Wow, you guys, I'm just overwhelmed by the kind comments written about my new boat. And about me. You know the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"? Yeah, the one we've seen every Christmas for a half-century. Well, besides the scene where Jimmy Stewart's on the phone at Donna Reed's house, and Stewart and Reed realize they rather like one another--much to mom's displeasure--this group's support reminds me of my other favorite scene at the end when the whole town showed up to offer friendship and support and money and everybody lived happily ever after.
Corny and long-winded, nevertheless, that scene came to mind when MikeR told me last weekend that Joe started a thread about my new boat. Joe and Ruth, Al and Karen, how nice of you to come to Twin Bridges and offer support the morning I launched. It was so special to see the four of you together, and to go aboard and hear your comments and suggestions. But to take the time to come see me that morning was a gift I'll long remember.
And Peter, thank you for capturing Inaugural Splashdown with those really cool series of photos. It was so nice of you to see me off the way you did. But to wait all week at the dock for my return, now that's a friendship money can't buy.
SoBelle, she does kinda look like a 16' in some photos. I think that's one of the things that attracted me to this boat. She's like Bambina on steroids. And Pat coyly let the cat out of the (sleeping) bag when he inferred my previous sleeping arrangements were less than 5-Star accommodations. In this boat my feet don't stick out the cuddy entrance and rest on a container. There's just a bunch o' room everywhere, and now I see what I've been missing. My gawd, a refrigerator! A table to sit, write and eat on. And a Wallas Nordic Dt. What a little sweetheart that is. And overhead lights that don't draw much power. Heat, sink/water, a door, oodles of storage, a dinghy on top, and I've just left the 80's and walked into 2017.
Roger, dam, that is a good name. Catman Deux. That really is clever. MikeR, thanks again for taking the time to post those photos. I spend minutes staring at them and thinking about the circumstances. The week in the San Juans with my high school buddy Mark was just so much fun. The two 60 year-olds were tons more comfortable than on big-hearted Bambina. With 150 H.P. on a boat built to get after it, I do want to say I wasn't quite racing that ferry. Really, officer. That photo was taken at or near full speed during that phase of the break-in, and I spotted some softer water. The ferry headed north to Upright Head as I veered south.
The boat is an absolute joy to pilot. It lifts off from an easy and comfortable 7.5 knots, 2,000 RPM, to 4,000 in seconds. That yields 19-22 MPH depending on tide, and it'll run comfortably at 25 mph, though I still need to slow for inhospitable wakes and waves. I ran 158 miles on 19.5 engine hours, burned about 43 gallons, for about 3.6 MPG. That was a mixture of speeds, with and against some strong minus tides. I could get just 5,100 RPM tops, the low end of the 5-6,000 range. I'm propped at 14.5x19, top speed 35 MPH.
That little jingle means not that I'm getting my wings, but that my 15 minutes of fame is complete. Again, everyone, thanks for your supportive comments, and I look forward to seeing many of you this summer.
Brock
