OTTAWA (AFP) - The ship that stranded the crew and eclectic passengers of 1960s television classic "Gilligan's Island" on an uncharted desert island following a torrential storm is for sale by its Canadian owner.
The SS Minnow set out on a "three-hour tour" with actor Bob Denver (Gilligan) and his gang, which wound up as castaways for three years on US primetime television, and their buffoonery replayed around the world for many decades.
"It's the same boat that was on Gilligan's Island ... They used it when they went out on the water," said agent George Schultz, who is selling the boat for a retired friend, Scott Taylor.
The vessel, named after former US Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow, whom show creator Sherwood Schwartz was quoted as saying "ruined television," is the third of four boats used in the sitcom, according to a fan website.
One was towed to Kauai for beach scenes. Another was rented for the opening credits in Honolulu Harbor and the other was a prop built by television studio CBS in the second season.
Taylor's Minnow was filmed in the opening credits of the second season at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, Schultz said.
According to the show's theme song: "The weather started getting rough/the tiny ship was tossed/if not for the courage of the fearless crew/the Minnow would be lost."
Indeed, the real Minnow capsized off Canada's West Coast during a trip from Alaska in 1993 after hitting a reef, rendering all of its electrical systems useless.
Its American owner agreed to sell it to Taylor for a mere 3,500 Canadian dollars (3,158 US dollars) if he agreed to restore the 37-foot mahogany Wheeler Express Cruiser -- which he did, sinking more than 200,000 dollars (180,000 US) in repairs into it.
Taylor only discovered later that the boat, then named "Bluejacket," was the famed SS Minnow from the television show, Schultz said.
"He knew the make of the boat and they're good boats, so he bought it and afterwards he learned the truth when he compared the serial numbers," he said. Its registration has since been changed to match its stage name, he added.
For 99,000 Canadian dollars (89,500 US), a new owner may buy a piece of television nostalgia, Schultz said, and take it out for a "three-hour tour" -- or more.
Taylor "has had some good trips on it," he said. "And he has never become shipwrecked."
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