C-2
10-06-2003, 07:49 PM
Boy am I glad we arrived a day early for the Heatwave poker run this past weekend. By the time we arrived in the late afternoon on Wednesday there was already a handful of nice boats parked in the cove. By Thursday morning there was even more and I started my search for a ride on one of the big boys.
Thankfully Gary (who goes by skater40 on the HB board and is owner of Predator) had a small crew and was kind enough to take me and Mike C out for a run. I really didnÂ’t know what to expect, but grabbed the digital cam and jumped inside the cockpit. I sat in the front passenger seat under the F16 canopy.
We motored outside the no-wake zone and then Gary hit it. Now I always thought the Skaters needed some distance to come up to speedÂ…WRONG! After traveling the distance of a few football fields I looked down and saw the GPS at 120. I had to do a double take; I thought I was seeing things! About 10 seconds later, we were passing Copper Canyon doing 155.
So there we are, “cruising” down the lake at 130-140 (Gary explained he wanted to take it easy). The feeling of the speed was surreal – mainly because I couldn’t feel it. I’m sitting there, wearing my hat, snapping away and feeling only an occasional bump. I decide to take some pics of Mike in the backseat and raised the camera back over my seat and outside the cockpit canopy. DOH! Found the speed…it almost ripped the camera out of my hand!
So I was trying to get my camera set up for some high-speed shots when I felt the boat hook a little to the left and felt Gary throttling down real quick. I could smell oil and saw Gary shutting down the motors. Gary looked up the lake and saw that ever-feared blue smoke cloud hovering above the water.
After a few minutes of poking around, Gary found what looked like one of those pennyÂ’s you flattened on the railroad tracks when you were a kid, except this one was mangled. He grabbed the flashlight, looked down the side of the block and yup, it was a freeze plug.
Our brief cruise down the lake took us the whopping 7 minutes which included firing the motors in the Nautical Cove, and ended just past Sandpoint. We then began our journey back home into the sunset, under the power of one motor.
Two things impressed me on that little cruise; obviously the boat ride, but also Gary’s attitude after losing the motor. Even though his bid for bragging rights in a very fast field had just gone up in a puff of smoke – he didn’t swear once. He simply shrugged his shoulders, said “Oh well, another boating adventure”, chuckled then said “There’s always Spring”.
In summary, I’ve ridden on quite a few boats and have never experienced a ride like that one. The best way to describe it, especially since it was strikingly similar, is to think of yourself on the runway in a jetliner. You go from zero to more than 200 mph in a very short distance – yet you never really feel the intensity of the speed.
BTW
Thanks for the ride Gary!
Firing the motors in the Nautical Cove
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges1-med.jpg
Approaching 140 on the way to Copper Canyon
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges4-med.jpg
Buzzing Copper Canyon at 155!
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges8-med.jpg
Mike C enjoying “the cruise”.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132mike2-med.jpg
The feared blue smoke cloud.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132smoke-med.jpg
Poking around one of two 1,300 hp quad-rotored Larry Peto motors.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132engine1-med.jpg
The much slower ride back home.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132endofday-med.jpg
[ October 07, 2003, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: C-2 ]
Thankfully Gary (who goes by skater40 on the HB board and is owner of Predator) had a small crew and was kind enough to take me and Mike C out for a run. I really didnÂ’t know what to expect, but grabbed the digital cam and jumped inside the cockpit. I sat in the front passenger seat under the F16 canopy.
We motored outside the no-wake zone and then Gary hit it. Now I always thought the Skaters needed some distance to come up to speedÂ…WRONG! After traveling the distance of a few football fields I looked down and saw the GPS at 120. I had to do a double take; I thought I was seeing things! About 10 seconds later, we were passing Copper Canyon doing 155.
So there we are, “cruising” down the lake at 130-140 (Gary explained he wanted to take it easy). The feeling of the speed was surreal – mainly because I couldn’t feel it. I’m sitting there, wearing my hat, snapping away and feeling only an occasional bump. I decide to take some pics of Mike in the backseat and raised the camera back over my seat and outside the cockpit canopy. DOH! Found the speed…it almost ripped the camera out of my hand!
So I was trying to get my camera set up for some high-speed shots when I felt the boat hook a little to the left and felt Gary throttling down real quick. I could smell oil and saw Gary shutting down the motors. Gary looked up the lake and saw that ever-feared blue smoke cloud hovering above the water.
After a few minutes of poking around, Gary found what looked like one of those pennyÂ’s you flattened on the railroad tracks when you were a kid, except this one was mangled. He grabbed the flashlight, looked down the side of the block and yup, it was a freeze plug.
Our brief cruise down the lake took us the whopping 7 minutes which included firing the motors in the Nautical Cove, and ended just past Sandpoint. We then began our journey back home into the sunset, under the power of one motor.
Two things impressed me on that little cruise; obviously the boat ride, but also Gary’s attitude after losing the motor. Even though his bid for bragging rights in a very fast field had just gone up in a puff of smoke – he didn’t swear once. He simply shrugged his shoulders, said “Oh well, another boating adventure”, chuckled then said “There’s always Spring”.
In summary, I’ve ridden on quite a few boats and have never experienced a ride like that one. The best way to describe it, especially since it was strikingly similar, is to think of yourself on the runway in a jetliner. You go from zero to more than 200 mph in a very short distance – yet you never really feel the intensity of the speed.
BTW
Thanks for the ride Gary!
Firing the motors in the Nautical Cove
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges1-med.jpg
Approaching 140 on the way to Copper Canyon
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges4-med.jpg
Buzzing Copper Canyon at 155!
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132gauges8-med.jpg
Mike C enjoying “the cruise”.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132mike2-med.jpg
The feared blue smoke cloud.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132smoke-med.jpg
Poking around one of two 1,300 hp quad-rotored Larry Peto motors.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132engine1-med.jpg
The much slower ride back home.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1132endofday-med.jpg
[ October 07, 2003, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: C-2 ]