BB16 1958 new addition to fleet

[BruceDrake]

Bell Boy 16. 1958.
Saw on CL this morning. Called him. Posted on FCBC. Called him back. Made offer. Paid in evening. Lovely features.

Congrats! Gotta love those vestigial fins, so swoopy! If you should decide to replace any of the hardware, lights, seat supports etc please let me know. Thanks

[BruceDrake]

Bell Boy 16

If anyone happens to have picture of what the original bulkhead /helm looked like on this model, that would be very appreciated. Bruce

[Mark_Denis]

Nice score Bruce!

These old Bell Boys are addicting for sure. I'm starting my own small fleet with our 56 16' Express and with the new addition of the other BB 21 from Marty.

I'm going to have to keep it to 2 for now or the better half is gonna kill me!

Congrats!

[BruceDrake]

Bell Boy 16 and 21 - never too many??

If Marty still has the Bell Boy 16 hardtop you could hide it behind the 21 with ease. She might never see it... Then again you can always look for an 18. Either way you can claim they are like rocks in a field and tend to come in threes...16-18-21

[Mark_Denis]

Bruce,

Sounds like you speak from experience...

The only way I see that happening without getting in trouble is if I figure out a way to hide the third boat under the costco shelter along with the 16. She never looks in there...

Mark

[Helmar]

Bell Boy 16. 1958.
Saw on CL this morning. Called him. Posted on FCBC. Called him back. Made offer. Paid in evening. Lovely features.

Good Score Bruce. Nice find for sure.

[Peter_Crowl]

Bruce,

Sounds like you speak from experience...

The only way I see that happening without getting in trouble is if I figure out a way to hide the third boat under the costco shelter along with the 16. She never looks in there...

Mark

I never play Hide the Boat....when I tell her I've found another one she says "Wow Honey..that's great!"

Peter
A lucky man
in Denver

[Eduardo]

That's one sexy cruiser Bruce. I like. Congrats.

Sent you a PM.

Eduardo

That is one nicely designed fintastic boat. Great score!

Now about this hiding the boat business...I'm already seeing into the future and wondering how to eventually hide one of these "project" beauties from my husband. Not that I currently have a clue about what I would do with a "project" boat, but that's not the point. Looks like it is more about the hunt, the thrill of the find, and the possibilities....

This is going to be an issue, I can see it coming. Sice I don't have anywhere to hide a boat (other than the blackberries cause he NEVER goes in there) guess it will all come down to negotiating. Which wives do very well

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Photos of Another '58 BB16...

Bruce -

I don't have shots showing an original helm, but here are three photos of a 1958 Bell Boy 16 express I had a few years ago. My guess at the time was that there had been an original steering console...which may have been removed by a previous owner and replaced with a board that was mounted flush against the cabin bulkhead...maybe to save space in the small cockpit.

As you can see, the boat had a very nice-looking steering wheel, however!

To Lauryn, the Park-'n-Hide solution is acreage, lots of acreage. Unfortunately, most of don't have endless expanses of flat parking space, so we turn to commercial storage lots and friends who have a little extra room on their property. I've only got five boats at home on our .6-acre property, but there are several at the boatshop, about a dozen at a nearby commercial storage lot ($25 per boat per month), and an uncounted fleet down at Joe's place. (No, don't ask--he's already beyond capacity!)

- Marty

[BruceDrake]

Bb16

Marty
When I compare your sideview with mine, in the "how do the pictures differ category?", I don't recall a cabin hatch on mine and the horn sits in the middle of where one would be. Yours obviously has a hatch.

I just went back to the brochures pages in the fiberglassics link to see what years they made this model and whether hatches appear on some and not others. Looks like mine is a 1958 and yours was a 1959 since 1959 clearly had a hatch. 1959 seems to have smaller fins as well.