Boating content for a Wednesday

[DarkHorseRacing]

You’re welcome. Like MAGIC!!!!

Wet down, spray on, wipe with wet cloth, spray off. It’s that easy. Don’t get it on any rubber coating / lines.
View attachment 1133718 View attachment 1133719 View attachment 1133720

Hey Tank, have you heard of a product called Slimy Grimy? It's some kind of bio/algae cleaner. Anyway I use it on my ride because it sits in Arrowhead for 4-5 months straight and the green on the hull when I pull it out of the lake for the season is not to be believed (or smelled). If you have heard of it, how do you think this BioKleen compares to it?

For the Slimy Grimy the application is to dump half the container into a sprayer and then fill it with hot water to activate it. Spray liberally on the boat, wait, brush/hose off thoroughly. It works, but it concerns me what it might be doing to the fiberglass. I know I get white residue on the trailer bunks where the boat sits on them.

I might need a case of spray bottles of the BioKleen for a 26' boat though...

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

I’m curious, don’t all true tunnel boats sit on the trailer the same way (supported by the spray rails)? Wondering why they don’t sit on the tunnel like a center pod boat? DCB M37 looks like it sits on the tunnel.

I dunno how the rest do it. But the spray rails are ~1-1/2” or so. That a lot of weight, to sit on those. Mine is 8740#

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

I bought my first Baja from Dick Simon. Great guy! Used to stop in to see him and his wife when they lived in Dana. Haven't seen him in several years now. Hope he is doing well and still around.

Here are a couple more photos from that Santa Barbara run (I think Tank stole my other photos. ).

 

[HBCraig]

You’re welcome. Like MAGIC!!!!

Wet down, spray on, wipe with wet cloth, spray off. It’s that easy. Don’t get it on any rubber coating / lines.
View attachment 1133718 View attachment 1133719 View attachment 1133720

Did you use it on your gel coat?

 

[Tank]

I’m curious, don’t all true tunnel boats sit on the trailer the same way (supported by the spray rails)? Wondering why they don’t sit on the tunnel like a center pod boat? DCB M37 looks like it sits on the tunnel.

Not all, no. Skater builds their own trailers though and have been doing it that way fir a long time but no, not all cat trailers are like that

 

[Tank]

How are the tail pipes sealed at the flanges? Aren’t they a rubber/silicone gasket? Does the hull clean mess with the gasket?

Yes, they’re sealed by silicone. The bio kleen stuff has not affected the silicone. But it’s also not acid like some others.

Hey Tank, have you heard of a product called Slimy Grimy? It's some kind of bio/algae cleaner. Anyway I use it on my ride because it sits in Arrowhead for 4-5 months straight and the green on the hull when I pull it out of the lake for the season is not to be believed (or smelled). If you have heard of it, how do you think this BioKleen compares to it?

For the Slimy Grimy the application is to dump half the container into a sprayer and then fill it with hot water to activate it. Spray liberally on the boat, wait, brush/hose off thoroughly. It works, but it concerns me what it might be doing to the fiberglass. I know I get white residue on the trailer bunks where the boat sits on them.

I might need a case of spray bottles of the BioKleen for a 26' boat though...

I’ve never heard of the slimy grimy stuff but it sounds like it’s specifically add for algae type build up. The bio kleen stuff is specified for scaling from hard water.

Did you use it on your gel coat?

I haven’t. I see no reason to use it on the polished gel on my boat as it’s waxed and polished and shiny and doesn’t get scaly. However, I do use FSR gel on the hull bottom to get rid of the orangish stain color after running in the ocean (for even one day) or running on the lake for several. The gel oat sucks up iron in the water and it yellows the hull. This stuff, just like the bio kleen works like magic. Wipe on, spray off. MAGIC. It’s all chemical reaction shit way above my pay grade lol. Point being is I’m going to try the bio kleen stuff on the orangish stain to see if it works as well and vise versa. I don’t think they’re made of the same stuff though. And like I said before, you don’t want to let the bio kleen stuff get on rubber hoses it discoloration them.

And while we’re at it, This is for you again Steve @nganga this shit is amazing as well! Buddy @Kevin Schulte sells it through hardline products. It is fantastic on fiberglass, gel, paint, chrome and especially gauges and plexiglass windshields! It’s polymer based but anti dust, meaning it puts a crazy wet shine on but won’t suck up the dust like some spray waxes do. Matter of fact, Kevin’s a long time boater (has owned multiple cigarettes) and is the one that showed me the FSR trick.

 

[Tank]

I bought my first Baja from Dick Simon. Great guy! Used to stop in to see him and his wife when they lived in Dana. Haven't seen him in several years now. Hope he is doing well and still around.

Here are a couple more photos from that Santa Barbara run (I think Tank stole my other photos. ).

View attachment 1133789 View attachment 1133790 View attachment 1133791

Lol. Maybe. I shot a few. That was a FANTASTIC run / day!

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Yes, they’re sealed by silicone. The bio kleen stuff has not affected the silicone. But it’s also not acid like some others.

I’ve never heard of the slimy grimy stuff but it sounds like it’s specifically add for algae type build up. The bio kleen stuff is specified for scaling from hard water.


I haven’t. I see no reason to use it on the polished gel on my boat as it’s waxed and polished and shiny and doesn’t get scaly. However, I do use FSR gel on the hull bottom to get rid of the orangish stain color after running in the ocean (for even one day) or running on the lake for several. The gel oat sucks up iron in the water and it yellows the hull. This stuff, just like the bio kleen works like magic. Wipe on, spray off. MAGIC. It’s all chemical reaction shit way above my pay grade lol. Point being is I’m going to try the bio kleen stuff on the orangish stain to see if it works as well and vise versa. I don’t think they’re made of the same stuff though. And like I said before, you don’t want to let the bio kleen stuff get on rubber hoses it discoloration them.
View attachment 1133794


And while we’re at it, This is for you again Steve @nganga this shit is amazing as well! Buddy @Kevin Schulte sells it through hardline products. It is fantastic on fiberglass, gel, paint, chrome and especially gauges and plexiglass windshields! It’s polymer based but anti dust, meaning it puts a crazy wet shine on but won’t suck up the dust like some spray waxes do. Matter of fact, Kevin’s a long time boater (has owned multiple cigarettes) and is the one that showed me the FSR trick.

View attachment 1133795

Slimy Grimy | Boat Cleaner, Stain, Grime Remover - Boats, RVs, Campers

Slimy Grimy manufactures cleaners for boats, hulls, RVs, ATVs, bug splatter, campers, as well as stain and grime removers for boat bottoms and accessories.

slimygrimy.com

Probably not much use for boating in Lake Havasu, but it has other uses beyond boats...

 

[attitude]

This thread is killing my dreams of owning a 21-28 Skater one day lol.

I know some of the older ones have fuel tank issues but this is the first I’ve heard of the hull being compromised.

 

[Duramax]

This thread is killing my dreams of owning a 21-28 Skater one day lol.

I know some of the older ones have fuel tank issues but this is the first I’ve heard of the hull being compromised.

Not at all.

I will stand by and say Skater is still the most dominant, well rounded hull around, and Peter is a genius. The problem is the high end marine business/sales. Some well respected people screwed me over.

Do I think Peter should have rebuilt my boat, no, I don’t.

Just make sure you get a great survey from a respected company. I had too much trust in all the wrong people, and all I could think about was a 40’ Skater, with Sterling engines and dry sump 6 drives, the ultimate in my opinion.

 

[Outdrive1]

THATS IT!!!!!

ME WANT!!

I want to say it was traded for a 34 DCB back in the day. Widow maker was cheap at the time. Bitchin boat. All it ever did was sit in the channel.

 

[SkiDoc]

A while back, a Skater owner was giving me crap about the centerpod on my DCB and I pointed out that at least I haven’t had to tear my boat apart to redo fuel tanks and rotted out coring! He just raised his eyebrows.

I got to have dinner one time with one of the performance boat Icons. He pointed out and it’s true that Skater custom builds boats for the number 1 goal of being light and fast. Concerns about water intrusion and fuel tanks are all secondary matters. He said if you want a pleasure boat that is easy to maintain and will stay solid for many years get a DCB, etc...If you want the absolute fastest race boat go with the Skater. This is a trade off.

 

[Duramax]

A while back, a Skater owner was giving me crap about the centerpod on my DCB and I pointed out that at least I haven’t had to tear my boat apart to redo fuel tanks and rotted out coring! He just raised his eyebrows.

I got to have dinner one time with one of the performance boat Icons. He pointed out and it’s true that Skater custom builds boats for the number 1 goal of being light and fast. Concerns about water intrusion and fuel tanks are all secondary matters. He said if you want a pleasure boat that is easy to maintain and will stay solid for many years get a DCB, etc...If you want the absolute fastest race boat go with the Skater. This is a trade off.

Just like I think Peter is a genius and builds amazing hulls, I think DCB has been a game changer. They have made everyone step there game up with fit and finish. I look at some of their boats and it amazes me how absolutely perfect they are. Adrenaline boats too.
You can see when I rebuilt the interior on this 40, I still had the old couple who had done Skaters interiors for years do it, I just added some color. At the time, Craig from Appearance Products was just starting to do the interiors you see now in Skaters, but that didn’t interest me.
@nganga 368 is a complete carbon boat, with a lot of foam sandwich, so Skater is starting to do it different, you just have a ton of older boats with issues, and speaking of which, I do think Skater should have paid 100% for my tanks to be done. They did not, and they still charge 8k to this day.

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

A while back, a Skater owner was giving me crap about the centerpod on my DCB and I pointed out that at least I haven’t had to tear my boat apart to redo fuel tanks and rotted out coring! He just raised his eyebrows.

I got to have dinner one time with one of the performance boat Icons. He pointed out and it’s true that Skater custom builds boats for the number 1 goal of being light and fast. Concerns about water intrusion and fuel tanks are all secondary matters. He said if you want a pleasure boat that is easy to maintain and will stay solid for many years get a DCB, etc...If you want the absolute fastest race boat go with the Skater. This is a trade off.

Just like I think Peter is a genius and builds amazing hulls, I think DCB has been a game changer. They have made everyone step there game up with fit and finish. I look at some of their boats and it amazes me how absolutely perfect they are. Adrenaline boats too.
You can see when I rebuilt the interior on this 40, I still had the old couple who had done Skaters interiors for years do it, I just added some color. At the time, Craig from Appearance Products was just starting to do the interiors you see now in Skaters, but that didn’t interest me.
@nganga 368 is a complete carbon boat, with a lot of foam sandwich, so Skater is starting to do it different, you just have a ton of older boats with issues, and speaking of which, I do think Skater should have paid 100% for my tanks to be done. They did not, and they still charge 8k to this day.

To @Duramax point. Tanks: I’m sure many don’t know what it means when folks say “re-do” my tanks. Skater, and I don’t know of anyone else who uses the sponson itself for the fuel tanks.

This was all before ethanol fuels and oxygenated began. The new fuels essentially dissolved the resins in the tanks. (Close enough for a dope like me) ti repair them, interior is removed, floor of boat is cut open. Not pretty.

Since, Peter has changed resins to a fuel resistant one. ()

This picture I lifted from my build thread shows the tanks in the sponsons and baffles.

I put that picture in the build thread to show what the bulkheads are made of. Balsa, foam core and CF.

 

[Duramax]

To @Duramax point. Tanks: I’m sure many don’t know what it means when folks say “re-do” my tanks. Skater, and I don’t know of anyone else who uses the sponson itself for the fuel tanks.

This was all before ethanol fuels and oxygenated began. The new fuels essentially dissolved the resins in the tanks. (Close enough for a dope like me) ti repair them, interior is removed, floor of boat is cut open. Not pretty.

Since, Peter has changed resins to a fuel resistant one. ()

This picture I lifted from my build thread shows the tanks in the sponsons and baffles.

I put that picture in the build thread to show what the bulkheads are made of. Balsa, foam core and CF.
View attachment 1133870

I have heard multiple times Peter has said he likes the feel of the boat with tanks built in, instead of aluminum drop ins.

 

[Duramax]

I am running over to my folks house this weekend and I will dig through all of the pictures of the rebuild, old pictures of paint schemes, etc.

Great info on this thread already.

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

I am running over to my folks house this weekend and I will dig through all of the pictures of the rebuild, old pictures of paint schemes, etc.

Great info on this thread already.

Boating content...imagine that.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Great read so far, keep it up. It’s nice to read credible takes on older Skaters in between server interruptions.

I really like the look of the smaller OB Skaters like the 21ss and the 24. Feel like they’d be a great boat for the rough stuff yet still be able to explore and tuck into a small cove. Was the pre-2012 deck rot mentioned prolific for all builds or is it a hit or miss type of thing?

 

[Howardflat]

On a side note, in that second pic with them all lined up for the poker run i was the poor guy holding the flag in the IMCO boat. I remember having to hold that flag at like 50 MPH until we got past a certain point down the lake and i was to drop it. Well it was hard to hold and the boats were all spread out and some guys in the IMCO boat were afraid of them all running side by side down the lake and i said fuck it I'm dropping the flag.

 

[Duramax]

Great read so far, keep it up. It’s nice to read credible takes on older Skaters in between server interruptions.

I really like the look of the smaller OB Skaters like the 21ss and the 24. Feel like they’d be a great boat for the rough stuff yet still be able to explore and tuck into a small cove. Was the pre-2012 deck rot mentioned prolific for all builds or is it a hit or miss type of thing?

As far as the deck, I know of a couple others. One of them was the 40, "Mr. Sweeper". The absolute coolest 40 on the planet back in the day as it used to be Matt Alcones race boat. It was a 40 with an extra wide 46 tunnel.. As far as the spray rails, I bet there were many, but most owners don't look that hard.

I think if your Skater had taken on some water at some point, sat outside, hosed down from another boat, or whatever else, you had the possibility of an issue.

I have seen a bunch of smaller Skater rebuild threads that they replaced core.

 

[Duramax]

Final number was over 100k

Since we are really throwing everything out there, that was just the boat and trailer. The SECOND time I took the boat out, the one of the FRESH Sterlings ate itself, so we ended up pulling both to have rebuilt. (60k)

Also rebuilt the BAM transmissions (16k), and both Number 6 drives (think 10k?).

Before West Coast Drives started doing drive rebuilds, I had sent my 6's off to a very well known shop in California to have them rebuilt and changed the skegs over to swept back skegs as it had the old school wet sump straight skegs on (which is odd because the ad showed the boat with swept back skegs....oh that's right, somebody changed them before selling it to me!). Some time later the port side drive kept getting water in the oil. Vern had just got West Coast opened up so I sent them to him to have looked at. That amazing shop in California purposely did not put in a bearing and seal in the drive because they did not have the correct tools. They left parts out just to get it out the door...

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Talk about an expensive hobby. Was this solely you fielding the brunt of these expenses or did you have ownership partners?

 

[Duramax]

Talk about an expensive hobby. Was this solely you fielding the brunt of these expenses or did you have ownership partners?

It was my father and I. We traded a 36 Spectre in on the Skater, and I had some cash put aside that in my mind would allow us to run the boat for years to come (I was factoring in rebuilds every couple years for motors, drives, etc)

Rebuilding 98% of the boat was not in my budget, and in turn, made me hate everything about it. My father was also going downhill from Parkinsons, and it was 2007-08. A flurry of shit was happening.

 

[ChrisV]

 

[Tank]

Since we are really throwing everything out there, that was just the boat and trailer. The SECOND time I took the boat out, the one of the FRESH Sterlings ate itself, so we ended up pulling both to have rebuilt. (60k)

This part of the story reminds me of Dale Rayzor's issues with the 46 Freedom Skater. When shit just keeps going wrong time, and time, and time again, EVERY time, it can really suck the fun out of the experience fast. And Dale was so pumped on owning that Skater (after owning a few others and still currently owning one). Just became too much like work. Known many a boater that quite boating because of this type of stuff.

 

[Duramax]

View attachment 1133939

You aint never lie brother!

 

[Duramax]

This part of the story reminds me of Dale Rayzor's issues with the 46 Freedom Skater. When shit just keeps going wrong time, and time, and time again, EVERY time, it can really suck the fun out of the experience fast. And Dale was so pumped on owning that Skater (after owning a few others and still currently owning one). Just became too much like work. Known many a boater that quite boating because of this type of stuff.

Dude, when I read the story about him getting Freedom ready for Peter, going back to carbs on those motors, etc.......then for it to last 20 miles. Fuck that.

Is Dale done with Freedom? Anyway, you are right, it ruins it and makes you say, "wtf am I doing?"

I didn't look at the water for almost 13 years. Thank god for my daughter and thank god for my bad ass little Eliminator. =)

 

[Duramax]

Before we go any further.....the people I was dealing with were so called, "best in the biz".

People I would read about in Hotboat/Powerboat, companies that built motors that won the biggest shootouts, championship boat racers, etc.

All of them, lied and took money. The two that did not, West Coast Drives and Larry's Engine and Marine.

 

[Tank]

Dude, when I read the story about him getting Freedom ready for Peter, going back to carbs on those motors, etc.......then for it to last 20 miles. Fuck that.

Is Dale done with Freedom? Anyway, you are right, it ruins it and makes you say, "wtf am I doing?"

I didn't look at the water for almost 13 years. Thank god for my daughter and thank god for my bad ass little Eliminator. =)

Sold and down the road.

He's got a BAD ASS 36 Skater "Relentless" with 700's set up like Steve's boat (and fighting a 700SCI problem himself ) Hopefully they'll be down running the catalina run in Sept. with us.

 

[hallett21]

I appreciate you telling the story and giving this kind of insight.

Kind of shocking how hush hush this part of the industry is at this level of $$$.


People come on here and bitch about paying too much for tires lol. I can’t imagine just staying quiet with some of the above stuff mentioned.

I can see why guys become disgusted with some hobbies. No one likes being taken advantage of.

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

Sold and down the road.

He's got a BAD ASS 36 Skater "Relentless" with 700's set up like Steve's boat (and fighting a 700SCI problem himself ) Hopefully they'll be down running the catalina run in Sept. with us.

View attachment 1133958

What kind of issues?

 

[Tank]

What kind of issues?

Sounds like leaky fuel cooler. Took a while to diagnose.

 

[hallett21]

I had a long conversation today with my friend, Bobby who ran the rigging at Skater until about 7-8 months ago.

He left and went to Boat Customs. They do full paint and large scale repairs. He said my timing was funny because they have done 2 Skater redecks lately and has another in now.

Anyway, he thinks Skater went from Balsa core to foam core decks in 2005-2007, he’s not sure. But no chance of water issues with my deck or any others with foam core material

His feeling is that water comes in in normal manners, deck hatch and bilge. Skater sponsons are pretty much wide open, water can go kinda anywhere. If it isn’t evacuated quickly, He sees what he believes to be mold on the inside of the deck on the boats that have a bad deck.

The glass and paint/gel should be inherently waterproof no? Or does water get into the core from thru hull penetrations?

Are the hulls not naturally vented? Meaning are the access hatches and motor hatches the only vents?

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

Sounds like leaky fuel cooler. Took a while to diagnose.

Hmmm. 700’s and fuel system issues.

 

[Duramax]

I appreciate you telling the story and giving this kind of insight.

Kind of shocking how hush hush this part of the industry is at this level of $$$.


People come on here and bitch about paying too much for tires lol. I can’t imagine just staying quiet with some of the above stuff mentioned.

I can see why guys become disgusted with some hobbies. No one likes being taken advantage of.

I didn't start this thread to go, "look at me, look at what happened", I just found the picture of my boat on the magazine cover and I thought we need some boating content in here and to show all of the paint jobs and different boats it was.

Unfortunately it comes up, and I used to be hush hush about it because I was embarrassed.

But now, who gives a shit? I have a little 21 Daytona that I love, and if I can give a good read to people and educate some people along the way, all good.

My father passed away from Parkinsons, but before he did, we still had some good weekends on the Skater, and I will always be grateful for that.

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

I didn't start this thread to go, "look at me, look at what happened", I just found the picture of my boat on the magazine cover and I thought we need some boating content in here and to show all of the paint jobs and different boats it was.

Unfortunately it comes up, and I used to be hush hush about it because I was embarrassed.

But now, who gives a shit? I have a little 21 Daytona that I love, and if I can give a good read to people and educate some people along the way, all good.

My father passed away from Parkinsons, but before he did, we still had some good weekends on the Skater, and I will always be grateful for that.

Perfect

 

[hallett21]

I didn't start this thread to go, "look at me, look at what happened", I just found the picture of my boat on the magazine cover and I thought we need some boating content in here and to show all of the paint jobs and different boats it was.

Unfortunately it comes up, and I used to be hush hush about it because I was embarrassed.

But now, who gives a shit? I have a little 21 Daytona that I love, and if I can give a good read to people and educate some people along the way, all good.

My father passed away from Parkinsons, but before he did, we still had some good weekends on the Skater, and I will always be grateful for that.

Didn’t take it that way at all Love the content and learning about these beasts!

Glad to hear you and your dad got to enjoy the boat even with some head aches

 

[Duramax]

Hmmm. 700’s and fuel system issues.

Speaking of hush, hush in this industry.

You need to put together a parts list and blow Mercury out of the water with it. Not that they would give a shit actually, but you would still help the people in need, which I know you will.

 

[Skinny Tire AH]

Speaking of hush, hush in this industry.

You need to put together a parts list and blow Mercury out of the water with it. Not that they would give a shit actually, but you would still help the people in need, which I know you will.

I’m going to. Just want one more trouble free trip.

 

[gqchris]

Love this thread Erik. So much info. Sorry you went thru all that headache. And the loss of your Pops.

We never met in person, yet!, but cant wait to talk boats with you and have the girls hang out over some cold ones with ya brother!