PDA

View Full Version : Tiki / Hawaiian Connection?



El Prosecutor
12-19-2005, 01:50 PM
Purchased my first boat a few months ago, not knowing what to look for etc. Boat was advertised as "1975 19' Hawaiian w/455 Olds & Berkeley Jet (12JC)". Turns out the hull ID code starts out with "TIK" which, according to the Coast Guard database is a now defunct manufaturer from Florida that went out of business in the '80s.
Anybody know of a connection between the manufacturers "Tiki" and "Hawaiian", other than the common South Pacific reference in the names??
BTW - the title of the boat also says "Hawaiian", not Tiki.
Weird.

Oldsquirt
12-19-2005, 02:04 PM
The MIC codes (TIK in your case) do get recycled by the USCG. Note that the business in Florida used that MIC from 85 to 88. Sometimes the "comments" area in the MIC listing will give a further history of the particular MIC. Not of any help in your case.
I bet Old Rigger will have an answer about the history of your Hawaiian.

MikeF
12-19-2005, 02:21 PM
Didn't *LS7* have one of those Tiki's?! It was pretty fast for such a heavy boat. :)

WUTWZAT
12-19-2005, 02:31 PM
Purchased my first boat a few months ago, not knowing what to look for etc. Boat was advertised as "1975 19' Hawaiian w/455 Olds & Berkeley Jet (12JC)". Turns out the hull ID code starts out with "TIK" which, according to the Coast Guard database is a now defunct manufaturer from Florida that went out of business in the '80s.
Anybody know of a connection between the manufacturers "Tiki" and "Hawaiian", other than the common South Pacific reference in the names??
BTW - the title of the boat also says "Hawaiian", not Tiki.
Weird.
Got any pics of it, I have a 79 19' Hawaiian. I don't know where to find my HIN except on the registration. None found on the usual places on the back of the boat. Maybe I oughta shine a light through and see if I can find one thats been covered up.
Jason

old rigger
12-19-2005, 02:55 PM
when we all left Tahiti with dick schuster to start another boat shop, it was called 'tiki boats'. Even the little emblem had the old tahiti tiki head on it. there was a lawsuit, and a name change followed. Hawaiian was the result. I can't remember right now how any boats we built under the tiki name, I tried to figure it out once here on the boards a few years ago, but can't remember the total. off the top of my head i'd say we did about 40 to 60 boats. this would have been in '74... i think (my memory get worse with each passing minute. :cry: )
I wish I had one of those emblems today. lol
Have no idea who was using the name in Fl.

Tittie Chaser
12-19-2005, 02:57 PM
Dat rigga knows his sheeeeeeeeeet.

*BN*
12-19-2005, 03:32 PM
Didn't *LS7* have one of those Tiki's?! It was pretty fast for such a heavy boat. :)
Yes, mine was a Tiki that went out of Tahiti just before Schuster left. Year 1975.

El Prosecutor
12-19-2005, 04:22 PM
Yes, mine was a Tiki that went out of Tahiti just before Schuster left. Year 1975.
BN/LS7 - I would love to see a pic if you have one! My camera is jacked right now :cry: , but you can see a little bit of what my boat looks like on my avatar. If I can get the camera working I will post a better hull shot.
Thanks also to Old Rigger and all else who have posted.

*BN*
12-19-2005, 05:19 PM
You appears to be a mini-day cruiser as mine is low profile. Here is the pic though.
http://www.ntrplus.com/bn/sale/P1010085-1.jpg

Moneypitt
12-19-2005, 05:40 PM
My son has a "J J Custom" that is a twin to that boat except he has a Jacuzzi pump, and we put a Mopar in it. Both look an awful lot like a Challenger. The JJ deal was also by 2 brothers out of Florida according to the Coast Card Reg site..........MP
PS I just noticed that the pump looks like a Jacuzzi, and the seats are the same design, exactly.....

Ralph Brunt
12-19-2005, 06:04 PM
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/12022sea_doo_and_boat_lb_8-05_041-med.jpg 1976 hawaiian 460 w/ jacuzzi

old rigger
12-19-2005, 06:38 PM
Yes, mine was a Tiki that went out of Tahiti just before Schuster left. Year 1975.
? that doesn't add up.

*BN*
12-19-2005, 07:58 PM
This will better make sense.....My dad knew Schuster before he went to Tahiti, so he knew him fairly well.
In 1971 my dad bought a boat from Schuster. It was a boat he saw at the boat show "Tropicana" was the hull name. My dad had talked to the dealer that was located somewhere around LAX, then talked to Schuster about it, and Schuster made the deal for my dad. This Tropicana was built on Haliday Street in Santa Ana, and we don't recall who really owned the mold.
The hull was a high side V-Bottom hull powered by a 455 olds and BERKELEY. The boat name was "Big Surprise" because he would run it on the strip and race anything he could find........after the race the other driver would most of the time pull my dad over and ask "what the hell was in that thing." When they were told and olds well.......BIG SURPRISE.
In 1974 my dad made the deal with Schuster to make the boat pictured above. The deal was made while Schuster was still working at Tahiti but was built at another location.

old rigger
12-19-2005, 08:04 PM
trust me, schuster was gone by '74. :)
The entire Tiki/Hawaiian boats thing was back door, so there's no surprise there. The company was built on materials stolen from Tahiti, which dick had sold long before.
Heads rolled, and prison terms were handed out because of it.
There were no boats built at Tahiti that had anything to do with Tiki. Those were being built under the wire in the old tahiti buildings that dick still owned (where competitive trailers is today) not at the Tahiti building in Cerritos.

*BN*
12-19-2005, 08:42 PM
Everything there is spot on to our knowledge also, but we recall making the deal in 74 and delivery 75. The hull id had 75 on it also. But who knows now my memory and my dads are fading by daily :) so he could have left already and we have forgotten dates.
BTW: My dad sold to MANY of the boat builders back in the late 60 - 70's. All plumbing parts even though our company sells industrial, pipe valves and fittings.

El Prosecutor
12-19-2005, 08:49 PM
rwyyattb and *BN*, thanks for posting your pics. My boat apparently has some beautiful little sisters.
Old Rigger, keep talking! I feel like I just discovered an outlaw in my family tree, and want to hear more. Great stuff guys!

*BN*
12-19-2005, 08:53 PM
, I feel like I just discovered an outlaw in my family tree, and want to hear more. Great stuff guys!
EL P,
Don't think this might be the only outlaw, in that era there were MANY!

old rigger
12-20-2005, 07:14 AM
Everything there is spot on to our knowledge also, but we recall making the deal in 74 and delivery 75. The hull id had 75 on it also. But who knows now my memory and my dads are fading by daily :) so he could have left already and we have forgotten dates.
BTW: My dad sold to MANY of the boat builders back in the late 60 - 70's. All plumbing parts even though our company sells industrial, pipe valves and fittings.
BN, apples and oranges. Doesn't mean a whole lot now. lol
Hey, if your dad was a saleman to the shop, the he for sure knew my dad, he was not only a rigger but at Hawaiian he was the GM on the riggers side of the street. He ordered all the parts. See if your dad remembers Dick Turner.
Pushing the date back on a boat was not uncommon at all, it gave the buyer a sense of greater re-sale value, and happened at every shop I worked at. Joe Blow buys a boat in Oct. when the boating season is over (when you should buy a boat) and as a deal sweetener the date on the transom would read a few months later, into the next year, making it a newer year model. :)
el prosecutor,
bn is right. The biz was/is full of shady guys.
Some went to prison.
Some should have gone to prison.
Some were building boats (VERY popular boats) that were a front for dealing coke.
Some guys were shipping coke laminated in the sub floors of their boats.
Some had contracts taken on their life.
Some should have never been allowed to touch a boat.
The list is long and colorful to say the least.
And some were the salt of the earth, simply the best guys on the planet to work for. I got lucky once or twice with these guys too, along with plenty of the others.

spectratoad
12-20-2005, 08:05 AM
I have a 77 Spectra but I love listening to the stories of the guys who helped build the boats of this era. Lots of good history and info to learn and hear.
Some guys were shipping coke laminated in the sub floors of their boats.
Did Spectra have any of these rumors. I may have to rip my floor up now to see what is under there.

DelawareDave
12-20-2005, 08:32 AM
I'll let ya'll know if I find anything under mine when I tear the floor up :)

Cas
12-20-2005, 08:32 AM
Did Spectra have any of these rumors. I may have to rip my floor up now to see what is under there.
I heard their boats were the best for concealing lots of stuff. I heard once that someone hid $88,000.00 in a brownish Spectra....somewhere in the floor, possibly in a "fake" stringer.

old rigger
12-20-2005, 08:55 AM
I'll let ya'll know if I find anything under mine when I tear the floor up :)
Naw, don't get your hopes up. We just had the crooks at Hawaiian, no drugies. lol
That's another story altogether...................

Heatseeker
12-20-2005, 09:04 AM
Naw, don't get your hopes up. We just had the crooks at Hawaiian, no drugies. lol
That's another story altogether...................
Doesn't one of those stories end with a stiff on the roadside between L.A.and Vegas?

old rigger
12-20-2005, 09:56 AM
Doesn't one of those stories end with a stiff on the roadside between L.A.and Vegas?
lol. could be.
I'm not getting caught up in that one again. last time I did and expressed my opinion about a certain builders boats, and their lack of anything close to quality, I caught flack from his loyal followers. Still get flack as a matter of fact. :cry:

Ralph Brunt
12-20-2005, 05:38 PM
no problem EL wish i could help more but its my first boat hell i dont even know what model it is other than mini day cruiser i'm learning too ralph

Heatseeker
12-20-2005, 06:12 PM
lol. could be.
I'm not getting caught up in that one again. last time I did and expressed my opinion about a certain builders boats, and their lack of anything close to quality, I caught flack from his loyal followers. Still get flack as a matter of fact. :cry:
I remember that. I was hoping to save it to the hard drive this time. :mix:

Cas
12-20-2005, 06:34 PM
Still get flack as a matter of fact. :cry:
at every chance I get! Oh wait, can't be me, I'm not a loyal follower but I do love this Roger's bottom :)

Cheyenne372
12-21-2005, 03:59 AM
el prosecutor,
bn is right. The biz was/is full of shady guys.
Some went to prison.
Some should have gone to prison.
Some were building boats (VERY popular boats) that were a front for dealing coke.
Some guys were shipping coke laminated in the sub floors of their boats.
Some had contracts taken on their life.
Some should have never been allowed to touch a boat.
The list is long and colorful to say the least.
And some were the salt of the earth, simply the best guys on the planet to work for. I got lucky once or twice with these guys too, along with plenty of the others.
Hey Old Rigger:
I know what you mean about "Some went to prison"...! The Hawaiian that we have was bought through one of the guys that went to prison....something about selling paper...! To this day, we aren't sure whether or not we really have a good title to that boat!
We've got one of the 21' daycruisers. Yellow with the woodgrain on the side. First saw it on display at the last Austin Aqua Festival and my dad had to have it!

El Prosecutor
04-17-2006, 10:13 PM
I was replacing a steering cable today and noticed a sticker on the starboard fuel tank that reads "Underwood Marine Products, Stanton, CA" "Part no. Tiki Mini Cruiser" "Mfd. 6-17-75"
Guess my Hawaiian really is a Tiki. Hope the title is good; I am getting attached to this thing. I even like the way she smells.

Big Kahunaa
04-18-2006, 08:14 AM
Old Rigger you going to be at fc5 i would like to here the hawian story with no holes in it i have a 77 and i would just like to know the history on the boat

1978 Rogers
04-18-2006, 02:00 PM
I really like reading these stories. All the history. Makes it interesting reading. About the dirt of companies, if things happened, they happened. No one should Flogged for saying what was going on to who. Just my opinion.
Speak it like in happened Old Rigger. :cool:

waxer
04-18-2006, 02:07 PM
I love to read your old story's, & have read with interest the storys originally posted on the CBB website. Have you ever thought about writing a book? I'm sure lots of (fans, readers & boaters) would be interested. You have an extremely colorful history & quite a gift of storytelling...
LOL

Tahiti350
04-21-2006, 08:59 AM
Not trying to jack the thread, but just picked up and want to unload a disassembled '78 Hawiian 19", apparently a "mini day cruiser". Was the 460/Berkely combo as popular as the Olds/Berkley???
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/2266Hawiian_4.JPG
BTW, the puns are intended...... :rolleyes:

AZKC
04-21-2006, 11:33 AM
Interesting looking hull, looks alot like a 79 Hawaiian I had. But mine was more of a bubble deck. Green and gold metal flake with a lime green interior :)

Boatcop
04-21-2006, 01:47 PM
Coke and Boats????
Give me a "B" Give me an "A" Give me an "H" ...........
Well, you get the picture. :p :wink:
Hey KC? Anything to do in this one horse desert town? I'm down here till tomorrow. The wife's going through some training today.

old rigger
04-21-2006, 02:47 PM
Coke and Boats????
Give me a "B" Give me an "A" Give me an "H" ...........
Well, you get the picture. :p :wink:
Sure, pick the easy one. lol
He was nothing compared to the big boys, just pissed off the wrong guys.

AZKC
04-21-2006, 04:10 PM
Coke and Boats????
Give me a "B" Give me an "A" Give me an "H" ...........
Well, you get the picture. :p :wink:
Hey KC? Anything to do in this one horse desert town? I'm down here till tomorrow. The wife's going through some training today.
Dude you should have said you were coming. Go have a cowboy steak at Pinnicle Peaks(sp) on the eastside. Sakura is good for Teppan Yaki or Sushi. There's always Hooters, Diamondbacks and the Dodgers at 7:30. Busch race is on tonight also. What part of town you in? But your right it is a bit quite down here. You could cruise the south side and playwith the hoodlums :crossx:

Boatcop
04-21-2006, 07:57 PM
We're staying at the Sheraton on Grant. The class she had to take was at Phoenix College, next door.
Her sinuses were giving her trouble, do we decided to hit the Olive Garden for dinner and call it an early night.
We did, however go by UofA to see how they're spending the $40 grand I gave them a few years back.