A 3 hour tour : 'Gilligan's Island' SS Minnow for sale
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060829...a_060829222304

OTTAWA (AFP) - The ship that stranded the crew and eclectic passengers of 1960s television classic "Gilligan's Island" on an uncharted desert island following a torrential storm is for sale by its Canadian owner.

The SS Minnow set out on a "three-hour tour" with actor Bob Denver (Gilligan) and his gang, which wound up as castaways for three years on US primetime television, and their buffoonery replayed around the world for many decades.

"It's the same boat that was on Gilligan's Island ... They used it when they went out on the water," said agent George Schultz, who is selling the boat for a retired friend, Scott Taylor.

The vessel, named after former US
Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow, whom show creator Sherwood Schwartz was quoted as saying "ruined television," is the third of four boats used in the sitcom, according to a fan website.

One was towed to Kauai for beach scenes. Another was rented for the opening credits in Honolulu Harbor and the other was a prop built by television studio CBS in the second season.

Taylor's Minnow was filmed in the opening credits of the second season at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, Schultz said.

According to the show's theme song: "The weather started getting rough/the tiny ship was tossed/if not for the courage of the fearless crew/the Minnow would be lost."

Indeed, the real Minnow capsized off Canada's West Coast during a trip from Alaska in 1993 after hitting a reef, rendering all of its electrical systems useless.

Its American owner agreed to sell it to Taylor for a mere 3,500 Canadian dollars (3,158 US dollars) if he agreed to restore the 37-foot mahogany Wheeler Express Cruiser -- which he did, sinking more than 200,000 dollars (180,000 US) in repairs into it.

Taylor only discovered later that the boat, then named "Bluejacket," was the famed SS Minnow from the television show, Schultz said.

"He knew the make of the boat and they're good boats, so he bought it and afterwards he learned the truth when he compared the serial numbers," he said. Its registration has since been changed to match its stage name, he added.

For 99,000 Canadian dollars (89,500 US), a new owner may buy a piece of television nostalgia, Schultz said, and take it out for a "three-hour tour" -- or more.

Taylor "has had some good trips on it," he said. "And he has never become shipwrecked."

Only 90K?

I was expecting this thing to sell in the millions. You know there are people are there who would do it.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/4...tminnowyk9.jpg
The "tropic port" from which the S.S. Minnow "set sail" was actually the port of the Waikiki Yacht Club located at 1599 Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, Hawaii. The boat used for the series was a thirty-five foot cabin cruiser found in a Honolulu boat yard. To create its shipwrecked appearance the bow and stern of the boat were marked with chalk circles and a man with a sledgehammer slammed holes into the boat. A crane then lifted up the boat and put it on a barge which was towed to Moloa'a Bay for filming.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1252/minnowyz9.jpg

I want this more than anything I've ever wanted in my entire life.

Make it happen big boy, you have the juice. That thing would look sweet parked next to your peach beamer! :)

Can I sell rides on it to help pay for it? Who wants a ride on it? $20 bucks for...oh, three hours? Maybe I'll invite Professor cdcox, skip, jennygump, slayer diablo, whoever the richest guy on the planet is and his wife, and one of our Kansas girls.

But it has a big hole in it from getting shipwrecked-lol

I'm game and most of the time I'm packing heat which could come in handy if you get us into a jam. :)

You'd be helpful if we get kidnapped by headhunters, or if Soviet cosmonauts land nearby.

But Kevin, you are scared of boats. Did you get over it?

Let me get this straight.

This guy bought the boat for just over three thousand dollars and put in more than one hundred eighty thousand dollars before discovering the boat was famous and now he wants to sell it for less than ninety thousand dollars.

Quite the business man.

It's the "New" math el.

It is pretty common for restorations to cost more than the thing is worth when you are done. Especially if you are paying labor to do it.

What a bargain at 90K :rolleyes:

I'm not scared of boats. I like boats. I'm scared of water. If I bought this, it would go in my backyard and become a clubhouse.