Well, Here's my new placard. I used Stranny's photo of the placard in his boat to have this one made. I work a lot with an aviation accident investigator whose wife is in the signage business. She did some placards for the airplane so I asked her if she could make me a USCG placard. Check out the results. It is stainless with a backing. If anyone else wants one made I can get you her info. I think it looks pretty good, don't you? Not sure where I'm going to stick it yet but it looks so good I think it should be somewhere obvious!
Folks: I'm not sure that the placard is stainless or if it is some type of stainless-like finish on a plastic backing. In any event, it is really nice. Here's the contact info if you want to have one made... The Sign Edge 708-788-2727 Ask for Maria. She can do pretty much any custom graphics, decals, vinyl lettering or custom engraving. She has made some very nice placards for my plane and I've seen some of her other work on boats, airplanes, and even law mowers. She does really nice work. If you give her a picture and dimensions, she can make just about anything you'd need. If you need Hydrodyne decals, she can do that too. MarkBano
Gee, I don't know. Here is a picture of an original. It looks like Ab Crosby Sr. forgot the date too. Where is the plate in your boat? Federal law requires it. jim
Gents I copied the original plate from Stranny's boat so all Maria did was duplicate that one. The certification date can be obtained by looking at the serial number on the back of the boat, which, in my case, is "73" To my knowledge certification dates were never on the USCG plates, which were ordered in bulk by the boat manufacturer for each model of boat. They were not custom made for each boat as far as I know. My goal with the plate is to have a valid capacity plate to comply with WI state requirements. Since the manufacturer of my boat is no longer in business, I am in technical compliance if I've got a plate. In reality it could say just about anything because, in the case of Hydrodynes, it would be impossible for the DNR to ever establish what should be on that plate, given the history of these boats. If the DNR would like to take the depositions of Ab Crosby, Jr. and Tom Miller in an attempt to establish that my boat was not certified for 300 HP, I would gladly pay the price of admission to attend.... MarkBano