TOPIC: Power Cat airborn...

Gotta have fun somehow...

Frank - You've got her dialed in. Man she looks great in the water!

B

Thanks B. Sure appreciated the tow tonight. I'll do some diagnostics tomorrow see what's goin on with the starting system.

Missile looked great too!

Too late for me to fool with anymore videos. Maybe in the a.m. F

OUTASIGHT! That shot would sure be my new wallpaper if it was me.

LOL...looking at the video, it's not snowing! That's water kicking off the 1350. Had a great run north on the Hudson with both our boats maxed out. Frank should have some superb video of how these should be trimmed out. Watched him in glass calm water with the boat completely airborne except for the last foot. Absolutely perfect.

And pulling Frank back with a 22x14 2 blade took a while. LOTS of slippage. And there wasn't a beer between the two boats. Probably a good thing.

woo hoo frank!!!! bet that skeered you a bit. i hopped a wake today and i thot i split the tunnel. ron

Frank...next thing you know you'll be pulling stunts like this...lol...

Yeee haw!!!!

Did ya have to pull over and change your shorts??? Lol

wow.. thats some litle boat there, not to mention the operator.

Ron, there was a split moment where I wished I had a helmet on, but it passed real quick...

Dave, great video. I think one jump a year is good for me.

Jerrfy, nope, shorts did fine.

Frank

frank,very cool,it looked like fun,glad you have it where you want it,john

The boat, the motor, and the driver, all out there looking good!!
Thanks for sharing, that looks like a blast.
Neil

Thanks John and Neil, yes, it was a blast.

Got some more pics I took off the videos. The last one has the twin towers of the state capitol in the background.

Frank

Makes all those months of hard work worth every minute, huh!? Lookin' great out there Frank. (More pics - Yeah buddy, let's see 'em)

Ya know sumpin Mark? I very rarely even think about all the effort I put into this boat and motor when I'm on the water. It's running so good now it's just a blast. I'm only doing mid-40's for speed, but it makes my eyes water!

Frank

frank i would make the top pic of your boat in midair,into my profile pic if i were you,that is soooo cool,john

Gee John, great idea! It would be like Jerrfy's!

Just went out and got the motor started. Couldn't see any connection problems so got my lite ball peen hammer out, gently rapped on the starter. Nothing. My inclination was the solenoid anyways, so I rap on that. Gee, are my eyes deceiving me or did the solenoid move?!? Sure enough, solenoid bracket was loose. I move it where I believe it belongs, vroom, vroom! I need to tighten that baby up after work! Then I need to start carrying a tool kit...

Frank

And make sure your tool kit (and anything else in that flyin' machine!) is fastened down! Looks good Frank!

Got a kill switch wired into that beast?

I didn't lose anything Scott, had a couple loose paddles, bag with life preservers in it, fenders, etc.

How would I wire a kill switch in? I thought about it back when I was putting the boat together, but for the life of me at the time couldn't figure out how to do it. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Frank

Hi Frank,
Okay - I'm thinking this out as I'm typing, so bear with me - your key switch (assuming you're running a MerControl) will have five terminals, labeled A, B, D, E, F. OFF is with D and E closed. RUN is with A and F closed. START is with A and F and B closed. So, basically, you want to T the kill switch into D and E. You will use a switch that is OPEN when the clip is in place so that it doesn't interfere with the operation of the key switch. The only thing it should do is override the key switch's ON position by completing the OFF circuit.
Where you put the switch is up to you. Modern ones are located in the control box - not sure there's room in the old MerControls. You can mount it somewhere on your dash or coaming, too. Somewhere where you're not likely to snag it with your arm or knee.
Let me know if that makes sense. Having come out of a boat a few times, I can tell you it's kinda nice to bob back to the surface and see the boat waiting for you a few feet away and not motoring away from you (or TOWARD YOU!) unattended!
- Scott

It kinda makes sense Scott, but I'll have to take a closer look. the motor is coming off for the season to reside in my heated basement, and I might as well pull the controls too, it's really no big deal. The controls I have are not '63 vintage I don't think, but that probably doesn't make any difference. I had that box apart when I replaced the cables too, but I'm not sure I have to split it to do this if I can just remove the ignition switch through the back of the control unit?

Maybe next year Gail and I will come up to your neck of the woods for some boating. If nothing else, I am familiar with boating in the 1000 Islands. Did it for many years.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

Frank

yes yes yes the Glen L is looking mighty mighty stellar too!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love boats w/Mercs. Frank doing mid 40's in a 14 foot boat is plenty fast and a great thrill. Man after all your work I can't imagine it being anything else but the BEST.

Thanks Jim, but ya know, it's not really a 14' boat... it's like 13 and a 1/2'.

Brian's Glen L goes like a bat outta somewhere I forget now... He did a great job on that boat. My son Gregg rode with him while doing shots of the Power Cat. He said it rides better than the PC.

All in all, we're doin great!

Frank

I love your new profile pic Frank. BEAUTIFUL SHOT!!! Mike

Thanks Mike! Just a lucky guy I guess.

Frank

Frank it does my heart good to see you having fun with the boat. I just got me a G3 and if things work out I hope to have it in the water next year. The Johnson Stinger 75hp will go on it.
Tear the water up and have fun.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

I am lovin seein that boat get up and go! Too cool! Still some nice weather to enjoy it, too. Not sure if you need the helmet, but yeah, a kill switch [or the kill-lanyard] should be on the list.

Hi Mike, good luck with the G3. Got pics?

I'm thinking about that Jim, we'll see.

May have to drag the boat out again this weekend. Was thinking about dragging it up to the Adirondacks for some leaf peeping, but the weather north doesn't look too hot, while it looks fine here. Oh well, Hudson River here I come.

Have a great weekend you guys!

Frank