Higbee Identification

Jay K

Active member
I just bought my first BBSB. It appears to be a Higbee. Cfalicon and I have been going back and forth on the history and who it could have been "produced" by.

- Larger cockpit opening than standard Higbee
- Build date is specified as "2001"
- No internal decoy shelves
- Transom is not a level transom. Motor pad is indented and smalled.
- No grass rails on the front

I've attached some pictures. Do you guys happen to have any thoughts?

I know they were made by Higbee, MLB, Chuck Huff, and even heard something about a "Ray's Plastics" ????

What are your thoughts? Curiosity got the best of me and I'd love to know maybe who built this boat.
View attachment 29750687_10160221248320494_455728116_n.jpgView attachment 29748389_10160221248170494_532542979_o.jpgView attachment 29540936_10160217858790494_164411381473400772_n.jpg
 
Your boat shows similar lines on the topside as my BBSB made by Ocean Yachts in NJ.


Your aft deck appears very long. Is the boat a 12 or 14 footer?[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] [/font]
 
Fred Burkhardt said:
Your boat shows similar lines on the topside as my BBSB made by Ocean Yachts in NJ.


Your aft deck appears very long. Is the boat a 12 or 14 footer?[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] [/font]

It's 12'. The photo is deceiving. The aft deck isn't too big at all. Seems about normal to almost on the short side. Do you have any pictures of your boat? Would love to see them for comparison.
 
What is the Hull ID number say? The first 3 letters will tell you who made it and the rest will tell you when. My boat is ENQ00035D909. ENQ the builder, 00035 how many, D is the month(April) , 9 the year made, 09 is the model year. If it is home made it will have the State were it was made first. Google US Coast Guard Manufactures ID.
Phil
 
Well I checked the hull ID and didn't get much. NJZ and HMD. The hull number states 446. If that truly is the number built (which it's probably not) then that means it was a high production builder.

Anyone have any with the oarlocks molded like mine? That's the only defining feature I can see. Some Higbees have nothing for oarlocks.
 
Jay, NJZ means that the State of New Jersey assigned the HULL number. How does the number read? It needs to have 12 letters and numbers ( sample) NJZ67030B686 Do you have a old regerstration?

Phil
 
My boat is registered as a 1986 Rays Plastic
The registration number is RPS 862610986
It does not have a separate oar lock but I put them in the top of the decoy rack.
 
Phil said:
Jay, NJZ means that the State of New Jersey assigned the HULL number. How does the number read? It needs to have 12 letters and numbers ( sample) NJZ67030B686 Do you have a old regerstration?

Phil

Phil,

I do but all I am seeing is:

NJZ44600HULL

The mystery continues.
 
Jay K said:
Phil said:
Jay, NJZ means that the State of New Jersey assigned the HULL number. How does the number read? It needs to have 12 letters and numbers ( sample) NJZ67030B686 Do you have a old regerstration?

Phil

Phil,

I do but all I am seeing is:

NJZ44600HULL

The mystery continues.

Phil,

It would seem that not all states or departments knew what was required in a hull number.

Jay,

I have a vessel register with a State issued hull number very similar to yours. Hull # IAZ124## (IAZ followed by 5 digits) It was issued by Iowa, thus the "IA". It is listed as home made, thus the "Z". The 5 digit number is what the state issued for that hull, no more no less.

AS a side note; A couple years ago, I DID get a letter from my State, telling me that out of the 6 vessels registered in my name, two of the hull numbers did NOT conform to standards. I had two choices, Either provide the state with a pencil tracing or legible photo of the actual hull number OR be issued a NEW hull number (not to be confused with a registration number). If I were issued a NEW hull number, the new number needed to be applied in a permanent manner in compliance with CG regs.

So in conclusion; I have no reason to suspect that the number you have was indeed the original number issued to the hull you have. Yes, it may not conform to CG standards if it was originally titled/registered as "home made".
 
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Huntindave McCann said:
Jay K said:
Phil said:
Jay, NJZ means that the State of New Jersey assigned the HULL number. How does the number read? It needs to have 12 letters and numbers ( sample) NJZ67030B686 Do you have a old regerstration?

Phil

Phil,

I do but all I am seeing is:

NJZ44600HULL

The mystery continues.

Phil,

It would seem that not all states or departments knew what was required in a hull number.

Jay,

I have a vessel register with a State issued hull number very similar to yours. Hull # IAZ124## (IAZ followed by 5 digits) It was issued by Iowa, thus the "IA". It is listed as home made, thus the "Z". The 5 digit number is what the state issued for that hull, no more no less.

AS a side note; A couple years ago, I DID get a letter from my State, telling me that out of the 6 vessels registered in my name, two of the hull numbers did NOT conform to standards. I had two choices, Either provide the state with a pencil tracing or legible photo of the actual hull number OR be issued a NEW hull number (not to be confused with a registration number). If I were issued a NEW hull number, the new number needed to be applied in a permanent manner in compliance with CG regs.

So in conclusion; I have no reason to suspect that the number you have was indeed the original number issued to the hull you have. Yes, it may not conform to CG standards if it was originally titled/registered as "home made".

Interesting. Well it does have a permanent affixed placard with that number on the inside of the boat. It reads "NJZ-44600-HULL"

I am just very curious to see if I can track down who/where this boat was built. I'd love to see some pics of Ocean Yachts Higbees if anyone has any.
 
The hull ID tag is what the NJ state police issue upon completing an inspection of "homemade" boats for seaworthiness. It's the same hull ID tag found on most sneakboxes in this state, including all from the 'heritage' builders like Heinrich, Hunt, Fricke, Simonsen, etc. as at the end of the day they are all "homemade." I have the same ID tag on both of my sneakboxes and was present for the police inspection of my Fricke. They gave me the adhesive-backed metal tag and I affixed it myself.
 
Craig thanks as always for your help. I guess this is all part of the BBSB heritage. It will be interesting to see (if I can find out) who built this boat.
 

Graig hit it on the head.

My Ocean Yacht BBSB was built for rowing only so did not require a ID number. The owner (original) who I purchased it from added a motor board sometime around 10 years ago. In order to get a NJ registration he had it inspected by the Police who issued a NJxxxxxx number.

At first I thought the line on the bow and stern looked similar to a raised rib on my boat, but after blowing it up I see that they are not the same. Still very similar lines.
View attachment Ocean Yacht BBSB 3x5.jpg
 
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Fred thanks for posting that picture. I think at this point it's going to be a process of elimination sort of thing. I think I can definitively say it's

Not an older Higbee (based on the oarlocks)
Not a larger cockpit model
Not an Ocean Yachts (based on the pic you posted)

I don't think it's a Ray's Plastics either although I may be wrong.

I'll take some better pics in the coming days. Haven't had a chance to really give it a good survey.
 
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