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  1. Gray Marine engine and Steel King boats

    January 18, 2012 by Mike

    Gray Marine engine

    Steel King boats

    The Steel King boat my father had in the 60’s was cool – I loved it!  One of the things that always fascinated me was the Gray Marine engine; all 109 hp of it!  For some reason, the name seemed cool and the color paint on it was a sort of, well, gray and green (I figure a reflection of the name).  Do an image search on Google for “gray marine engine 109” and you may run across a picture of one.   Another thing I remember was the shape of the oil filler cap and the shaft that ran between what I believe was the water pump and the generator.

    Grafton Boat Works

    The Grafton Boat Works folks did a great job on this line of boats, which evolved over time to larger craft and different designs.  I would love to learn more about the Steel King line and its lineage.  I believe from some who’ve emailed me that successor boats were sometimes called Grafton Yachts (and I’ve seen them listed that way in online boat-for-sale sites).  Take a look at the product brochures from the late 50’s and early 60’s – isn’t that a neat looking design?  Looked good in the St Lawrence River and 1000 Islands, too!


  2. Gale outboard engines

    January 7, 2012 by Mike

    If you were ever at Calumet Island in the 60’s when it was a full fledged marina, you might recall the Gale outboard engines on the fiberglass workboat and taxi runabout.  I ran across a neat site that features toy models of these neat engines.  Take a look for a glimpse of outboard history.  You can find them at

    http://www.toyoutboardmotors.com/gale-buccaneer.htm

    As I recall, the island’s taxi boat used a 60hp Gale and the workboat  a 25 hp.  I believe for a short period, the taxi boat had twin Gale’s!  If you recall these engines, feel free to comment!