In The YCM Pipeline! 

 

Perhaps the Nicest Boston Whaler Dauntless 14 in existence! 

 

She’s a one owner 1999, from the freshwater lakes of Missouri - she’s never been in, seen, or even smelled saltwater.  

 

We bought her from Bill. He and his wife are retired, enjoying lake life, and considering the slower pace of one of those rectangular, couch carrying pontoons.  

 

She’s equipped with the original, low hour, Mercury 60 hp two stroke, which looks as new as the boat!

 

As we’re discussing the Dauntless’ overall condition, Bill informs me  that “this boat has never even had a kid on it!”

 

Which I take to mean she’s in great shape, has never been abused, and boogers should not be of concern.   

 

This Whaler has definitely lived a charmed life, never run hard by teenage boys, tasked with towing skiers, bottom painted, or left in the water, in fact, she’s kept inside at the neighborhood storage facility - seen there in the background!

 

Bill bought her new in 2000 from No. 9 Marina in Eufaula, Oklahoma.   

 

If you’ve been following YCM over the last few years, reading all the longwinded boat descriptions, you’ll recall this isn’t the first Whaler we’ve brought in with the same origins.  

The last was a beautiful Blue Dot Newport just a year or so ago.

 

No. 9 Marina is on Lake Eufaula, and named for the highway running east to west through the lakefront town, which incidentally wasn’t a lakefront town until the Eufaula Dam was built (’56-’64) by the Army Corp of Engineers, forming one of the world’s largest man-made lakes, creating drinking water, hydro-electric power, a source of recreational boating and fishing for the surrounding communities, and spawning an otherwise non-existent tourist industry.

  - Information scoured from various internet sources because this seller of fine boats finds that sort of stuff interesting…

 

Somewhere along the way, No. 9 Marina apparently changed to simply 9 Marina - which, for what it’s worth, I find less cool then No. 9.

 

Anyway, they were a Boston Whaler dealer in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and oddly enough, sold quite a few Whalers in the middle of Oklahoma. 

In fact, Bill told us they had three of these Dauntless 14s on the showroom floor to choose from - and this is not a real common boat!

 

They’ve got an active Facebook page if you want to check them out, looks like a fun place, but more pontoonish than Whaler these days.

 

 

So, back to the Dauntless, even though Bill's not a fisherman, she has Boston Whaler’s factory Fishing Package.

 

This primarily means the bow is kept open to not encumber fish-ability, with no bow rails, even the bow light is removable.  

 

During production and prior to the installation of the top cap, the hull of these Whalers with the Fishing Package is factory rigged for a trolling motor. There’s an easy access plug-in panel in the bow.  

This one’s never had a trolling motor mounted - so no holes drilled.

There’s also a removable cooler seat in front of the console.

 

Other factory options include -

 

-Bimini Top - this is our #1 requested option, and they are pretty expensive.  

 

Side bar - we have an account with both William J Mills Canvas and Great Lakes Boat Top.  Mills was the original and only supplier of OEM tops and covers for Boston Whaler’s first 4 decades, Great Lakes was given the contract shortly after Brunswick purchased Boston Whaler in 1996.

We’re not really interested in selling bimini tops and boat covers to the general public, but we do offer them at our cost when a Whaler is purchased.  

 

-Side Rails - these will give you something to hold onto and help you move around the boat safely! 

 

-Stainless Swim Ladder - this will help you get back in the boat! 

 

The Dauntless 14 was first offered in 1999, alongside the Dauntless 16 and already available Dauntless 18. 

The 14 and 16 were designed as high end replacements for the discontinued and somewhat half-baked 13 and 15 Dauntless, two models that were repurposed from the Rage 13 and 15 jet boat hulls.

 

These three even numbered Dauntlesses were expensive even by Boston Whaler standards.  

They were high quality builds, sharing many of the same components.  All three have the same proprietary model fiberglass reversible pilots seat, the 14 and 16 shared the same full size standup console, beefy stainless hardware, etc.

 

The 14 was the first of the smaller Whalers to have an integrated fuel tank, an upgrade the 17’ Montauk wouldn’t receive until 2019! Twenty-five gallons by the way! 

 

 

Other high end, big boat standards include a tilt steering wheel, concealed below deck rigging, self bailing cockpit with scuppers, high sides, bilge well with pump, storage, etc.

 

Boston Whaler had high hopes for the 14, almost a ‘build it and they will come’ sort of mindset, but with retail pricing similar to that of the 17 Montauk, most buyers opted for the larger 16.

 

The yacht owners and sailboaters used to buying Boston Whaler tenders may have loved the boat, but the 1000 lb hull (before motor) was just too heavy for most davit systems to handle. 

 

The result - this beautiful, overbuilt, expensive 14 foot center console didn’t make the 2001 brochure.

 

At the helm of a 14 Dauntless, the overall feel is that of a much larger boat.  The handling characteristics are that of a larger boat as well, the deep v follows all the way through to the stern, making this a very capable compact center console. 

 

 

She’ll come with a custom full boat cover, as well as matching console and pilot’s seat cover, original owners manuals, etc.

 

More pics, info, and pricing to follow.

 

Give us a call if interested!

 

York County Marine is a 100% online operation, all of our boats are professionally delivered, anywhere in the United States with international shipping possible.

 

All York County Marine boats are checked over by a marine mechanic prior to professional delivery.

 

All York County Marine boats are thoroughly sea trialed prior to professional delivery.

 

YCM a different kind of boat dealer

Thanks!  YCM