Clapped out 20
 

Long story short, a guy down here was given an old 20' I/O SF, that is in awful shape - floor was redone years ago and is completely rotten, transom is shot too. No VIN # on the hull, no papers, the widow has no idea what year it is, but says her husband bought it new "many years ago." The guy who has it now was offered $850, not including the trailer - I told him he should grab the money and run. I said I'd ask for opinions her - what say ye?

I want.. I need the dog house. you need to figure out how to get a title.

Boats before 1972 or73 did not have hull identification numbers. Try to run a title search through the state. There should be some record if you know owners name or boat registration numbers.

FYI, the boat is on St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands. It would be pretty expensive to ship it, or even just the console to Florida (the shipping companies charge the same rates for raggedy old boats & stuff as they do for brand new boats & stuff). All I'm looking for is a little feedback I can pass on to the owner on whether or not the $850 he's been offered is a fair price. He's not prepared to undertake a restoration project (nor am I), but I'd hate to see it get cut up and taken to the landfill.

Redoing a redo is a giant pain - see Dirtwheelsfl squidlips thread. 850 seems pretty fair to me.

That's an OLD 20. Late 60's.

Paid double for mine, granted it had about 700 worth of materials that came with it...
Does USVI do titles and stuff like the states? Guarantee that one never had an HIN, maybe just a serial number, too old..

$850 fair price. You are going to have registration problems.

The USVI is a little more lenient than the States on vessel ownership documentation (it's de islands Mon!). The gov't agency responsible has an ownership affidavit you can complete, have notarized and file with them to obtain a registration.

That is a gift to someone.
4 stringer hull.