Rik

Not exactly.. There was a guy in Michigan that splashed the 46' Skater and added an extension to the nose, he was killed in a boating accident racing in Bilouxi Miss, and the remaining boat hulls that were there at the time of passing were sold. Errol Lanier in Florida took one and put four outboards (see why further on) on it and opened the cockpit to carry passengers and then they gave tour rides off the Disney Cruise Ships. The molds were sold to a company in FL that is "Thriller Boats" which continued/continues to make these today.

At the time the Bahama's had a sponsored deal with outboard engines and residents of the Bahama's so the cost of buying outboards was cheap and they would last for X hours and then they were literally tossed and replaced as needed. Well when that program ended Errol got a pair of Yanmar 420's and Arneson ASD8's and installed the package into the boats as the fuel cost and the low maintenance made them a lot more cost effective than the outboards and the rest is history.

The last ones made used a 1.54:1 reduction ratio and a set of propellers from ACME Propellers in Michigan. They make a 6 bade NiBrial Cleaver in a few different configurations, like a 21"-23" diameter.

aruba

Haha lol, well there was something with skater and Thriller.... Thanks for the history, nice to know!

Interesting stuff about the props. Does 1,54:1 mean the crankshaft rotates 1,54 x and the prop rotates 1 x?

erik1976

Rick, was the gentleman that was killed randy leinbach?

Rik

Yes the propeller spins 1.54 times less than the engine does..

Rik

Yes, I didn't want to say his name so I omitted it. It's common knowledge

aruba

Rik, with all your experience, what would you do if you had to take one shot at the props.

I have 1.15 gears and 17.5 x 22.5 pitch making 4.200 RPM.

Bending them 2 pitch (what probably isn't enough) or buy other ones?

aruba

Tested it again and she runs smooth at the right RPM, just dont trim the outdrives to much and its a perfect 3.500 RPM.

ItsPeanut

Great thread. Glad to hear its working out for you Aruba. It sounds like its time to go out and enjoy her.