Gas cap for 28 Skater
 

At some point in its life in the hands of a previous owner, my new-to-me 28 Skater from 2001 lost the cap for one of the fuel fills.

The original invoice from Douglas Marine specifies high capacity fuel fills on the starboard side, but does not specify the manufacturer. I tried to contact Douglas Marine through their website, but did not get any answer.

Does anyone happen to know who made these?

It is for the original fuel fill for the port tank, and is not in use, so a block-off plate with the same screw pattern would be ideal. (I guess another fuel fill was added on the port side when the tanks were redone) The second option would be to get a gas cap, and the third option would be to replace the entire fitting with an identical one. (Second and third option would also require some glue in the threads to avoid accidents)

No photo attached, since I am not allowed to until I get to 10 posts. It says "GAS" on the rim in upper case letters.

(If anyone is interested, I am of course happy to share what I know about the history of the boat)

If you want to speak to Skater, it's almost certain you have to call to get someone - they are never slow and Peter himself, is very old school.

Yes, you need 10 posts... most people just send 10 short messages to get the count up to the magic number.

So, tell the history of your 28' in 9 posts so we can see the fuel fill that your boat was equipped with.

BTW, great boat.

All right - here we go
 

It is a great boat indeed. I have wanted one since I barrel-rolled a smaller single-engine cat many years ago. But that is another story.

So, I'll tell the story over eight posts.
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Episode 1: Bill from Orlando
 

Back in 2000, Bill from Orlando realized that he needed a 28 Skater.

So, he faxed (20 years ago, people still used fax) Greg Gluck at American Offshore Marina in Dania, FL, and said that he was seriously interested and wanted the lowest price. Being a car dealer, Bill should have known that the "lowest price" thing doesn't really work. In any case, Bill and Greg spent the best part of the year 2000 going back and forth about the build, until Bill finally took delivery of a 28 Skater with race/pleasure lay-up on a Skater trailer in early 2001.

It was rigged with 300X engines. The folks at Lake X picked a pair of 15 x 34 Bravo 1 propellers.

Episode 2: Marc from Miami Beach
 

Despite all that effort put into the build, Bill only owned the boat for a little more than 2 years.

In June, 2003 Marc from Miami Beach bought the boat.

Episode 3: Markus goes to Fort Lauderdale
 

Back in May 2010, I was in Ft Lauderdale with my (then) wife and our baby son.

I tried to see the main sights in the area, so I went to Fastboats.com in Pompano Beach and compared the straight hull sides of Skaters with the wavy hull sides of Nor-Techs, and visited Joe and Marty at Diamond Marine. They were kind enough to let me borrow a Lifeline jacket and a helmet. On subsequent trips to Florida, I remembered to bring my own.

I also went boating on the Ditch with Shawn in his 25 Motion, and Dave gave me a tour of his very nicely restored Skater that was hit by a garbage truck. You may remember that boat.

As we talked Skater, Dave told me about someone from Europe, maybe Sweden, who had bought a 28 Skater, but had had it re-rigged with 300 E-Tecs, because he wanted the European CE certification.
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Episode 4: Magnus from Norway
 

That Norwegian with an affinity for e-Tecs out to be a gentleman named Magnus.

After having had the boat rigged with E-Tecs with Bob's nosecones by Dusky Boat Company in Dania, Florida, he had the Skater shipped to Norway.

At some point before leaving Florida, the tanks were replaced with aluminum tanks.

The boat kept the 34 inch Bravo 1s, which meant that top speed was limited by propeller pitch, and lived a leisurely life for many years in Norway. It also kept Florida license plates on the trailer.

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I assume that it's your boat that is in the you tube vids of the Etecs??

Episode 5: Glenn from Norway
 

The next owner was Glenn from Norway. Glenn was a glass railing merchant who happened to also have a business in St Cloud, Florida. Maybe he came across a Skater there, and realized that he needed one back at home.

In any case, other than putting a sticker on the side of the cockpit with his name on it, and perhaps losing that gas cap, he did not do much to the boat, and he did not seem to have owned it for very long.

That's the one. There is another video of it at Dusky Boat Company.

But I am not allowed to post any links, just yet. :D__PRESENT

Episode 6: Henrik from Norway
 

For some reason, Glenn felt that he was better served by a BMW M4 than a 28 Skater. Consequently, this spring, he traded the Skater with a car dealer named Henrik.

Whether Henrik had planned to keep the boat, or to flip it immediately, I don't know.

In any case, he tried to sell it this summer, and it turned out that it was worth more to me than to anyone else.

Episode 7: Markus from Sweden
 

Now, while I had always wanted a 28 Skater, I had not planned to get one until I had built a proper boat house to keep it in.

Also, I had not planned to get one that was rigged with Evinrudes. But the price was good.

Then, I was too busy this summer and fall, even to take the the thing for a test drive. And it took months to get insurance. But the Evinrudes have a very nice and quiet idle, and they winterized themselves. I only needed to ask them. But they will not stay on the transom.

Because another owner of a 28 Skater upgraded to 300Rs and needed to get rid of a pair of 300XS. They came with Latham wing plates, which supposedly work with my Marine Machine rams, and a pair of 34 inch 3 blade Mercury Lab Cleavers.

So, when spring comes, I will re-rig with 300XS, and I will have Bravo 1s and Cleavers to choose from.

Over here, people love E-Tecs, so I have a quite a few people interested in buying them. They come with wing plates, too. :ernaehrung004: __PRESENT

Photos of the gas caps
 

They look like this. Apologies for the dust.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...55296b0712.jpg
28 Skater fuel fill cap

"Looks" like the Attwood but companies have been known to change their products lightly so they aren't a true match to the original... but you could get away with trying the replacement cap (there is also a 1.5" version)

2" Deck Fills 316 Stainless Steel-Color-Coded : Attwood Marine

Thanks!

Does look like Attwood. I can have one shipped to my brother's house in California by tomorrow with Amazon Prime for $26.

That was easy.__PRESENT

Did you confirm if you had 1 1/2" or 2" hose on your fittings and ordered accordingly?

When you get the black engines bolted on the back, do not avoid Dewald props. The 28 Skaters seem to love them as more and more owners are running these as the primary props of choice.

Do a search on here and you will find more specifics...

I didn't - the invoice from Douglas Marine from 2001 said 2", so I assumed it was 2". (Boat is away from home for winter storage)__PRESENT

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Thanks - with the exception of all the "Does anyone know of a 28 for sale?" threads, I have read nearly every thread in the Skater forum about the 28. It does seem like propeller technology has moved on in the last 20 years, and that the Dewald 4-blades are the prop of choice. Or at least they were 10 years ago.

First step, though, is to buy Flo Torque hub kits to be able to put the Bravo 1s on the fat shafts of the 300XS. Does anyone happen to know the part number? (At least for the old style shafts, it was really confusing with a few different hub kits)

Btw, I checked Eddie Marine and places like that - did not expect Skater to use something as pedestrian as Attwood...__PRESENT

I second the Dewald suggestion. I run five blades dewalds on my 28' Skater with 300xs.

What other propellers did you test before settling for the 5-blades? How did 5-blades compare?

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My boat came with four blade Herings. Night and day difference. Others have had good luck with the four blade dewalds. Really depends on if you are going to carry a load most of the times between the four and five blades

Pretty sure I have a set if you still need them?

Thanks, Joe!

I at least paid for the gas cap from Amazon. Have not checked if it actually arrived. Will take up your offer if it didn't.__PRESENT