[V8] Re: 51k....on something

[Roger M. Woodbury]

When I retired the first time...it was 1990...I got to move back here where
I belong.  Here is on a salt water bay about 30 miles as the crow flies,
from Bar Harbor.  Anyway, it was late August, and that August was really
nice...mild with a lot of sunshine, and more boats out here during the
weekend especially, than I ever had seen.  I decided right away, that I
"needed" a boat the next year.

That next spring, I "found" an old Thompson 19' runabout in excellent
condition, although needing complete refinishing. Always wanted to have one
of those, and it was something that I could afford.  Mind you "retired"
meant that I no longer would work in the insurance industry, not that I had
a LOT of money, which I didn't.  So, I plunked down some money, found a
funky old roller bunker trailer in Millinockett (lake trailer:  never seen
fresh water, although it was old!  MAN was that trailer old!), and got to
work.

Got in touch with the kid who had rigged up my first boat and Mercury
engine.  He wasn't a kid any more, this being 12 years later, and he now
working on his own, but he rigged up a Johnson 90 that he had rebuilt, and
which was cheap, and the next summer, I could get the bottom of something
wet, other than my own.

In my search for a boat though, I found a really neat looking Slickcraft I/O
sitting on some dunnage in Thomaston, which is a hundred 30 miles down the
coast.
Lines like a PT boat.  307 Chebbie....supposedly properly pickled, and
formerly owned by a physician who wasn't able to go and fish anymore.
Closed deck runabout with walkthrough windshield...about 21 feet long...and
I "needed" to have that boat.

?  "$5000".....Nope.

Late that fall I asked again.....the boat yard really, REALLY needed to the
space and wanted the boat gone.  It had been there for several years.  Made
an offer through the boat yard to the boat owner:  $1200?  "Nope.  How about
$1600?"  ---   Yup:  I took it home.

Now, I know EVERYTHING that I EVER want to know about inboard Chebbie
engines.  The 307 lasted two summers, and became a 350 four bolt, and the
OMC stern drive got partially rebuilt, then a new lower unit was "found"
that had been totally overhauled, and then the upper unit was going to need
to go....and that fisherman NEEDED my lower unit to go to work, so I hauled
the boat for the last time about four years ago, and sold the lower unit.

Last year the boat got donated to the Owl's Head Transportation
Museum....$1900 with the trailer was the survey, and I had already got $1100
for the lower unit that I had used to buy the Ramcharger that had the hyper
440...oh, sorry:  wrong story.

Anyway, I have a doctorate in inboard V8 engines and with a sub-major in OMC
Sterndrives.  The Big Slickcraft was a wonderful ocean boat...big, wide,
heavy and never saw a sea it couldn't handle.  But the V8 engine was too
thirsty, the fuel storage to small for where I am, and the cost of
rebuilding the stern, installing a Mercruiser system, and then giving that
kind of investment the sort of refinishing on the hull that it would
deserve, simply too much.

But I feel your pain regarding inboard V8's!

Roger

P.S.  Oh, yes.  The "boat" now is a 1979 Grady White 18 foot runabout, with
a rebuilt Mercury 115.  Nearly pristine lake boat, bought last summer for
small dollars.  And yes, I would LOVE to have something about 25' long for
those days when going out beyond Mt. Desert Rock seems like a good idea, or
I just have to go and see Puffins or whales "out aways"....  Fun to think
about right now:  the bay is frozen solid and looks like a huge white farm
field under its newly fallen 8" of snow.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "quattro + 5 or 8 = fun" <thequattroking at yahoo.com>
To: "Korn, Bob" <Bob.Korn at Fike.com>; "'Shawn Head'" <s4qtro at bellsouth.net>;
"'Roger M. Woodbury'" <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>; "V8 Audi Fans"
<v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 3:28 AM
Subject: Re: [V8] Re: 51k....on something


> IN BOARD BOATS.  I HATE THEM I HATE THEM I HATE THEM.  I would rather do
> subframe bushings on an audi then change the tranny oil on an inboard.
>
>
> Shayne
>
>
> Bay Area, CA
> Eastern WA State
>
>
> PARTING:  1972 Mercedes Benz 280 SE 4.5
> PARTING:  1986 Audi 4000 CS quattro
>
>
> > allows me to have the toys some could not afford.  I share the same
> > relationship with my boat and lake house :-), try changing plugs on a
350
> > Chevy while standing on your head!
>
>