Gilligan's "ss Minnow" Up For Sale

mrmoshe · August 29, 2006

Here's a blast from the past.

Who remembers the SS Minnow? The boat on which Gilligan and the crew were

shipwrecked in the the 1960's TV series.

Well...the boat has been put up for sale in Canada.

And no...Ginger & MaryAnne aren't included in the sale as deckies!

Here's the newspaper article:

Pete.

____________________________________________

Gilligan's ship up for sale.

THE ship that stranded the crew and eclectic passengers of 1960s' television classic Gilligan's Island on an uncharted desert island following a torrential storm is up for sale.

The SS Minnow set out on a "three-hour tour" with actor Bob Denver (Gilligan) and his gang, who wound up as castaways for three years on US primetime television, and their buffoonery was replayed around the world for many decades.

"It's the same boat that was on Gilligan's Island ... They used it when they went out on the water," said agent George Schultz, who is selling the boat for a retired friend, Canadian Scott Taylor.

The vessel, named after former US Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow, whom show creator Sherwood Schwartz was quoted as saying "ruined television", is the third of four boats used in the sitcom, according to a fan website.

One was towed to Kauai for beach scenes. Another was rented for the opening credits in Honolulu Harbour and the other was a prop built by television studio CBS in the second season.

Taylor's Minnow was filmed in the opening credits of the second season at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, Mr Schultz said.

According to the show's theme song: "The weather started getting rough/the tiny ship was tossed/if not for the courage of the fearless crew/the Minnow would be lost."

Indeed, the real Minnow capsized off Canada's West Coast during a trip from Alaska in 1993 after hitting a reef, ruining all of its electrical systems.

Its American owner agreed to sell it to Mr Taylor for a mere 3500 Canadian dollars ($4165) if he agreed to restore the 11m mahogany Wheeler Express Cruiser - which he did, sinking more than $US180,000 ($237,500) in repairs into it.

Mr Taylor only discovered later that the boat, then named Bluejacket, was the famed SS Minnow from the television show, Mr Schultz said.

"He knew the make of the boat and they're good boats, so he bought it and afterwards he learned the truth when he compared the serial numbers," he said. Its registration has since been changed to match its stage name, he added.

For $C99,000 ($118,100), a new owner could buy a piece of television nostalgia, Mr Schultz said, and take it out for a "three-hour tour" - or more.

Mr Taylor "has had some good trips on it," he said. "And he has never become shipwrecked."

Edited August 29, 2006 by MallacootaPete