OK, so a lot of you are freezing your bunkies off all snowbound and E36 M3, but here in SoFla we enjoy boating basically all year. I drove down I 95 today to my office and passed something I could not believe. 30' Cigarette type boat on a trailer. Out back, FIVE count 'em FIVE mercury 350HP outboards. Boat painted black, 5 radio antennas. The most conspicuous smuggler I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few. Hooked up to a ratty looking Ford dually. Sure, he can make the run to Bimini in 30 minutes, but can he out run a Blackhawk? Don't think so. Guess I should just watch the Gubment auction site and see how long before it is offered. Wonder what kind of tankage it has, cause those big outboards are THIRSTY!. On the side was painted "Midnight Express". I think he should watch the movie.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 2:29 p.m. cwh Dork
-
Jan. 11, 2009 3:02 p.m. billy3esq Dork
He could be a smuggler poseur.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 3:30 p.m. porksboy HalfDork
Doctor killer boat in stead of doctor killer airplane?
-
Jan. 11, 2009 3:31 p.m. Tommy Suddard
It's wrong to assume he is a smuggler. He could be a murderer, too.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 3:32 p.m. JohnGalt New Reader
billy3esq wrote:
He could be a smuggler poseur.
Then that is one dedicated poseur! With 5 350hp outboards i would very much like to see how fast that baby would run!
-
Jan. 11, 2009 3:54 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork
Don't you reach a point that more HP does not get you through the water faster? I used to know a guy that was like a test pilot for the actual Cigarette boat company, whatever their name was. He said they gave him a boat and said "here, tell us how to make it better." He used to say that you needed a longer hull to go faster. That is, the longer hull would let you run bigger engines. 30' isn't that big. I'm gonna guess that 5 350HP motors isn't going to run much faster than 3, just guessing.
Personally, I don't like getting on anything shorter than about 1000 ft. And anything under 5-600' is just out except maybe under sail on the lake or bay.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 5:12 p.m. ignorant SuperDork
-
Jan. 11, 2009 5:17 p.m. billy3esq Dork
For a displacement hull, that's essentially true, but all bets are off when you get a planing or semi-planing hull. I think the types of boats we're talking about are semi-planing.
However, I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge of fluid mechanics and am rapidly approaching just talking out my @$$.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 5:20 p.m. aussiesmg HalfDork
I would comment but I think the @$$ talking has been covered by billy.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 5:53 p.m. ManofFewWords Reader
Seven thousand horsepower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smAUuPZ71tI
-
Jan. 11, 2009 6:56 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork
The guy I used to know had a non-engineering batchlor's degree from a major Texas university. His boat knowledge was from open sea racing and "other activities related to high speed boats," not theoretical out the @$$ talking or "net wisdom." If he said you needed a longer hull to go faster, that knowledge came from trying out everything possible to get a boat going faster off the Florida coast. He could outrun boats lobbing cannon shells at him.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 7:04 p.m. foxtrapper SuperDork
And I've had soldiers tell me that bullets sink, rise, and then sink again a second time. Doesn't make them right, or your friend.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 7:36 p.m. Datsun1500 HalfDork
My Father raced cigarette boats competitively in the mid 80's.
Dr. Hess, your friend is correct. There is a point where the weight of more motors will not override the HP gain.
That being said I have been on a boat with twin 454s that could hit 100 mph on the water, I went on that boat exactly 1 time.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 7:38 p.m. cwh Dork
And an ICE chopper with a .50cal will ruin your day. We have seen that many times here. They kill the engines, and then leisurely pull up in the pursuit boats. End of trip, start of a new life style.
-
Jan. 11, 2009 9:52 p.m. Osterizer HalfDork
foxtrapper wrote:
And I've had soldiers tell me that bullets sink, rise, and then sink again a second time. Doesn't make them right, or your friend.
Weeeeeeeeell, he's sorta right;
"The bullet actually starts to drop when it leaves the firearm's muzzle. However, the centerline of the bore is angled slightly upward in relation to the line of the sights (which are above the bore) so that the projectile crosses the line of sight on its way up (usually around 25 yards or so) and again on its way down at what is called the zero range."
-
Jan. 12, 2009 8:25 a.m. porksboy HalfDork
Fancy boat pulled by a crappy truck might equal a racer that put all his money in the race equipment and not in the towing equipment. Or perhaps it was just the repo man...
-
Jan. 12, 2009 9:58 a.m. cwh Dork
This was not a race boat. No big round white decal with numbers on it. ALL race boats have that , as well as super gaudy vinyl graphics. Even the casual racers have that number meatball. Could have been a repoman, but most of the time these guys pay all cash. Literally. Probably hired help taking it for a tune up. Maybe US Coast Guard should start patrolling I-95?
-
Jan. 13, 2009 12:58 a.m. jpod999 Reader
What a hipster.
