blacklabmarine

We have a customer we're going to visit with hopefully in Amelia Island - we might be there by Wednesday but have no hard and fast schedule. I'll keep posting here as we get closer....

Wiley - we're in Jupiter tonight! I'm coming over to your house for scrambled eggs and tequila for breakfast... Seriously - if you are around tomorrow we'll be in the area talking with the Palm Beach County Sherrif's office and some others. I'd enjoy meeting you in person if you have either the time or inclination. Also - what in the world is with the current in this harbor???? Did the worst docking job I've ever done in my life on a down-current dock - arrgh! Stuff must be running at 10 knots. This town has the most beautiful lighthouse I've ever seen and I come from Maine which is scenic central.....

Current plan is to go as far as Jacksonville, FL to see how the idea of bringing a boat to various Law Enforcement, Port Security, Pilots, Fire Departments, etc goes and then take a small break (Daughter's Birthday) and maybe recommence. The boat definitely needs to go to Myrtle Beach area and be hauled for new bottom paint and some small maintenance items. The first three days have been fantastic - great reception from everyone we've met and we've garnered some pretty serious interest from some Law Enforcement agencies. I would thnk that well continue up the coast a bit later in the spring...

My only question is "How do I get on the inlet cam?" Wanna go for a ride Wiley?

Really sorry about your boat. A couple of thoughts from some recent experiences: 1) About a year ago I was trailering one of our boats up I-95 from a sea trial and came across a guy on the side of the road with an engine fire starting under the hood of his car. I pulled over a good distance ahead of him and went back to ask/tell him to get away from the darn thing. Big gas tank can mean big boom. After he got away from the car a firefighter pulled over and put on his gear (he had it in the back of the car) and stopped traffic coming up the Interstate. At this point I remembered that since I had a boat on the trailer I had a fire extinguisher. I can be helpful. I hop on the boat and extract the extinguisher and yell to the firefighter that I have a tool to help him! He grabs the thing, points it at the small fire and pulls the trigger. I can't begin to tell you how small the amount of extinguishing "stuff" was that came out. Useless. Beyond useless - aggravating. The firefighter was so frustrated by the anemic extinguishing tool that he threw the darn thing about 30'. Point of the story - those small fire extinguishers that we all have on our boats are next to useless. They would only put out a very, very small fire. On my personal boat I now have (2) larger extinguishers and I suggest to our new owners that they do the same. 2) Small local fireboats: We've made some small fireboats and are spec'ing one right now. Due to the EPA the small (50-70hp Gas) engines used to drive the pumps have been eliminated from the market. You'll now see less competant small fireboats in your local harbor. These small fireboats can deploy quickly with two guys and put some serious water out (500gpm, 150psi) - now there will be less of them - thanks feds! I'll get off my soapbox but hope that maybe someone reads this and decides to upgrade their onboard fire extinguishers and vote against those who remove good engines from the market because of global warming...

The 23' model is just a drawing at this point with none ordered and none built. Depending upon level of finish (we go from commercial to yacht), options and power it could range from $60K to $90K. When do we start yours!

And since there's a pic of a Gravois on here...

Appreciate the interest in the boats! Happy to answer any questions.....

If you go to a Lowe's and look near the diamond plate truck tool boxes you will find a product called "Diamond Brite" ... Small bottle of liquid that settles out when left at rest - great, great stuff...shhhhh...don't tell anyone - its my secret..... Collinite - great back-up.

Thanks, Ludicrous - appreciated.

How about the experimental 1938 PT-8 Alloy boat? There were 5 aluminum PT boats built - the funky one above from 1938 and the last 4 ever built (#'s 809-812) One was even built down the road from me at Bath Iron Works where General Dynamics now builds Destroyers. #812 #'s 810 and 811 Also - a local lobsterman got ahold of one of those Packard and put it in his boat for lobsterboat racing - what a sound!

Great job, Wiley!