Thread: Hartley - Blue Fin or Gadabout 15'

My father, Bob Wishart built a Hartley Gadabout when I was 15 years old -57 years ago after getting my brother and I to promise that we would become waterskiers rather than surfers! It was a masterpiece and took him 9 months after work and on weekends in the family garage . It is still an incredible craft in as good condition as the day he finished it after some minor deck refinishing and a new outboard. Now sits on the trailer he built for it in his grandaughter's driveway in Geelong Vic. We helped a bit hand sanding out the 12 coats of marine varnish on the hull. Our teenage years were cruising, skiing and barefooting at Yarrawonga in summer and
Eppalock at Easter. The medium V flared hull is perfect for your planned use. The builder is now 97 and very much on the ball. I suggested he respond to your post with photos. He is a wealth of information about the details of the build.
Rob

Hi Rwish, welcome to the forums. Just a tip, when replying to posts it's a good idea to check the date of the last post in the thread. The one you just replied to is from 2006 and Glenn has not posted on here since 2019. From looking through his posts I found that he started building a Vixen in 2009. It would be interesting to see the Gadabout but don't expect much interaction with the original poster.