Cole Boats

[CJ Skier]

Hello,
I am looking for a well built 25 foot mid cabin and was wondering what you thought about the 25 Cole. When I lived in Chatsworth I used to go by and talk with Mr Cole and was impressed with the quality of his boats.
Does anyone have experience with this hull?
Also, whatever happend to Mr Cole?
Thanks

[plaster dave]

coles are great boats. You might also want to look at Howard and Lavey craft. G/L

[al cole'holic]

Hello,
I am looking for a well built 25 foot mid cabin and was wondering what you thought about the 25 Cole. When I lived in Chatsworth I used to go by and talk with Mr Cole and was impressed with the quality of his boats.
Does anyone have experience with this hull?
Also, whatever happend to Mr Cole?
Thanks
..very solid boat for sure, almost collectors items now! If you venture to Maveric Marine you will find a 25 for sale with about 9 hours (I think) on it for sale, and can get a real close look in n out :)
Mr.Cole sips pina coladas with a bum wing..

[Family Jewell]

..very solid boat for sure, almost collectors items now! If you venture to Maveric Marine you will find a 25 for sale with about 9 hours (I think) on it for sale, and can get a real close look in n out :)
Mr.Cole sips pina coladas with a bum wing..
Where is Maveric Marine? Do they have a web site?

[al cole'holic]

Where is Maveric Marine? Do they have a web site?
14832 Calvert St off Kester...No site...talk to Eric :)

[CJ Skier]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?

[the_gray_goose]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?
Same quality boat with better gel coat work, IMO. I had a 280s cole for years and it was a great boat. new owner still calls me to tell me how much he likes it.
The 25 is a great running boat.

[Kilrtoy]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?
at that time, BETTER

[little rowe boat]

at that time, BETTER
Not if it is an open bow.

[Kilrtoy]

Not if it is an open bow.
why is that

[little rowe boat]

why is that
Howard and Hallett were one of the few boat builders that had molds for their open bow boats,so when they came out of the mold there was no cutting involved. Whereas Cole boats would come out as a closed bow and then they would take a jig saw to it and cut out an open bow, which meant it had to be reinforced a reglassed for strength. Howard and Hallett offered lifetime hull warranties and Cole offered a 10 yr hull warranty. Before I purchased my Howard I had it narrowed down to these 3 boat builders.

[al cole'holic]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?
...if you are interested I would not hold them to any asking price, and I would grind the hell out of it. From what I recall he wanted a pretty penny for a boat (for that matter any Cole) that is no longer in production nor ever will be...that is of course unless you want a 280 ;)

[Kilrtoy]

Howard and Hallett were one of the few boat builders that had molds for their open bow boats,so when they came out of the mold there was no cutting involved. Whereas Cole boats would come out as a closed bow and then they would take a jig saw to it and cut out an open bow, which meant it had to be reinforced a reglassed for strength. Howard and Hallett offered lifetime hull warranties and Cole offered a 10 yr hull warranty. Before I purchased my Howard I had it narrowed down to these 3 boat builders.
I figured that is where you were going, and they are probably the only ones that still have seperate molds...

[Beer-30]

Keith Sayre just had a nice 250 for sale not too long ago at Conquest. I haven't seen anything on it for awhile, probably gone. Don't recall if it was closed or open.
Stick with the open bow. They are built just fine. Better resale in the family boating community.

[little rowe boat]

I figured that is where you were going, and they are probably the only ones that still have seperate molds...
You are probably right, but I don't know for certain.

[Beer-30]

Well, they still show it in the used boats section of their site:
http://www.conquestboats.com/boats.php?boatid=20
Pictures don't work, though.

[plaster dave]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?
I would but like others have said Cole is no longer in the boat buisness.

[Fast Freddy]

25 foot boat with a mid cabin? the howard is the fastest but the nordic looks better.

[BADAXE]

Thanks!
I called Eric and he is emailing some photos to me.
Apparantly it was the last Cole 25 built.
Would you consider COLE in the same category as Howard and LaveyCraft?
The Cole 250 is my favorite boat of all time and I spend a lot of time talking to Jim about buying one. I shopped Cole, Schiada, Hallett and Howard extensively before buying. I had narrowed it down to the Cole 250. Unfortunately just before I was ready to place my order Cole went out of business. When comparing Cole with the others their quality was very good, on a par with Hallett but a notch below Howard and a few notches below Schiada.
So to answer your question, no Cole is very close but Howard wins in the quality department. The big difference for me is that Howard used a cored fiberglass floor system and the Cole was resined wood. Also Howard’s bulk heads and stringer reinforcement were better.
All that said I’d still rather have the Cole, for me the looks would over weigh the very slight quality difference. I just wanted you to get the real story from someone who knows that boat well.

[Throttle]

Cole, great boat...
I remember looking closely at them several years back.

[Throttle]

Funny you should ask about Jim's whereabouts... I was recently in da channel with a friend that has one of his boats and we just discussing that same thing... mmmmmm? :idea:

[CJ Skier]

Eric flipped me the photos. Unfortunately the colors were not right for me.
It has a 496 Mag HO and he wants $75,000. Seems pretty high for an 02.
I am leaning towards the Howard. Either the 250 Offshore Mid Cabin or the 25 Bullet. The 250 Offshore is much larger than the Bullet.
Thanks

[al cole'holic]

Eric flipped me the photos. Unfortunately the colors were not right for me.
It has a 496 Mag HO and he wants $75,000. Seems pretty high for an 02.
I am leaning towards the Howard. Either the 250 Offshore Mid Cabin or the 25 Bullet. The 250 Offshore is much larger than the Bullet.
Thanks
...one of the reasons it never sold, plus I don't even think it was $75k in 2002..that boat will never sell for that, but I am sure Eric won't mind the continued use of it while it's "for sale" :)

[Todd969]

I figured that is where you were going, and they are probably the only ones that still have seperate molds...
Nordic has seperate molds for open and closed decks.

[Marty Gras]

"Badaxe" isn't your "HOWARD" one of the old "Hocking Boats" molds? Gene bought a few from them, way back.

[J540]

Howard and Hallett were one of the few boat builders that had molds for their open bow boats,so when they came out of the mold there was no cutting involved. Whereas Cole boats would come out as a closed bow and then they would take a jig saw to it and cut out an open bow, which meant it had to be reinforced a reglassed for strength. Howard and Hallett offered lifetime hull warranties and Cole offered a 10 yr hull warranty. Before I purchased my Howard I had it narrowed down to these 3 boat builders.
That was on the first molds, Then when he had a few prob, he change it and had a closed deck and open bow deck, and the open bow had a 2" to 2 1/2" drop in it, even the inside sides had more drop in them.

[Partycattin]

I was surprised of how many Cole's I saw in Havasu over the last week. Everyone of them looked brand new. Either Cole's owners are very anal, or Cole just did a great job on gelcoats. Nice, timeless boats though.

[life's a river]

Doesn't another west coast company have all or some of the Cole molds? I seem to remember talking to someone at the LA boat show about this. :idea:
I would think somebody on here would have some info.
PK

[BADAXE]

"Badaxe" isn't your "HOWARD" one of the old "Hocking Boats" molds? Gene bought a few from them, way back.
Interesting question......but I have three for you first.
Can you not tell from the picture, or do you have another motive for the question?
Do you know where Hocking got their mold from?
What boat do you own?

[Trailer Park Casanova]

I used to live just around the corner from Cole and still have that home as a rental to beautiful young, Canadian nurses :http://www.riverratlife.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7033&highlight=house
Great Boats with their value judged soley by condition, not year or model, and that's a good statement toward any motor product.
Mr Cole always had lots of drama around him, and kinda faded away after he was shot by what we heard was a large calib handgun.
Got all kinds of storys of what happened to him,, the storys have grown so many legs in the re-telling, no clue of the fact from the fiction.
The area is very common to gun violence:
The Tryst bar around the corner was robbed the same week, both the owner of the bar, and the suspect unloading 15 shot clips on one another.
The owner Tommy, managed to shoot the robber in the neck, shoulder, and one grazing shot.
The CIA nurses mentioned in the link above notified the LAPD when the suspects came into Holy Cross for treatment from his gunshot wounds.
The cops responded and hooked them up.
The rounds Tommy used were hot federal re-loads from my shop BTW. No duds ever from the TPC's reloads.
Normally he kept the gun unloaded in his office drawyer, until I gave him a handfull of XTP's.
A bullet hole from that incident still is visible just inches above the flush handle (vac bkr) on the urinal in the men restroom.
I think the restaurant is now called Taste of Manilla or something close.
Across the street that same week, an idiot walked into the Cowboy Pallace saloon and unloaded a 15 shot clip missing everyone, including the TPC.
The Mobil station around the corner has a plac on the out side gas pump with some memorial words about a customer shot on that spot while pumping gas.
The former Popeyes 2 blocks away had a guy shot in front of it while using the pay phone.
All in about the same time frame.
Damfino the true Cole story though.
The neighborhood violence seemed to arrive when the band Bones Thugs and Harmony moved into the area in to a huge compound style home about 3 blocks from the Cole family business. Then the violence suddenly vanished when Bones thugs and Harmony and their huge onterage moved out.

[al cole'holic]

I used to live just around the corner from Cole and still have that home as a rental to beautiful young, Canadian nurses :http://www.riverratlife.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7033&highlight=house
Great Boats with their value judged soley by condition, not year or model, and that's a good statement toward any motor product.
Mr Cole always had lots of drama around him, and kinda faded away after he was shot by what we heard was a large calib handgun.
Got all kinds of storys of what happened to him,, the storys have grown so many legs in the re-telling, no clue of the fact from the fiction.
The area is very common to gun violence:
The Tryst bar around the corner was robbed the same week, both the owner of the bar, and the suspect unloading 15 shot clips on one another.
The owner Tommy, managed to shoot the robber in the neck, shoulder, and one grazing shot.
The CIA nurses mentioned in the link above notified the LAPD when the suspects came into Holy Cross for treatment from his gunshot wounds.
The cops responded and hooked them up.
The rounds Tommy used were hot federal re-loads from my shop BTW. No duds ever from the TPC's reloads.
Normally he kept the gun unloaded in his office drawyer, until I gave him a handfull of XTP's.
A bullet hole from that incident still is visible just inches above the flush handle (vac bkr) on the urinal in the men restroom.
I think the restaurant is now called Taste of Manilla or something close.
Across the street that same week, an idiot walked into the Cowboy Pallace saloon and unloaded a 15 shot clip missing everyone, including the TPC.
..damn, don't link to a site some of us don't want to join!! :D
Interesting take...?...some places in the valley get shot up and a boat company in business for 50 years completely disappears and does not build another boat...hehe :rolleyes:

[Trailer Park Casanova]

What was the story you heard?

[Partycattin]

Version I heard: Couple of guys walk into Cole early. Put the secretary and manager in a room and wait for Mr. Cole. Put a gun to his shoulder, tell him they want their money, and shoot.
Take the driver's license from the secretary and manager guy and tell them they know where they live so they better keep their mouth shut.
Place gets locked up and a "fire sale" follows.
Could just be urban legend though.

[franky]

Version I heard: Couple of guys walk into Cole early. Put the secretary and manager in a room and wait for Mr. Cole. Put a gun to his shoulder, tell him they want their money, and shoot.
Take the driver's license from the secretary and manager guy and tell them they know where they live so they better keep their mouth shut.
Place gets locked up and a "fire sale" follows.
Could just be urban legend though.
Valid (abreviated) story but missing a lot of drama leading up to that day, and more drama following. (and it was his upper arm that lost a couple inches of bone, point blank .38)

[franky]

CJSkier,
If you are serious about buying a 250 I have one with a lot of upgrades (done by me) that I would sell for the right price. ($50ish)