Hello All, My name is Jeff & I collect and restore Uniflite's

[Jeff A.]

I have been looking at this classic boat forum for a while now and finally decided to join. My latest restoration is a Red 1957 17' Uniflite hull #20. I have also restored a 14' Uniflite and am in the process of restoring a 1959 17' Express Uniflite. My dad and I have a 42' Uniflite. I knew Art Nordtvedt and Uniflite's are just a great piece of Bellingham History. Looking forward to talking with other Uniflite owners.

[michael pingatore]

greetings jeff welcome..mike pingatore in seattle 1960 17 ft express

[Helmar]

Welcome aboard Jeff.
This wasn't intended to be a Uniflite forum but hey, its a Classic and that is what we do.
We know more about Bell Boys and Skagits history then we do about the Uniflites it seems.
What information we have has been brought to us by our members.

I had NO idea they had any of these left until I seen must of been 3 years ago, John Nelsons 17 Uniflite when we did the Opening Day Parade in Seattle.. One of out members spotted another one for sale and I was able to get it from him and do a partial restore..
At that point, the only information available was what Fiberglassics had, which was not much either.
I did find a Uniflite, kind of forum, but it was all snooty people.
I am one of these people that demand the same respect as the yacht operators do..(Another story alltogether on how I was going to take my Skagit 20 offshore log splitter bow and get up to ramming speed)
We have all kinds of boats and now that mine has showed up on the forum, we have had others start to appear which is nice....
Its nice to see more in the Uniflites. Just wish we had more information...
Got any to share ?

[Steve_Kiesel]

Jeff, looking forward to hearing more about your Uniflites. Thanks for supporting the club/website.

[Kelly]

All right then! I'm glad to see another Uniflite guy since, as Helmar said, we don't have a lot of info about them. I'm excited to learn from you and all the other Uniflite owners. It's fun owning a local to WA boat!

[Helmar]

The one big thing is Pictures to share...
We have a Gallery that is wide open to load up under your user name or, just flat post some there.
Also, you can post I believe I have set up to 12 or more right here...


Its really a shame that we don't have more information. I too had been around Art and Marty even did a taped interview with him and (??crap, sorry).
Seems as he did not remember much about the Uniflites..

Maybe Marty can correct me here, I hope.

Oh, and Hull Number 20 ??
I know over the years, stuff like that gets cover over, sanded off or whatever, but were do you look ??
I know on some of the Bell Boys, you look on the starboard side, half way down under the windshield or dash area and it most likely will be painted over.
Skagits, port side on the inside of the transom up high...

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

FYI The Port of Friday Harbor has a Uniflite that they will be auctioning off for non-payment of moorage. I think it's a 28 footer. I'll take a couple pictures and post them here....

Tim

[61_express]

Hey good to see a few more being restored. Haven't seen the red/white combo on an express yet.

[TheBronze]

Welcome! While we have had a variety of boats to share our restoration efforts with over the years, I for one am glad to see some of the recent activity around the smaller Uniflites. Keep em coming!

[Bflaherty]

FYI The Port of Friday Harbor has a Uniflite that they will be auctioning off for non-payment of moorage. I think it's a 28 footer. I'll take a couple pictures and post them here....

Tim

According to the port website the Uniflite was auctioned last Friday (1-17-14)... Starting bid was a mere $3,275!! My guess is that if it was worth owning, someone bought it as these Uniflite cruisers don't sit on the market for very long.

[Jeff A.]

Welcome aboard Jeff.
This wasn't intended to be a Uniflite forum but hey, its a Classic and that is what we do.
We know more about Bell Boys and Skagits history then we do about the Uniflites it seems.
What information we have has been brought to us by our members.

I had NO idea they had any of these left until I seen must of been 3 years ago, John Nelsons 17 Uniflite when we did the Opening Day Parade in Seattle.. One of out members spotted another one for sale and I was able to get it from him and do a partial restore..
At that point, the only information available was what Fiberglassics had, which was not much either.
I did find a Uniflite, kind of forum, but it was all snooty people.
I am one of these people that demand the same respect as the yacht operators do..(Another story alltogether on how I was going to take my Skagit 20 offshore log splitter bow and get up to ramming speed)
We have all kinds of boats and now that mine has showed up on the forum, we have had others start to appear which is nice....
Its nice to see more in the Uniflites. Just wish we had more information...
Got any to share ?

The one big thing is Pictures to share...
We have a Gallery that is wide open to load up under your user name or, just flat post some there.
Also, you can post I believe I have set up to 12 or more right here...


Its really a shame that we don't have more information. I too had been around Art and Marty even did a taped interview with him and (??crap, sorry).
Seems as he did not remember much about the Uniflites..

Maybe Marty can correct me here, I hope.

Oh, and Hull Number 20 ??
I know over the years, stuff like that gets cover over, sanded off or whatever, but were do you look ??
I know on some of the Bell Boys, you look on the starboard side, half way down under the windshield or dash area and it most likely will be painted over.
Skagits, port side on the inside of the transom up high...

The one big thing is Pictures to share...
We have a Gallery that is wide open to load up under your user name or, just flat post some there.
Also, you can post I believe I have set up to 12 or more right here...


Its really a shame that we don't have more information. I too had been around Art and Marty even did a taped interview with him and (??crap, sorry).
Seems as he did not remember much about the Uniflites..

Maybe Marty can correct me here, I hope.

Oh, and Hull Number 20 ??
I know over the years, stuff like that gets cover over, sanded off or whatever, but were do you look ??
I know on some of the Bell Boys, you look on the starboard side, half way down under the windshield or dash area and it most likely will be painted over.
Skagits, port side on the inside of the transom up high...

[arejay]

I have been looking at this classic boat forum for a while now and finally decided to join. My latest restoration is a Red 1957 17' Uniflite hull #20. I have also restored a 14' Uniflite and am in the process of restoring a 1959 17' Express Uniflite. My dad and I have a 42' Uniflite. I knew Art Nordtvedt and Uniflite's are just a great piece of Bellingham History. Looking forward to talking with other Uniflite owners.

welcome Jeff

[Kelly]

Hey Jeff, just checking in to see if you're still around. Haven't heard anything from you and was really looking forward to seeing some pictures and hearing more about these early Uniflites. Hope you come back around soon!

[Helmar]

I have been looking at this classic boat forum for a while now and finally decided to join. My latest restoration is a Red 1957 17' Uniflite hull #20. I have also restored a 14' Uniflite and am in the process of restoring a 1959 17' Express Uniflite. My dad and I have a 42' Uniflite. I knew Art Nordtvedt and Uniflite's are just a great piece of Bellingham History. Looking forward to talking with other Uniflite owners.

Hi Jeff.
I noticed you said you have Hull #20....How did you determine you had #20?

[MatsuAKboater]

Jeff, I too, am interested in hearing more about the Uniflite and seeing some photos.