Marinette Yachts for Sale

George Garcia, who owned Falls City Flying Service in Louisville, Kentucky, introduced the Marinette in 1954 as an aluminum houseboat, and built the business into Aluminum Cruisers Inc. He chose an aluminum magnesium alloy rather than the copper aluminum alloy earlier builders had used, on the view that copper and aluminum together are a disaster in salt water, and the boats were welded rather than laid up. The line ran from 26 to 44 feet in express, sedan, sport fisherman and dual cabin versions on shallow deadrise semi planing hulls, fast and economical for their power, with broad beam and flat transoms. Most spent their lives on inland rivers and lakes. Garcia sold out in 1984, production carried on to 1991, and the company was then liquidated. John Althouse bought the manufacturing rights afterwards but never built another boat.

Buying one means buying the metal. A welded aluminum hull does not blister, does not delaminate and does not soak up water, which is why 40 year old Marinettes are still working, but it does corrode, so a survey should concentrate on the bottom plating and welds, on any place steel or stainless fittings touch the hull, on bonding and stray current in the marina, and on the condition of the paint or coatings below the waterline. A boat that spent its life in fresh water is worth paying for. There is no factory, no warranty and no parts counter: hull and deck hardware is generic 1970s and 1980s stock, and anything structural is a job for a good aluminum welder rather than a fiberglass shop, which is a different trade and not available at every yard in South Florida. Prices are low, which is the attraction and also the trap, since a cheap hull can carry an expensive corrosion problem.