Help identifying a 12-footer?

[Dodgeboy49]

I just picked up my first aluminum boat; I've had a small handful of fiberglass ones but the opportunity (and price) on this one was too good to pass up, even being in somewhat rough shape. It does exactly what I want it to do even in the condition it is in, but I suspect some of you know how this goes; "Oh, I'll just fix this or that, but NOTHING else!" If I'm honest, it really would need a new transom for any serious service but I have no plans for it beyond being a pond boat... yet.

In any case, I'd like to know if possible just what it is that I have. It does have a HIN riveted on which lists it as "homemade". I'm guessing this boat predates the mandatory HIN's and the "homemade" designation is pretty common on things around here when the paper trail either disappears or never existed. I've looked at quite a few pictures online, but I haven't yet come across one with the three "ribs" embossed along the sides. There are no other marks or plates that I can find; possibly the remnants of one near the prow but if it was ever there, it corroded away long ago.

Can anyone offer me a clue? Thanks!

 

[LDUBS]

That seam sweeping up from the chine to the gunnel just behind the bow reminds me of a unique feature common to LoneStar and/or Texas Maid boats.

 

[sonny1]

I was thinking lonestar but not 100% sure on that.

 

[Dodgeboy49]

I went over to the classic boat library and looked at the info there; the Lone Star does look very similar in many respects, but I'm not seeing anything there with the ribbed sides (which doesn't mean much, sometimes details don't make it into brochures). If I don't find out what the boat is before winter, I might have to sit down at that site and do some in-depth exploring while it's too cold to be outside.

Another thing that this boat has which I have not noticed on others' boats is a fairly prominent keel. It is about 2" tall and is a folded V-shape riveted to the bottom of the boat. I could be wrong, but it seems like most other boats I've looked at had a much shallower, more rounded keel. At the bow, the keel is capped with a small piece of aluminum C-channel which wraps around the bow and becomes the grab handle at the top.

 

[sonny1]

That is why i'm not sure about it being a Lonestar. The ribs run up the sides on your boat and the Lonestar the ribs do not. The bends in the skin along the sides do not match up to Lonestar either.

 

[Dodgeboy49]

I think I found my answer! I was staring hard at the side of the boat (got to give the neighbors something to wonder about) and saw the very faintest suggestion of a logo on the side. After marking out what I thought I saw with a lousy marker, I did some exploring online and found that the Valco logo matches this outline. Next I looked up 12-footer Valco boats and didn't find any that looked exactly like mine, but I did find some that had similarly ribbed sides, but a deeper freeboard. I'm guessing that those were the rough-water version and mine is the calm-water type. The similar boats were described as 1960's models, so I'm guessing that mine is roughly in that timeframe as well.

 

[LDUBS]

Valco's were made just down the road where I grew up. I've spent a lot of time in and around them. I recall them having distinctive transom corners. Not rounded like yours. Consequently, I would not have identified yours as one, but it definitely is a Valco: