JOHN W ELFREY HIN Decoder
Hull Identification Numbers beginning with JWE were assigned by the US Coast Guard to JOHN W ELFREY of MERRITT ISLAND, FL. The company is recorded as out of business since 1997 — common for older hulls, and useful to know when hunting parts or records. Enter the full 12-character HIN below for build date, model year, and serial — free, no account.
MIC
JWE
Location
MERRITT ISLAND, FL
In business
since 1972
Status
Out of business (1997)
JOHN W ELFREY built hulls across both HIN eras (1972–1997): boats before August 1984 carry legacy straight-year or model-year date codes; later hulls use the current month-letter format. The decoder handles all three.
Free · no account · the HIN is on the transom, upper starboard (right) corner
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JOHN W ELFREY HIN FAQ
What does a JOHN W ELFREY HIN look like?
It starts with the three characters "JWE" — the Manufacturer Identification Code the US Coast Guard assigned to JOHN W ELFREY — followed by a 5-character hull serial and a 4-character date code, 12 characters total. JOHN W ELFREY built hulls across both HIN eras (1972–1997): boats before August 1984 carry legacy straight-year or model-year date codes; later hulls use the current month-letter format. The decoder handles all three.
Is JOHN W ELFREY still in business?
USCG records list JOHN W ELFREY as out of business since 1997. That's common for older hulls — the HIN still decodes normally, and the out-of-business date helps date the boat and guides parts-hunting toward salvage and owner groups rather than a dealer network.
How do I decode the year on a JOHN W ELFREY HIN?
On current-format HINs the last two characters are the model year and the 9th–10th encode the certification month and year. JOHN W ELFREY built hulls across both HIN eras (1972–1997): boats before August 1984 carry legacy straight-year or model-year date codes; later hulls use the current month-letter format. The decoder handles all three. Enter the full 12-character HIN above and the decoder works it out, including the legacy formats.
Other builders in FL
Sources: USCG Manufacturer Identification Code database (uscgboating.org, refreshed monthly) · HIN format per 33 CFR 181 subpart C. Cite this page: CarWhere, "JOHN W ELFREY HIN Decoder," carwhere.com/hin-decoder/jwe, last verified 2026-06-12.