New to us - Morton & Hersloff 31

Hi there all, just made the step off the pier into the deep end. My partner and I bought a 1977 Morton & Hersloff 31. Her life started as "blue jacket", renamed in 2001 as "Dr Rosemary" and will probably get a new name shortly. We've fished a 21' Striper Seaswirl for years, but always liked the function of a DE but could only drool at them when they went by. We did notice the captains were always smiling as we could hear the diesel chug by while trolling for rockfish in the upper Chesapeake. I realize now why they were smiling... they burn less fuel then I did with an outboard, had a fridge that kept their beer cold, and plenty of room on a stable platform... so we made the decision yesterday to purchase the DE.

Looking for any information on the manufacturer since they only produced 14 boats in 1 year. I read the factory burned down and they went out of business. I see Eastern boats may be producing one very similar, but am always willing to learn more. Any additional info/advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks all!!
Charlie

 

Nice boat ..... very reputable builder. You have a 31 JC hull finished by M&H...M was Rogers Morton...Secretary of Commerce for President Nixon.
They built very fine, well built , top of the line boats and I think you acquired a great boat !!!!
Good luck with it !!!!!

 

More pics please.

 

Working on it, should take possession this weekend. Working on a slip and pull out at the moment. She was for sale on craigslist in Annapolis. Here is the link with some more pics:
31' Custom Downeast Boat
Hope it's ok to post the link to her.. I did buy her though.

 

Thanks for the info.. feel like we picked up a piece of history as well..

 

Very pretty!!!!! You have your self a beautiful boat for what appears to be a great price. Enjoy!

 

Welcome to the DBF. You found a real gem there, and at a great price too. It's a JC for sure, finished out in Chesapeake style. Best of luck with the new ride!

 

Nice, My father has the same boat but uses it for commercial lobstering year round. Going on 14,000 hours on his 6BT 210hp. I believe his engine is an 87 or 88. Keep up with your maintenance and she will live a long, long life

 

Thanks Jerry, that's good news.. the 6BT is a 2001 and has just under 1000 hours on it. Really is pleasing to hear they can run that long. We plan on putting some serious hours on this one next year. My partner and I are all about maintenance.. I'll trade some rockfish fillets for a couple lobsters!!! Wish we had lobsters down here in MD.. Of course you all probably have stripers up there anyway huh?
Thanks again
Charlie

 

Nice looking boat, I always used to turn and look at her when I crossed Weems creek on Rowe Blvd. Good luck with her.

 

WOW!!! Just looking at the pictures of your boat makes me drool.. she is beautiful. We hope to do right by this one and make her shine in incoming years. The gent who owned her last has a baby on the way and used her for fishing mostly. Kept her mechanically sound but there are a lot of upgrades in her future.. we can't wait to get her to Kentmorr and start. Thanks again for the wellwishing!
Charlie

 

Well it’s been a long time and the boat is almost ready for barrier coating the bottom. 60+ blisters on the starboard, 25+ on the port... lots of sanding and grinding every weekend(in the rain).. she got a new name too.. Longbottom, on accounts it’s taken us 5 months to strip off the old bottom paint and get her ready.. longest it’s ever taken me to prepare fiberglass for paint. We only work on the weekends and wanted to do the work ourselves.
Installing new transducers soon along with some updated electronics. She’ll be wet soon. Wanted to say thanks again to the forum, i’ve found many helpful and informative articles..

 

Good luck with her!! I have a JC31 also, great boat and its nice not to worry about the weather forecast so much.
Stripped my bottom a couple of years ago, No blister but a lot of fairing.. could have gone further (hated that part)

 

Most boat names usually have a hidden story behind them!

 

More pictures please…

 

Working on the pics.. everything I own is covered in a light sheen of red bottom paint, including my phone.. i’ve been estimating the weight of the vacuumed bottom paint and we’re at about 40lbs total.. that’s munis what the vacuum misses. I am hoping to go from a 10mph boat to at least 11mph boat!! makes me love her even more though. I’ll stop by and catch a few pics of current.. those are from november

 

FUN TIMES TO BE BY HAD ALL!!

 

Looking good thanks for the pics

 

Beautiful boat and a neat piece of history. Look forward to seeing you on the Upper Bay this summer - the DE crowd needs to stick together. They sure seem to turn heads around here.

 

Nice boat and history lesson! I have a 31 JC also. Looks like you have lifting rails. This has been a topic of discussion a few times on the forum especially with hard chined hulls like the JC. While you have the bottom stripped you might consider adding some wedges to the back of the keel forward of the prop to improve waterflow to the prop. I did that a couple years ago on my boat and gained some speed. I'll try to find a link to the post.

Here it is - Keel modification