CREEKRAT’S FLYIN’ FLIVER FLIVVER BOATS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US HERE AT CREEKRAT CARTOON STUDIOS AND ALL THE BEST TO YOUSE AND YURSE FOR 2025!
Welcome to the Creekrat CARtoon Studios Fabulous Flyin’ Fliver Boat Site!
The Flyin' Fliver, the Little Tunnel Hull Stunt Boat and the Most Fun Boat Ever Made, originally designed in the 1950’s by the Hanson Family on Coon Lake Minnesota and partnered with the Beinhorn Family at Moderne Cabinet Works in New Prague Minnesota for manufacturing/distribution, was a comic staple of major Water Ski Shows the world over for decades and made famous by Corky & Corkette the Clowns at Cypress Gardens, Aqua the Clown at Tommy Bartlett's, Freddy the Clown at Rock Aqua Jays, the Aquamanics at Treasure Island, the Beaverland Must-Skis, the Min-Aqua Bats, Sea World, Disney, as well as us Cottage Racers on Wolverine Lake Michigan. These little crafts were used to go over jumps, drive up on shore and do all sorts of stunts. The self bailing design allows you to submerge the boat and come back on a plane being completely unsinkable! The Fliver, while not rated, usually ran 10 - 30 HP Outboard Motors, which will handle nicely, and also have been known to run some really Big Scary Outboard Motors! Still a thrill to run in today’s world of modern Personal Water Craft, Wave Runners and Jet Skis! It's hard to believe we've been Running and Wrecking and Building and Fixing Fliver Boats for over 50 Plus Years - How Can That Be? This website historically documents anything related to the Fabulous Flyin’ Fliver Boat so send us what you have (Stories, Photos, Anything) and we’ll add them here!
Scroll down for Tons of Way Kool Fliver Boat Stuff!
GET YER WAY KOOL CREEKRAT CARTOON STUDIOS FLYIN’ FLIVER BOAT ART GEAR HERE!
Calling All Fliver Boat Fans! Get yer Way Kool Creekrat CARtoon Studios Fliver Boat Coffee Mugs, Tee Shirts and Sweatshirts, etc, Here! Click on the Tee-Shirts or Mug Below to access our Zazzle Store! They'll keep you or yer chick warm when youse are getting soaked dunkin in yer Fliver! Very Cheap fer Original Real Deal Creekrat CARtoons Fliver Boat Art and it helps us support this site!
Looking to sell a Fliver Boat? Looking to buy a Fliver Boat? Just place an ad right here on the Creekrat Fliver Boat Page! Only $45 Bucks and the Ad Runs for a Full Year. Email biglug@creekrat.com or text us at +1.206.683.8682 with your description and photos - EZ pay via PayPal or Zelle!
FLIVVER BOAT FOR SALE
GEN-1 FLYIN' FLIVVER!
Gen-1 Flyin Flivver, Johnson 9.9 motor and TowGo galvanized trailer. Boat needs much work. Visually motor looks good for its age but I have no gas tank so not sure how it runs. (Long story). Trailer has new LED lights and wiring as well as new tires. Please look at pictures and ask questions if interested. $1500 for all. Leaving central NY about 9-21-24 for SE Tennessee via interstates 81-40 & 75 if anyone along the way would like to see it. Contact Larry Buske at +1.423.331.1680 email larrybee61@gmail.com.
ONLY $1,500!
Listed September 17, 2024
Looking to sell a Fliver Boat? Looking to buy a Fliver Boat? Just place an ad right here on the Creekrat Fliver Boat Page! Only $45 Bucks and the Ad Runs for a Full Year. Email biglug@creekrat.com or text us at +1.206.683.8682 with your description and photos - EZ pay via PayPal or Zelle!
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— FLYIN' FLIVER BOAT HISTORY —
On a cool foggy summer morning in Minnesota sometime in the early 1950’s, Dean Edward Hanson, Sr., (“Dean”) one day looked over the rising sun reflections glistening on the waves of Coon Lake and had a vision of a new boat idea. Along with his young Son, Dean Edward Hanson, Jr., (“Eddy”) from their humble backyard porch workshop, they set in motion a new boat design that would start a revolution and influence boating enthusiasts many times the world over. Dean and Eddy were both craftsmen, fiddlers and tinkerers, extraordinaire being born of the “Can Do” generation of Americans, who can fix anything, think things up and then build them from scratch! The boat they envisioned and then built is known worldwide as the Flyin’ Flivver.
Their design was revolutionary being a tunnel hull, set forward transom with two air chambers making the Flivver unsinkable and with fins in the back which also doubled as a way to stand the boat up on end for storage. The Flyin’ Flivver prototypes were originally made from plywood construction and rigorously tested and enhanced on the waters of Coon Lake. Eddy was the original Flyin’ Flivver Test Pilot and was fearless. When Dean and Eddy were satisfied with their progress, construction switched to a new fangled product called Fiberglass with molds made from the final prototype. To dial in the Flivver, they tested with all sorts of different sizes of outboard motors of the day including, Mercury, Gale, Champion, Oliver, Johnson, Evinrude, Martin, Wizard and Scott-Atwater, with horsepower ratings ranged from little putters to 50 HP. Outboard motors for testing on the Flivver were supplied directly from the manufacturers! Eddy’s favorite outboards for the Flivver were the Mercury's in the 15-25 HP range which balance exceptionally well with weight and horsepower for ample power and speed. Eddy did a lot of arduous testing including one trick where he would run the motor wide open, cut back on the throttle, and then pull the tiller handle all the way over causing the Flivver to dig in and turn on a dime 180 degrees and then throttle back up. The Filvver was also used extensively on Coon Lake for pulling water-skiers. After their final development in 1955, Dean filed a Patent Application with the United States Patent Office and was issued Patent 179,448 for the Flivver design on Christmas Day, December 25, 1956. We have the 179,448 Patent as well as photos of Eddy running the Flyin’ Flivver from magazine and newspaper articles back in the day as well as photos showing the design of Dean’s and Eddy’s original style Flivver!
Production of the Hanson Flivvers was partnered with Vern Beinhorn at a Minnesota company called Moderne Cabinet Works. Moderne Cabinet Works had the production facilities to assembly line the manufacture of the Flivvers for sales and distribution and was staffed by Vern and his sisters (07/2011 Thank you Ron & Aris Beinhorn-Caron, Vern's Kids). The first Flivver’s were Yellow and Red and carried the Hanson designed Flyin’ Flivver logo. The Flivver production followed the original final prototype design and utilizing several boat molds. We have the original Sales Brochure and photos of the molds.
After their fair share of brutal Minnesota winters (Anyone growing up in the Midwest USA in the winters knows what I’m saying here) the Hanson family decided to move to the warmer location of Sunny Florida. Dean and Eddy headed south to check out a number of potential locations and took a Flivver with them secured to the top of their car. While in Florida, Dean and Eddy met with Dick Pope of Cypress Gardens. The rest is Flivver boat history! (01/2015 Thank You Dean Edward Hanson, Jr. (“Eddy”) and Amanda Hanson-Albertson, Eddy’s Daughter and Dean’s Grand-Daughter).
Later, there have been other manufacturers over the years making these boats calling them Flivver, Fliver and Fliv-R, among others! There was a company called Osborn, we think sometime in the early to mid 1960's and we have their brochure. It looks like Reitman in Florida was building Fliver Boats in the 1970's. Apparently, Fliver boats were also made by a company called Mirage and Rabco. We now know that there was a company called Hanes Industries, Inc., in Winter Haven, Florida, and was called the Fliv-R-Boat. Another company making Flivers was called Royal Craft and there was also Midland Reinforced Plastics LTD. We also know that Cypress Gardens, in the 1960's, made and sold their own Fliver Boats too. Thereafter, we know Flivers were made in the 1960's by a company called Hurst. Jim Noles of Noles Fiberglass Products, in Eloise, Florida, made custom Flivers in the 1970's through the 1990's, and then also by Lightning Powerboats who we believe may still have the original Noles molds. World famous race boat builders, Hydrostream, was building Fliver Boats, albeit not from the old Noles molds as speculated. We think Disney also made their own Flivers too. We've added their photos! It’s also possible the famous boat builders MasterCraft made Flivers too. There are some Fliver's here we can't identify but they all have the basic 8 foot or 8.2 or 8.5 foot tunnel hull design (Some Flivers were also made longer and we remember a company making 10 or 11 foot Flivers) albeit the transoms and sponsens have changed many times over the years.
At one time, the Fliver was being considered as a sanctioned American Power Boat Association ("APBA") class for racing - what fun that would have been!
The Original Hanson Flivver Boat Patent 179448 from 1955-1956:
The Original Moderne Cabinet Works Flyin' Flivver Boat Ad from 1956:
From Flyin' Flivver Gal Pal, Amanda Hanson-Albertson, Daughter of Dean E. Hanson, Jr., and Grand Daughter of Dean E. Hanson, Sr., awesome photo of Dean Jr., Ripping it up in an original Flivver Boat on Coon Lake:
The Original Hanson Flivver Boat!
The Original Hanson Flivver Boat with steering and throttle!
What fun it must have been back in the day to contact Vern Beinhorn at Moderne Cabinet Works and order a Flivver Boat setup like this directly from the factory in Minnesota!
December 2024 - From the camera of Kerby Block seated in the Spectator Stands during the Waterski Show at Cypress Gardens in 1974 and shot on Kodak Ektachrome Film including a Yellow Flivver and looks to be running a Johnson Seahorse Outboard.
December 2024 - Fliver Boating with The Max Racing Team! This is what Running a Fliver Boat Sounds Like! Hot Linked to Video by Clicking on the photo!
December 2024 - Fliver Boating with Just Send It! This is what running a Fliver Boat Looks Like! Hot Linked to Video by Clicking on the photo!
December 2024 - Fliver Boating Fever with George Blakeman. The only cure is more Fliver Boating! Looks like a Hurst running a Johnson 2 Stroke Outboard.
November 2024 - The World Famous Aquanuts Waterski Thrill Show teams up with the MACC Fund at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and includes a Flyin’ Fliver on their Brochure. The MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders is among the most experienced and largest specializing in treating children of all ages with cancer and blood disorders. The MACC Fund - Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc., was founded on December 10, 1976, during the retirement of Jon McGlocklin from the Milwaukee Bucks. Jon's friend, Longtime Milwaukee Bucks Broadcaster Eddie Doucette, and his wife, Karen, had a son, Brett, who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 2. Brett's diagnosis coincided with the timing of Jon's retirement. It was decided to use Jon's departure from professional basketball to announce the start of the MACC Fund. During a half-time on the floor of the Milwaukee Arena, the MACC Fund came into being.
November 2024 - First generation Flyin’ Flivver running what appears to be a 1957 Mercury Inline 6 Competition Model Mark 75H with a Quicky Lower Unit in a swimming pool for demonstration display at a boat show. SWEET!
November 2024 - Restoration of a Rare Fliver Deck Boat, we believe to be a Noles. Running both Mercury and an Antique Evinrude. We’ve seen a few of these in the past but not too many! Very Kool!
November 2024 - Pretty kool how the original Hanson designed Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivvers had them 1950’s styled tail fins of the day which also doubled for way to stand the boat up for storage.
November 2024 - Red and Green Christmas Color Fliver Boats fresh out of the mold and ready for rigging.
November 2024 - More from the Creekrat Fliver Boat Gallery Page. Ready to hit the lake!
November 2024 - More from the Creekrat Fliver Boat Gallery Page. Try all youse want there ain’t no sinking a Flyin’ Flivver Boat! Looks like a fun time to us just don’t flip or fall out, Baw Haw Haw!
November 2024 - A Blue Fliver Boat added in from the Gallery Page.
November 2024 - Way Kool Flyin’ Flivver Boat Find and this time in the February 1960 Outboard Magazine “Boat Show Special Edition” with a Yellow Gen-1 Hanson Flivver Boat on the Cover. 106 pages of an awesome stroll through 1959-1960 boating technology covering boats, trailers, racing, waterskiing and motors!
November 2024 - Way Kool Vintage Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivver Fun from an early 1960’s 8mm home movie shot at Cypress Gardens on Lake Eloise in Florida!
November 2024 - Classic Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Action with Corky the Clown in 1968 from a Florida State Chamber of Commerce promotional film for Tourists. Corky looks to be running a Johnson Sea Horse!
October 2024 - Vintage late 1950’s Cypress Gardens Post Card showing a Yellow Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver on the beach! Yep another squinter but hey it’s got a Flivver Boat so too kool to ignore!
October 2024 - Flyin' Fliver Boat Fun captured on vintage photograph technology remembering when we took photos, developed the film and then threw out the bad ones. Cooking on the Water here!
October 2024 - Okay Jet Skis may be Way More Faster but Fliver Boats are Way More Funner!
October 2024 - A Fliver Boat tied to the Ski Jump Ramp as the Clowns attempt sum Hang Time.
October 2024 - A Flyin’ Flivver Boat Trifecta! How many Flivver Boats do you need? One more of course! Baw, Haw, Haw, we love it!
September 2024 - Andy Christian from Melbourne Australia, the Vice President of the South Waters Ski Show Team, also known as the IWWF Moomba Ski Show Team, performing at the largest water ski event in the world held in the Yarra River located in the heart of Melbourne CBD - Moomba Masters, acquired a Hurst Flivver Boat for their World Famous Water Ski Show! They reached out to us for Model Identification and Jack Plate rigging pointers. The motor is from a Water Rescue Operation with a custom lower unit. Every Water Ski Show needs a Flyin’ Flivver! More to follow……
September 2024 - April Chris Smith acquired a way kool 11.5 foot Fliver boat mold modified to a rolled edge. Kind of looks like the old Noles mold. She’s building her own Custom Fliver Boats. Very Kool!
September 2024 - Still hands down nothing more fun on the water than a Fliver Boat! Here’s Max Lantvit’s Fliver!
August 2024 - A Flivver Boat found down in Tavernier Florida. Dig that deck!? Should scoot nicely with the Yamaha 25 HP with that adjustable Jack Plate!
August 2024 - A Fliver Boat found down in St. Petersburg Florida. We've seen this style before but have no idea who the manufacturer was.
August 2024 - A Hurst Flivver found down in Clearmont Florida. Dig the original Factory Hurst Decal!
August 2024 - Sad Fliver Boat day - Had some time off and decided to make a run - trailered down to the Kenmore Boat Ramp on Lake Washington - ramp not busy at all and water looked calm - motor fired right up but would not pee %@#$&? ! BUMMER! New Impeller installed so ready to go…
August 2024 - Cypress Gardens with Corky The Clown on skis and his trusty Fliver Boat tied up to the ramp.
July 2024 - Another Fliver Boat being prepped as a plug to make a new mold down in Palm Harbor Florida with Michael Georgianna - can’t wait to see more and it’s great seeing people keeping the Fliver Boats alive! We’d like to order one with Old Skool Big Metal Flake maybe from Lil’ Daddy Roth or House of Color! We’ve always dreamed of having a Sparkle Flake Gel Coated Fliver! Maybe someday though at this old age I’m running outta time!
July 2024 - More of a beautiful restored First Generation Hanson Flyin’ Flivver known in the Greater Berwyn Illinois area as “My Little Margie” sporting a 9.9 outboard motor.
July 2024 - Okay and just when youse think you've seen every type of Fliver Boat - Ding, Bang, Owe! Check out what Blake Alvis down in Tampa Bay Florida is building! Blake plans on putting his Air Boat Flivers into production! Creekrat Cartoon Studios has been commissioned to do the logo art for the rutters and decals and tee-shirt bling! Is this totally Kool or What? More to follow...
July 2024 - We’ve seen this style Fliver Boat before but no clue who manufactured this design. This version is being restored and prepared as a plug for a mold for making Kevlar Flivers!
July 2024 - END OF AN ERA! World Famous Fliver Boat "Screamin Seamen" which terrorized the Gator Infested Swamps of Flordia for decades running 10HP to 50HP Beasts has been sold to new Fliver Boat Owners. It was popular back in the day to paint cartoons on the bottom of Flivers!
June 2024 - A Twin Pulse Jet Powered Flyin’ Flivver Boat? When you hear the word "jetboat" most people these days think of a boat using a powerful piston engine and impeller setup to create a high-pressure water jet out the stern. Well the First Gen Flivver Boat pictured here is not driven by a regular piston engine or a jet of water -- it's got two 105lb-thrust Pulse Jets doing the pushing. This Flivver was modified with the dual mounted jet engines over a half a century ago by Famous Hydroplane Builder Bill Pearson and was featured in the May 1959 edition of Popular Mechanics. With an all-up weight (excluding driver) of just 147 pounds, the 200 pounds of thrust produced by the two engines reportedly produced quite spritely performance. Think of Fearless WW2 Test Pilot Hanna Reitsch strapped into a V1! Top speed was claimed to be over 45 mph. The downside was that it used about six gallons of gasoline per mile and created a deafening roar that could be heard for many miles and ran at a cooking hot 2300 degrees. Just when you think you’ve seen every kind of Flivver Boat - Ding Bang Owe! Is this Crazy Fliver Boat History or What?
June 2024 - Way Kool Original First Generation Flyin’ Flivver Boat running a Vintage 1959 Red Mercury Outboard! What a Beauty! Looks unrestored too!
May 2024 - Flivver Boats and totally ready for full top to bottom restoration from over at Mini Speed Boats. Looks like years of “rode hard and put away wet” but restorable and a good start!
May 2024 - Waterski Show Brochure from Tommy Bartlett’s at the Wisconsin Dells dated 1977 which mentions Aqua the Clown and his Flying Fliver in the Show Opening “Parade of Boats” so kool!
April 2024 - More Yellow Fliver Boat Fun with the Fabulous Cypress Gardens Aqua Maids:
March 2024 - 1966 Cypress Gardens Yellow Fliver Boat Fun! Looks like the Kite and an Aqua Maid are getting ready to hit the skis!
March 2024 - The Clowns at Cypress Gardens had a habit of docking their Fliver Boats to the Ski Jump. Here’s a vintage Cypress Gardens Post Card that shows a tied up Red Fliver Boat running a white outboard probably a Johnson 25. It’s a squinter but too kool to ignore.
March 2024 - Ed Grinvalds ripping it up in his Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver Boat! Ed restored this boat to new condition and powered it with a Mercury 25 2 Stroke Outboard Motor. Ed recently sold this boat through the Creekrat Flivver Boat Buy & Sell section. Sure is a Beauty and now off to new adventures on the water!
March 2024 - We have no idea what’s going on here, found surfing the interweb, but it’s a Fliver Boat and a Banjo so too kool to ignore…
February 2024 - Vintage Osborn Fliver Boat Ad with Graham - Potnik Sports, from over at Scream & Fly! The Exciting New “Osborn” Fun Boat!
January 2024 - Corky the Clown in his Fliver Boat at Cypress Gardens on vintage GAF Pana-View technology:
January 2024 - Flyin’ Fliver Boat Hang Time with the Min-Aqua Bats Waterski Show!
January 2024 - A Restored 1957 Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivver Boat on Display at the 2024 Minneapolis Minnesota Boat Show January 18th to the 21st located in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Display includes Original Historical Creekrat Fliver Boat Sourced Documentation. Rumor has it that this Flivver actually saw action on Coon Lake Minnesota. VERY KOOL DISPLAY!
January 2024 - More Kool Proof that Cypress Gardens manufactured their own line of Flivver Boats!
January 2024 - Kool Fliver Boat History from a 1968 Episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson filmed at Cypress Gardens! A real documented surprise Flyin’ Fliver Boat Overload in one historical find so pretty Kool!
December 2023 - Finishing off 2023 with some Kool Vintage Flyin’ Flivver Boat Fun!
December 2023 - View showing audience watching clown water skiing and a Fliver Boat during performance at the Cypress Gardens theme park in Winter Haven, Florida. Founded in 1936 by Dick and Julie Pope, Cypress Gardens was the state's first theme park. Proclaimed the Water Ski Capitol of the World, Cypress Gardens became the birthplace of performance water skiing in 1941.
December 2023 - Tommy Bartlett’s Water Ski Show with the Ski Show Boats Lineup! There’s a Fliver next to the red inflatable. This photo is circa 2019 so right before the Covid shutdown. Looks like all their boats were running Mercury Outboards too!
December 2023 - A photo from a long time ago tooling up the Sammamish Slough and the water was like glass! Not a Gator in sight!
December 2023 - Rabco Fliver Boats with their unique wide sponsons and narrow interior. Probably could fit a small 3 gallon gas tank lengthwise but I don't think my feet would fit!
December 2023 - Christmas Parade at Beaver Dam Wisconsin with a Fliver Boat Themed Float by our Good Pals at the Beaverland Must-Skis Waterski Show Team! AWESOME! Santa runs Mercs!
December 2023 - More Fliver Boat action down in Boward County Florida! Makes us think of the Good Old Days on the Saint John's River between Stone Island, Lake Jesup and Lake Monroe and on down to Silver Springs!
November 2023 - Kool Vintage Fliver Boat Action at Tommy Bartletts on Lake Dalton Wisconsin in 2017 with Robbie Allen and Marc Thefunkman:
November 2023 - Blurry as all get out but hey it’s got a Fliver Boat so still too kool to ignore circa 1972 Cypress Gardens!
November 2023 - Blurry as all get out but hey it’s got a Fliver Boat so still too kool to ignore circa 1974 Cypress Gardens!
November 2023 - That's a wrap to another year of Fun Fliver Boating here in the PNW and boats stored away for the long arduous cold wet soggy winter. Was able to apply a polish and wax to the Fliver but still need to do the Tahiti.
November 2023 - Classic late 1950’s Cypress Gardens Clown Action running a Vintage Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivver, our guesstimate is these predate the introduction of Corky and Corkette!
November 2023 - More Fliver Boat Fun with The Neverless Nocks Water Thrill Show at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter located on Clock Tower Lake in Perry Georgia! Sure looks like everyone had an Awesome Time and wish we were there too for all the Kool Waterski Show and Fliver Boat Fun!
November 2023 - Okay what you are looking at here is the World's Fastest Fliver Boat, a rare 11.5 foot Mirage, owned and operated by Benjamin Jamie Darlington and hitting speeds of 60+ Miles Per Hour! Very Kool!
November 2023 - Awesome Lazy Fliver Boat day with John Christensen and Family of Lightning Performance Boats!
November 2023 - Austin Knake’s Cypress Gardens Flivver located in Iowa. His Grandpa used to take Flivvers over the water ski jump in the 60’s!
November 2023 - More "Whipping da Flivver" with Matt Claussen down in Winter Haven Florida with the “LIL NUTZ” running a 25 Johnson!
November 2023 - Fliver Boat Fun down in Beautiful Brevard County Florida! Wish we were there too during this time of year as wa are now freezing again here in the PNW!
November 2023 - Fliver Boat Fun with Fliver Gal Pal Sabrina Gamble and her Fliver Boat Friends on the River at Ginne Springs / High Springs Florida! Looks like fun to us here at Creekrat!
November 2023 - Maclain Hammond capturing a Wild Pilotless Fliver Boat with the Min-Aqua Bats Waterski Show! Flivers really cook empty at wide open throttle when they buck out a driver!
October 2023 - Way Kool Fliver Boat find and this time located in Beautiful Portsmouth New Hampshire and check out the custom handles on the sides and the front and the divider for the gas tank. Looks like a Hurst Fliver Boat to us by the transom design but with no railing curved lip on the edge! Pretty Kool!
October 2023 - Look what Catagory 4 Hurricane Idalia churned up and spit out during the August 2023 Storm down in Florida. We hope this Fliver Boat can find its way back home.
October 2023 - Blurry as all get out but it’s a Fliver Boat so too Kool to Ignore! Looks to be running a Johnson 2 Stroke Outboard. This one frequently hits the swampy swamps way down in Trinity Florida!
October 2023 - Fliver Boat Dude Doug "Screamin Seamen" Sullivan and Friends Blasting through the Neighborhood Flooded Canals down in Gator Infested Florida post Hurricane from about 8 years ago doing sum Flyin' Flivver Flipping Fun! Sez they've Rolled the Boat more than 2 dozen times and luckly the only failure in 15 years was an intermittent Stator issue - Gotta love them Old 3 Cylinder Yahama Outboards!
October 2023 - Flyin’ Fliver Boat used by the Beaverland Must-Skis Competition Waterski Team located in Beaver Dam Wisconsin! Sweet!
October 2023 - Aqua The Clown's Fliver Boats from Tommy Bartlett's Waterski Shows are still seeing action with The Neverless Nocks Thrill Show at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter located on Clock Tower Lake in Perry Georgia! Pretty Kool!
October 2023 - Way Kool 1st-Gen located in Norton Shores Michigan and ready for a full restoration. Hard to see but it looks like it still has the U.S. Patent Number Tag on the transom and was an original Yellow Flyin’ Flivver!
October 2023 - Another Frankenstein Xs Merc 650 Completed by Benjamin Jamie Darlington in his quest for 60+ MPH in a Fliver Boat!
October 2023 - Located in Olive Branch Mississippi and originally from Cypress Gardens Florida and identified as a 1974 Mastercraft Fliver Boat. Powered by a 15HP Evinrude 2 Stroke Outboard. Notice the boat lip which appears to be formed over a PVC Pipe and the height of the rear sponson deck! Being from Detroit we dig the Ted Nugent Decal on the Transom!
September 2023 - Vintage Osborn Marine Fliver Boat Ad. Located in Winter Haven Florida and we'd guess sometime in the 1970's based on the Outboards and the prices. Pretty Kool!
September 2023 - A Fliver Boat in Minnesota via Illinois and appears to be a Hurst and built sometime between 1966 - 1969.
September 2023 - A Rabco Fliver Boat with custom steering and running a 9.9 Yamaha Four Stroke Outboard. Rabco’s are unique with their wide sponsons and narrow center.
September 2023 - More Fliver Boat Fun with Shayne Broderick's Mirage Flivver running on Lake Louisa in Clermont Florida powered by a modified Johnson 25HP souped up with Drilled Transfer Ports with Bridgeported Intake and Exhaust Ports - estimated to be modded to 40HP!
September 2023 - Fliver Boat Fun with Joey Gase running a Mercury 4 Stroke.
September 2023 - Gen-1 Fliver Boat Fun with Richard Hysell running a Johnson 18. Notice the glassed in rope handle!
September 2023 - Gen-1 Fliver Boat Fun with Doug Campbell running a Scott Atwater.
September 2023 - Shayne Broderick's Mirage Flivver Boat running a Johnson 25HP with a 40HP conversion. Both boat and motor are 2020 models. Located in Gator Infested Sunny Florida!
September 2023 - George Blakeman's 1978 Hurst Flivver running a 1995 Mercury 9.9 located in Saint Petersburg Florida. All composite transom and no foam.
August 2023 - Kool Tommy Bartlett Waterski Show Program from the late 60’s early 70’s that references Aqua the Clown and his Fliver!
August 2023 - Cole Kolasa Ripping Up Merritt Island Florida! Typical Fliver Boat Fun = Not much in the water except the motor!
August 2023 - Classic 1955 Mercury Hurricane on Brian Lamb’s Fliver Boat. The Creekrat Cartoon Fliver Boat decal guaranteed to add 10MPH to any Fliver Boat! We love it!
August 2023 - More photos of Ken Vohwinkle’s Flivver Boats. Kool decking and fabed in fuel tanks. Pretty Sweet and got to crank running the 30 and 35 HP Outboards!
As stated by Ken over at Fliver & Things… “I can remember like it was yesterday. I was on the Weeki Wachee River, I was about 9 years old and saw a little boat that was so cool. I have always wanted one. And finally found one in Brooksville Florida leaning against and old oak tree near a lake I was spraying. I was 53 with my first Flivver boat. I have 2, 1973 Hurst Flivver boats, and a 74. All 3 are 8' in length. 2 are finished and I'm working on the 3rd one.” Sweet!
August 2023 - Carbon Fiber Fliver Boat Fun!
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July 2023 - More Vintage Fliver Boat Stuff and this time from an Old Cypress Gardens Map. Check it Out! We guess probably late 1960’s or early 1970’s based on the style of the Art. Pretty Kool as they CARtooned in Corky The Clown in his Red Fliver!
July 2023 - Old Man Hitting the Water! We had Lake Washington to ourselves and the water was like glass. Tooled all over the North End of the lake then headed up the Sammamish! Running the 30 HP Tohatsu 2 Stroke - Ported, Polished, Tweaked and Dialed In by Famed Snowmobile Builder Doc Fang Racing & Engineering in Keego Harbor Michigan! It still runs like a Scalded Beast! Hit that Throttle and Instant Plane! Back Home we noticed a small gas leak in Fuel Pipe A so parts ordered up - We wonder if it was caused by old age wear or by the blended ethanol gas here in the PNW?
August 2023 - No more leaking rotten fuel lines with replaced new Tohatsu 30 Fuel Pipes A, B and C. Ready to Rock!
July 2023 - We Really dig what Mirage is doing nowadays with their New Awesome Carbon Fiber Flivver Racers! We want one!
July 2023 - Some Smoking Flivver Boat Finds out there if you keep a keen eye out - this was listed as a "8' Fiberglass Pond Boat" and seller was asking $50 Bucks!
July 2023 - Way Kool Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver restored by Ed Grinvalds and we really Dig the Kustom Paint Job! Powered by a 1986 Mercury 25 Outboard!
July 2023 - Way Kool 1st Generation Hanson Flyin' Flivver Boat sporting a 15HP Evinrude Motor and check out that Custom License Plate too! Very clean and getting rigged for a new 3GAL gas tank. We really like that color combo. Boat is owned by Rick Haight who runs on Beaver Lake in Tennessee.
June 2023 - Cypress Gardens Waterski Show Action probably from the late 1960's or early 1970's and a Yellow Fliver Boat waiting for Corky and Corkette!
June 2023 - A fun day at the June 16-18, 2023 Quincy, Illinois Classic Boat and Outboard Show coupled with the 17 Mile Mississippi River Run from Mark Twain’s home town of Hannibal, Missouri to Quincy. Present at the show is Max Wayrzyniak’s awesome Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivver Boat running a sweet classic Evinrude! Note the Johnson gas tank. Us old timers will recall Evinrude and Johnson were pretty much interchangeable. What a Beauty!
June 2023 - A Flyin' Flivver Boat kind of day with John Stevens on Lake Conway in Orlando Florida. Makes me think of doing a Flivver Boat run on the St. Johns River through Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup from Stone Island just outside of Orlando! Would have to stop at the Black Hammock for a Beer! The good old dazes...
June 2023 - Another Kool 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair Fliver Boat action with the Florida State Exhibit Citrus Water Ski Show!
June 2023 - Way Kool vintage postcard showing Aqua The Clown in his Fliver Boat leading the Waterski Boats around the Ski Jump Ramps at Good Old Tommy Bartlett’s at the Dells!
June 2023 - Tom Heger got this Gen-1 Hanson Flyin’ Flivver when he was 14 years old. He’s now 72 and just took the Flivver Boat out. How Kool is that?
May 2023 - With Jack Aylsworth over at the Evinrude - Johnson Outboards. Facts, History, Racing and OMC. Home of the "Sea-House Spectacular Show" when during the 60's, 70's and early 80's, Johnson sponsored the Ski Show and many other boat entertainment events at Cypress Gardens Florida. This was also the primary location for the majority of our ad & catalog photography, television specials and films. Literally thousands of our photos were shot on Lake Eloise where the Gardens were located. More than just Flowers & Skiers, most people who remember the Gardens think of beautiful flower gardens and professional ski shows. But it was much more. For many years, small-boat closed-circuit races, kneel-down hydros, and Flivvers were staples on the Gardens extensive boating entertainment menu. Super-Light Flivvers, typically powered by 25HP Johnsons, were crazy-quick and truly entertaining to watch. Steeplechase races running through the Gardens' tight canals with jumps were crowd pleasers. Fun rides with Gardens pilots were also part of the cation. And there was Corky The Clown. At one time, Cypress Gardens was the most famous attraction (before Disney) - it's now a Legoland Park.
May 2023 - Vintage Viewmaster Technology again at Cypress Gardens in Florida showing the filming of a TV Show with a White Fliver running a Johnson so sometime in the late 1960's we'd guess. Pretty Kool!
May 2023 - Winter Garage Flivver Boating with Brian Wilson and Andrew Taylor!
May 2023 - Flivver Boat Fun and Hammer Down with Matt Gent! Matt's Fliver Boat is powered by a screaming 40HP Tohatsu! KOOL!
May 2023 - Flivver Boat Flying with Ed Phalen in Baldwin New York sometime in the 1970's.
May 2023 - Don Mashke over at Scream and Fly - Extreme Performance Boats - Back in the day running a Johnson 30HP Outboard hitting 43MPH. "That is a boat for a young man with a young back."
May 2023 - Tracy Smith over at Scream and Fly - Extreme Performance Boats - Flying' Flivver Boating and hitting 38.7MPH!
May 2023 - Brian Lamb running an Awesome Mercury Super KG Hurricane with a Quicksilver Lower Unit - Very Kool!
May 2023 - Jonathan Windsor's 11 Footer Mirage Flying Fliver! Dig the Creekrat Fliver Decal too!
May 2023 - Squaw Lake Ollies in Michigan running a Rabco built Fliver.
May 2023 - Mark Thompson's 1985 Hurst 8' Fliver - he ran it with a 25HP Johnson. The person he sold it to did a complete restoration now looking better thank new!
May 2023 - Brian Lamb running a sweet Mercury Mark 20 on a 75ish pound full Carbon and Composite Fliver!
May 2023 - Benjamin Jamie Darlington Historical Fliver Boat Photos on his quest for 60+MPH in a Flivver! Looks Awesome!
May 2023 - Fliver Boating with Mitch Reitman of Reitman Family Fliver Boat Fame over at Scream And Fly - Extreme Performance Powerboats!
May 2023 - Fliver Boating with Jay Gonzalez over at Scream And Fly - Extreme Performance Powerboats! Seen running all over South and Central Florida usually in the 25-30HP range but there's a guy here running a 50HP Tohatsu at 50+MPH but too scared to open it up all the way! Very Kool!
May 2023 - More Way Kool Flyin’ Flivver Boat Action at the Redwood City Marine World - Africa USA. Undated Post Card but probably late 1970’s?
May 2023 - Cowboys and Indians, a Case of TNT, a Fliver Boat running a Mariner Outboard - What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Spring 1991 at the Wild West Show at Sea World in Beautiful San Antonio Texas!
May 2023 - The Tommy Bartlett's Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show was a popular tourist attraction in the Wisconsin Dells, and showcased the Fliver Boat antics and stunts for decades. The show was created in 1952 by showman Tommy Bartlett as a traveling group of entertainers, originally based in Chicago, Illinois. The Wisconsin Dells show was performed between late May and early September on Lake Delton. Sadly, on September 16, 2020 the show announced it would permanently close due to financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 2023 - Flivver Boat Fun For The Whole Family! A Kill Switch and Lanyard are mandatory. When our Kids were young in the olden days we’d triple check the Kill Switch operation before we’d let them go out on the water. Our 1972 Merc 200 did not come with the Kill Switch but me and my Dad wired one in to the harness - a long time ago now so it seems and it still works flawlessly. That Merc 200 motor only sees time in the Boat Shed on a stand after we started running the 30HP Tohatsu. The Yamato 302 is wired with 2 Kill Switches. I’m always surprised that that old Merc still fires right up…
May 2023 - A 1989 Fliver Boat running a 25 HP Yamaha with a Jack Plate and can hit 42 MPH. Check out the Custom Deck!
May 2023 - A Fliver Boat on a Football Field Tied to a Goal Post? The World’s First Waterski Show in a Football Stadium! Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you - there’s a Fliver Boat tied to the Goal Post. This is a picture of a flooded Memorial Stadium in Seattle Washington back in the summer of 1970. Local promotors, Gordon Ogden and Jerry Comeaux, had the stadium filled with 3.5 million gallons of water for a water ski show! A dam was constructed on the south end of the playing field out of pilings, marine plywood and polyetheline. The water held for all 4 of the shows over a three day period and was drained out slowly through storm drains on the last night. The grass in the stadium wasn't damaged and officials said it was greener than ever before!
April 2023 - The Min-Aqua Bats Waterski Show in Wisconsin reintroduced the Fliver Boat to their Waterski Shows in the Summer of 2019 and is tasked with doing sum serious stunts!
April 2023 - A Fliver Boat found in Eldon, Missouri:
April 2023 - A Fliber Boat found down in Lutz Florida about 15 Clicks North of Tampa running a Yamaha motor and appears to be from the Hydrostream molds by the transom? Maybe an Osborn? Them Yamaha Outboards are Tough Motors!
April 2023 - Flyin’ Flivver Boat Fun again at Good Old Cypress Gardens and sometime in the mid 1970’s so too Kool to ignore! Looks like it’s running a Johnson Outboard.
April 2023 - Fliver Boat Hang Time with Ray Russell on Lake Jesup Florida! Looks like a Fun Time to us. Still needs to get a little bit warmer here in the PNW but we’ve got the Fliver Boat and Motor dialed in and ready to go and picked up the new tabs this morning.
April 2023 - Matti Claussen’s Fliver Boat in Winter Haven Florida. Must scoot nicely with the 25 Johnson Outboard and we dig the “LIL NUTZ” name!
April 2023 - Tim Smith’s Fliver Boat in Winter Haven Florida. Tim says it’s a 2008 from an original Cypress Gardens mold and not from a fake. Ready for some outboard action.
April 2023 - From Robbie Allan at the Tommy Bartlett Waterski Show - Getting out of the Fliver Boat the hard way!
March 2023 - Benjamin Jamie Darlington hitting 61.3 MPH running a Merc 700X on his Flivver Boat but the GoPro GPS didn’t catch the run. Wicked Fast for a Fliver and a World Record I’d think! We love it!
February 2023 - Fliver Boat Racing in the Olden Days with John Stevens down on Sunny Lake Conway in Orlando Florida! Pretty Kool!
February 2023 - Can’t decide to go Water Skiing or Fliver Boating? Oh Well…
February 2023 - Way Kool Vintage Fliver Boating running a Sweet Yamato Outboard! Looks like the 80. Dig the Kustom Tiller Handle too. We still have a new in the crate Yamato 302 from our Old APBA Days so someday we’ll run it on the Fliver or possibly building a Waterbug!
January 2023 - This site is dedicated to the memory of Dean Edward Hanson, Jr. (July 22, 1944 - January 20, 2023) the Father, Designer and First Test Pilot for the Flyin' Flivver Boat. Eddy lived most his life in Tampa, Florida. Eddy was the son of Freda and Dean Edward Hanson, Sr. Eddy was born in Washington D.C. and raised in in Minnesota on Coon Lake until he was a teenager, and it was on Coon Lake that he and his father conceived of and invented the Flyin' Flivver boat of Cypress Gardens fame. Rest in Peace dear friend and Thank You for Making the World a Better Place!
January 2023 - More fun Flivver Boat Finds and this time with the GAF View-Master Stereo Viewer from the 1960's! Check out this Way Kool View-Master Cypress Gardens "Water Ski Show" Reel Sets with the inclusion of "3. Corky's Flivver" on the Label and then "3. Corky's Flivver is bouncing boat" on the Reel! Is this Kool Schyt or What?
January 2023 - Blue Fliver Boat Fun and this time with the Sea World Water Ski Show in Aurora Ohio sometime in 1974:
January 2023 - Way Kool Vintage Johnson Outboard Magazine ad introducing the Sea-Horse 100 so we estimate 1966? Yellow Fliver in the photo!
January 2023 - With Bonnie Parker attending the 2017 Citizen’s Bank & Trust Employee Picnic at Cypress Gardens. Nate Adams posing with Corky the Clown as a Fliver Boat zips by…
January 2023 - A Yellow Fliver Boat running a White Mercury at Cypress Gardens from the 1960’s and on Kodak Kodachrome Transparency Slides. Gotta squint to see them but they are there so too Kool to ignore!
December 2022 - An awesome way kool Flivver Boat Barn Find we’ve seen before except for the motor. A true 1958 Gen-1 Hanson Flyin’ Flivver in excellent condition and paired with an original Classic Yamato 350 Outboard, the Grand Father to our Racing Yamato 302! SWEET! Baw Haw Haw!
December 2022 - 1974 at Cypress Gardens from a 8mm Kodachrome Home Movie. Looks to be running a Johnson. Blurry but Kool!
November 2022 - A Fliver that makes the rounds from Jensen Beach to Jupiter Inlet Aquatic Preserve through Hobe Sound and Tequesta by Limestone Creek due east of the Florida Turnpike Highway 95 and Port Salerno Highway 1.
November 2022 - A Hurst Fliver Boat saved from the swamps and ready for restoration. Looks like a ton of work and fiberglass but well worth saving and the end result will be awesome. Bottom line is most if not all Fliver Boats can be restored. Great Pick!
November 2022 - Kool Fliver Boat find and ready for picking. What kind of motor? What kind of trailer? Looks like a Hurst Fliver Boat?
November 2022 - Way Kool Fliver Boat action which looks like a Noles or an Osborn running a Johnson 25 which is about the perfect all around 2 Stroke size motor for care free Fliver Boating.
November 2022 - 2020 Mirage Fliver Boat running a Sweet 1957 Mercury Mark 30 4 Cylinder. Should scoot pretty good!
November 2022 - Always Good to see the Way Kool Official Creekrat Cartoon Studios Fliver Boat Decals on Fliver Boats!
November 2022 - Custom Fliver Boat lift on a Motorhome in Florida. Pretty neat wench lift and they also have the outboard motor mounted. We really dig the Kool Original Creekrat Cartoons Fliver Boat Decals too!
October 2022 - More Cypress Gardens Post Card Action! It’s a squinter but there’s a Flyin’ Fliver on the dock ready to hit the show so too Kool to ignore!
October 2022 - Way Kool Fliver Boat Action with Aqua the Clown at the Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Shows at the Dells and looks to be running a late model Mercury 25HP Two Stroke which we find is the closest to the perfect motor to run for torque and power and speed.
October 2022 - Still more Wack Fliver Boat Finds here and both identified as Noles boats measuring 11 foot 6 inches each. Old Jim Noles was coming up with some unique Fliver Boat designs. Pretty Sweet Fliver Boat History here though…
October 2022 - Another Kool 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair Fliver Boat action with the Florida State Exhibit Citrus Water Ski Show!
October 2022 - Did MasterCraft make Flivers? This question has come up before and this time with the Water Circus hosted by the Water Ski Shows, inc., located in the beautiful Smoky Mountains at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Here are a few pages from their 1987 flyer which clearly shows a Fliver Boat with MasterCraft on the side. Last time we saw reference to a MasterCraft Fliver was in an old Tommy Bartlett brochure from the 1970’s. I’d say yes at this point but the jury is still out remembering the Boston Whaler Fliver Boat - Baw, Haw, Haw!!
October 2022 - Hey check it out Fliver Dudes and Dudettes! Fliver Boat Mold getting rare Carbon Fiber inlay. Sure should be a lot lighter!
October 2022 - More Florida Flivver Boat Fun. Getting a bit cold here in the PNW!
October 2022 - Another wacky Fliver Boat find. Apparently this boat was made by Noles Fiberglass Products in Eloise Florida. Sure has a bunch of Fliver Boat bits and looks too and with it’s tunnel hull and set back transom. Odd is it’s 13 foot in length with a 59 inch beam and has a center pod between the sponsons. Just when you think youse seen everything Fliver - Ding Bang Ow!
October 2022 - More Way Kool Fliver Boat Post Card finds and this one from the Marine World Africa Water Ski Show in Redwood City California! Really dig the boats jumping the ski ramp and you’ll also notice a Clown in a Fliver Boat! I could not imagine hitting the ramp in a Fliver but I’d think it was tried some time some where….
October 2022 - Ken Vohwinkle getting ready to Rip it Up in his restored Hurst Fliver Boat!
October 2022 - Cypress Gardens Water Ski Show in 1969 showing a White Fliver on the dock and looks to be running a Johnson. Thank you to Duane Davis from Stone Island Florida!
October 2022 - Classic 1963 Cypress Gardens Ski Show Time and with a Hanson Gen-1 Yellow Flyin’ Flivver Boat. May have been delivered to Dick Pope from Dean and Dean!
October 2022 - A Vintage Flivver Boat identified as a 1959 running a Sweet 1959 Evinrude 7.5 Twin. Boat in need of some transom repair but for that extra ounce of speed the bottom of the boat is covered in Airboat Slick Bottom Frog Spit!! Dig the custom hand rails too!!
October 2022 - Custom Transom Work on what looks to be a Noles based Fliver Boat and we surmise that they wanted to run with a Long Shaft Outboard Motor so well done for getting it on the water!
September 2022 - From Fliver Boat Gal Pal Taylor DeBois AKA Corkette The Clown during 1966 at Cypress Gardens with Corky The Clown revving up the Fliver Boat during the break in the Water Ski Show!
September 2022 - More Fliver Boat Fun in Campbell’s Belmont Lake Marina off of 56 Fire Route 33 in Havelock, Ontario Canada running a 1995 Mercury 15 HP under a Sleeper 9.9 cowl. Looks to be a Hydrostream Fliver:
September 2022 - Awesome Fliver Boat restoration work by Matt Gent from Treasure Coast Florida on a free find. Lots of custom transom work as well as custom decking and sponson glass work and yet by another Fliver Boat raised from the swamp and saved from the dump:
September 2022 - Always dig finding Fliver Boats for sale while surfing the internet and still some way kool smoking deals out there though nothing is getting any cheaper due to the current Fliver Boat Market Trends tied to the economy and the price of GAS! Thank You Joe!
September 2022 - Sum Fun Fliver Boat Fun in the Sun Action with Max Lantvit!
September 2022 - Sum Fun Fliver Boat Action with Mitch Reitman in an Osborn!
September 2022 - A Flock of Flivers!
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September 2022 - Coleen and Christopher Lake in Lannon Wisconsin on Okauchee Lake restoring and running some Way Kool Fliver Boats including a Classic Hanson Gen-1:
September 2022 - Hammer Down with Sam Reitman, of Reitman Family Fliver Boat Fame, running his Yellow Fliver Boat!
September 2022 - Very Kool Vintage Cypress Gardens Post Card showing a Sweet Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver Boat going around the Ski Jump Ramp! Pretty Neat Find!
September 2022 - Sweet overhead shot from the awesome Aquanuts 50th Waterski Show and a Full House Crowd and their two Fliver Boats sitting in the water ready for the Clowns to fire up the outboards and see some action!
September 2022 - Nothing better than a Barn Find Fliver Boat! Easy to get lost in the possible Outboard Motor HP options. Dig the Diamond Plate Transom - never seen that before:
August 2022 - Way Kool Group Photo at the conclusion of the awesome Aquanuts 50th and a Classic Gen-1 Fiyin’ Flivver!
August 2022 - More from The World Famous Aquanuts Water Shows 50th year anniversary Shindig! Turns out they have not one but two classic Hanson Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver Boats! Is this Kool or What? We Love It!
August 2022 - Fliver Boat Restoration in 1,000+ Easy Steps with Coleen and Christopher Lake! Makes my skin itch just looking at all the glass work they did! Quality Work saving another Fliver Boat from the Junk Heap! A Real Beauty Work of Art!!
August 2022 - Fliver Boat Restoration Maiden Voyage! WELL DONE!!!
July 2022 - The World Famous Aquanuts Water Shows from Wisconsin are celebrating their 50th year anniversary with a big waterski show so the only way to truly round out the awesome event is with an original Hanson Gen-1 Flying Flivver Boat! Wish we could be there for the fun!
July 2022 - When we wuz kids growing up in Wolverine Lake Michigan back in the olden days we would strap Cox 0.49 motors and/or Estes Rockets to a hunk of wood that had the potential to fly or wheel or water or snow! Here's a home built blast from the past of a Fliver Boat based prop driven fun time! Is this Kool or what?
July 2022 - Hey Sweetness, I told you if youse wanna ride in the Fliver Boat you'll need to wear a Life Jacket - them's the rules!
July 2022 - More Fliver Boat fun with Benjamin Jamie Darlington running his Fliver with a Mercury 700 and a tiller! It must be a handful but tons of FAST! Get In, Sit Down, Shut Up and Hold On! We Love It!
June 2022 - Way Kool Yellow Fliver Boat with the Hammer Down during the Ski Show at Cypress Gardens 1967!
May 2022 - The Antique Outboard Motor Club with the Mid South Outboarders held their spring meet this past saturday at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville Tennessee. This awesome Fliver Boat made it to the show. Looks to be running a Classic 1962ish Mercury 9.8! Very Kool!
May 2022 - Blue Fliver Boat action at Cypress Gardens 1972 and appears to be running a Johnson Outboard. Sitting on the dock waiting for Corky and Corkette!
May 2022 - Did MasterCraft make Flivers? Check out the cover of this Vintage Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Show Brochure from what looks like the mid 1970’s. We’ll need to do some further digging here…
April 2022 - Awesome Fliver Boat Pics from the 1960’s at Cypress Gardens from Kodak Kodachrome 35mm Slides:
March 2022 - Way Kool Vintage Cypress Gardens Post Card from around 1969 showing a Yellow Fliver on the dock ready for action!
February 2022 - Barn Find of an Orginal Gen-1 Flyin’ Flivver with the gelcoat / paint as it left the factory! 100% Restored and sure looks sweet for being built in 1957!
February 2022 - From Russ in Fort White Florida who located this Fliver Boat. Just when you think youse seen everything Fliver - Ding Bang Ow - another oddity surfaces and even with a seat up front for the Wife! This one has been decked out to the extreme and we Love It!!
February 2022 - 1960 Mercury Outboard Yearly Press Meeting inviting Reporters to view the new Mercury Outboard Product Line. Part of the yearly fun was to run Fliver Boat Races. The photos are kinda blurry but still way Kool! They’re running the Hanson Gen-1 Style Flyin’ Flivvers! We’re thinking Lake-X but not sure on the location but it could also be Lake Shore Marine on Lake Chickamaga just north of Chattanooga Tennessee as the event locations appear to have changed year to year!
January 2022 - Nothing Better than a Fliver Boat Full of Kids!
January 2022 - Fliver Boat Fun with Our Good Pals at the Twin Lakes WI Aquanuts!
November 2021 - Way Kool Flyin’ Flivver Boat write up in the January 1957 Boat Manufacturer’s Association News Letter. Also known as the "Flying Flivver", this boat design was originally built in New Prague, Minnesota by The Moderne Cabinet Works. The company described their boat as "The Sports Car of the Waterways." Mercury Outboard Motors used the Flyin' Flivver at its annual Florida press meeting to demonstrate its outboard motors. Pretty Neat Find!
Way Kool Flivver Boat News Article that appeared in the 1957 Jan Boating Industry Publication and scheduled for presentation at the Chicago Boat Show. Really dig the TV credits too!
November 2021 - Cypress Gardens Flivver Boat Company in Bartow Florida. Office, Warehouse and Manufacturing, was located at the old Bartow United States Air Force Base. The US Air Force contracted with Garner Aviation to make Bartow Air Base a flight training center for military pilots. The center hired World War II veterans as flight instructors, and was one of 9 such training facilities around the country. More than 8,000 men graduated from the school, including astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Ed White, and Karol Bobko. Aldrin came to Bartow to receive his first flight training after graduating from West Point.
October 2021 - It’s that time of the season here in the PNW to put the Summer Toys away for another year. But just in case anyone needs to run this Winter well here’s a New Fliver right out of the mold and ready for action!
September 2021 - Daniel James dialing in his Fliver with a Mercury 25 HP Short Shaft and trying to get the transom height and water pickup at the right level - he plans on loosing the Whale Fin. Dan's Fliver is from the Hydrostream mold! We really dig this style of Flyin' Fliver Boats!
UPDATE - Daniel James has dialed in his Fliver Boat and now calls it the...
DINGHY OF DEATH!
September 2021 - 1970’s Fliver Boat Fun with John Stevens and Family and Friends on Lake Conway in Orlando Florida:
August 2021 - Okay we don’t know what’s going on here but whoever set up this rig loves Fliverboating and Fishing!
August 2021 - Maybe it’s a Ski Show Beer Caddy?
August 2021 - You are able to get in to the shallow fishing spots! We love it!
August 2021 - Cops and Robbers in Cypress Gardens! Publicity photo from the Archives. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING & GET A LAWYER! You don't need a Criminal Lawyer, you need a Criminal Lawyer!
August 2021 - Vintage Corky The Clown hitting the Beach Hot in Good Old Cypress Gardens we think early 1960’s!
August 2021 - Daniel James just got this Fliver Boat and is planning on running 25 HP Merc. Should scoot pretty good! We always likes this style transom design!
August 2021 - Jeremy Bair just scored the way Kool 1st Gen Hanson Flyin’ Flivver Boat. It’s way old school and modified with a deck! Sweet! Looks pretty clean too! Should make a nice set up with a wheel and a Keller Deadman!
July 2021 - 1964 Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Fun with a Yellow Fliver and Seven Sweet Aquamaids getting Ready to Start the Show!
July 2021 - More 1964 Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Fun and a Fliver Flagging the Skiers at the End of the Run!
July 2021 - Way Kool Fliver Boat Racing in the Early 1960’s at Cypress Gardens Florida! Every Kid’s Dream…
June 2021 - From the Flyin' Flivver Boat James Family in Ohio! They've had this Flivver in their family for at least 60 years! Rini James and his brothers treated the Flivver to a full restoration and got it back on the water! Their Father would have been so happy to know they are loving the Flivver again. Rini has lots of fond memories of this boat and now they are making new ones!
June 2021 - Fliver Boat Fun on the Space Coast Florida Cocoa area Running a 25HP!
May 2021 - New Carpeted Bunks for the Calkins Fliver Boat Trailer. The old carpet wood was pretty soaked rotton from all those years of Fliver Boating - Ready for another 30+ Years! Great opportunity to do some minor Gel Coat repair and then treated to a duel polish and wax buff of the hull!
May 2021 - Serious Fliver Boat Surgery going on here with Ken Vohwinkle. Bottom Line is Every Fliver Boat is Restorable!
May 2021 - Vintage Fliver Boat action at Cypress Gardens. Kinda Blurry from the Original Slides but still Kool!
April 2021 - Three Great Shots of the Fabulous Aquamaids and a Fliver on the Beach! If it's got a Fliver, we'll add it here!
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March 2021 - In Re Joshua David Uran age 63 of Minnetonka, MN died suddenly at his home on March 15. Water was a theme in Josh's life, from his work life to his past times. He was a third generation well driller and learned the business from his grandfather, George and father, Jack. He was skilled at his trade. He loved the lake and the outdoors, whether snowmobiling in the winter or flying across the water in his "Fliver". Gardening was a passion, growing the hottest peppers possible or playing poker, a favorite past time. Josh lived his life fast and hard. He was passionate and fearless, checking in often with his friends and family. He always had good intentions and a big heart but so often his addictions got in the way. He will be missed by many. Preceded in death by his brother, John Uran; grandparents, George and Margaret Uran, Joe and Fran Fronius. Survived by significant other, Theresa Fuller; son, Bill Uran (Tarryn); granddaughters, Berlyn and Harlyn; father, Jack Uran (Cheryl); mother, Reo Uran; sister, Jody Laughlin (Mike); brother, Joel Uran; sister-in-law, Cindy Uran-Woodruff; many nieces and nephews and a multitude of friends.
March 2021 - Kool Fliver Boat History and this time from the Old Boat Trader Magazine! June 13, 1983 advertising a used Royal Fliver for $175. We would scarf these Boat Trader Magazines up every Friday and same for the Auto Trader and usually along with a Six-Pack of Lucky Beer from the Pioneer Market on Venice Beach California and examine them from front to back. It's hard to believe that this is almost 40 years ago - Seems Like Yesterday...
March 2021 - A Blue Corky The Clown Ripping it up in a Blue Fliver! We are tempted to go Fliver Boating this Summer one time with an Outfit like this! Sure would get a lot of Looks at the Boat Ramp!
February 2021 - More Way Kool Fliver Boat History Right Here Baby!
February 2021 - What's Not To Love? Five Water-skiing Chicks and a Fliver Boat. Our guesstimate is Early 1960's in Cypress Gardens Florida!
February 2021 - Fliver Boat Action in South West Michigan with James E. Murray! Awesome Fliver Boat collection including a 1956 Gen-1 running a 1956 Mercury 25 HP Hurricane with a 1 to 1 Ratio Quickie Lower Unit!
January 2021 - Another Fliver Boat Holy Grail Find! Late 1960's Cypress Gardens Program with Corky and Corkette in their Fliver Boat! The Way Kool bit is it's Autographed by Corky and Corkette! How Kool is That?
January 2021 - Okay we don't know what's going on here but just guess someone wanted to see what's inside a Fliver Boat? Lots of New Glass Work Required but Worth Saving this Classic Flyin' Flivver Boat from the Swamps. UPDATE: Turns out this is a Way Kool Father and Son Fliver Boat Restoration in Progress!
December 2020 - Ken Vohwinkle puts the finishing touches restoring his way Kool Hurst Fliver! Check out the sweet paint job - we dig it!
December 2020 - Benjamin Jamie Darlington GPS Clocks In at 61.3 MPH in his 11 foot Fliver running a Wicked Mercury 700X!
November 2020 - A New Era in Fliver Boats! All Composite Carbon Fiber and Very Lite! available in 8.5 and 11 foot models! We want a Custom Big Gold Metalflake exterior and Tan interior to match our Tahiti! It'd be perfect for our 30HP Merc or our Yamato 302! Dig the Original Creekrat Cartoon Studios Fliver Boat Decal Art too!
November 2020 - Okay we don't know who makes these - check out that Transom and 3 Drain Plugs and what looks like drain holes in the back of the sponsons pretty ingenious and Kool! We Love It!
November 2020 - Awesome Hanson Fliver Boat Gen-1! Looks all original and unrestored and ready to hit the water! We also dig the period correct Merc!
November 2020 - Kool Fliver Boat find and looks like from the old Noles mold except for the lip on the Transom - maybe had some repair work done.
October 2020 - More Kool Fliver Boat History from Sam Reitman on The Reitman Fliver and The Fliver Run with Lawry Reitman! Dig the $349 for the Yamato!
October 2020 - Always a Sad Day putting the Fliver Boat away for the long Winter...but keeping good company with the Tahiti!
October 2020 - More Sweety Fliver Boat Finds! We don't know who made this version but we've seen this type of transom before. Pretty Kool Tunnel Hull Hydro too!
October 2020 - Another Way Kool Fliver Boat find! Check out the flat bow. Dig the Noodle Wrap!
October 2020 - Darrell Varley's Fliver which found it's way north to Tennessee near Nashville. it's a 78 model originally orange...had it redone by Fast Glass in Lebanon Tennessee to the red. The engine was rebuilt and restored...it's is a 1963 Mercury 9.8....the last year the 10's were white.
October 2020 - Greetings from the Lakes of Wisconsin with Sam Reitman running Hurst and Osborn Flivers! Dig the Yellow Fliver running a Yamato Racing Motor sometime in the 1980's! Too Kool!
October 2020 - Yamato 80 on a Fliver BABY!!! GET IT - SIT DOWN - SHUT UP - HOLD ON!
September 2020 - We don't know who designed or made this version of the Fliver Boat but check out the gas line through deck and the gas tank in the Cooler treatment:
August 2020 - Okay we don't know who or why but it's a Fliver Boat so it's Kool! Someone took Corky in his Fliver Boat and added "See You In Hell" so too Funny...
July 2020 - A Red Flivver on the Beach at Cypress Gardens:
July 2020 - Pinched offa eBay - A Sweet "Dialed In At Lake-X" Decal - Fliver Boats were Dialed In At Lake-X! We think we still have some of these decals somewhere down at the boat shed.
July 2020 - Found Surfing the Internet - We don't know who did this or what it's about but it is Too Kool to Ignore:
June 2020 - Some Way Kool Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Fun!
June 2020 - Awesome Vintage Wizard on the Transom of a Fliver!
May 2020 - Another Kool Fliver we've never seen this type before. We wonder who makes these? Check out the flat flooring:
May 2020 - This Fliver wuz advertized as a Pond Dinghy!
April 2020 - Fresh Fliver Right Out Of The Mold!
March 2020 - Doug "Screamin Seaman" Sullivan's Fliver Boat ready for Action! Max HP here! Rumor had it when they fired up this Bad Boy it took off and he almost hit the retaining wall!
February 2020 - Fresh Rabco Fliver Right Out Of The Mold! Look at how wide the sponson's are! Pretty Kool!
February 2020 - I'll take some of that Glass!
February 2020 - Sweet 11 Footer running a Merc!
February 2020 - More Vintage Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Fun!
January 2020 - More on the Rabco Fliver Boats! It looks like Rabco is making Fliver Boats but look how they designed the center and how narrow it is between the sponsens! Pretty Kool and the Fliver Boat History Continues into an new Decade! Check It Out:
December 2019 - One Sweet Mirage Flivver running a 2004 Mercury two stroke 25. We really dig the Red Metal Flake Gel Coat. One of these days we'll order up a Mirage with Gold Flake and Tan Interior paint to match our 1972 Schuster Tahiti Sweet 16 running a 140 Merc Tower of Power
November 2019 - A Flyin' Flivver in New York City? True! In 1965 for the New York World's Fair the Florida Citrus Growers Association put on an arena water-ski show and potently utilized a Flyin' Flivver piloted by "Ojay The Clown" at different parts of the show. Pretty Kool!
October 2019 - Way Kool Flyin' Flivver Boat History find and this time from the 1960 Sheler's Outboard Boat Price Pilot Red Book Appraisals. Page 65 shows pricing from 1956 to 1959 at $225.00. Interestingly, the HP Rating is 22 for years 1956-1958 and went down to 20 for 1959. The Manufacturer's description is "Sports Car of the Waterways" which is Pretty Neat!
October 2019 - Dave Ostaszewski’s White Fliver Boat in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. We remember Dave had a Red Fliver Boat on Wolverine Lake in the 1960's. His neighbors, the Fergusons, had a Blue Fliver.
October 2019 - Double Trouble with two rare 10 Footers:
October 2019 - Okay is this Sick or What!! Get In - Sit Down - Shut Up - Hold On! Love it!
September 2019 - Corky getting ready to Rip It Up and put the Hammer Down:
September 2019 - Fliver Boat Racing at it's Finest! We think from the Wisconsin Dell's Aqua Bats:
September 2019 - Sorry, I can't hear you over the Fliver Boat!?
August 2019 - A new Fliver on the market called a RABCO?:
August 2019 - The Koolest Flyin' Flivver Boat find ever. Might as well just shut the Front Door. Check it out Flivver Dudes and Dudettes! Five Flivver Boat Chicks Racing 1st Generation Flyin' Flivvers in the back canals of Cypress Gardens!
August 2019 - Red Flivver Boat on the dock while the Girls are in action...
August 2019 - Yellow Flivver Boat ready for the Clown Show!
August 2019 - Hard to see but there's a Gen-1 Flyin' Flivver on the beach and looks to be running a vintage OMC:
August 2019 - Corky the Clown running with the Pyramid and from the Chrysler sponsored years at Cypress Gardens...
August 2019 - Benjamin Darlington's Wicked Mirage 11' all Composite running a 44ci Wizard Superpower 25 with a Jack Plate and clocked at 45.7!
August 2019 - Another Flivver on the beach so too Kool to ignore...
July 2019 - Okay Way Kool Further Flivver Boat Racing History and this time from the 1968 Tri-River Regatta in La Crosse Wisconsin - Packed Full of Flying Flivver Boat Fun:
July 2019 - We've toyed with the idea of crafting a tiller on our APBA Killer Yamato 302 and Mounting it on the back of a Fliver! Is this Kool or What?
July 2019 - More Kool Fliver Boat Finds - this one getting some serious gel coat work:
July 2019 - A Sweet & Rare 10 Foot Fliver:
July 2019 - Yellow and White Fliver out of the Molds and Ready to Go!
July 2019 - More Fliver Boats getting fixed up for the Summer:
July 2019 - A Very Sweet Hurst Fliver Running a 15HP Yamaha - We Love It!
July 2019 - Very Kool Lime Green restored Fliver Boat with a selection of vintage Mercury Outboards ready to Run:
July 2019 - After Decades of Creekrat Fliver Boat Testing at Lake-X, Mercury has finally determined the correct Fliver Boating Head Gear...
July 2019 - Sweet Fliver running a Yamaha - We Like to Color Combo:
July 2019 - Fliver Fun in Florida - Wish we were there too!
July 2019 - Fliver running a 30 Tohatsu, same motor we currently run so a hand full. Love that you be sitting anywhere and punch it to an instant plane...
July 2019 - Love the Camaro Tow Package...
June 2019 - Fliver Boat running a 40 Merc - Sez the only to stop without dumping it is to run it up on shore and hit the beach!
June 2019 - Fliver Boat running a 20 Merc!
June 2019 - Three Fliver Boats - Red, White and Blue - Leaning against the Garage and Ready for some Action...
June 2019 - Two more Fliver Boats leaning against the Garage and Ready for some Action...
May 2019 - Love This! Out for a Spin in the Fliver and I'm taking the Dog Too! Bark, Bark Bark!
April 2019 - Another Kool lipless Fliver ready for the summer season:
April 2019 - Way Wack Fliver Boat design never before seen by us here at Creekrat. We wonder who made these? Dig the colors too!
April 2019 - Maintenance doing the spring Fliver Boat tuning and setup for another year for ski show fun:
March 2019 - A Flight of Five Fliver Boats with a dingy on top!
March 2019 - Kool red and white Fliver found surfing the internets:
March 2019 - Buddy Schmidt's Fliver For Life!
March 2019 - A new Fliver just popped out of the mold:
March 2019 - Ben Darlington has a set of 2:
March 2019 - George Blakeman's Fliver:
February 2019 - Kool 1967 Corky action at Cypress Gardens. Check out the top trim on the sponsens not going past the top. We wonder who made these? Kinda looks like a Hurst?
January 2019 - A Corkette getting ready for the Ski Show at Cypress Gardens! "FLIVER IN THE SHOW?"
January 2019 - A Sweet Fliver Boat currently under restoration including a Kool 44CI Wizard Super Power 25! It should Scoot!
December 2018 - A Lightning Powerboats Fliver running a 30HP Yamaha! We seem to recall the Lightning's were based on the Original Noles molds. 30HP is a hand full but a BLAST at the same time!
November 2018 - Blurry Fliver Boat action but too Kool to not include!
October 2018 - Okay so you want to go Fliver Boating but only have a 20 inch long shaft motor? No problem!
October 2018 - What looks like Fliver Boat Paradise and a Hurst Fliver running a 15 HP Yamaha!
October 2018 - Way Kool Winter Haven Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat with never seen before serial number plate!
September 2018 - Just when youse think youse seen it all Fliver Boat, Ding Bang Owe!! Old Western Center Fire Cartridges and their "Stop Clowns Dead" with their Red Nose Bullet! Exception taken to sighting in the cross hairs of Corky and his Fliver Boat at 100 Yards !?!?!
September 2018 - Fliver Boat doing double duty at a gardening planter's table:
September 2018 - Corky the Clown showing how it done from Fliver Gal Pal Lynn Navokofski:
August 2018 - Fliver Boat on the dock at Cypress Gardens waiting for sum action!
August 2018 - Awesome Fliver Boat and an Oasis Island. Fliver looks to be a Hurst:
July 2018 - Way Kool Vintage Flivver Boat ad - article of the Haines Industries Cypress Gardens Flivver in Winter Haven Florida! She's wet but exciting!
June 2018 - and more Fliver Boat Finds! Check out this Way Kool Gen-1 Hanson Flyin' Flivver restoration by Marge and Karl Blatter. The boat "My Little Margie" was found with holes in the fins, matting showing in the bow and the bracing on the transom and the transom was rotten like a sponge. Marge and Karl replaced the transom and re-glassed the whole boat. Great job Marge and Karl!
June 2018 - First Fliver Boat run of the year here in Seattle - Very Choppy on North Lake Washington and took two hands on the pull rope to kick over the Ported and Polished High Performance 30HP - Still a Hand Full but Tons of Fun! Noticed when applying the Registration Decals that we've been running this Fliver for 24 Years...
June 2018 - From our Pals and Cypress Gardens Treasures and most likely from the late 1950's to early 60's by them running the Gen-1 Hanson Flyin' Flivvers and playing a game like Soccer or hockey...
June 2018 - Yep ... There is a Flivver in this Photo!
June 2018 - Cypress Gardens and Red Fliver Boat so Too Kool to Ignore! Diggin the Bikinis! Hi Girls Lets Party!
June 2018 - Very Blurry but a Flock of Flivvers running up a River somewhere in Gator Infested Florida and reminds us here Creekrat of making the run between Lake Jessup and Lake Monroe out of Stone Island on the Saint Johns River...
June 2018 - The Deb's of Cypress Gardens and a Fliver Boat!
June 2018 - Okay we have no idea where this is but there's a Fliver Boat and it looks like Corky!
June 2018 - Cypress Gardens with the Girls on Skis and Fliver Boat on the Beach...
June 2018 - Cypress Gardens and probably late 1950's with a Yellow Fliver on the dock...
June 2018 - Naw, can't be? If so, GET IN, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP & HOLD ON!
May 2018 - A bumper month of Way Kool Flivver Boat Finds! If anyone told us after running Flivers for 50+ years and we'd still be finding serious unknown Flivver treasures well we'd say Ding - Bang - Owe! So here we go... Another Way Kool Flyin Flivver barn find from Kurtis Etter - An Original Red with Flyin Fliver paint and a Brinktun Safety Plate on the transom - which we've never seen here before so Way Kool!
May 2018 - Eight Fliver Chicks in a Fliver! We Love it!
May 2018 - Flivver Chick in a Blue Bikini in a Fliver Boat! Way Kool! Hey Baby!
May 2018 - Corky getting some Air Time circa late 1960 Cypress Gardens:
May 2018 - Five Fliver Boats a Racing at Good Old Cypress Gardens!
May 2018 - Three Fliver Boats doing Marine Rescue...
April 2018 - Another rare Fliver find and this time a 2014 Mirage 11 footer. Guess the Wife sits up front? We sez get a 50HP with a Tiller!
April 2018 - More Fliver fun in Cypress Gardens with Corky and Corkette from the late 1960's:
April 2018 - Another Fliver Barn Find - wuz sitting in a garage for over 20 years and looks to be ready to go:
April 2018 - Awesome group photo in front of the Kite of the Kids from Camp Sparta spending a great time at Cypress Gardens circa early 1970's and with Corky on the right with his Fliver:
March 2018 - Two Fliver Dudes and Two Fliver Chicks in their Fliver Boat pulling another boat into Party Cove!
March 2018 - More Kool Flivver Boat History! Sun 'N' Ski Court located on Lake Roy just a few clicks from Cypress Gardens connected by canals and down on Highway 540, we think from the 50's to the 70's. How Kool it must have been to rent a hotel room and water-ski all day and Party all Night!
February 2018 - Found in the Archives of the Creekrat Fliver Boats Secret Skunk Works Racing Division at Good Old Mercury Lake-X in Sunny Florida. What the Hell were we thinking? Remember that PVC Tiller!?
February 2018 - From the Ohio Marine Land Shows in 1977:
February 2018 - Vintage 1957 Hanson Gen-1 Flivver Boat Action and kids playing on water skis being towed by a swimmer!
January 2018 - Why Is This Man Grinning? After 45 years of barn storage, Mike Kelly in Engelwood Florida restored this Awesome Flivver and has it Powered by a 1961 14 HP Fleet Scott McCulloch! It Lives Again!
January 2018 - Mr. T sez -- I Pity the Fool who's never rode in a Fliver Boat! Mr. T was a mainstay at the Water Ski Shows during the height of the A-Team television show so double duty when the Clowns were on a break!
January 2018 - Way Kool Clown Flivver Boat Action from The Sea World Show in San Diego sometime in the Late 1980's!
December 2017 - A Fliver Boat with a Bikini Top?
December 2017 - Fliver Boats really can last forever! Crack em up, re-glass here and there then some gelcoat and good to go! Another Generation of Winter Haven Florida Fliver Boat Kids ready to hit the water!
December 2017 - Early 1960's at Cypress Gardens with the Ski Show under way and Corky ready to go by the Kite!
December 2017 - Corky at Cypress Gardens in the early 1970's during the Sponsored Chrysler Outboard years:
December 2017 - Way Kool Fliver Boat with a Cooler full of Corona and a Trolling Motor...
December 2017 - Awesome Flyin Flivver with Jason Paxton running a Sweet Classic Evinrude!
November 2017 - Some fantastic Fliver Boat Action full throttle ripping it up!
November 2017 - Excellent Fliver Boat finds with Corky and Corkette!
November 2017 - Cypress Gardens circa 1966 with the Girls doing their thing and a Red Fliver Boat waiting fer sum action!
October 2017 - Okay getting cold and soggy here in Seattle and the Fliver is tucked away for the Winter weather until next Spring so my mind turns to Sunny Florida and a Water-skier getting serious ramp air and a Yellow Fliver on the beach! I can still dream and freeze here this time of year!
October 2017 - Another Way Kool Hanson 1st Gen Flyin' Flivver with Karl & Marge and running a Switzer SS and a GL21:
September 2017 - Another Gen One Hanson Flivver with Steering and Throttle setup and from our Good Buddies in Port Huron Michigan:
August 2017 - We Dig the Kool Paint Job on this Gen One Hanson Fliver! We'd think it scoots nicely with the 18!
July 2017 - Awesome Old School Fliver Boat Racing! Rode hard and beat but Running Strong to the Finish! I thought our Gel Coat was in sad shape?
July 2017 - Vintage Fliver Boat Fun with Kirk Hallinan and Dolly Frazier:
June 2017 - More Vintage Fliver Boat Fun:
June 2017 - Well, Shut The Front Door! We guess that there is no end to Fliver Boat Legacy! Right-o, another "newly discovered" manufacturer and design! Located in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and identified at a 1976 Glass Tech, and running a 1998 Johnson 15. We've never seen this style or design before. Heck, we can't tell if it's even a tunnel hull? Lookie how the gas line goes through the deck!? Still Way Kool! Check it out:
June 2017 - What a Beauty! Pete Fredsall's Classic First Generation Flyin' Flivver running a sweet Merc with Steering Wheel and Throttle set-up!
June 2017 - Sum Serious Fliver Boat Rip It Up Action:
June 2017 - A Fliver and a Fliver????
May 2017 - Cypress Gardens 1966 and Flipping a Flipped Flivver!
April 2017 - Tons of Kool Fliver Boat Fun this Month! Dig these of Corky chasing the kids building a pyramid down in Sweet Good Ole Cypress Gardens sometime in the late 1960's:
April 2017 - Another Whack Fliver Boat Find! Just when youse think youse seen them all? Ding Bang Owe is this Kool Schyat or what! We wonder here at Creekrat who the heck made these?
April 2017 - Another Way Kool Fliver Boat here and the Dog wants to go fer a ride...
March 2017 - Fishing in a Fliver?
March 2017 - Late 1950's Very Blurry Fliver Boat dated by the 59's Chevy!
March 2017 - From Cypress Gardens on April 25, 1982 with Corky in his Fliver waiving and following the Water-ski Boats:
March 2017 - Sum Filver Boat action with Fliver Dude Jim tooling in Stealth Mode by the Black on Black Colors! Neat Schyatt!
March 2017 - Corky the Clown, Top Center, getting out of the Fliver Boat the hard way - Out the Bow and on the Sand - from a Vintage Cypress Gardens Collage Advertisement Brochure from the Late 1960's! We Love Corkette:
March 2017 - Ack! Nothing Worse that the Water-ski Show is Rolling and Youse can't get the Fliver Boat started @#$%@ - Sometime in Early 1970's in Cypress Gardens:
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March 2017 - More Wack Fliver Boat Finds - Looks like maybe some custom glass work but check out the slats on the hull - we wonder here at Creekrat who made these?
February 2017 - Hey Fliver Boat Dudes & Dudettes! Lookie what we've found! The Original Noles Fliver Boat Mold! IS this Kool Schyat or What? Check it Out:
February 2017 - Vintage Sea World in San Diego, sometime in the early 1970's, and a Fliver Boat ready for action!
February 2017 - More Kool Fliver Boats ready to go from John Christensen and Family at Lightning Performance Boats! Only One Trailer? No Problem!
January 2017 - Cypress Gardens from the mid 1960's at the Competition Barefoot Championships and a Fliver Boat!
January 2017 - Happy Holidays from Creekrat Flivver Boats! Early 1970's at Cypress Gardens with Jaci, Canda, Penny, Betty, Annie. Little Linda, Lisa, Nancy, Ron (Corky) and Bootie (Corkette):
January 2017 - Sweet Fliver Boat Sunset Ride! A Master Craft!
January 2017 - Chris Lake's 1st Gen Hanson Fliver Boat Barn Find!
January 2017 - Jason Paxton's Sweet Fliver Boat!
January 2017 - First Fliver Boats out of the mold for the 2017 model run!
December 2016 - More Way Kool rare Noles 11.5 ft. Fliver Boat Finds and this time out of Texas! It has 2 live-wells, front casting deck with storage and 2 pop-up seats. Plans to power it up with a 15hp 2 stroke and a jack plate! We'd prefer a 50hp with a tiller! Check it out:
December 2016 - Okay now we all know that the Fliver is the most versatile designed boat ever! Check out Scott Kline's Grand Daughter's Back Yard Swimming Pool - We Love It!
December 2016 - Nice Fliver running a little Honda Putter, found searching the internets. Still Tons of Flivver Boat Fun!
November 2016 - Cypress Gardens mid 1960's and a Red and White Fliver Boat on the Sandy Shores of Lake Eloise - another Squinter bit it's there so too Kool to ignore!
November 2016 - Cypress Gardens late 1960's and a Blue Fliver on the Dock waiting for some action! Makes us wonder how many Fliver's they beat the Crap out of as we don't recall seeing too many Blue Fliver's down there?
November 2016 - Cypress Gardens 1981 with Mark Voisard in a Moyes Glider landing a bit high but too Kool as there is Corky & Corkette buzzing in at a little past 12 O'Clock in their Fliver boat!
September 2016 - Yep, there's a Fliver in the water...
September 2016 - Fliver Dude Dan Allen in Tampa Florida sometime in 1982 doing a Famous Filver Full Throttle 180° Slide!
September 2016 - Very Kool Flivver Boat Action even running a Little Putter Outboard and still Lots of Fun on the Water!
September 2016 - Doug "Screamin' Seamen" Sullivan's Fliver, somewhere down in Gator Infested Florida, doing Double Duty as a Beer Ice Cooler!
September 2016 - Hey it's the 75th Anniversary of the U.S.A. Water Ski Association and to Celebrate they wisely use a Classic Fliver Boat photo of "Freddy the Clown" aka Duane Snow who was a water ski mainstay at the Rock Aqua Jays Ski Show in the 1970s!
September 2016 - Sweet Hanson designed Fliver and identified as being manufactured by Midland Reinforced Plastics LTD and with Bob Yates and Karen Gracie of Toronto. We've never heard of Midland before at Creekrat so Way Kool!
August 2016 - More Flivver Boat Fun with Aqua the Clown tearing it up for the crowd at Tommy Bartlett's Ski Show at Wisconsin Dells:
August 2016 - Classic Cypress Gardens, sometime in the mid to late 1960's with Rick Johnson towing his daughter Cindy on a water ski saucer disk!
August 2016 - Vintage Donna Skibo and her Way Kool Deck Covered Fliver with a Steering Wheel setup - we don't see this style too often:
August 2016 - Rick Chappell's First Gen Hanson Flyin' Fliver and we dig the tow package!
August 2016 - Rick Chappell ripping it up!
August 2016 - Vintage Tommy Bartlett's Ski Show Flivver Boat action with a First Gen Hanson design:
August 2016 - We've dumped motors off the back of Filver Boats before but luckily not in too deep of water...
August 2016 - Gil Nichols from Port Huron and his Classic Hanson Flyin' Flivver and we dig the period correct Johnson Seahorse outboard too:
August 2016 - More Classic Vertical Fliver Boat Action! Sum blurry but still too Kool to ignore!
July 2016 - More Kool Fliver Boat history and this time from the 1969 Tommy Bartlett's Water Ski Show Program. Aqua The Clown reeking all sorts of havoc in his Fliver Boat on the Schedule!
July 2016 - Way Kool Flivver Boat Souped up with Ride-Glide Steering and Hot Foot Throttle running a Mercury 200 20HP Motor and we Dig the Rare Old School "Creekrat Fliver Boats Est. 1969" Decal:
June 2016 - Old Fliver Boat running an Evinrude 25HP but here again another style we can't identify. Notice how low the sponsens seats go and the flat top edge at the transom! Looks rode hard and put away wet so Way Kool and Well Used Fliver Patina to Us here at Creekrat! We dig it!
June 2016 - Noles Fliver Boat, one of our favorite builders and molds, made during the early 1990's so close to the end of the line for the Noles run, and in terrific condition any maybe less that 10 trips to the water and Love the Boston Wailer Decals! Fliver Boats still have quite a following in Good Ole Michigan! Brings back lots of memories of Fliver Boating on Wolverine Lake...
June 2016 - Original Un-restored Hanson Flivver Boat Barn Find and just dug out of a sleepy storage! Check out the Way Kool transom plate showing the Original U.S. Patent Number 179448 which we've never seen before so estimates to be one of the very first Flivvers out of the molds in the 50's!
May 2016 - Cypress Gardens 1973 with a Red and White Fliver Boat and looks like the start of the Water Ski Show:
April 2016 - A 1977 Fliver boat found in a well used condition ready for elbow grease and polish and wax and then a motor and ready for summer action. History sez it was a Ski Show Fliver:
April 2016 - More Fliver Boat Racing History! This time with the City of Auburndale Florida in 1977 where the City Mayor and Commissioners authorized Ski Boat and Fliver Boat Races for January 1, 1978 on Lake Ariana!
March 2016 - Fliver Boat Action at Cypress Gardens around November 1972. Excellent photos of the Kids on the skis and photos with a Red Fliver Boat:
Baw Haw Haw we Love this photo - Doug "Screamin Seaman" Sullivan and the Gang in Florida towing home a Flipped Fliver! We've been there an done that more times than we can count!
March 2016 - More Kool Fliver Boat solid documentation on the Fliver Boat Racing this time by Keikhaefer-Mercury Motors circa 1957 in Sarasota Florida!
March 2016 - Awesome photos from September 1960 at Cypress Gardens, under that Florida Sun we all love and miss, with the Aqua Maidens getting ready for the Ski Show and Corky the Clown and yellow Fliver ready for action too!
February 2016 - Looks like early 1960's Fliver Boat action at Cypress Gardens. Still another squinter but there is Corky the Clown in his Fliver bobbing in the rough water over on the left so still too Kool to ignore. Nothing like running a Fliver wide open in rough choppy soup like that!
January 2016 - An Original Hanson designed Flivver Boat, Same Owner in New Jersey, in Awesome Condition and great Red and White Colors! We really dig the Fins! We're thinking of glassing in the Rope Handle in our Fliver Boat for Next year:
January 2016 - New Fliver Boat located in Sunny Florida!
January 2016 - From Motor Boating Magazine, January 1965, of the Haines Products Flivver in Good Old Winter Haven, Florida:
December 2015 - Vintage Canadian National Exhibition ("CNE") Flivver Boat action from the early 1960’s! We dig those 1960's bikinis! Looks like CNE was using the original Hanson designed Flyin' Flivvers:
December 2015 - Yellow Original Hanson Flyin Fliver on the Sandy Warm Sunny Beaches of what looks like Cypress Gardens to us here and probably late 1950's by the other boats - another Blurry Squint Photo to see but it's there I tell ya...so too Kool to ignore!
November 2015 - What did the Water Skiers at Cypress Gardens do in their off time? Flivver Boat Racing! Looks like sum early 1960'S to us:
November 2015 - From Robert Beer in Venice Florida just picked up this awesome Fliver in Fort Meyers with a 25HP on the transom ready to hit the waves and do sum "Dream On" the water! Some Sweet Fliver Boats still to be found out there! We've seen this boat before and Dig It...
October 2015 - Some Way Kool Fliver "Flava" Boat action from Joey Starr. Dig the awesome Steering & Throttle Setup!
September 2015 - Running out of Time for Fliver Boating but should be able to hit it a few more times. Water is really low on Lake Washington and the Sammamish River but Still Tons of Fun - Need to burn off a few more gallons of gas from the big boat before Winter...
September 2015 - Vintage Cypress Gardens and 2 Red Flivvers on the beach ready to see sum Corky and Corkette action:
August 2015 - Way Kool Flyin' Flivver Boat History from Flivver Dude Robert W., located somewhere in the Swamps of Florida:
I must tell you it was with excitement that I stumbled across your site for the incredible Flyin' Flivver Boats. You asked for Flivver stories and boy do I have them. Actually one of them is likely to be published, but you certainly have my permission to use it.
About 1970-72 my family took over the operation of the then long abandoned Pelican Island Fish Camp and Marina in Daytona Beach, Florida. At 16-18 years old and a Florida Cracker, I already had intimate knowledge of swamps, creeks, rivers etc. In fact one could say that I grew up in a boat, at least during my waking hours.
As we cleaned up the old place and readied to reopen it, I came across the strangest and perhaps ugliest boat I'd ever seen. My Flyin' Flivver wasn't in happy shape when it was found, and being unfamiliar with her performance on the water I hung a 7.5 Eska outboard on the back and quickly discovered it would plane out even with that puny power. As the days rolled by I continued to test the waters raising it ultimately to a 35 HP Evinrude. All of our motors were eventually cashiered into a batch of new Mercury's. With the 35 on the transom I quickly discovered I could run the stern right under the bow and flip, but not sink the boat.
With its revival the little Flivver became something of a local celebrity and on weekends and most any other time little clutches of people would stand along the various docks, bridges and seawalls to get a glimpse of gnat size rooster tail flying down the river. As a young man I was pretty pumped by the celebrity and soon I was charging after the large day and dinner cruise yachts and hitting those rollers like a rocket sled on rails, going airborne to their applause.
One memorable day, whilst they were working on the Port Orange Bridge over the Halifax River, I made a miscalculation that I think ended up costing local Coast Guardsmen one of their own small craft. They had small barges all along the buffers on the bridge center span, and had large signs 'NO WAKE'. Being a long haired, noble-faired, leaping gnome of a budding hippie, I was trying to meet their requirement and got into some trouble when I did. Knowing that if I slowed the Flivver it would send a yacht size roller of a bow wave out in front rocking their barges, so I surmised I should fly under the bridge at full throttle.
In an instant, 'Whoop whoop whoop,' a bright orange speed boat took off after me, blue light flashing. At that moment I thought; "Oh hell no! betcha' can't catch me!" So down the river toward Ponce Inlet we both flew, one over powered Flyin' Flivver and one standard issue speed boat heading south, fast... I actually outpaced them getting several hundred yards in front of them. I knew a little inlet to Spruce Creek around Rose Bay that they apparently were not familiar with.
The Halifax, like most of the Inter-Coastal Waterways, is treacherous with extreme shallows lined with layer after layer of hardened oysters. Such was the entrance I was now speeding towards. Well as I passed the island on my starboard side I knew that a dangerous oyster bar jutted from the northern island, it ran across the mouth of the creek then along the southern island for several hundred feet. The only way in was to pass the mouth of the creek, get around the south end of the oyster bar cutting sharply up to the shore. There was a little channel that could be entered whilst heading north with the port side scraping the mangroves and the starboard side just a foot or two from the oyster bar. I made that U-turn and headed up that little channel. Once clear of the hazards at the mouth of the creek I was free to fly onward vanishing into the salt marshes.
I can't imagine what was going through their heads as they watched me turn and run straight at them, perhaps they thought I was going to heave-to? As I rounded the second bend in the creek channel I heard them approaching the mouth of the creek, full speed ahead. Suddenly I heard the most God-awful crash coupled with a odd whine from their outboard motor. It was pretty obvious that our chase was over, I idled along and heard a large vocabulary of shouted words that sailors are famous for.
As night was soon falling, I returned to Daytona via a little channel through the marsh on the west side of the river, circling Pelican Island and cutting straight in to the marina. As far as I know, they never knew who they were chasing and nobody ever called me up about it. It just avoided the bridge and the Port Orange area until the repairs were complete and lived to fly another day.
August 2015 - Pete Sr., Ripping It Up in a 1st Gen Hanson Designed Old School Flyin' Flivver:
June 2015 - Get Up-N-Go Fliver Boating on North Lake Washington! Boat started right up after it's long winter storage. Always a Blast and makes me feel like a Kid again! Running this Beast is a True Time Machine!
April 2015 - Okay, we wonder what Jim Noles was thinking but this is just way too Kool Schyat! A Noles Fiberglass Products 11.5ft., Fliver Boat! Makes us ponder here at Creekrat about what happened to these molds! We've seen plenty of Noles' 8.5ft. Flivers but never a 11.5ft. Check it out!
April 2015 - Way Kool Flivver Boat Find! From the "1959 Popular Boating Boat Show Guide to Manufacturers" pages 134-135 on the Original Flyin' Flivver:
April 2015 - Fliver Boat on the dock at Cypress Gardens sometime in 1965! Only a bit of it showing on the left side of the vintage photo but still Way Kool Fliver Boat history from the olden days!
An Original Un-restored 1956 Hanson Flyin Flivver running a Mercury 20HP Hurricane!
March 2015 - Fliver Boat Fun at SeaWorld in Orlando Florida in 1980:
February 2015 - We've see this Fliver before but new photos to add and we dig the metalflake gel coat:
February 2015 - Yellow Fliver Boat on the dock at Cypress Gardens from 1965 waiting to see sum action!
January 2015 - Flyin' Flivver Boat Dude "Pete" Ripping it down the River in a Hanson designed Old School Flivver Boat!
January 2015 - More Red Fliver Boat parked on the Sandy beaches of Good Old Cypress Gardens:
December 2014 - Way Kool Post Card showing Red Fliver Boat on the Sandy beaches of Good Old Cypress Gardens:
November 2014 - Boat Sport Magazine April 1957 article on the FF (Flyin' Flivver) Class with noted outboard racers including Hal Kelly racing Flivvers at Cypress Gardens. Maybe the source of the famed Fliver Boat rumor that the APBA was considering Flivers for a sanctioned class! Way Kool Schyat!
November 2014 - Ian Byrne, aka Aqua the Clown, waits fer his cue to perform during the Tommy Bartlett Show in Wisconsin Dells on Lake Dalton!
October 2014 - Okay another weird lookin Flivver found good old Florida! We wonder who made this one? We've seen this style before but not many. Still Way Kool Flivver design!
October 2014 - Vintage Fliver Boat Action at Tommy Bartlett's Ski Show with Aqua the Clown:
October 2014 - More Classic Fliver Boat Action at Cypress Gardens from sometime in 1972:
September 2014 - A Fliver Boat Found in Chicago! Actually, the Gang from Cypress Gardens went on the road every now and then and ended up in the Muddy Muck of the Chicago River right by the State Street Bridge between State and Dearborn! This Way Kool photo is from 1974 and their trusty Fliver Boat nicely tied to the Ski Jump Ramp! We wonder if this is the other bridge the Blues Brother's jumped like the East 95th Street Bridge??
September 2014 - Okay, more whack Fliver Finds! Check out the deck and seat! Identified as a Bass Fliver!
September 2014 - Another Way Kool Old School Fliver design and looks to us like from the Osborn Molds! Maybe what Mirage in Lake Eloise is doing now days? Have a good look at the back of the photo as there appears to be the top and bottom molds under tarps! Way Kool!
August 2014 - More Kool Fliver Boat Finds! Again from the swamps of Florida and another Fliver we've never seen before. Check out how the stern of the boat lines up with the transom and looks like the trailing chine's have a hard edge too! We wonder who made this version?
August 2014 - Found Surfing the Internet and Identified as an Original 8 Foot Creekrat Fliver Race Boat! A Blast from the Past!
August 2014 - More action with Doug "Screamin Seaman" Sullivan and the Gang in Florida! Having an Excellent Fliver Boat Daze!
How many people can you git in a Fliver?
Nose down and shooting a Rooster Tail!
July 2014 - From Pat Cargile in Chapin, South Carolina. Pat ran a sweet Osborn Fliver he got in the 80's and has now passed on the Fliver to his adopted nephew, Jack Brown, who happens to be the Grand Son of The Jack Brown of Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, Florida, and wuz just down the street where the Fliver wuz built. Pat recalls being out Flivering and seeing the Brown Seaplanes getting close, possibly to say howdy, but then being peppering with water balloons! One of Pat's favorite Fliver stories is when he was tooling in his Fliver at the Water Festival in South Carolina and the State DNR told him to "...put it up or GO TO JAIL!" Hopefully more to follow from Pat! Here's some photos of Pat's Fliver and a Brown Seaplane:
June 2014 - Okay Fliver Boat Dudes and Dudettes, you'll need to squint but here's two vintage slides from Cypress Gardens that shows a Red Fliver, no Schyatt? Look in the upper left hand corner! Still too kool to ignore!
June 2014 - Way kool Fliver Boat and looks like from the Mirage Molds. Probably scoots nice with the 25 Mariner and located in Sarasota Florida.
June 2014 - More Fliver Boat Fun with Doug "Screamin Seaman" Sullivan ripping it up somewhere in Gator Infested Florida...
May 2014 - Here's a pic of Fliver Dude Doug's Gen-1 boat he's been working on fer the past few years and it looks like it's getting close to seeing some water! He's setting up with remote steering and throttle. Doug is planning to dial in his Fliver with two classic Mercs, a Mark 58AE and a Mark 25E! Very kool and can't wait to see some more pics of this Sweet Fliver in action!
May 2014 - A Fliver found in Florida used in the Cypress Gardens shows - way kool old school metalflake. We really dig the Ron Jon Surf Decal and we always hit Ron Jon in Orlando when we're down south Gator hunting on the Saint Johns River between Lake Monroe and Lake Jessup.
May 2014 - A 1999 Fliver found in Florida from the Cypress Gardens shows and comes with a custom transom Jack Plate fer running long and short shaft outboards. Looks to us to be from the Noles molds.
May 2014 - A Fliver found in Sweden! Stockholm - Specialbåt som körs med motorer upp till 35hk och 2 personer .i U.S.A på uppvisningar. Video: finns på you tube t.ex. flying FLIVVER boat eller FLIVER boat fun. Direktimporterad från Florida. Kanske enda exemplaret i Sverige. Minst lika rolig som en vattenskoter och fungerar även som en stadig jolle som man utan problem kan stå upp i . Biltaksbåt ..Mått längd 250cm , bredd 135 ,höjd 48 cm. It roughly translates to - Specialbåt running with engines up to 35hk and 2 persons. U.S. at shows. Video: available on you tube eg flying Flivver boat or FLIVER boat fun. Directly Imported from Florida. Perhaps the only specimen in Sweden. At least as funny as a jet, and also functions as a steady dinghy as you can safely stand up. Biltaksbåt .. Dimensions Length 250cm, width 135, height 48 cm. weight about 55kg vikt c:a 55kg. Is this kool Schyatt or what?!
May 2014 - First Fliver Boat run of the year. Had Lake Washington to myself and the water was like glass. Tooled up the Sammamish to Woodenville. Am I getting too old to Fliver? Naw!
April 2014 - A Sweet Hydrostream Fliver just out of the mold!
April 2014 - Hey check it out Fliver Dudes and Fliver Dudettes! This is close to as good as it gets! Seven Water skiing Chicks and a Fliver Boat! Circa maybe late 50's or early 60's good ole Cypress Gardens Florida!
April 2014 - 1956 Original Style Flivver with a modified front deck, steering wheel & throttle control running a sweet Mercury Super 10 KG-7 Hurricane. Very kool Old School!
March 2014 - Cypress Gardens Flivver Boat Company, in Bartow Florida, made Fliver's in the late 60's and early 70's! Check out this way kool invoice - purple flake fer a whopping $210!
February 2014 - Flyin' Flivver advert from the 1956 Popular Boating Magazine with Dean E. Hanson, Jr., the Original Flivver Boat Test Pilot, ripping it up on Coon Lake in Minnesota:
January 2014 - What's the deal here? Yep, another unidentified Fliver, found in Winter Haven, Florida, with yet another transom and rear sponsens design. Still way Kool!
October 2013 - Clown Clowning Around Fliver Boat from Tommy Bartlett's Water Ski Show.
October 2013 - More Rare Fliver Boat Finds! This out of Florida and has two Bait Wells and two Storage/Coolers. Kind of funky as it looks to not be a tunnel hull and they sez also rigged for sailing. Yo, is this Wack or What, Yo?!
October 2013 - Circa 1970's Disney World Ski Show at the Polynesian Village Beach Poster with Pluto driving his Fliver Boat and pulling Goofy on Skis! Wish the quality was better but here you go! We've seen some Fliver's over the years that were referenced as being the original Disney Flivers.
September 2013 - Might be the last Fliver Boat run of the year on Lake Washington in Seattle. Getting a bit chilly but then we might tuff it out to go again before the snow flies and the ice rain falls. This boat cranks with its 30 horsepower cupped prop - noticed a small crack in the transom so might need some minor glass work this winter - not too bad for a 30 year old original Fliver Boat:
September 2013 - Awesome Fliver Boat action with Aqua The Clown at the Wisconsin Dells Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Show:
September 2013 - Great Fliver Boat find here Dudes and Dudettes! Check it out! Just when you think youse seen every kind of Fliver Boat design and style, Bang Ding Ow! Check out the transom and below the transom opening and deck? The way kool thing is the Red Fliver is a rare 10 footer! These two Fliver Boats were from the Australia SeaWorld Pirates Ski Show and purchased at a park auction. Schyatt!
September 2013 - Old Fliver in Orlando Florida minus the transom and now serving duty as a lakeside planter.
August 2013 - Looks like a Fliver from the Osborn molds and appears to have some custom turd brown fiberglass work done to the decks:
July 2013 - From the Fliver Family of Lorna Yankee at Catamaran Coaches in Bradenton, Florida, getting the Kids Fliver Boating Young! Way Kool 12 Volt Trolling Motor tooling up the river on a lazy day in the sun!
July 2013 - From Fliver Dude Pete who wuz a skier at Cypress Gardens in the 70's and purchased it new! Pete sez he ran it with a 9.9!
June 2013 - Way Kool Old School Cypress Gardens slide of Corky the Clown ripping it up in his Fliver Boat. Blurry but still Kool!
June 2013 - First Fliver Boat run of the 2013 season. Way too choppy on North Lake Washington so jammed up the Sammamish River and the water was so high made it all the way to Woodinville. Lots of Turtles sunning themselves on logs, lots of Mama and Papa Mallard's and Canadian Honker's with their babies in tow and had a Bald Eagle flying above down the Slough! Fish are jumping and the River is High!
Can't decide to go Fliver Boating or Water Skiing! Oh well...
June 2013 - 50 year old Fliver photos (1963) snipped from a grainy home movie with Captain Don and his wife in Florida. Looks like an Original Flivver ripping it up! Let us know if anyone can identify the motor - certainly a Mercury, possibly a Mark 20, but we didn't think the red color made it up to this year's model. Very kool vintage Fliver Boat pics:
June 2013 - With Fliver Dude Chick L., in Havelock, NC., over at Messing-About.com. Chick had some Fliver Boat molds and made some with remote steering:
June 2013 - More Kool Fliver Boat action with Chick L., at Messing-About.com:
May 2013 - Hey Fliver Dudes and Dudettes! Pinched this awesome photo offa e-bay which was listed as Cypress Gardens Dinghy Racers! Four Fliver Boats a Flying! Is this kool Schyatt or what?
April 2013 - Sum blurry shots from a vintage early 70's Cypress Gardens home movie:
April 2013 - Found surfing the internet. Nice color combo black and grey. Unknown manufacturer, kinda looks like the Noles mold except for the transom work and the high bow lip, might be an early Noles?
February 2013 - From Fliver Dude Dan in Lutz Florida! Truly ripping it up Fliver Boat Style! Very kool setup running that Rude with a lot of Git-Up-N-Go! Weze wishing we had some calm water like that here on Lake Washington!
February 2013 - A Sweet Fliver Boat Find Surfing the Web. Sez its a New Fliver from the Original Molds with today’s state of the art double bias glass and vinyl ester resin twice as strong as the originals. The pontoons have been filled with 2# pour foam for flotation. And a trick hybrid sandwiched balsa cored between five layers of double bias glass. All the best stuff. It was made to look identical to the original with 1 more exception the whole boat has been gel coated yellow and a total weight is approx 135 pounds. The motor is a 1956 20 cubic inch champion "sweet 16" outboard that has been fully rebuilt and repainted with the original colors and decals.
Getting out of a Fliver Boat the Hard Way - driving up on shore and a cartwheel out the front! We think this is sometime early 1960's Cypress Gardens!
Schyatt! A 1957 Original Flivver running a 1957 Mercury Mark 30! Awesome Old School Set-up! We're drooling! Is this Sweet or What?
Here is Hank Wieand Bowman's "Outboard Boating Handbook" from 1958 on the Flyin' Flivver:
Another rare Fliver Boat Find! Check out the sponsens work on the back and less of a lip on the trim. Kinda looks like its from the Hydrostream molds and being sold with what looks like the old Osborn Brochure:
October 2012 - The one on the left is the early 70's from The Aquanut's Ski Show in Wisconsin and the one on the right is from Cypress Gardens Florida in the late 60's! I dig the Bungee holding the Cowl!
October 2012 - Schyatt! Sum Old Fliver Boat photos from Ziggy! Running our 1972 Mercury 200! Good Friend Rick Newman gave me the Laker's 87 88 Back To Back Hat while Bartending at the Fabulous Forum Club in Los Angeles with Graham and Kevin! I had it for years and years until my Gold Lab got a hold of it and now all I have is the patch!
November 2012 - Check out this way Kool Mirage Fliver! Dig that metalflake gelcoat and running a 15 Yamaha:
October 2012 - Last Fliver Boat run of the season:
October 2012 - Here's sum way Kool Fliver Boat picks from one of our favorite Fliver Boaters Doug "Screamin Seaman" Sullivan and looks to be running a 30HP Yamaha, so a hand full like our hopped up 30 Merc:
September 2012 - Chicks & Fliver Boats! The one in color is from the 1980's Michigan Ski Club (I couldn't get the Jet Ski started) and the Black & White is from the 1968 HemisFair Texas Ski Show sponsored by Mercury Outboards:
September 2012 - Sum Vintage Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat action with Corky the Clown from 1971! Grainy but still kool:
September 2012 - Chick in bikini holding a beer and a wet ride in a Fliver Boat:
September 2012 - Found surfing the internets and looks like a Hurst Fliver by the transom. Shown with two Mercury motors, a 25 and a 9.9. Check out that tiller handle:
September 2012 - The Original Fliver Boats from the old Disney World Ski Shows:
September 2012 - A Lightning Performance Boats Fliver (Based on the Original Noles Molds):
We've been running our Fliver on Lake Washington and the Sammamish Slough fer a long time. Back in the 1930's and up to today, the Seattle Outboard Association ("SOA"), an affiliate of the APBA, held boat races on the Sammamish including races pulling water skiers through the twists and turns! Here are sum way kool photos we found of a First Gen Fliver pulling a skier up the Sammamish. The Fliver looks to be running a Mercury Mark 40 Hurricane with a steering wheel:
If you are interested in reading about Seattle's Robust Power Boat Racing History and the Sammamish Slough, I highly recommend Jim Benson's 2018 book. Tons of Historical Facts and Photos! Reminds me of the fun APBA and SOA times racing Utility Runabouts and Hydroplanes with Vintage Mercury Hurricane Outboards back in the Olden Days!
More Kool History or Racing Outboards and Fliver Boats on the Mighty Sammamish!
July 2012 - Here's a nice First Gen Fliver found surfing the internets:
July 2012 - Sum Classic Cypress Gardens Flivver Boat Promotional Photos circa early 1960's. It looks like Cypress Gardens may have had their own line of Fliver Boats. Nothing like a Hot Chick in a Fliver! Dig those 1960's Bikinis!
May 2012 - More Fliver Boat action surfing the internet getting custom transom work:
April 2012 - More Fliver Boat picking on the web. Gettin warm here and gettin the itch for Fliver boating:
April 2012 - Stacked Flivers waiting to be Picked!
April 2012 - This Fliver came from Gun Lake Michigan and sez "They were popular in the 60's and early 70's. Flivers are what "Personal Water Crafts" use to be :-). This boat is in good shape and we actually had a motor on it and took it for a ride. This would be a great one to restore."
February 12, 2012 - World Famous Hydrostream Racing Boats are building Flivers! Jim Parent, of Gordon Bay Marine in Canada, confirms and kindly sent us these photos of the new Hydrostream Fliver and Brochure. Originally we thought it was from the old Noles molds but it looks more like the old Mirage molds.
December 2011 - Fliver Boat Action from Cypress Gardens 1968:
November 2011 - More Fliver Boat Clown Action from our Pals at The Aquanut Water Shows:
November 2011 - 1960's at Tommy Bartlett's Water Ski Show with Aqua the Clown:
November 2011 - Just Found Cypress Gardens Fliver Boat Action Circa 1962:
October 2011 - Fishing in a Fliver?
August 2011 - Nothin like Poppin a Wheelie Fliver Style!
August 2011 - From our Fliver Pals at Oak & Oar:
Once a summer our neighbors, and boating enthusiasts, bust out their Flyin' Fliver boat.
This boat was made famous by water ski performers Corky & Corkette at Cypress Gardens in Florida. So it makes sense that our neighbor, who put in time at Cypress Gardens as a stunt driver thirty some years ago, held on to one. In fact if you have copies of James Bond circa the Sean Connery years, you can thank my neighbor for making the boat chase so believable.
These boats were a staple for the water show at Cypress and served as a diverse stunt boat hitting jumps, driving up on shore and as you can see from the photos submerging your passenger. Strapped with a 25 horse the boat rips, rather bounces across the water, so you’ll want to hold on tight and hold your breath.
August 2011 - Found surfing the web - looks like a 1st Gen - 2nd Gen crossover. Has the tucked sponsens but no stand up fins:
July 2011 - Just when youse think youse seen it all, here's a glass bottom Fliver!
July 2011 - Another way kool Fliver found surfing the internet. Kinda looks like a Hurst Fliver?
March 2011 - Here's a way kool old style Fliver found fiddling on the internet! We sez put a pusher prop on a motorcycle motor hanging on the transom and you have a Fliver Snowmobile:
February 2011 - Snooped this Way Kool Fliver down in Lakeland Florida surfing the web. They sez it would goes nearly 40 mph with its 1962 18 HP Evinrude:
November 2010 - More found Fliver Boat stuff! Circa 1964-1965, Mercury Boat House Bulletin testing the Fliv-R-Boat with their Merc 200, Merc 110 and Merc 60. Odd that they have the Tilt Pin set to the 1 position on the 200 and at the 2 position on the 110. We always run on the 2, Schyat! Note that the 65F-47 from 1965 says its a Cypress Gardens Flivver! Anyway, more proof that the Flivers were dialed in at Lake-X!
Good Old Mercury Lake-X! Lake-X is the secret testing grounds for Kiekhaefer Mercury from the 1950's to today. It's located in central Florida near the town of St. Cloud, and the lake's real name was Lake Conlin. The grounds surrounding the lake is fenced and the access road is gated with a guard on duty at all times. Lake-X has a main building, a motel, an outboard shop, a warehouse and timing tower.
Mercury Marine had powered the World Famous Tommy Bartlett Show on H2O for more that 65 Years!
Mercury Outboards were the motors to have! The other brands were Kool too but for us it seemed that Mercury had the market cornered on Racing and Mystique! Heck, back in the day we’d run what we could afford which was not much and Mercury Outboards were pretty much unobtainium. Mercurys historically were known as dependable and having more Horse Power than advertised as the industry dictated back then. We’ve been running a tried and true Mercury 200 on Fliver Boats for decades without a problem. Interestingly, this vintage Tommy Bartlett Mercury advertisement says the Mercury 200 was 22 HP so Kool!
Tommy Bartlett had a career in entertainment spanning more than 70 years. Although his roots were in radio, he later moved to television where, during a broadcast, he saw a water-ski show that would become his inspiration. The Tommy Bartlett Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show was born in 1952 in Chicago, and was an instant success. Throughout the decades, the show continued to tour, performing at World's Fairs and embarking on U.S.O. and other goodwill tours that exposed millions of people worldwide to the thrill of water-skiing. In 1993, at age 79, Bartlett was inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame in Cypress Gardens, Florida; ironically, he had only ever water-skied once in his life. Bartlett passed away in 1998.
November 2023 - Our 1972 Mercury 200 20HP Short Shaft Outboard. A fun Fliver Boat Motor! I think Claudia ran a Mercury 200 on her Fliver too. In my old memory I can still see her ripping out of Penny Lake! Great times!
November 2010 - From our Good Pals of the World Famous Min-Aqua Bats Ski Show in Minocqua, Wisconsin!
October 2010 - More from our Fliver Buddy Gary in Bradenton, FL! Here is his Way Kool Fliver! "This boat is the same one you show pics of on Jan 2010 from Ocala, FL and on Oct 2009 with a seat and gas tank in it sitting on a trailer in a fire station. If you look closely, it had no side seats/flotation in it and it looks like it was built that way originally and was sold as a bare hull. I removed the flimsy plywood deck, transom and stern flotation pods as they were all shot. Rebuilt it and added side seats/flotation. Using a shortshaft Merc 9.9 on it and its lots of fun. Used it as a tugboat to move and retrieve my beach assoc. raft , anchors and buoys last month. I took it up to CT this spring where I did the rebuilding." Check it out:
September 2010 - This from our Fliver Bucky Gary in Bradenton, FL! From a WAY Kool 60's tribute to the Famed Water Skier Ken White and a short bit of a Cop Fliver Boat Clown chasing Girls on skis! They are kinda grainy but still AWESOME!
August 2010 - Found this surfing the web! Rare 1960-70's FLIVVER 8 ft long boat used for stunt work at Florida's Cypress Gardens, the Wisconsin Dells & by many people who loved the thrills of these unsinkable bantam speedboats. There is a site or two (Actually there is only one site, this site - the scum dums at bierbower.net/Fliver site ripped off our stuff - Big Lug Creekrat CARtoons) dedicated to these boats & their collectors on the Internet. Very hard to come by - even in Florida.. This example has just had the transom replaced & is ready for your personal touch!
August 2010 - This from our Fliver Gal Pal Tabatha from Southern New Jersey! Tabatha also races some WAY Kool APBA Hydros and restored her Uncle's old Fliver. Check it out and we also add sum photos of her running her hydro! "We Love boating, and boat racing we have 2 race boats that we race up and down the east coast on the APBA circuit and yet we still find the Fliver a blast! The Fliver that we restored was actually My Uncles (Frank Beck's) from when he was a child and he still had it. It was actually in pretty decent shape considering how long it sat, all it took was a little glass work, sanding and painting. We tossed on a 25 and it was ready to run in just a few days. I was in shock how much water it was able to take on and remain afloat. And also the fact that it was impossible to flip and we were able to run it with out the plug, our hydroplanes are very easy to flip and we have actually done it before and the plugs are extremely important so this Fliver thing was all very new to me LOL. -Tabatha"
Tabatha's Hydro!
August 2010 - This in from Tabitha's Uncle, Frank - MSgt USAF ANG AMS/LGWS: "My niece Tabatha, Who you already know introduced me to your Web Site. What an Awesome site. It brought back so many memories for me. Growing up I remember the Fliver shows at Cypress Gardens and Sea World. I was first introduced to the Fliver in the early seventies where I grew up in Ventnor New Jersey. There was this group of crazy guys who went to Florida in a couple of vans and bought 12 of them, 10 yellow, one red, and one blue. These Flivers where made by Royal Craft in Winter Haven Florida. One of the guys Father owned the local Marina (Daffy Duck Marina) which was a Mercury Marine Dealer. They all purchased 20 HP Mercury outboards with two blade bronze racing props. What a site it was to see all these Flivers tearing up the back bays. These boats with this set up ran well into the forties. I knew then I had to have one. A few years later the original owners started to slowly sell them off. Well, all my friends and I bought them up as soon as they went up for sale. Before long there was a new generation of crazy kids in Flivers tearing up the back bays. To the best of my knowledge there are only four left, one I have and which is the one my niece and I restored, two are in my friends back yard owned by two of the original second generation guys. And one is in Brigantine New Jersey. These little tunnel hulls are nothing less than a blast to run. Thanks for the great memories !!!"
August 2010 - This Way Kool 1st Gen Old School Fliver found surfing the web:
June 2010 - More Fliver Boat Action:
June 2010 - From our good Fliver Buddy Rick. He scored a Way Kool Cypress Gardens Noles type Fliver before the park closed down. Check out that transom!? Running a 15 HP Merc and all the kids have a blast:
May 2010 - More Flyin’ Flivver Boat History and in memory of Vern Beinhorn (1917-1995) who was the Original Flyin’ Flivver Boat manufacturer at Moderne Cabinet Works in New Prague Minnesota. Wasilla resident Vernon E. Beinhorn, 78, died Nov. 18, 1995, at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. A memorial service was held at St. John's Lutheran Church in Palmer on Tuesday with the Rev. Jonathan Rockey officiating. Interment was at Fort Richardson National Cemetery on Wednesday. Mr. Beinhorn was born April 1, 1917, in New Prague, Minn., to Erwin Beinhorn and Gladys Castor. He had his schooling in Minnesota. Mr. Beinhorn served in the U.S. Navy. He came to Alaska in 1988. He was a retired cabinetmaker and enjoyed fishing and woodworking. His family said: ''He was a man who knew what he wanted and went after it. He was always helping and giving to those less fortunate than he. He was devoted to spreading the word of God. He will be missed by all those who knew and loved him.'' Mr. Beinhorn is survived by his wife, Glorine Beinhorn of Wasilla; his daughters, Jeanne Berglund of Palmer, Gay Bohnsack of New Prague, Deborah Rook of Wichita, Kan., Aris Caron of Puyallup, Wash., LouAnn Shasteen of Longwood, Fla., Twyla Jones of Liberty, Mo., and June Beinhorn of Plymouth, Minn.; son, Randahl Beinhorn of Staples, Minn.; sisters, Leola Beinhorn of New Prague, Lois Holetz of Montgomery, Minn., and Gladdie Beinhorn of New Prague; 16 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Gladys Wenger Beinhorn, in 1979, and a son, Keith LeRoy Beinhorn, in 1974. Published in the Anchorage Daily News on November 22, 1995. Rest In Peace Vern and Thank You For Making the World a Better Place.
April 2010 - This Way Kool Fliver wuz listed fer sale on E-Bay. Check out that way awesome rail molding! I remember from the olden days that some Flivers came laced like this. I guess it helps if you fall out and the boat takes off for shore and hits a tree! I've seen that Schyat happen before...
March 2010 - This from Gary in Bradenton, FL - a Fliver from the Famous Mercury Racing Skunk Works "Lake-X" during the 60's! Is this some sick Sheyatt or what? Have a lookee at the I/O in the transom. Dialed in at Lake-X! We love it:
March 2010 - Check this out! Sheyatt!! Here is some photos from our Fliver Friend Doug! It s a freakin air-boat Fliver - have a lookee at the transom - sure would like to see photos with a motor. My mind's eye sees a propeller mounted to an old 2 Stroke Kawasaki 750 H2 Triple, Baw, Haw, Haw:
March 2010 - Here's some Fliver photos. "Engine used where Mercury 25 hp short shafts. The top end was about 32 mph. The Osborn was more stable at fast speeds. The Noles would start to skid from side to side."
February 2010 - This is listed as a 2010 Mirage Fliver for sale in Florida. Check out the way kool silver metal-flake gel coat:
February 2010 - From our Fliver Friend Bert in St. Augustine, Florida. His good buddy Justin just finishing up a restoration on a 1956 Fliver which he bought from the original owner, and has the MSA and the bill of sale from 1956. He also has the freight ticket for the boat from the manufacture and this way kool newspaper article. Bart sez the fins on the back served two purposes -- One to look kool and the other so the boat will stand up on its fins to store upright. Check it out!
January 2010 in Craig's List SW Ocala, Florida -- 8' Fliver For Sale. "These are the boats that were used at places like Cypress Gardens that the Clowns drove to jump the ramps, drive up and over the beaches and back in the water and tear around. It will jump on a plane with a 9.9 HP and do around 25 MPH or more or less depending on what you weigh, however, I have had them with as much as a 70 HP Johnson on them. These are getting extremely rare and even harder to find. This is the first one I have seen anywhere on the internet for sale in way over two years. This boat is in good shape and the transom is rock solid. The two rear sponsens that jut out from the transom are foam filled for flotation so she won't sink. THIS BOAT IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND THE TRANSOM IS ROCK SOLID. This Fliver has a small bow enclosure custom made ad fastened to the boat by only a few screws so it's easily removable in just a few minutes work. Don't miss this chance to own the Funniest Boat on the water! Tear around on the water all day for only $10.00 or so.
November 2009 - Here is an article that appeared in the September 1981 Popular Mechanics:
Another Way Kool Photo of the Osborn 889:
Here are a set of the Original Fliver Boat Molds right out of the 1950's!
The Cooler of Corona must have floated away...
Caveman Fliver Boat design!
December 2009 - This just in from our good buddy Gerry who just got this way Kool 1976 Hurst Fliver fer his son! He's running an 18 Evinrude and will send more photos when he gets the boat prepped fer Summer!
October 2009 - The Advert wuz calling this a Flipper!
October 2009 - Another Way Kool Fliver Find! We wonder who made this version? Check out that transom!
October 2009 - Another Kool Fliver Find!
September 2009 - Found surfing the Web. Very Kool paint job - Gator Yellow & Green!
September 2009 - Found surfing the Web! Here's an old looking Fliver! Check out that transom!
August 2009 - Here is Joe's Fliver in the Kansas City Area. It screams with a 25hp Evinrude. People says he's nutz and he is always getting stopped by the Water Patrol Boats!
Here is a Fliver, looks like an old Noles boat, in Brandton Florida. Nice looking Fliver and comes with a Kool 15 Merc 4 stroke:
Here is a Kool bit from our good buddy Richard on his Fliver history. 8' Flyin' Fliver boat with Mercury Mark 58A motor. Top speed between 45 & 50 mph.
March 2009 - A bumper month for crazy Fliver Boats on the internet! Check out this rad 10 foot with Coolers! Note how the tunnel hull don't go all the way to the front?
March 2009 - Here's one in Florida. Check out that railing!
February 2009 - We found this old Fliver, surfing the web, that wuz used as a duck hunting boat - check out the custom lattice!
January 2009 - Found this tattered Fliver surfing the web - wuz fer sale in Florida for $700. Kind of a old Fliver/new Fliver crossover:
December 2008 - This in from our Good Buddy Roger of Lauderdale Lakes, Wisconsin. He has an original 50's Fliver Boat and has owned it since 1960! How rare is that? Should be in the Guinness Book of Records! Sheyatt!! He uses two different motors on the Fliver, a 25 HP Johnson from the 1970s and his trusty 1956 30 HP Evinrude. 2 years ago, he had just given it a total makeover! Check it out Fliver Dudes and Dudettes!
Go Roger Go! Nothing like ripping it up in a Fliver!
November 2008 - Hey Fliver Dudes and Dudettes! We scored this way Kool Old School Cypress Gardens 1968 Gen-1 Fliver Boat photo offa E-Bay. Schyat!!!! Is this Kool or what?
October 2008 - Here's a genuine early model Flyin' Fliver "Flivver" Boat circa about 1956. This Fliver is in original condition never being restored. One of the Kool things about the "old style" Fliver is you can stand this on the fins and hull bottom against a wall for storage - how Kool is that? The story goes that Fred Kiekhaefer, Carl Kiekhaefer's son, has one just like this one with a MK25. Fred wuz at the 2000 AOMCI international Meet in Winter Haven FL and he talked of one day restoring his Fliver that he ran as a Kid. The precursor to today's Flivers, they still turned on a dime with round chines and the tunnel hull design. The boat has a rope handle glassed in the bottom of the cockpit to hang onto. Also has a sling to sit into. Is this were the term don't get yer A$$ in a sling started from? This boat was at Tomahawk for the AOMCI meet in August:
October 2008 - Baw, Haw, Haw! Standing on a flipped Fliver making a cell phone call!
Check it out Fliver Fans! I picked up the Way Kool Peter Hunn book "The Golden Age of the Racing Outboard" and the Fliver, spelled Old School "Flivver" gets mentioned on Page 164! The books is full of great old outboard racing stuff and well worth the price fer anyone who ran the Cottage Racers from the good old daze on Wolverine Lake, Michigan, like us here at Creekrat:
Here are sum way Kool old Cypress Gardens Post Cards and Photos of Corky & Corkette in their Fliver Boat:
A 25HP Outboard Motor and a Clown, what could possibly go wrong?
Here is a photo of Corkette in her Fliver Boat from an old Chrysler Outboard Motors brochure from the early 70's:
Check out this awesome old skool Fliver with a steering wheel? Is this Kool Schyat or what?
The Original Flivver Boat Advert! Sum Kool Schyat!
Here are sum shots of our main Fliver Boat powered by a modified 1972 Mercury 20SS and a 1993 seriously modified, blueprinted, ported and polished, Mercury 30 (Dialed in at Mercury Lake-X)! The Merc 30 will rattle your teeth and make your eyes water!
Thinkin what we're thinkin? 302 Yamato Racing Motor! Baw, Haw, Haw!
Awesome old shot of our Fliver Boat running a 1972 Mercury 200 20HP Outboard. It scoots pretty good with this motor - hard to believe we’ve been running this Fliver for well over 30 years! Still a Fun Time Machine right back to the 1960’s on Wolverine Lake Michigan!
So youse wanna ride in the Fliver?
You'll need to wear a life jacket! Them's the Rules!
A ride in the Fliver! Get in, sit down, shut up, hold on!
Old Skool Creekrat Fliver Boat Decals & Bumper Stickers!
Creekrat CARtoons Fliver Boat Art "Corkette's Day Off"
Creekrat CARtoons American Fliver Boat Art for Decals, Coffee Mugs and Tee Shirts - Fall 2023.
Click on the Vintage Creekrat CARtoons Comic Strip for the Fliver Boat Gallery! Topanga Canyon’s World Famous Creekrat is running his Fliver Boat with his Chick. He maneuvers the Fliver towards a really big wave. They hit the wave and fly through the air to a perfect landing right on the boat trailer!
October 2011 - Found! The First Antique Fliver Boat Design! The Waterbug. Made in Bayport Minnesota by the Waterbug Boat Co., right out of the early 1950's. Is this Kool Schyat or What?
November 2012 - More on the Waterbug, the precursor to Flivers. This is from the May 1957 Popular Mechanics Magazine. I dig the reference to "Souped-Up Ironing Board" and the Chick!
October 2014 - Before Fliver Boats, the popular Water Ski Shows used the Waterbug fer their stunts and jumps!
September 2023 - More on the Waterbug, the precursor to Flivers. This is from 1956 so probably the year the Flyin’ Flivver was introduced and utilized by Waterski Shows Worldwide. Notice the Waterbug on the right with the Mercury running Utility Stunt Boats!
September 2023 - Still need to locate Waterbug history regarding plans and design.
Our Other Ride! An Original 1972 Schuster Tahiti with an Inline 6 140hp Merc Outboard - it SCREAMS!
Sheyatt! Dick Schuster's Tahiti's Dialed in at Lake-X!
We originally got turned on to the Fliver Boat by Claudia Stankiewicz in the 1960's on Wolverine Lake Michigan. Back in the day us kids all had our homemade cottage racers like Waterbugs, Minimax, Utilities, Hydros and Prams, etc., anything we could strap an outboard motor to. Claudia had a 8.5 Fliver with a Mercury 20 HP and would rip up the lake and always give us kids rides! A Real Game Changer! What a blast and from those days on we determined to one day have a Fliver! Claudia's husband was Duane who ran killer Drag Boats in the summer and awesome racing Rupp snowmobiles in the winter. Duane's drag boat the "Mother Huffer" was the fastest boat on the lake and I had the chance to ride in it a few times, sitting right beside the whirling Casall, or maybe his boat before this one, and also kind of remember water skiing behind it albeit a long time ago.
I dug up the awesome old cracked photo of our old 1964 Johnson Seasport. It wuz a way Kool boat and a blast tooling around Wolverine Lake Michigan. Who is that blonde dish on the dock? I think this photo is circa 1972.
Vintage Wood Hand Carved Americana Fliver Boat Art:
LIST YER FLIVER BOAT FOR SALE - ONLY $45 BUCKS UNTIL IT SELLS!
Calling All Fliver Boat Fans! Get yer Way Kool Creekrat Fliver Boat Coffee Mugs, Tee Shirts and Sweatshirts Here! Click on the Tee-Shirts or Mug! They'll keep you or yer chick warm when youse are getting soaked dunkin in yer Fliver! Click below and you are on yer way! Very Cheap fer Original Creekrat CARtoons Fliver Boat Art! IT HELPS US SUPPORT THIS SITE!
Please Help Us Keep The Creekrat Fliver Boat Museum Alive!
LONG LIVE THE FLIVER!
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