Guys and girls, Swvski1 and I campaigned the Dyne for many years and it has sort of been through the wars. I felt sort of alone out there as one of the few 18's that was active. All of this activity gives me a good feeling that the sheer fun of these boats will go on to yet another generation. I'm 69 now and I have no immediate plans to quit driving, but when I do the boat will not be sold. It will be passed on. jim
Good to hear, Thats what happened in my family except my dyne was in need of a mid-life rebuild at 33 people still can't believe that it is as old as I tell them. Daniel
Greg As with yours, my 2" guages will all be in a straight line, following the slope of the panel. I think that is the best arrangement if you're trying to fit a lot of stuff in there. What is to the right of the steering wheel in the photo?
Greg: Excellent idea! I'm going to follow your lead on that that one. I hadn't thought of a drink holder. A full day of pulling my children, nieces and nephews, and siblings sometimes drives me to want some sort of drink... (I have been the family designated boat driver for years). Did you ever notice that when a feisty adolescent is frustrated it is always the boat driver's fault? You know - he'd have gotten up if I'd have given him a bit more throttle, or a bit less, or if I had the boat straight when I hit the throttle, or if leaned a bit to the right and held my left ear, or..... It is never their fault for being gangly and uncoordinated.... Thus enters the drink holder... Jim: As I've said before, I foresee a comback of the outboard ski boats. The Tom Miller Dyna was the obvious star of both Minocqua ski shows that I went to this year. The inboards are certainly good boats but at least in Minocqua the Dyne is the show stopper and seems to do the most work during the show. The high cost of outboard engines, combined with the new demand for big wakes instead of small wakes, seems to have put the shallow draft, outboard ski boat on the back burner but in the end I believe it will make a comback and I think we're seeing that already. Ski teams still search out Tom Miller and Dyna-Ski boats, notwithstanding that they are not mass produced and are essentially custom builds. Unfortunately, what is good for a ski team might not be as good for family use and it is the family use that you need to pay the freight to market and produce a boat in volume. As I've mentioned to PJP, the Tom Miller Dyna used by Minocqua the last couple of years has nothing on it to identify the manufacturer. I suggested that he work advertising into his boat sales deals. You don't see the inboards cruising through the show course with the name "Nautique" removed from the side of the boat. And it is obvious from the comments made by the announcer that the team is required to plug the boat as part of the discount on the purchase. It is when people at the ski shows see the boats in action that they end up wanting to buy one. If they don't know what it is they won't be buying one. Anyone who hopes to stay in business selling boats only to ski teams will have a very limited market. The ski shows are a great place to showcase the boats but that only works if the audience is tuned into what the boat is and who makes it. Hopefully, these boats will make a comback. A bit of capital and some marketing would be needed, though. I don't buy the idea that you cannot market and sell high end outboard boats anymore. Look at the bass boat market. It can be done but simply hasn't been done in the waterski boat market in recent years. Perhaps that will change - these things tend to go in cycles.
My boat is a bare bones ski machine. It only has three switches and one is not connected to anything. I never use any of them. jim
I found another picture that shows part of the panel on my boat. I still intend to take some more pictures. jim
