whaler and they can, in most cases, look it up in their records and tell you exactly what model it was and when it left the factory and where it was shipped to.

But for starters, I can tell you that if it is a 1966 model then it is one of two different hulls. It is either a 13' or a 16'. If it is a 13 then it is either a Standard 13 or a Sport 13. If it is a 16" then it is a Currituck, Nauset, Eastport or Sakonnet, unless it was a custom configured boat bought as a bare hull or converted later (this is a fairly common occurrence). It would have been blue on the inside.

The stenciled number on the hull will not by itself tell you what model the boat was. It can only identify the hull size and the year it was made.