SEABUDDY
ON BOATS

Archive for the ‘Boat Gear’ Category

wood boat photo

The advantage of controlling the bow position and the location of the bow around the marina in a single engine, single propeller boat is an over-whelming experience the first couple of times you are at the helm of a classic wood boat equipped with a bow thruster. Suddenly, anyone can dock the boat. Even in a cross wind.

Most would think that such an option is disrespecting what was made back when the beauty of wood, leather, and chrome over brass fittings on the water was the only choice for boating. If your boat is to sit on a trailer, I agree. If you want to use your mahogany runabout, I disagree. It is like using a modern bilge pump, converting a 6 volt system to one that uses a 12 volt one, having new PFDs, or a safer, better carburetor in a classic that is used for grand touring around a lake or bay.

Hand built, mahogany wood runabouts or bow riders are now being built by master craftsmen and those boat builders often can be talked into including a bow thruster in a new boat for you. Just think, the ride, the feel, the performance of a bright finished, stained mahogany runabout that is easy to captain. All the style and quality of a good wooden boat with the performance ease, and use-ability of the latest functional boating accessories built in.

Here is a triple cockpit wood boat that also has a no-soak bottom. A reliable, modern engine and operating systems in a classic wood boat. One gets the stares and looks from other boaters and from folks just walking around the marina without the troubles of a 60 year old classic.

2012 wood boat photo

2012 wood boat photo triple cockpit

2012 inboard boat wood classic boat

new indoor showroom of wood boats at lake George

Power Boat Docking Challenge in action photo

At the boat show, allow enough  time to try your skills at a free power boat marina docking game where you use a full scale boat helm to maneuver a model boat into a miniature marina slip in a model test tank. It’s a timed test, with offsets for bumping, that can be a challenge for both a beginner boater and “old salt” boater.

The top nine boat shows now own “the Power Boat Docking Challenge from Culp Concepts, bringing more of an interactive experience to show-goers and helping demonstrate how fun docking can be with practice and proper instruction.

“With the recent additions of new seminars and the Discover Boating Resource Center at NMMA shows, we’ve seen first-hand the value of offering more educational and hands-on learning opportunities for attendees,” noted Ben Wold, executive vice president, NMMA. “The Power Boat Docking Challenge is another great addition to the NMMA show educational portfolio, providing a fun way for boaters and would-be boaters to get more confident behind the helm and experience for themselves the satisfaction of learning how to dock with ease.”

The Power Boat Docking Challenge is an interactive experience that pits the boater against other show attendees, who compete against the clock, steering and docking a 4-ft, twin engine, remote-controlled power boat, using a life-size helm station found on a traditional boat, down a 20-ft.pool into a marina and ultimately a slip, for a chance to win a host of prizes.”

So allow plenty of time for your visit to the boat show for the entire family to take the free boat show challenge. It runs daily as well as on the weekends several times each day of the show. Expect a small wait, its popular.

Visit the Javits Convention Center on 11^th avenue in New York City during the boat show to see Mercruiser’s 8.2 engines that come in 380 Hp, 430 Hp H O, 525 Hp EFI, and 700 Hp SCi variations, among the other engines on display, although not all engines are guaranteed to be at the boat show, in their booth (C-18) and installed in boats on the boat show N Y convention center exhibit floor.

These engines are based on at least two chevy engine blocks with various heads to develop their reliable marine horse power at these levels. The 380 Hp is the one that is popular in a cabin cruiser and bigger family bow riders. Its full throttle rpm range is 4,400 – 4,800 rpm and has a cam and valve train that works best for those kind of rpms. The peak power has been dyno’d at 4,200 rpm before it starts to fall off and the 430 Hp H O verison exchanges some low end power compared to the 380 Hp for more clearly power over 4,000 rpm that then peaks at 4,700 – 4,800 rpm. The full throttle rpm range for the 430 Hp H O is put at 4,600 – 5,200 rpm. A 380 Hp engine will best a 430 Hp power boat up to about 4,000 rpm, where the 430 Hp then really pulls ahead.

Seabuddy has done a sea trial with each of these engines, and in a 7,000 lb type boat it proved hard to tell the difference between them in a pleasure boat application.

2012 Mercruiser 380 Hp 8.2 powerboat engine

Mercury Marine uses its Merc Racing division to sell the 525 Hp EFI bumps up the power and the full throttle rpm to 4,800 – 5,200 rpm. They add even more changes to the engine parts like a different fuel injection system AND a 3.3 liter supercharger to get a rating of 700 Hp at the same full throttle rpm range of 4,800 – 5,200 rpms.

All of these 502 cu. in. (8.2 litre) engines have a bore of 4.47 inches with a 4 inch stroke.

2012 Mercruiser 430 HO 8.2 engine

2012 Mercury Racing 525 Hp EFI engine

2012 Mercury Racing SCi 700 Hp engine

Want some outstanding color photographs of these storied boats? Get a collector grade copy of the vinyl covered hardback book titled Classic Powercraft volume I. The book is full of color pictures of antique and classic boats taken at the highest quality level for wooden boat photography. It is sold out of print, so a used book or a copy from a personal collection is the way to go for this great book.

Streblow Custom Boats are mahogany wooden runabouts built since the early nineteen fifties that set a standard of quality of design and workmanship for wood boats. These are wood runabouts that are doubled planked on their bottoms and batten seamed planked mahogany hull sides. A special finish technique and secret rot resistant construction techniques make these floating art works different from a regular wood boat.

The boat builder is located in Walworth, WI, (262-728-6898) near the shoreline of Geneva Lake where they are a boat builder, restoration shop, and a marine boat dealer.

While they do several millions of dollars of business each year, expect to wait up to three years in good times for a new boat. They only build up to two boats  in any given year to keep the quality up. Heck, it has been said that just selecting the wood for a boat takes weeks of combing through the choices of planking on hand.

Back to the book, get one for the photography. It is just the best there is out there on wood boats. The cover is even a full color photograph of a Streblow set into a lovely vinyl cover or binding.

The Legend of Chris-Craft (3^rd edition) authored by Jeffrey L. Rodengen is a great book. I had a first edition copy and am very happy that I bought this 3^rd edition when it came out. It is now a rare book on the used book marketplace. One book that every boater needs to have in his collection about boats and boating.

It (the 1998 edition) sells for about ten times the price of the first edition. Get your thinking about the price to pay for an excellent copy to a dollar figure north of $100. It is that much in demand. That is for a used copy that is in better shape than what most book stores sell as a “new” book. What I am talking about is a book that looks as if it just came out of a shipping carton and has had no “floor time”.

What is the book about? Chris Craft power boats. From its origins, when Christopher Columbus Smith carved his first small rowboat out of a log in 1872 (as the story goes) to the first planked boat in 1874, to his first power boat in around 1894 and the story continues.

There were several companies and partners for Chris Smith in the early times and those details are fascinating to me. Gar Wood, Ryan, brothers, and sons all helped shape this success story. Race boats and runabout pleasure boats all were a part of the quality reputation that developed around Chris Craft power boats. Boat production went from 24 power boats in 1922 to 946 in 1929, for instance.

How the boat builder made their fine runabouts covers several sub issues, like owning their own rail road to how they dealt with the wood in early Chris Craft wood power boats. And then there were the engines and the World War II war effort. Plus the post war boating boom. Then the book covers the company and its products in the fifties to the nineties in detail. Overall a great read for all of us interested in boating.

on display at the show

The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show opens on October 27 and runs through October 31, 2011.The Boat Show exhibits new boats from boat and yacht companies as well as yacht designers and used or brokered yachts.

A variety of boats and ocean vessels will be on display including runabouts, sport fishing boats, high performance racers, medium sized cabin cruisers, skiffs, express cruisers, motor yachts, bow riders, catamarans, trawlers, inflatables, and extraordinary super yachts.

Covering six locations and some 3 million square feet of space, the show has a transportation network of land bus, water craft, and river boats to get around the show.

A great venue for a boat show, Ft. Lauderdale, has the water and land items that make for a great boating experience.

The best day for most is the first day, although one can’t see all of the show in a day. Take even non boaters with you, it’s a terrific venue.

    This exhibit features 23 paintings by renowned Chesapeake artist Marc Castelli, 17 of which were donated to the Museum from the Diane Simison collection. The remaining images are from the artist’s personal collection. Castelli paints in watercolor on paper, working from photographs that he takes himself. This allows him not only to get the proportions and details exactly right, but it allows him to capture action and attitude that painting from life would not permit. Castelli goes out at times in awful weather–cold, wind, rain, even snow–conditions in which no one could paint.  He then photographs the watermen’s work in the full variety of conditions that they work in and takes those pictures back to paint in his home studio. Diane Simison began collecting Castelli’s work in 2004.

    “Diane quite deliberately built this cohesive collection of Marc’s paintings of Chesapeake watermen because she was captivated by the aesthetic value,” commented CBMM Chief Curator Pete Lesher. “But she was also drawn in by Castelli’s approach and message: going out on the boats with the watermen to capture aspects of their work and the hardships they face. Her chosen location for retirement on Tilghman Island, with its large community of watermen, certainly must have played a role in attracting her to this subject matter.”

Where it is and directions info…  http://www.cbmm.org/v_hours.htm

United States Yacht Shows, Inc., producer of the renowned United States Sail and Powerboat Shows, is launching a new event for aspiring, as well as experienced, cruisers: The first annual Cruisers University, to be held May 12-15, 2011 at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Marine Center.

Billed as “The Ultimate Aid To Navigation,” the program will provide expert instruction in a wide range of subjects pertinent to long-range cruising. Classes range from general cruising topics, such as Crossing the Gulf Stream, Proper Provisioning and Cruising with Children, to master certification courses in Diesel Maintenance, Weather Forecasting and a comprehensive educational package called the Seamanship Series. All classes will be taught by subject matter experts from respected institutions, such as the Annapolis School of Seamanship, while the opportunity to meet other participants who share the cruising dream is a significant bonus.

One of the most unique aspect of Cruisers University is its interactivity, including a large in-water display of boats, both sail and power, outfitted with live-aboard cruising in mind. Participants will not only attend classes, they can become involved with learning through demonstrations of equipment and systems, as well as by taking selected boats out for sea trials during the extended weekend.

The event’s structure allows participants to choose from three programs, with tuitions ranging from $450 for the four-day Masters Certification Program or the Seamanship Series to $160 for the one-day Introduction to Cruising Package.  Each package includes breakfast and lunch as well as boat demo boarding passes.  The number of courses and inclusions vary at each level.  Evening social events featuring music, cocktails and a keynote speaker are available for an additional fee. Special hotel and marina rates and VIP parking passes, are also available for Cruisers University participants. 

For a daily admission fee of $15, consumers can view over 150 sail and power cruising boats and 100 boating equipment exhibits.

For tickets and more information, visit www.usboat.com.

January 27–30, 2011
Baltimore Convention Center
1 W Pratt Street (at Charles Street)  One block away from the Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD 21201
 

Show Hours

Thursday, January 27, 2011
      11am–9pm 

Friday, January 28, 2011 
      11am–9pm 

Saturday, January 29, 2011 
      10am–9pm

Sunday, January 30, 2011 
      10am–5pm

In 1888 William Steinway, owner of Steinway Pianos, bought the north american rights to the otto engine  of Daimler. Bill figured that his wood workers could build a wood boat and the engines fitted in such a boat would make for a nice package.

By 1892 he was building a 42 footer and a 50 footer. There was a recession in 1893 and the boat building activity suffered. Then Bill Steinway died in early 1896.

The company then only continued along  for a bit as a non-on-going pace.

Daimler then pretty much threw out what he in engine making and selling and made a deal with a Mr. Jellinek, made a new deal and added the name of Jellinek’s daughter, Mercedes.