Somewhere around 1970, two things happened at once that had nothing to do with each other and everything to do with each other. Joe LaBue was a running back at the University of Alabama, blocking for Johnny Musso in the Wishbone era. And Boston Whaler introduced a boat so strange-looking that its name wrote itself: the 21 Outrage, a center-console with six vertical rib lines molded into the hull.
Fifty years later, one of those rare ribside Outrages — and one of LaBue’s descendants — would come together in a boat shop in Foley.
The Boat That Named Itself
Boston Whaler had already made its name on unsinkable hulls when it unveiled the 21 Outrage in April 1970: one of the first center-console boats, with a teak console and bench seat, bright blue cushions, and that unmistakable ribbed topside. The exposed-rib look lasted only through mid-1972 — roughly 700 boats — before the company smoothed the lines. The scarce, weirdly handsome first-generation hulls became instant collector’s items: stable, shallow-water-capable, and instantly recognizable.
In 1992, Jim McGowin of Ono Island spotted one for sale at a consignment shop while driving down Cottage Hill Road in Mobile. He negotiated a deal on the twenty-year-old boat and has run it around Orange Beach and Ono Island ever since.
The Restore-or-Replace Question
Fifty-two years after the boat was built, Jim faced the decision every old-boat owner eventually confronts: pay for a proper restoration, or walk away and buy something newer. He reached out to Paul LaBue — Joe LaBue’s son — who owns and operates LaBue Restoration in Foley. Paul has spent his adult life in boat manufacturing, fiberglass work and painting; his uncle is a senior executive at Regal Boats in Florida, but Paul chose to build his own shop rather than join the family pipeline.
Paul’s advice starts with the hull. “Start with the integrity of the hull,” he says. “If it’s in good condition, then a good eyeball estimate will give you a ballpark of the cost — but you really won’t know until you get into it.” His old boss Rick put it more bluntly: you can price by the foot, but if you have to do surgery, the bill grows with what you find. And cosmetic shortcuts have a way of resurfacing. “There are inexpensive ways to cover up flaws, and your boat will look good at first,” Paul says. “But if you don’t do the job right, those same flaws will show up within a year, and the owner will be angry.”
Gelcoat, Grinding and New Glass
The heart of the job is gelcoat. “Gelcoat is only supposed to be so thick,” Paul explains. “Too much gelcoat can result in cracking, and many boat manufacturers use gelcoat to cover up flaws when the hulls come out of the molds.” Grinding it all off, priming and re-glassing is slow, dusty, unglamorous work — but it is the difference between a boat that looks restored and one that is restored.
“I try to grind down to the fiberglass and keep all the lines as they were designed,” Paul says. “I might need to re-glass some areas, like the transom and other stress areas, to ensure the integrity of the hull. I want a finished boat that leaves my shop to last for years to come — and I believe it will increase in value, because they are restored, sought-after model designs.”
Matching faded paint is its own art. “Gelcoats fade in the sun. It’s difficult to match the original paint code on a repair area and have it look like the rest of the boat,” he says. “We just have to eyeball the paint color to match the degree of fade. It’s an inexact science, but I think we do a pretty good job.”
The Reveal
Jim’s verdict after the year-long rebuild? “If you had told me what this project was going to cost, I would have never done it. But it’s done, and I have a ‘new’ boat, no doubt better structurally than the original. Paul’s grinding exposed many flaws in the original fiberglass work and, if you know Paul, he couldn’t let even the most minute imperfection pass. I think 80% of the boat has new glass on it.”
The details still coming together tell the story of a proper restoration: custom new fuel tanks made to fit under the stern, a local cabinetmaker’s mahogany gate and gunwale steps to hide them, a custom bimini by Gary Peaden of Peaden Marine Canvas and Upholstery in Elberta, and a high bow rail waiting in pieces until Jim finds the originals. The stern rail, he decided, stays off — the boat looks too good without it.
Why Bother
There just aren’t many exposed-rib 21 Outrages left, and the ones that survive are typically rough. A boat like Jim’s — restored right, structurally better than new — is the rare classic that can go back to doing its original job: carrying grandkids around Orange Beach, fishing the pass, looking outrageous doing it.
Paul and a partner have since branched into making fiberglass boat parts — hard tops, poling platforms and the like — alongside the restoration work. For owners on the fence about a beloved old hull, his pitch is simple: do it right, and the boat outlives the doubt.