Crestliner Retro Boat Restorations
Viewer Photos
Help us make this site great! Send photos of your Crestliner boat for publication on this page

1946 Larson Watercraft Seaman

Owned by Ed V. Jackson

 
   
 

   1946 Larson Watercraft Seaman

Click on images 
to enlarge

Select BACK in browser 
to return to this page

   
 
   
 
9/03
Visited with John Monahan in Little Falls
last week. He and his dad, Harold, were owners of the Larson & Crestliner
boat sales in Little Falls for many years. I am a year early on the Larson,
it's a 1946, first year of production, and it was called a Seaman. John now
has a Larson Museum in Little Falls. Picture of boat and the sign in the
boat attached (below). Either this boat is not original or a proto-type because the
Larson decal, and spray rails were not on the first boats and the bottom
came painted red, this boat has no paint.---Jim




6/03
 
Boat was purchased by Ed V Jackson in 1945 for use at our cottage on Birch Lake, Grey Eagle MN. Original power was a 6 hp Mercury. later replaced by a 10 HP Mercury Super 10 and lastly by a 10 hp Mercury Super 10 Hurricane. Most use and abuse with the boat was by myself as a teenager. I along with most of the summer residence of Birch can attest to the outstanding endurance of this boat. One of the two worst tortures were full throttle beach landings to see how far out of the water the boat could go thru the sand  without hitting the sea wall, on occasion it did. The second was jumping waves, especially with a second person in the bow and landing right on top of the crest of the next wave. Some rivets were known to be sheared by the bending force upon re-entry.
 
The boat was back to Larson's once in the 50's for new seats, air tanks, paint and addition of spray rails. The boat ran almost a minimum of  6 hours every day during the months of  June thru August until 1957 when the boat was sold with the cottage. I had completely repainted the exterior with bright red bottom and dark red sides and added a center deck removing the center seat and adding a rear cockpit steering wheel. This was one of the fastest outboards on the lake until Don Hart bought a Larson aluminum 14' double cockpit with rear mounted steering wheel and a 33 hp Evinrude. This boat, believe it was called a 'Deluxe Run-About', had to go back to Larson's for addition of a full length tab extension to eliminate the porposing problem.
 
A lot of good memories are wrapped into this little Larson .---Jim

 

(My memory may be off, but for some reason I think the serial number was #12.)
Here are a couple more pics after I built and added the deck. As a collectors item this would not add to the value of the boat, but it was sure a step up from the original fishing boat for a teenager having fun.---Jim


 Email: Jim if you have any questions or comments about this
1946 Larson Watercraft Seaman photos.

Viewer Photos 
Send photos!  Before,  in progress, & completed Crestliner restoration photos welcome. 
Add photo captions, your story & your email (if you want it listed).


Email  or mail photos to:  Pamela Matson  6198 McQuade Rd  Duluth, MN  55804   [email protected]


home