Our cottage on Crystal Lake in the 1980’s gave our family access to “lake living”. Included was the need for a boat. The boat everybody remembers was the 15′ Glastron with the gold flecked finish and a black 60 horsepower Mercury engine. The shallow hull allowed the boat to get up “on plane” easily and skim over the water. It was “pretty” and fun.
Grasshopper No.3 attempted to make a racing machine out of it. Under perfect conditions, the boat would attain 55 mph. That meant that Crystal Lake had to have calm conditions and No.3 would start out at the west end of the lake, get the boat up on plane and trim the engine at top RPM’s so that the prop was just deep enough in water to optimize speed and reduce drag. Hey, I sound like a marine engineer.
No.3 could out-race most boats on the lake though skill. Trimming out the boat perfectly at top speed produced a fun racing machine.
Ah, but not all was perfect. There was faster boat on the lake. It was the “boss”. It was owned by Martins. It was also a Glastron but it was longer (16-17 foot length) with a deeper Carlsson sport hull design. The boat used a bigger engine. In a “side by side” race across the lake against our speed boat, Martin’s Glastron Carlsson always won. Not by much, but it dominated performance.
Fast forward to 2013. Grasshopper No.3 purchased a used boat last Fall. He is the process of refurbishing it repleat with a 175 hp Mercury engine. The boat is the same model (a Glastron Carlsson) as the “boss” boat that used to beat us across the lake but I think the engine is bigger. After re-fiberglassing the transom, I think the boat will accept an even bigger engine than 175. In effect, Grasshopper is building the dream “boss”. He will never be beaten again. That is what dreams are about.
I have been invited to join No.3 for a “memory” ride around Crystal Lake sometime this summer. We will go down to the west end of the Lake, open the throttle and experience the ride of a life time. But it will be different. The DNR has imposed a speed limit of 35 mph on the lake. So the experience will be “go like hell to 35 mph and then cruise”.
Finally Grasshopper No.3 will have the “boss”. Bring back the Martin boat. Hold the race. Let the lake know there is a new boss in town.
Love,
Dad