Trailorboat made in Ephrata

OK, readers, we have a mystery on our hands. Karen Crook called me a week or so ago. She and her husband Clay are big car buffs, attending several car shows during the year.

“We were at a car show during the weekend and there was trailer with a boat on top,” she said. “The owner, Dan Morley of Gig Harbor, said he uses the trailer and the boat, too.”

Karen then sent me a photo. On the side of the trailer is “Trailorboat,” with “Ephrata, Wash” underneath. Dan’s email and phone numbers were included with the photo.

Dan says his trailorboat was made between 1961 and 1963 in California. He suspects they were made in Ephrata after leaving California, perhaps just in 1964.

His trailer is similar to a teardrop trailer, with a sleeping area in the front and a cooking area at the rear, where you must be outside to prepare meals. The trailer is 8 feet long with a 3-foot tongue. The boat is 8feet long.

Dan is interested in learning more about the manufacturer and such. A search of the Internet didn’t show any boat or trailer business under the Trailorboat name.

So, readers, can anyone out there help with this mystery? Send information to me at dclay@atnet.net or call 509-762-5158.

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on Feb. 3, 1950:

Who’s doing what…

-Earl Calvert attended a Democratic Party meeting in Ellensburg Sunday to discuss plans for taking the 1950 census.

-Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Ferguson were Sunday visitors in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Reubin Hilzer.

-R.J. Vroman of Seattle left Sunday after a five-day visit with his mother, Mrs. W.E. Richards.

-Grace and Jim Wilson, the G & J Plumbing Company, have had their store phone, No. 19, connected at their home until fire damage to their store can be repaired.