TOPIC: 1965 StarCraft DelRay

Please read the BOAT STORY file attachment!

Wonderful story. Glad you are using her the way she was meant to be used. No trailer queen but looks pretty darn good to my eye. Beautiful boat. Mike

Thanks Mike,
The pics really don't show the boat that well. I need to take some photo lessons from Houston.

pete,your delray is in mint condition,its a beauty,i couldnt read your story,im on dialup out here in the country,but the boat is fantastic,john

Awesome boat Pete, thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks for the kind words yall! And John I will e-mail you the boat story.

john-gibson wrote:

pete,your delray is in mint condition,its a beauty,i couldnt read your story,im on dialup out here in the country,but the boat is fantastic,john

Here's the story for the dial up guys:

The Story
In 1990 I was looking in the local news paper in the very small town where I lived and farm the ad said boat for sale $1000.00. So it was a rain out day for farming so I drove over there and met with the gentleman asked him about the boat he said lets go take a look. So we went out to the small tobacco barn (used to dry tobacco) in the back and there was a boat with a custom canvas cover snapped down on it with about 2” of tobacco dust on it. We removed the cover and to my surprise the boat looked new! I asked the man when was it last in the water? He tells me 1965 I asked what happened? He tells me that his three children received a new car and boat when they graduated from high school and this was his daughters boat. The two older boys had since received larger boats and she was not satisfied with the small boat So he went and purchased her another boat and this one was covered and stored in the barn until now. So without hesitation I asked if he would take $800.00 for the boat and we settled on $850.00. I aired up the tires and pulled her home.

The Boat
1965 Starcraft Model DelRay with a 1965 75 h.p. Johnson electric shift Sea Horse.
We ran the boat for the next two seasons with the Johnson and I bought a 1974 650 Merc 3 cyl new rebuild from my uncle and installed it. The engine change was due to the weight vs. horsepower of the Johnson and the bad news I was told about the electric shift. The little boat really came ALIVE with the Merc. I need tilt and trim badly (been air born in choppy water).

The Modifications on the boat
I installed a bilge pump; several stainless steel bolts, nuts, and screws. Replaced the stern light (I broke the original) and a stereo. In 2001 the seats started to come apart at the corner bead so a friend gave me the “get me by” seats until I can get the originals re upholstered. The rest of the boat is original including the gel coat.

Present day
The boat is starting to show her age with it being a daily driver. I need to send some of the chrome out this winter to be re chromed. The bimini top is getting very thin. She has a couple of nicks and scrapes but nothing serious. She has pulled a many of skiers and tubers. We (my fiancé) and I have a great time with the little boat we play 60’s music on the stereo as we cruse around.

Pete aka DelRay

THANK YOU!! Mr. Classicfins for the story post

Pete, congratulations on your Starcraft find. I really enjoyed your story; stories like this are one of the reasons why this hobbie is so great. So thanks for sharing.

Speaking of Starcrafts, I have one that is very similar to yours but mine is a '65 Bahama. It was my second glassic purchased in October of '05. I looked over your very clean glassic, and other than the seats, your Del Ray is identical. I have a '66 Starcraft brochure at home; I wander what the diffrence are between the Bahama and the Del Ray. Did yours come with a Shoreline trailer?

I also found mine in all original condition and locally here in Sacramento, CA. The only thing I changed was the brittle steering cables and added a NOS Sparton horn. I also contemplated removing the motor and replacing with a very clean '82 Merc 50hp that I have, though many times I thought about it, I decided against it. The original motor, '65 EV Fat 75 with an electric lower unit, runs like new and is so reliable, I just could not break up the original package. Anyway, this is my wifes favorite boat.

Thought I'd share with you. Pete, that's a great looking glassic.

Eduardo & Mercedes

Eduardo thanks for the kind words. And yes the original seats I have them in the shed hoping to get them re-upolsterd someday. I think the diffrence is the DelRay is 15' long and the Bahama is like 17-18' long. I have seen your boat before somewhere? One fine ride you have there. I have not seen many StarCraft fiberglass boats of the 60's. Almost forgot to tell you if you remove the passenger side vinyl cover panel on your dash you will find where a quality control person signed off on the deck of the boat with the date and month. Mine was April of 1965 the initials were J.B. I think been awhile. Mine came with a Holsclaw trailor 1965 model.
Pete

Great story and Nice boat!Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the kind words Mr. Bowwiz

Pete, I was just looking over my '66 Starcraft brochure and didn't see a Del Ray model. In '66, the only two 15' fiberglass boats made by Starcraft were the Bahama and Caravel. The Caravel model has a a deeper hull and a different splashwell.

I've done some research on the previous brochures here on the Glassic Library and browsed through the years before '66. With the '66 Starcrafts, they started with different windshields with a grab bar combination. You can see that windshield style in '67 models. Starcraft continued with the '15 fiberglass runabout Bahama model in '67.

In '64, the decks on the Bahama and Del Rey were different compared to '65. I believe the decks on our boats in '65 are identical. Maybe someone out there has a Starcraft brochure for '65.

Eduardo

Eduardo did you get a chance to remove the dash panel on the passenger side to see what month your boat was manufactured? Also I have the factory I.D. tag from my DelRay Mod: 15 ft DelRay Serial NO. 65 W 25955
GOSHEN, Indiana
Also how did you mount the flag on the bow by the light?

Pete, check your email.

Eduardo

I will give you a phone call today around 11:00 a.m. your time zone

e-mail is still messi'n with me cannot send but I can receive! e-mail is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.