brentadkins

Well, it all started about two years ago when I was up at Grand Lake in Oklahoma with some friends for a couples’ weekend at our place on the lake. It just happened to be the same weekend as the Cigarette Rendezvous that year. On Friday we went to dinner that afternoon/evening at Ugly’s, where they were having a “boat show” for the guys that had rolled in to town. At the time, I had a Fountain 47, but fell in love with the Top Gun. I talked with a guy named Scott for a bit who was cleaning up his boat, and asked a few questions while looking around his boat, and several others at the docks. I was sold!! Ironically, Scott lives across the cove from our place up there, so I got to see that 38 TG coming and going to get a better look at it over the next few days.
I was ready to buy one the next week when we got home… unfortunately my wife could not see the need nor feasibility for two powerboats at the same time (she is the more realistic one of the family). So I spent the next year selling my Fountain and getting my cash built up for a purchase. Having had a side by side engine setup prior to my triple Fountain, I wanted a staggered setup if possible. Under no circumstances will I ever venture in to a triple inboard setup again (granted, on more than one occasion I did drop a drive or had engine trouble during a day out, and still ran 45-50 mph without ruining the day).
I found a staggered setup in April/May of 2015 that needed some work, but had great potential with the engine and drive package, so I sent a low offer just to see if the owner would bite, and he did. Knowing that I was going to paint whatever boat I bought to my colors and design, the external condition was not the most important item on the list. So I drove down to Miami for the final payment and to pick it up. While there, I ran in to a guy named Richard Lucente, aka Richy Rich. I had heard of him from a while back, and knew he had just recently done the 47 Apache, I believe it is called Broken Arrow. I had followed that unique paint scheme for a while, and knew quite a bit about it. So, it started. Over the next several months (NOTHING ever gets done as fast as you think it should, IMHO) we went back and forth on what needed to be done, varying paint schemes, interior changes to match the exterior, etc… And as always, once you start, why stop at the basics. While painting, Richy was able to get some guys from the boat builders down there to completely redo the bottom of the boat in the evenings for a heck of a deal, as there was some rash marks, and it turned out looking like new. And if you have the full exterior redone, why not have the engine bay done as well, I mean heck, you’ve already gone this far. So I had the engines pulled and Larry’s guys at Extreme Marine painted the engine bay and straighten up the engine area. After what felt like an eternity, 3 flights to Miami, and my friends asking on a weekly basis about some boat I bought nearly a year ago, it was ready for the Tickfaw 200.
Once I got it back to Louisiana and got it out for some real testing, there were a few things left to do prior to any real distance running like the Tickfaw has to offer, which the guys at Total Marine Performance came through and got it going. The entire Tickfaw run for me and my group was nearly derailed when I topped the tanks off with 50 gallons each from separate pumps the day before. On the starboard side, I got a load of water and bad gas, which was diagnosed by Scott the owner of Tin Lizzy’s, by hearing up idle up just limping along on Thursday evening. He was extremely helpful and offered anything he could to help us out. I called one of the mechanics at Total Marine and he helped us late in to the night, and we eventually pulled it out and brought by their shop at daylight Friday morning (day 1 of the run), to have the tank pumped and filters cleaned. Luckily this all worked, and we made the run. Everyone I was with was completely amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone was at the poker run event, and I must say, I was too, it was amazing.
Fortunately for me, Rich documented the paint progress the entire time, sending me pics and videos throughout the process. If I had to guess, there are at least 8 layers of clear on that thing!! I am going to post them in the best guess chronological order I can remember for those wanting to kill some time. And if are wondering how the name “Without Permission” came about… My wife can better explain that. I believe she came up with the name a couple of months after I bought the boat (which coincided with when I told her I had bought it)

brentadkins

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