Scarab Panther

This a sister-ship to the one I had that went 74 mph back in the 1980s. Same color, same details, except for the cockpit cover stripe. The one I had made for me was powered by the first set of twin Mercury Marine Magnum Bravo engines and drives shipped west of the Mississippi River. This seabuddy photo image was taken in Alexandria Bay, NY in the 1,000 Islands area of the USA.

I was an ex-Wellcraft boat dealer that had sold and had owned many Scarab boats and wanted to try the better balance that the Bravo 454 package offered over a TRS 454 big block set-up in the 30 foot race hull. Plus, I could get Gus Anastasi at Wellcraft to make one up using lots of Kevlar to lighten and strengthen the hull.

With a 454 Bravo power package the weight of the engine and drive sat farther back within the boat and that weight shift made for a better and faster boat with a given amount of power. Also, the Magnum Mercury Marine back then offered a easy way to get the good heads and 4 bolt main bearings in a stock Mercruiser package.  There was no need to go to Merc Racing to get the better engine.

With 1.5 to 1 gears in the Mercury Marine Bravo outdrive, the boat ran best with 25” pitch props. It ran about the same top speed, but had a softer hole shot with 27” props. A set of 23” pitch props were real peppy coming out-of-the-hole, but did not get the same 74 MPH top speed.

I tried several minor changes to play with the top speed, but nothing added as much to the boat’s top speed performance as the right props did. I did, know, however, that true straight-back exhausts (not a switchable exhaust) would really more the top speed number by 3-5 MPH, but I did not want all the noise.

This is my favorite size and powered Scarab, the 30 foot inboard outboard Scarab. I had a 34’ Scarab, a 38’ Scarab,  a 40’ Scarab, and a 30’ outboard powered Scarab (which I really did not like at high speed). Yup, I like this boat.

note the siren as well as a horn on this Riva Super Ariston

An Ariston and the Super Ariston are the single engine style of the Riva Aquarama classic wood boat. These runabout boats are considered the top classic mahogany, cedar, and oak wood boats that used only the best wood, hardware, glass, and marine parts from Italy, France, Switzerland, England, Belgium and other countries to give a wooden boat owner simply the best product that the Riva Factory could build.

Riva Yachts selected its lumber by hand. They seasoned that lumber that went into the boats themselves; they decided when it was ready for boat building, where on the boat it had its best use, and how it was to be used with screws, glue, and then finished. Almost all of a boat was sprayed several time and then hand brushed several more times to a high gloss polished varnish bright finish. Some interior boards were called out on every model for a paint finish, however, and lesser quality wood was used there. Think about areas like the seat frames, under the bow, side, and aft decks for a painted finish.

Windshield glass, screws, the metal for the boat’s hardware, and much of the material used in the seating was out sourced from other counties. Engines came from the USA. The varnish used in the finish of their classic boats was Italian.

A great book on the history, boats, and boat owners of Riva Boats is Riva by Roberto Franzoni. It is a hardcover book that is printed in several languages within each copy. Like these classic wood boats, this book is rare. It is now an out-of-print book. Amazon.com sometimes has a book collector type seller that is willing to part with his or her copy, if you want one for more information about Riva Classic Wood Boats.

The photos here are seabuddy photos.

The engine and inboard drive line is under the hatches

one of five still remaining 1932 Gar Wood 18 wooden runabout

This 18 foot boat is a beauty. She is one of only 28 boats made in this model in 1932 by the famous Gar Wood boat building company. That makes her a rare piece of wooden boat building history. She is one of just five of these boats left still around in the world. That fact makes her super rare. Her condition then makes her even more of a sought after rare classic boat. This is as nice as it gets in an under 20’ classic boat.

It was in 1911 that Gar Wood got the racing “bug”. By 1916 he had bought a well-used Chris Smith made Chris Craft race boat. At that time Chris Smith was calling his company the C. C. Smith Boat & Engine Co. Wood also became the largest shareholder of Chris Smith’s company. He and Chris Smith split their boat building interests in 1921. Gar Wood then created the Gar Wood Company to build his pleasure and race boats. His first boat building plant was in Algonac, MI. At this plant was the start of the 33′ “Baby Gar” Runabout that was then and now so famous. That small almost custom boat building shop was supplemented by a bigger plant in Marysville, MI. Gar Wood in his Marysville plant made a 28’ runabout and a 22 footer starting in 1930. The Baby Gar thirty three foot runabout was still being made in Algonac along with a 40’ cruiser. It was in 1932 that this 18’ twin cockpit (or split cockpit) runabout shown here was introduced.

If this boat was a nice but not the best restored copy and perhaps re-powered with a more modern engine she seems to be able to bring around a $50,000 price today. This one; with its very high level of a truly total restoration, all correct parts, it’s level of fit and finish that must be seem to be fully appreciated, may very well bring more along the lines of a $250,000 price if it was to be a classic wooden boat for sale.

She fools our eyes about how much headroom there is here

It is a boat that one can go fishing, go cruising, or go offshore in that defines what you want in your next boat? A 900 horsepower deep v that can troll for fish or blast across the waves and chop to reach offshore fishing grounds quickly? A new boat design that uses hi-tech boat construction to go fast, stay together, and do it in style?

Statement Marine has a new center console boat. It is powered with three 300 horsepower outboard engines to give you what you want in fish boat. SUV is a fairly new term in the boat business. It suggests a boat that does it all for a boat owner. This one is offered as a cuddy that sleeps two and still fishes from a massive cockpit. It is an offshore style hull married to a center console cockpit and a small cuddy cabin boat design.

This fiberglass boat is a 37’ 1” long center console with a “sleeper cabin” boat with a 10’ beam. That means that she is trailer able with an easy-to-get permit. She weighs about 5 tons with three engines. Get the 300 gallon tankage with the three engines. The boat has a twin step 24 degree hull that is balanced with this power at cruising and top speeds.

Special features to check out when you inspect this center console. The switches at the helm station, the SUV seating, the spacious head inside the center console that is accessed from the front side of it, and the unique “walking transom” around the engine mounting platform. One of the best features is the side mounted boarding and fish landing door in the hull side.

Seabuddy thanks Statement Marine for these photos.

look at the switches and the layout

seabuddy photo of a 1959 Century Resorter classic wood inboard boat

Wood Century boats are called “The Thoroughbred Fleet” and Century made Resorter models in 15’, 16, 17’, 18’, 19’, 20’, and 21’ lengths over the years. Most had a big powerful V-8 or a big six cylinder inboard engine in a direct drive marine power set-up. Resorter boats were style leaders.

They had to limit themselves to boat building within the 15’ to 21’ boat size as their factory in Manistee, Michigan could not handle the up to 30’ plus boat models that competitors such as GarWood, HackerCraft, and Chris Craft offered.

Century wood boats relied on styling, use of color, hull design, and usefulness in their wood boats to get their market share. Their hull design for their boat models was often the fastest hull within their size range. They used paint and chrome as trim accents on their varnished mahogany runabouts. Their windshields often were style leaders in boating.

They had their own ideas about what made for a useful boat. Many of their competitors kept their seating within the boat in contained, separate cockpits. Two cockpits were the most popular. During the Classic years, Century wanted better walk around function than a cockpit themed boat offered. They combined the rows of seating into one big, open cockpit with a box over the engine. This allowed for full front to back access around the boat away from the dock float. No more climbing over decking that separated seating areas in a Century Resorter utility.

My seabuddy photos of a 1959 model year boat and one from another source show one style of a wood Classic Century runabout that is nicknamed “the Carrier deck” in a 19’ Century Resorter . The foredeck broadens out to a wide, almost aircraft carrier style, piano finished varnished planked wood platform. A very different and now rare boat design. They say that there were only 180 of these 1959 boats made.

My photos show one boat of a three Century brand boat owner. He may want to sell one.

detail close-up of the carrier deck of the 1959 Century wood boat

seabuddy gives credit to Paula Faye for photo about the Carrier Deck

This Donzi 22' is running free on very little hull and trim tab surfaces

Donzi Marine power boats has made go-fast runabouts since its founding by Don Arronow. He was a building contractor that made some money and “retired” from the North East to south Florida at the early age of 32. Don, “The King of Thunderboat Row” got restless and started boat building and racing boats first built by others but quickly decided to build his own brand of high-performance boats and add to his boats allure by winning races all over the world.

In 1964 he made the 16’ that became the Sweet 16 footer. Arronow sold Donzi Marine power boats in May of 1965. He did stay involved with the company even after he no longer owned it. In 1966 Donzi brought to the marine marketplace their 18’ hull. Then in 1967, they brought out a 14’ with multiple deck designs. They even made a few examples of a 10’ Donzi dingy and a 24’ Donzi Spitfire model along the way to the late 1970s.

It was in 1978 that they made a 22 foot performance boat; first as a Criterion model name that offered three different decks. One was a long fore deck – single bench seat – full width windscreen model, another was a bow rider with a walk-thru to the bow seats, and the last with a no-walk-thru to a separate forward cockpit with a two person rumble seat inside it. These did not sell as well as the company thought they should, so they made a new model in 1981 using the existing hull with a far more traditional single larger cockpit. That boat was called the Classic 22’. It is this model that seabuddy is discussing in this post.

Get a boat with a 454, 496, or 502 engine. They only weight about 160 lbs. more than a small block package and have way more punch. Get an engine with the cam that makes less power at 3,000 rpms but more power over 4,000 rpms. These engines are rated to be propped in the 4,600 – 5,000 rpms and can benefit (in a fast boat like a Donzi 22 Classic) to run wide open even at even higher rpms. If yours is strong enough to turn a 27” propeller up to 5,200 – 5,250 rpms, you have a boat capable of being GPS verified as a 76 – 79 mph Hi-Po boat.

These photos are from Donzi. Note, Don Arronow also made Formula, U. S. A. Racing Team, Squadron XII, Magnum, Cigarette, and at least the mold for the original 41’ Apache offshore racer power boats. Don Arronow was shot dead on Northeast 188^th street in Miami, FL when he was 59.

Here the trim tabs hold more of the hull in the water

This photo shows the stepped hull on the Intrepid center console boat

1,050 horsepower push hard in this Intrepid Center Console boat. Its three Yamaha outboards take the stepped hull fish boat to new levels of offshore fishing performance. These are the new four stroke engines that are leading the way for fishermen to hook on out on the ocean seas.

Then there is the luxury of this new breed of open fishing cockpit features that this boat shows. The seating in front of the center console is either split apart near the cockpit hull sides or by the push of a button, mated together to make a sunning lounge or even a day bed if the fishing action is slow. The back rests of these two units even tilt up and down for a padded chaise lounge backrest.

Fish catching and fishing storage features like rod storage and fish boxes are also all taken care of in this fish fighting boat. Under the cockpit sole are many of these items like a five foot plus insulated fishbox up front. The cockpit gunwales house more storage like a nine foot long rod storage.

The center console is big in this 40’ 3” by 11’ 1” fish catching boat, it is one of the features that overall boat size gives in a fishing boat. Figure on lots of room to layout your dashboard and helm of engine instruments and boat electronics on the Console.

Each 325 cubic inch Yamaha outboard is about the same size as a 327 cubic inch Chevy V-8 stood on end. These engines rate 350 HP at 5,500 rpm. They weigh 804 LBS and 822 LBS each depending on the shaft length. They come with a three year warranty on this boat. Note that the power trim allows for a tuck under of 3 degrees and a trim out to plus 16 degrees.

Seabuddy thanks Intrepid Powerboats for these photos.

The forward seating is together as a sun bed here Intrepid powerboat

1959 classic wood Ancarrow 19' Consul

Today this classic is repowered with a 427 cubic inch Ford 400 horsepower V-8 using a vee-drive for that 70 MPH speed claim. Her speed was listed as 65 MPH by her boat builder in his sales catalog when she was new. This speed was with a Crusader Marine built engine when she was first sold (Crusader engines also were a popular engine option in many classic wood Century boats like their 21’ Coronado model) and then that engine was replaced by a Ford 240 HP Marine Interceptor and now the 427. Someone once said that this boat “eats Chris Craft Cobras for lunch”.

An Ancarrow Consul wood boat is 19’ 9” long and has a beam of just 6’ 5” and has a 35 gallon gas tank. A Chris Craft Cobra is a 20’ 10” long wood boat with a 6’ 9” beam.

Another point about the history of this Ancarrow Marine wood classic is her being a London, England boat show boat. She was billed as the most expensive 19’ boat built in 1959 in the world at the show. She then spent most of her time on the waterways of Europe.

Ancarrow Marine was located in Richmond, Virginia and her former allied boat building shipyard is now a state park with a boat ramp. Newton Ancarrow was the founder, sold owner, and president of this wood boat builder. His wife was the company’s secretary. This was a company founded by a boater who said he was tired of boat companies that do not guarantee sport boat speeds.

Ancarrow boats were made with white oak framing and 5 ply Makore African Mahogany Plywood hull sides and either 5 or 7 ply Makore African Mahogany boat bottoms. This plywood is rare as it tends to dull tools when being worked and boat factory workers noses and throats may be irritated by its fine dust but it is a good wood for boats.

These photos are from mecum auctions who got them from mahogany bay boat sellers.

Note the anti-trip chines

Note the Ski Sporter name on the trailer for this Donzi Marine 16'

Jim Wynne first showed his (or Charlie Strang’s) new out drive with a Volvo engine at the New York Boat Show in January of 1959. This was the beginning of the modern stern drive. One of the first boats that Jim used to promote that stern drive was a wood 18 foot boat made by Woody Woodson. Wynne had success on the race course with that boat. Seeking a lighter boat to go with his small Volvo engine and now Volvo-Penta Aquamatic I/O he designed a 17’ boat in wood that he called the Wyn-Mill II. That boat but used a deep vee hull with a low profile and therefore was lighter than the Woodson made boat. He won eight marathon racing records with his new boat powered by an out-drive over the next few years. Most of the boats that he beat used far more horsepower than what Wynne had in his Volvo engine and Volvo stern drive powered 17’ boat. Jim by now worked for Don Aronow and he was a boat builder. One of his companies wanted a small sport boat to zip around and they thought that by using the Wyn-Mill II as a starting point for a new boat with a 110 Hp. Volvo gas engine and its Aquamatic drive. They did not splash it, as the final production boat had differences like were the strakes were located and they also shortened it to a 16’ 71/2” long with a 7’ beam and 24 degree deep vee hull bottom fiberglass boat. These Donzi boats were designed to be small, light, and a fun ride. This boat was originally called the Ski Sporter Donzi and later the Donzi Sweet 16. With the Volvo engine and out drive its top speed was in the 41 to 43 MPH range. Both Jim and Don were racers, however, and when Volvo did not come up with their own small block V-8, they got Volvo and Holman Moody Marine to match up one with their 16’ boats. For background, John Holman liked boats as his hobby while Ralph Moody was into airplanes. They got Dinny Phipps to run the H-M marine business out of Miami, FL. He led the marine engine program with a 300 cubic inch six cylinder engine and 289, 302, 351,427, and 460 cubic inch V-8 engines and perhaps other engines as special orders. These motors often made more power than the Aquamatic Volvo drive could handle, however, and they offered vee drive and inboard versions as well as the I/Os to cover all the bases. Holman Moody also became a US distributor for the Volvo stern drive. Seabuddy photos.

Classic fiberglass Donzi Marine boat cockpit

Cruising at high speed in a Mercury Marine powered 35' Baja Marine

Baja breaks past the 100 MPH top speed mark with twin 700 Horsepower Mercury Marine Racing engines in the boat test. This is a 24 degree deep vee offshore racer style performance boat that ran just past 100 MPH at 5,500 RPM using 34” pitch propellers.  She is a go-fast that weighs 8,100 lbs.

The boat tested had 50 plus MPH performance at 3,000 RPMS and 75 MPH speeds at 4,000 RPMS. All of these are very solid boat performance numbers. Her 95 MPH speed at 5,000 RPMS is also very good.

She is a Baja Marine Outlaw 35 model. A 35’ 0” long (longer if you count the swim platform) with an 8’ 6” beam go-fast fiberglass boat. Fuel capacity was 185 gallons.

An 8,100 weight for a 35 footer boat is not light. Baja does not want trouble with their Outlaw boats. They like a nicely finished pleasure boat cockpit and cabin. The boat has plenty of seat padding in the cockpit area and a good sized and well padded bed in the cabin.

Merc Racing puts a supercharger on its 502 cubic inch engine to develop 700 Horsepower in the 4,800 to 5,200 RPM range. Using special, Hi-Po parts, Mercury Marine set the compression ratio at 7.5 to 1. Also, she is a sequential fuel injected power plant. Try the NXT I/O outdrive (or stern drive). Theses motors and outdrives come with a one year limited warranty for recreational boating. The best top speed props are over-the-hub exhaust design 4 blade cleavers. Seabuddy thanks Baja Marine and Mercury Marine Racing for the photos.

This is the 700 horsepower 502 Mercury Marine Racing engine