We just returned from another great outing with the old Super Sport. Two days on the water and about twenty gallons of fuel later I have come to some conclusions. Not so much about my boat, but about any boat and the expereince of being out on the water. We were met down at the lake by some good friends who own a newer 22ft. Cobalt, the polar opposite of the price range to my 1973 SS. It was an 80k boat new and he paid 55k for it three years ago.
There are some of the obvious differences out of the water on the trailers. His was a pin-striped gloss black, double axled, disc brake equiped beauty of a trailer parked next to my homemade rust colored boat mover.
Then the boats...the Cobalt had a huge beam, V8, SS props, tower, really convinent storage holds everywhere, 8 speakers and a sub, chrome bezeled gauges and meters for all kinds of things, platform, sundeck...etc...etc.
I have a skinny beam, 6cyl, painted black prop, not enough storage, two speakers and a tach and volt meter than don't even match and I still don't have a swim ladder.
I chased him all over the lake. I was taching out at 6k doing a little better than 30mph as his V8 was barely breathing and then really started to find its stride when he was pulling away in nice water at almost double my top speed.
So even with all of those things different, the view from my bow at top speed is just as nice and not as windy. He might have got there first but I was never too far behind. The kids like my boat as much as his...my boy did comment that it was "fancy". And when we tied the boats together bobbing around in the middle of the lake, as odd as I thought it would be to have my boat tied to a $50K boat, it just didn't matter. My bimini top provided just as much shade as his tower/bimini combo.
The Cobalt is an incredible boat, and I really do appreciate how thought out the floorplan is, and how smooth it is in the water. But it also made me realize that it is still just a boat, it floats and the engine runs, just like mine. He put his back in storage at the lake and I pulled mine home. His will sit in storage until next time and I will be rebuilding the fuel pumps and fixing the hydraulic line on my manual hydraulic tilt before next time.
I don't want a newer boat and that old tower of power hasn't failed me yet. But I would like to repower with a newer outboard with power tilt/trim. I do love the boating experience though...and I thought that I would never be a boat guy!
There are some of the obvious differences out of the water on the trailers. His was a pin-striped gloss black, double axled, disc brake equiped beauty of a trailer parked next to my homemade rust colored boat mover.
Then the boats...the Cobalt had a huge beam, V8, SS props, tower, really convinent storage holds everywhere, 8 speakers and a sub, chrome bezeled gauges and meters for all kinds of things, platform, sundeck...etc...etc.
I have a skinny beam, 6cyl, painted black prop, not enough storage, two speakers and a tach and volt meter than don't even match and I still don't have a swim ladder.
I chased him all over the lake. I was taching out at 6k doing a little better than 30mph as his V8 was barely breathing and then really started to find its stride when he was pulling away in nice water at almost double my top speed.
So even with all of those things different, the view from my bow at top speed is just as nice and not as windy. He might have got there first but I was never too far behind. The kids like my boat as much as his...my boy did comment that it was "fancy". And when we tied the boats together bobbing around in the middle of the lake, as odd as I thought it would be to have my boat tied to a $50K boat, it just didn't matter. My bimini top provided just as much shade as his tower/bimini combo.
The Cobalt is an incredible boat, and I really do appreciate how thought out the floorplan is, and how smooth it is in the water. But it also made me realize that it is still just a boat, it floats and the engine runs, just like mine. He put his back in storage at the lake and I pulled mine home. His will sit in storage until next time and I will be rebuilding the fuel pumps and fixing the hydraulic line on my manual hydraulic tilt before next time.
I don't want a newer boat and that old tower of power hasn't failed me yet. But I would like to repower with a newer outboard with power tilt/trim. I do love the boating experience though...and I thought that I would never be a boat guy!
