Stars & Stripes Ski Nautique ???

Art C.: thanks for responding. It sounds like the bottom line of your response is that there isn’t any information in the CC Florida files about the details of the boat and you don’t have any personal knowledge of it either. The shipping invoice that does exist, matches the boat and timeline so I guess that confirmation is good. It’s too bad more detail information isn’t there as I was hoping for that.

If additional detailing was done at Correct Craft West, would records exist of that?

For those with interest in this story, please read on as the lead I’ve been following did turn up additional information.

So in the log book records, the entry right under the one about adding color to windshield frame, was an entry about getting the name and stripes refurbished. This entry includes the name Jerry Heinrich and a phone number. I’m thinking the odds of me being able to reach the painter are about a million to one but nevertheless, I give it a try.

Lo and behold, Jerry H. answers the phone. When I asked if he remembered doing some paint work on a boat in 1978, his response was that he was painting several hundred boats a year back then. When I included that it was a Ski Nautique with stars and stripes on it, he responded that of course he remembered the boat because it was so unique. I asked if the stars and stripes were already on the boat, he said, absolutely, all he did was touchup work where paint was faded or chipped. I asked about the flames and he said that those were already on the boat and not his work.

As a next step, I decided it would be good to have those people who possessed the boat back in the 1970’s verify first hand that it looks the same now as then. I made arrangements to meet with Jerry H. and he was also able to have Art and Angie Rodrigues be there as well. Jerry H. was also an active member of the Santa Clara Ski club back then.

All three people inspected the boat closely. Bottom line, the paint work on the boat today still matches what it did when it was delivered from the CC dealer. The stars and stripes Ski Nautique is what was there when Art and Angie took possession of the boat as first owners.

Jerry H. confirm that he only did touchup work to the horizontal stripes and Ski Nautique name. Jerry H. identified that he there was some paint work that was his and it is the CA id up on the bow. The font/style on these characters is a style he still uses today and in fact matches the style on his personal boat.

Of course I had to capture the moment, so here’s a picture of these folks with the boat today.



Art on left, Angie middle, and Jerry H. on right

While inspecting the boat, Angie recalled some additional information that may open some new angles for us. Her recollection is that the CC boat dealer was named Ralph Maloon and she thought the dealership was located in Sacramento, CA when they purchased the boat. In addition to the story about there being two boats with stars and stripes treatment, she remembers being told that they had also applied this same stars and stripes Ski Nautique scheme to a sign board and it was hung in a CC facility somewhere. Given the Art C. feedback, I’m guessing it wasn’t hung in a Florida building but more likely CC West (wherever that was) or a dealership building.

So, I’ll broaden the request for sightings, has anyone seen the east coast stars and stripes Ski Nautique boat or does anyone recall seeing a stars and stripes sign hanging in a CC facility? What are the odds that this sign may still exist and be hanging in some ones garage somewhere? Wouldn’t that be something?

Jerry does all the custom lettering at my buddy's boat shop in San Jose.

www.topsidemarine.com

Very fun to see the history come together. Thanks for sharing.

I said it before but I'll say it again, this thread is awesome.   I can't help but notice that the name of the dealer Angie supplied, Ralph Maloon, is startling similar to our own Mr. Ralph Meloon...does anyone know if Mr. Ralph worked in Sacramento in the mid 70s? Or is anyone on thread in a position to ask him? Maybe someone with a white and green mustang...?   

Can I favorite this thread? What a GREAT story!!!!!

It is so cool to have you here on the site Art. THANKS!

62 wood wrote: OverMyHead wrote: It is so cool to have you here on the site Art. THANKS! .............. X2!!!!

All more the reason for y'all to come on down to play on the river in March. Art hangs with us for the weekend and as we all know, is a wealth of information and history. Art, I wish there was a way to plug your brain into a hard drive and download all you know about CC but I don't think there is a computer big enough to hold all the info. Thanks for all you add to the site and the history of our beloved Correct Crafts!

Wow, now we’re cooking!!    It’s amazing how a small clue can open the door to more information and a whole new chapter unfolds.

Let me try to address the question as to whether the stars and stripes Ski Nautique graphic on the boat sides was technically possible in 1975. I’ve never questioned that myself because it appears original and given the limited numbers (2 boats) the same time/cost factors from mass production runs don’t apply.

First off, I don’t profess to be an expert in lettering/graphic applications but I have done about 10 auto paint jobs involving stripes/multi-colors/etc. and a little bit of hand painted pin striping. Most of my experience doing this paint work was in mid to late 1970s so I’m familiar with materials available back then.

I think I caused some confusion when I said there was some vinyl in the lettering. There is but all the actual letter detail like stars, red and white stripes and blue is hand painted. The vinyl portion is all background behind the letters. Because the letters are close together, the background is a solid piece for several letters. So there’s only 4 pieces of vinyl behind the 11 letters.

I think someone with a steady hand and a razor knife could have easily cut these shapes from a vinyl sheet. They did a good job of cutting smooth curves but if you look real close you can see some small wiggles in a couple of places. These are the type of thing you wouldn’t expect to see in a computer cut graphic but would in a hand done one. So I agree with consensus that a computer controlled vinyl cutter wasn’t available back then but an artist with a razor knife could easily have done this work.

Like I said, the real artistry is in the hand painted stars and stripes letters themselves. From information Art C. has provided, the Florida CC factory painted the lettering with stencils and sprayed the paint. I'm assuming this work wasn't done by that same crew. I’m still convinced that there was a limited run of this special graphic treatment that was commissioned somewhere within CC though. Now it’s a matter of tracking it down who commissioned it.   

How is it that the original owner got this particular boat? if it was so special shouldn't the original owner have some sort of documentation as to this "specialness"???

GlassSeeker wrote: if it was so special shouldn't the original owner have some sort of documentation as to this "specialness"???

Not necessarily, HW as an example, he's pretty "special", in a licking school bus windows kind of way, don't think his parents ordered him that way??

Dr Al bumped this thread today, something interesting a few posts down by member BB, Bob Bense

Thread About 75'

HMMMMMM

Been doing way too much grinding, come to think of it, can you write me a prescription doctor?? Will have to bump our Martini thread with some grinding updates!!

Bouncing this in case someone has uncovered new information.

GrayB,
If you want to light a fire under your thread again just post more detailed pics of the boat now and also more from Original Owner Art's original photos.

We're dudes we have to see pictures!!!!