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!