Dad's old row boat. Restore? Any info?

Been kayaking for a while now, looking to bring the lady and the dog on the water. Found my dad's old aluminium boat on the side of his shed. I remember going out on the lake with it years ago. It's a Viking? 11.5 ft. Seems to be beat up pretty bad but I'm sure it's salvageable. I can't seem to find much info on it. Anyone know anything about this brand? Looking to see if it will be possible to get a low hp motor on the back as well.

I found this on iBoats. Maybe not any help or maybe not even the right company. Lots of companies come and go or get absorbed into larger ones and the history gets lost. It's possible I suppose whatever blue book exists for boats may have some info.



Manufacturer Information - Viking circa 1981
August 30th, 2008, 10:24 AM
This is very frustrating to me and I hope someone here can give me a hand.

I have a 1981 Viking 1660 that you can see in my avatar. I have done my best to find specifications on this boat and continue to fail. The only real solid piece of information I have been able to gather is this:

While manufacturing folding camping trailers is currently the name of the game at Viking RV, that has not always been the case. In fact, when Coachmen Industries, Inc. acquired Viking in 1968 it was not known as Viking RV. Rather, the company's name was Viking Boat Company. And, as its name reveals, the business was focused on the production of boats. In the early 1970s, the production line was expanded to include fold-down camping trailers.

In 1976 the Viking Recreational Vehicle division was technically established; its purpose was to manufacture lightweight, durable fold-down camping trailers and truck campers. The Viking Boat Company was retained as a separate division until it was sold to Murray Chris-Craft in 1982.


Aside from that I can find no information on the internet about the Viking company or their boats. I've tried contacting ChrisCraft but since buying Viking, they have undergone massive reorganization and their information had become diluted:


1980: Chris-Craft boat manufacturing operations are sold to George Dale Murray.

1982: Murray buys Viking Boat Company, renaming it Chris-Craft Sportdecks™.

1989: Outboard Marine Corporation purchases Chris-Craft Boats.

2000: OMC files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Chris- Craft operations are put on hold.

Apollo, a hardy :WELCOME: from Tin Boats to you, your Lady and the Dog.
Please complete your profile when you have time.
Knowing what part of the country you hail from helps
us give you more accurate information.

Get the boat out, clean it up, put it on some blocks, fill with water.
More than likely, you will have some leaks. Mark them with
a Sharpie Marker, drain the water, let dry.
Get some water-proof epoxy putty of your choice and Band Aid the leakers.



a good rule to follow for small boats is to never go out into the water
any further from shore than you can swim.





.

By fill with water Barefoot_Johnny means only a couple inches of water.

Personally, I prefer at least 6 to 8 inches of water - - -
when you have two people and a dog in the boat,
with some other stuff, the boat is much deeper in the
water than a couple of inches. Of which you may miss
some of the rivets on the sides that may be leakers.
I just hate any kind of leaks in a boat - it's just not natural LOL.

jus my Dos Centavos