Well today is a sad day for 'ol hb
. My dad's (he bought my share of it when I got married) boat runs in the boat trader today.
Twelve years ago I was out on the river in an old tired '75 Apollo Jet boat and saw an equally rough looking, but good mechanically, V drive boat. I told dad about it and we proceeded to get in touch with the guy hoping to trade. The guy was game and took us for a ride in his boat.
WOW is all I could say. What a difference between a V drive and a jet. While the jet just sat there and made a lot of noise, the V drive delivered the power to the water instantaneously. We gave the guy some money and our old jet boat. I took the V out and used it like it was for one season. That winter ('90 I think) we put her in our body shop (beige building in the background) and put a base/clear paint job on it. We bought some Bassett wet pipes, had new seats made, detailed the engine, etc.
In the summer of '90 she was ready for the river. Me and the buds had great times in it over the next several years. She will outrun pretty much anything on the water around here, and looks beautiful doing it. She is the victim of personal water craft that have taken over the lakes and rivers like a cancer. Dad wants to buy one of those new waverunner/jet ski thingies like everybody else has. If I had the spare money I'd buy the boat myself.
For anybody who is interested heres a couple of specs:
'77 Sanger flat bottom hull, Fresno Calif.
Casselle V Drive
460 Cubic Inch Ford Engine
Bassett wet pipes
Tandem Trailer
Owners of sea doos etc., no offense but there is
nothing like roaring down a smooth river on a late summer afternoon at around 100 mph. To hell with practicality.
