Poker....

[dkn1997]

Well it's winter and the charger is under lock and key here in the Northeast.  So..what's a guy to do?  get on a plane to Florida and go on a poker run from Miami to Isla Morada in the Keys, that's what.

My friend keeps his boat down there all winter and this is regular for him.  First time for me.  We were on a 38 Cigarette with twin 525hp Mercruiser motors.  This is a heavy solid boat, but it has steps in the hull so it will do close to 90.  There was some serious hardware there, many boats with twin 1075hp fuel injected motors that idle like a mild street car.  The Cat boats were the fastest but we held our own.  since a poker run isn't a race per say...it was more about luck than anything else.  You may not be into boats, and they are even more of a money pit than cars, but you have to be able to appreciate the power these guys make.  525hp motors that idle like my chevy tahoe...they don't break much either.  move up from there and the maint schedule for teardowns is a bit much because most are supercharged after that.


 here are a few pics;

I was on this boat...

[dkn1997]

interesting C5 boat...this was a cat, not a v hull

[dkn1997]

Here is a V hull made by Statement marine... crazy design even the way the engine hatch hinges.... it's a sit down and the whole cockpit floats on some sort of suspension... one supercharger per motor is never enough.
They staggar them to put the drives closer together...makes it faster..

[dkn1997]

If pistons aren't your thing...then this will do

[dkn1997]

some more nice boats with sick paintjobs...

[Dans 68]

Those are some nice floaters! Thanks for sharing them.

Dan

[tan top]

   nice     thanks for sharing the pictures 

[bigred68]

  Just WOW the MONEY envolved... wow. Thanks for the pics.
Just wow.
money, money, money, money....MONEY

[PocketThunder]

Holy Crap!!!!!  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$444
You are right about boats being bigger money pits than our cars.. 

[dkn1997]

The motors alone are huge money.  525 horse EFI mercury marine motors are 25K apiece.  the 1200's in one of my pics are over 50K each.

two 700 hp motors with drives and associated transmission (once you get to a certain HP level, you need a transmission for the outdrives)  will set you back 300K as a package. Once you buy a 400K boat to put them in you are all set.  The boat I was on in an 02 and that would still set you back north of 100K, and that's with plenty of hours on it.

The statement boat I posted above costs 950K new.  unreal. 

[stripedelete]

Many of the "go fasters" have a narrow V hull which requires them to be run at high RPM's to reach/maintain "plane" and perform the way they were designed. This shortens the life of the drive line components significanlty, therefore, more BIG $$$$$$$$$. 

Those boats are truely a rich man's sport.

[dkn1997]

Many of the "go fasters" have a narrow V hull which requires them to be run at high RPM's to reach/maintain "plane" and perform the way they were designed. This shortens the life of the drive line components significanlty, therefore, more BIG $$$$$$$$$. 

Those boats are truely a rich man's sport.

you bet your ass!!  1025hp motors require a huge money tear down frequently..something like 100 or 150 hours.  If you use the hell out of it, you can put those hours on in a season...