I heard a rumor that MY WAY was for sale. Figure was around $650,000. May be wrong so don't hold me to it.

302 - KNOT RIGHT - What is the noise like to live with. I assume when you are at speed it is all behind you and wind noise is as big a concern as engine noise just like on my current piston boat?

Can you comment on that some?

Also - I read all of KNOT RIGHT's thread in the DIY section and was wondering - can you get to the caliper (and more importantly the rotor) easily or is that burried pretty far into the tear down process?

Would fit my style of boating.

Drop the lift. Run around the lake for an hour. Back on the lift. Repeat later in the day. 1 stop rarely at most at restaurant.

We take the cruiser to do recreational boating. We take the cat to hammer.

It all depends on the set-up. The high pitched whining noise that you hear at the dock is mostly intake noise. On some of Turbine Marine's pleasure boats (mine included) they rigged a sound suppression system. This consists of louvers and hatches that are controlled with an electric switch. When at idle speed the engines don't need much air and will run cool with the hatches closed, thus eliminating the high pitch noise. It is quiet enough on my boat (way quieter than my 1200's that we had in the Cig) that I can communicate with people on the dock to throw lines, etc... When you are out of the marina/no wake zone and ready to get on plane, you just open all of the vents. The noise isn't bad when up and running, it sounds almost like a chipped up turbo truck with no mufflers. The noise is hard to explain but the one thing that people notice is the power is just so effortless, like the engines aren't even working as compared to a big block making all that noise and knowing those springs, lifters, valves, rods, crank, etc.... are one revolution closer to being a grenade.

As for the caliper, its not bad getting to it but John says he has rarely seen anybody ever have to change one. Overall, it is a very simple system.

Not to rain on the party, but what happens to a turbine when it swallows some salt water ??? Also, didn't the Geico Turbine Boat burn to the water line just a few years ago???

Same thing that happens to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRO-shE2pqE Put that down the carburetor and see what happens...

Geico burned, but like I stated before, it was a race boat running way above the recommended shaft speeds and temps for the turbines. Can you name any pleasure boats that Copeland didn't rig, that burned????

If I remember correctly, Marc stated on here the fire was a result of a fitting breaking and spraying oil on the turbine/exhaust resulting in fire.....Compounded by the fire suppression system not performing as expected. In Key West the Sheiks boat had a fire that was extinguished by the system redesign.

Broken fittings and spraying combustible liquids is a fact of life in pistons as well as the turbines. Having a the most famous 50' Neon Mystic burn to the water line drew major press so anyone and everyone heard about the "turbine failure'

They were running dry (hot as hell) exhaust in Geico and Qatar, most of the pleasure boats run a water jacketed exhaust. After a hard run I can get in the bilge and touch anything, even the exhaust, just like a big block boat. I've never seen water temps above 120 degrees.

I had heard that turbines didn't like salt water either, I assume in a fresh water application they would last almost forever? I am located near the home base of "My Way" and ""Aqua mania" and have seen both repeatedly, the only drawback I have seen is they usually need more people around the dock to help with docking and exiting in close quarters, is that because of the turbines? Or because they are rudder boats? Or full canopy boats? I have no idea, and in all fairness, these aren't exactly "pleasure" boats either, they where purpose built to go fast and win races, or poker runs (yes, I know technically poker runs aren't races, but in the REAL word.....)

Do turbine boats come with afterburners? Or are they just a steady, constant fuel burn?Also, does fuel usage increase the same way it does in a traditional engine? I just wondered since you said the turbine will burn 16 gallons a side at idle. Which seems like a lot of fuel, is the extra fuel needed to cool the turbine?

It's been awhile, but, if i remember correctly from my drag racing days it takes .6 pounds of fuel to make 1hp for 1 hour, I used this calculation when sizing fuel pumps, lines, regs,,etc,

Does the same theory apply to turbine applications as well?

Sorry, I'm just curious, and I have always wondered why more vehicles, not just boats, didn't utilize turbine power