Attendance at the Coot lunch today was sparse, but one fellow was a Bolgerian from way back -- Wayne. One of the boats he'd owned was the original Idaho, built by Bernie Wolfard. Think Cal's surprise stretched to 31' with a 5' beam and a cabin. Neat boat. Wayne said it'd do 18 knots with 25 hp. Some hours later he called me and said the Idaho was here in Port Townsend, and they planned to bring it to the beach at the Festival tomorrow. :o) Then a little later Wayne called again and said they were gonna be here in half an hour!

The young couple who own the boat, Erin and Brian, gave us a ride. Wow! Running less than "hull speed" (an abstract concept for a boat like this <g>) was smooth and quiet, a real Cadillac ride. Open the throttle and it just went faster -- there was no sensation of getting up on plane, the attitude was still flat, and the ride still smooth (it was calm on the bay). Wayne says the hull is long enough that it spans several waves of the sort of chop you'd want to be out in and still runs smoothly. When the waves get bigger the bow starts digging into the next wave and throwing spray, and if the waves get even bigger it might dive right into the next wave. A boat for semi'sheltered waters, like most of our boats. But, Wow! Erin and Brian stopped by Lazy Jack and said she was cool, but their boat is way cooler. ;o)

Smoky skies here. :o( I'm afraid to check the news to see if Oakridge is still there. <sigh>
--
John <jkohnen@...>
A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. (Lord Peter Wimsey)
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