The first 13-foot Boston Whaler was produced in 1958. It was developed by Richard T. Fisher and C. Raymond Hunt. The Whaler had a revolutionary design that gave the hull a gull wing or tri-hull shape rather than the traditional "V" hull found on most pleasure craft of that day.

While the hull shape was different, it's real secret was in it's hull construction. The hull was actually a sandwich of two fiberglass hulls filled with several inches of foam thus making the boat unsinkable, even if it were cut in half or shot full of holes. Whaler went on to produce a larger 16-footer followed soon by 17's , 15's, 19's, 18's , 21's and finally reaching up to 34 foot , all built with the same indestructible Whaler designed hull.

In the fall of 2000, my wife and I purchased a "classic" 16-foot Whaler that dates to 1968. It was refurbished over the winter of 2000-2001 and completed by April 2001. The photos below show how it progressed during the six months that were involved in completing the project. The actual wood working took about three months of working on weekends and could not have been done without the dedication of Master Craftsman Ralph Lasher.

September 2000 Pre-72 Whaler as she sat at Colley Marine in Virginia Beach, VA. waiting for a new home.	November 2000 Nauset console and seat parts located in Morehead City, NC before being refurbished.	January 2001 Master Craftsman Ralph Lasher works to reconstruct the 30 year old console.
January 2001 New mahogany base is assembled.	February 2001 The reconstructed console with new base and front seat.	March 2001 Mounting side rails and bow rail.
April 2001 Closeup of pilot seat and center console.	April 2001 Completed Whaler with 50 HP Merc.	Spring 2005 Refurbished Whaler with New Mills Canvas installed.

On Patrol inside of Wachapreague Inlet