The Ol' Gill Getter

[Nathanael Deloach]

Recently I found myself with some extra time as I had been laid off from my job. After getting some things done around the house, the garage reorganized and of course some job searching. I found myself brainstorming about what I could do with my boat. I had recently purchased a 1975 14' Starcraft Aluminum hull boat with 4 bench seats in it.
The boat I owned previously (The Ol' Gill Getter) was a 1965 14' Crosby fiber glass hull boat. It finally got to many cracks in the hull and had to be retired. I liked it because it only had one bench seat, a flat floor and a platform up at the bow. It was really easy to move around in and was little kid friendly. So I decided to "customize" my Starcraft giving it a floor and a platform with storage compartments. The below pictures are the beginning and end result.
I spent very little money because all I needed was the ply wood and carpet which ended up around $30. The trolling motor and depth finder I already had. The rest was sweat equity. It was nice to put those fabrication skills I had learned from previous jobs to good use. The boat isn't perfect and it won't win awards but there is nothing better than having the freedom to go hit the lake with some comfort and watching your son real in another fish.

...................You know, I do miss The Ol' Gill Getter (may she rest in peace) It was my first boat, got my son his first fish, and helped me re-fall in love with fishing. The memories made will forever be engrained in me, but I know that with The Ol' Gill Getter 2 there will be a lot more memories to come.

[Don Swearingen]

Really cool! You should be proud.