Our client, Marc, brought in his family's classic 1984 Ski Nautique 2001 Competition Ski Boat for a complete factory restoration. He came all the way from Utah! This Ski Nautique carries with it very special memories and LandCraft took great care in every aspect of the refit process. We have restored the exterior with gelcoat that is custom color-matched in-house to original factory colors. The interior upholstery has been returned to the original factory colors and pattern, the original motor has been overhauled and restored, and the boat trailer has been upgraded. There was structural work performed on the interior, and structural and cosmetic repairs completed nearly across the entire boat from the inside out. This 39 year old beauty of a boat has been restored to last another lifetime.

Follow the journey of our restoration through some of the photos we captured along the way. The colors of this boat just cannot be captured in pictures... it's one of the most stunning boats we've ever seen, and it's certainly one-of-a-kind. Marc, we look forward to hearing about the memories you continue to make for many years to come with your 1984 Ski Nautique that's been made new again.

Eric and his family brought in a one-of-a-kind custom-built boat, a 1993 Spirit XLT, for a complete refit and custom fabrication work. The Spirit is an incredibly special family boat that has a lot of sentimental value and memories, especially memories with Dad and Grandpa. This boat is often brought to the Gulf coast, regularly used for fishing, and Eric loves the size and function of this boat over what's available on the market today. He said that new 21' boats could fit inside of his 1993 Spirit XLT! There is nothing new on the market that comes close to what Eric has in this boat, so he asked that we make his boat like brand new again... with a catch... he wanted the entire boat reconstructed in composite. That's right... ZERO WOOD in this boat. LandCraft® delivered a custom fabricated, rebuilt and restored custom boat, that's 100% composite core, in showroom condition.

The photos start with the careful removal of the original ornamentation, removal of the top cap and the flooring system. The Spirit had interior hull structural hull damage that needed to be repaired before the reconstruction process could begin. Sections of the top cap received extra composite reinforcement, composite bulkheads and stringers were built and installed, a 1 3/4 inch composite transom was built and installed, and the original center console was reinforced and then raised 8 inches to better accommodate the client's use of the console and better accommodate his height with the newly added lean post seat (with room underneath for a cooler!). The custom raised console section was constructed in composite and followed the original body lines of the shapely console. Battery trays, a custom storage compartment, and storage space for miscellaneous boating equipment was built into the interior of the console. The original aluminum hatches were reconstructed in composite and fiberglass wrapped. Plumbing and wiring routes were installed throughout the length of the boat, making electronics installation much cleaner, easier, and highly organized. The boat drains any water taken on while under way or fishing, the console has a two-way valve for filling two livewells. The bottom hull required fiberglass structural repairs, hull shaping and blueprinting for better performance. Underwater lighting was installed. A new gas tank was installed, flotation foam installed, and then composite decking installed, fiberglass laminated and resin coated to a textured finish. A custom gas fill extension was fabricated and added to the console, a needed add-on for the new configuration of the plumbing and wiring. A seat platform was custom seated into the top cap and reinforced for a seamless look on the top deck and to also remove a tripping hazard! The top cap received gelcoat, then the bottom of the boat received complete gelcoat in both metalflake and a custom white gelcoat finish before putting the boat back together. Once together, the rub rail with red rope insert was installed and then Spirit decals were re-created, printed and installed. New stainless railings were installed along with the hatches, seat bases, lean post seat and LED lighting around the deck and console. The boat received an engine overhaul and repainted cowl cover with decals reinstalled. The client had electronic panels made with a slew of switches and custom lighting for the console dash. A new throttle, hydraulic steering and red steering wheel were also installed. Instead of restoring the original trailer, a new dual-axle trailer was built to give the client peace of mind while traveling with his boat across the country.

Our client’s 1993 Spirit is like brand new, but it is also much stronger and will not have any future problems with rot since it is now 100% composite! Eric has reported since using the newly rebuilt boat that there is no more shuddering; it is a solid boat that handles so much better than it used to! He and his family are absolutely loving the boat and getting so much use out of it… exactly what boats are made for! The team at LandCraft® wishes this great family so many more amazing memories on their extra special 1993 Spirit XLT. It’s a boat Eric’s children can now enjoy with Dad and Grandpa!

Some Extra Information about Spirit Boats

Spirit Boats is a division of Baker Enterprises out of Maynardsville Tennessee and is a custom built boat by an independent boat builder. Very little information exists about this builder, but from our research it seems that very few Spirit XLT boats were built or exist today, making this Spirit XLT truly one-of-a-kind. Nothing on the market looks like this boat, and it gets a lot of attention. Now that it has been rebuilt and restored, we look forward to Eric and his family enjoying it for generations to come.

Mike, Rebecca and their lovely family from Iowa brought in an extremely rare 1978 Cruisers/MirroCraft Rally 174 Bowrider for a complete refit. The Rally is a very special family heirloom that comes with many great memories. They asked that we restore their boat to original factory condition, and we delivered a custom restored vintage boat in showroom condition.

The photos start with the careful removal of the original ornamentation and show upper hull refinishing work before the top cap was lifted to remove the entire rotted wood floor. The Rally was sandwich core balsa constructed which required that sections of the damaged core be replaced as needed to restore a proper hull core. From there, bulkheads were replaced, a new gas tank installed, the transom was re-cored, flotation foam and a new floor also installed. The boat originally had dark blue berber carpeting which we replaced with an upgraded and more durable marine carpeting. The outer hull bottom required fiberglass and gelcoat repair, the original snaps for canvas were removed and holes patched, then we refurbished the original gelcoat and spot-repaired where needed. The windshield was refinished in the original brown color and the instrument panel was updated, refurbished and upgraded. The original steering wheel, hand rails, compass binnacle cover, horn, and cleats were all restored to original condition. The original combo bow light came in with melted plastic lenses and missing hardware—LandCraft® custom fabricated new lenses and retrofitted a new base to the original housing. New teak hatches were custom built for the rear storage compartments, giving the boat even more vintage appeal. New teak trim was custom fitted and installed around the consoles, and brightwork done to any remnants of original teak. Numerous original upholstery pieces were rotted, so the framing was rebuilt and wrapped in marine vinyl that was custom dyed to match the original upholstery. The extra padding of panels required a lot of finesse in the installation process, and you can see much of the interior is upholstered in the custom dyed, imprinted, pleated and button-tucked marine vinyl. The boat has been completely re-wired and also has new rubrail, a new bilge pump, new outboard engine, and more storage space with a custom rear hatch installed over the bilge compartment. The original decals were custom designed and reproduced for this boat, striping re-done to factory specs, a new custom canvas mooring cover and bimini top installed, and a new trailer custom built and painted to match the original.

Our Client's 1978 Rally is virtually brand new with original, iconic ornamentation from trim to upholstery with a new motor and trailer to boot. It's an eye catching, vintage boat that puts a new boat in it's class to shame. The team at LandCraft® wishes this great family so many more amazing memories on their extra special 1978 Rally.

Some Extra Information about the Cruisers/MirroCraft Rally 174 Bowrider

MirroCraft was originally owned by Mirro Aluminum Co. of Manitowoc Wisconsin. In 1971 Cruisers, Inc. was sold to Mirro Aluminum Company and Rally was a line of smaller runabouts made by Cruisers. This is where the "Mirro Marine Division" came from in the logo as seen in the Rally on our website. In 1980 the fiberglass product line of Mirro Marine Division (Cruisers) was sold to T.J. Bogard (the former Predisent of Mirro Marine Division) and T.A. Lisle (formerly of Eaton Corporation). Today, MirroCraft and Cruisers are each still producing watercraft, with Cruisers producing fiberglass boats and MirroCraft producing aluminum boats!