Monark 14 foot project

Hello All! I have been visiting this site quite often over the past few weeks as I get ready to spruce up a 14 foot monark that was given to me by my grandmother. This site is such a fantastic resource. I have quite a hectic schedule so it will take a little while for me to complete the project. My first dilemna is getting the boat registered. It has never been registered and my grandmother lost all paperwork showing that she owns it thanks to a hurricane. I would like to find out its age, if anyone is familiar with monarks I would appreciate any help you may be able to offer in finding this boats age. I have posted some pics of the boat and then it stripped down to the aluminum. This took a good 7 hours with help from a friend. We took turns using a Milwaukee sander with a wire brush attachment. I ordered some steelflex for the bottom and will use a 4 inch roller to apply. I will then use spray cans of etch primer for the rest of the boat before going with I am not sure what kind of spray paint. I am thinking of just decking the floor of the boat because of the boats width and turning the bench seats into storage. I will gladly accept any suggestions being as I am new at this kind of thing. Like I said though, for now posts will be few and far in between.

Looks like a solid project.Find the hull identification number and take it to the titling agency, in the state it was last registered in.They can reissue the paper work.Then the title can be transferred into your name.

Nice Rig!

I don't see an HIN tag on the transom... so it may be prior 197?? can't remember the year those were first put on

russ010 said:

Nice Rig!

I don't see an HIN tag on the transom... so it may be prior 197?? can't remember the year those were first put on

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'72 is when they were required. Same with capacity plates. So, if your rig doesn't have one, it is pre '72, or the tag was removed. If it does have one, it could still be pre '72, as many companies started putting them on before they were required.

If there is no HIN you could register it under the old boat rules.DNR did this with my jon.It's registered as a 1971 Jon.

There actually is a hull tag with a five digit serial number. The problem is that Louisiana requires an inspection of the boat if the boat is homemade or does not have the proper 12 digit serial number. Part of this application process involves providing proof of ownership. Since the papers for this boat are nowhere to be found I have to get a history of the boat notarized by a justice of the peace. This is why I am trying to find out its year of manufacture, I would like to have as much info as possible so that the justice of the peace does not have reason to deny me. Thanks for all the help. I am looking forward to all of your suggestions once I get working on the boat, I am still waiting for the steelflex to arrive.

I am not 100% on this, but I think 5 digit serial numbers were prior to 70.Try to get your titling agency to check the numbers that you have.Then you can send in for copies of the original paper work.Getting copies and doing a transfer is a lot easier that coming up with a history report.

We have the same boat!!! https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5624 Mine wasn't registered, and it had a 5 digit HIN; I believe your grandmother can sign a notarized statement that she has owned it for 15 years or at least 10 years, and get a title (that's how it works in OK at least, I know it varies though). The man I had bought it from had it for 30 years or so, and my guess is that its a 65-70. I found out that Monark was formed in 1959, so its at least that old. I got mine titled, so don't give up! I'm getting ready to paint mine, but keep up the good work, its awesome to see another one, and you're in the same boat as me .

Looks like it will be a somewhat easy project. Good luck!!!!!

cathprod said:

There actually is a hull tag with a five digit serial number. The problem is that Louisiana requires an inspection of the boat if the boat is homemade or does not have the proper 12 digit serial number. Part of this application process involves providing proof of ownership. Since the papers for this boat are nowhere to be found I have to get a history of the boat notarized by a justice of the peace. This is why I am trying to find out its year of manufacture, I would like to have as much info as possible so that the justice of the peace does not have reason to deny me. Thanks for all the help. I am looking forward to all of your suggestions once I get working on the boat, I am still waiting for the steelflex to arrive.

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Welcome to Tinboats!! What part of LA are you from? PM me and I might be able to help you on a LA registration.

Hey Guys thanks for all the help. I will look into what you said baptistpreach, I am meeting with a justice of the peace at the end of this week to attempt to get the papers notarized (fingers are crossed).

Specknreds: I am in Westwego (across the river from harahan (metairie).

Thanks again, I am looking forward to get all of the paperwork taken care of so that I can get to work!

cathprod said:

Hey Guys thanks for all the help. I will look into what you said baptistpreach, I am meeting with a justice of the peace at the end of this week to attempt to get the papers notarized (fingers are crossed).

Specknreds: I am in Westwego (across the river from harahan (metairie).

Thanks again, I am looking forward to get all of the paperwork taken care of so that I can get to work!

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I use to work out at the Chef and know I work in Slidell.

Where and what do you fish? I'm in Hopedale (fished a Redfish Tournament this weekend) or Venice just about every weekend.

As of late I have been fishing Seabrook in a 18' fiberglass Wellcraft. I have also gone to Lafitte a few times and out to Lake Catherine once. So it has been saltwater only as of late, but I am looking to get this 14' ready to do some bass fishing this March. I do not have full access to the 18' so I have not gone out enough to really learn any area, hopefully that will change soon!

Hey baptistpreach, my friend who is going half in on me with the monark like yours just purchased a 15hp 2 cycle outboard. Any idea how it will fare on the Monark?

I checked out your boat a while back when I was first wanting to find my own boat and now that you showed me that is the same as mine I am looking again very closely.

How stable is the boat with the decks as high as you have them? Also we have a 20# thrust trolling motor, do you think that will do okay for trolling while fishing?

I am sure I will have more questions, I will try not to plague you with them. :wink:

cathprod said:

As of late I have been fishing Seabrook in a 18' fiberglass Wellcraft. I have also gone to Lafitte a few times and out to Lake Catherine once. So it has been saltwater only as of late, but I am looking to get this 14' ready to do some bass fishing this March. I do not have full access to the 18' so I have not gone out enough to really learn any area, hopefully that will change soon!

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Thats awesome! Your the first on on Tinboats that fishes close to where I fish. We might hook up one trip, I can show you around Hopedale which is very fishable in a 14'. I learned the area in a 14' Monark until I ripped the transom out of it. It was my fault, I hung a way to big and heavy 4-stroke on it and you know how bad the roads are on 10 between Pontchartrain
and N.O. East. If nothing else you are more than welcome to follow us when you get your boat running.

What is your opinion on them closing the MRGO as far as affecting the fishing around Seabrook? The ole timers are telling me that it will become freshwater again.

How wide is your 14' (you might have said and I missed it)? I had a 1448 Monark with just a decked floor and it was very stable. I'm 230lbs and I could stand on the side of it without fear of it tipping. A 20# TM is a little on the light side but will work as long as you do not have a lot of current or wind.

Don't be afraid to ask ?'s. The people on here are the best and pretty knowledgeable. Just remember, A dumb question is one not asked!!!

I know what you mean about the roads, one thing on my list is to make sure to rig up a transom saver.

I would be thrilled if you would be willing to help me learn Hopedale. I did not grow up fishing and one of the problems that I had with Lafitte was not really knowing where to go. I received a few tips from neighbors but unless you really take the time to get to know the area you will return home empty handed over and over again. So I will take any help I can get once I get the boat water ready.

As far as Seabrook I have not been fishing there enough to really be able to tell you how it has changed. I am a newcomer to this fishing thing and now that I have a boat I am hoping to get out there often so that when my son (8 months) is old enough I can show him a good time. I mainly have been fishing Seabrook because it is close, easy, and because the boat I had access to is not the most reliable, so it was important to be close to the launch. I am glad to see that there is someone else from my neck of the woods who knows saltwater areas for a 14' (though fun, bass fishing will never compare to a good redfish fight or to specs when the bite is on). I will surely let you know when the boat is ready to go!

By the way...It is 36" wide.

Good question about the stability. I haven't taken it out with my seats installed yet, but I did do a test to see if I like the placement of things. It isn't the most ultra stable, and I have to be careful but it works fine. As for your 20lb trolling motor, I would think it would be too small. I've run mine with a 50lb and it did fantastic, and I've got a 30 or 35 I'll test out and let you know how it handles. Again, check craigslist, you'll find a better trolling motor for cheap. I got a 9.5hp motor on mine, but I haven't tested it yet (or checked to see if its running!), so I can't really say about the 15hp motor other than I'm sure that's the biggest you can put on it safely. Plague away with the questions, I'm just glad to see another one on here! Soon, you'll see my finished product. I just figured out where to put my switch panel and FF last night, so that's one of my last hurdles! Keep it up, depending on your fishing needs, you might try building a floor a little lower than mine to help with stability, I really wanted to maximize storage, and have a "big" livewell, so that's why I did what I did.

I finally found some time to get some more work done, I will try and post some pictures tomorrow evening. I applied two quarts of steel flex and wish I would have bought more becausee it is not quite as thick as I would have liked. But in spite of this I think I am really going to like this stuff. I will hopefully get a little more done tomorrow and post some pics of the progress. My friend was kayaking in a bayou north of New Orleans and said the bass were on a feeding frenzy, so I need to get moving!

Hearing you guys talk about Metarie, Ponchatarin, & Slidell brings back some memories . While stationed in NOLA from Oct. '85- Oct. '89, I started out living on the Naval Support Activity at Algiers, then had an apartment on the West Bank near the mall (can't recall the name), then moved to an apartment over in Chalmette. Where I worked was at the Training Systems Lab & School (next door to the Naval Reserve Center, right on Lakeshore Drive. We could see Lakefront Airport out our front door. Do you know if the reserve center or other bldg (where I worked) survived Katrina? I'm thinking probably not.

Well here are the promised pictures if any one is interested. I gave a shot of the whole bottom and then a closeup of where I fastened the transom brace using stainless steel #10 bolts/washers/nuts with some 5200. That is the best position I could get the boat in by myself (and I probably should not have even attempted that. This steelflex seems like a great product.

Waterwings: I am guessing you mean Oakwood Mall on the westbank, it was redone after Katrina and is really nice now. As far as the buildings where you worked, I am not sure what condition they are in. I have fished right by the Lakefront Airport though, and have caught a few really nice speckled trout, though I could not imagine what it would be like out there in this 14'.