Greetings Dyners. My new purchase is a fully restored 18 ft w/302 Ford Interceptor/Volvo 200 Outdrive all in excellent condition. Question: I noticed other boats have a fin, which mine does not. How important is that for this year?
The fin helps the boat turn. So when you get it out there and drive it if you are comfortable with the turning of the boat you will be fine. If not I am sure you can get a fin from Tom Miller who still makes the Dyne 18 hull. Also, you posted this in the for sale section. If it is not for sale I will move this post to the hydrodyne boat section. Daniel PS Welcome we will hopefully provide you with all the information you will need on your boat.
I will give you the bottom line first. I would not drill a hole in the bottom of that boat without first contacting Tom Miller. His contact information is listed under Tom Miller boats on this forum. He worked for Hydrodyne when that boat was built. It is my opinion that the holes would have to be drilled all the way through the hull and the bolt heads would be visible under the carpet. The later boats had a raised floor, so the bottom of the boat is not visible from above because of the floor. You have a rare and beautiful boat. It is an early style 18 with the double balsa bottom with no raised floor, right? Your boat is the only I/O i have seen like that. I like the rear hatch treatment much better than the later boats. The rope guard is elegant, that is the only word I think does it justice. I noticed that there are no grills in the inlet and outlet of the engine hatch. It is possible that it was built that way. If they are just missing and you want to try a set I have a set here from a later model I/O which you may have. It is the least I can do to complete the restoration. If it never had grills, I would leave it alone. I saved the grills for a significant boat like yours. If it had grills at one time there should be some mounting screw holes visible. If there is no evidence of grills, you could check with Tom Miller to see if it your model had grills. The fin will help the boat turn flatter at high speed. If that is not an issue my advice would be to leave it alone and original. Any time you drill a hole in the boat below the water line you risk water intrusion which in your particular hull is serious. Actually it is serious in any of the Dynes. jim
Thanks for the quick feedback and comments. I grew up admiring a neighbor's 72 Hydrodyne and hoped to someday be able to restore one or buy one restored. I found a gem. I joined this forum to share a passion for this boat design and avoid doing something unnecessary to this first-class restoration performed by a great guy I recently met in Tennessee. I'll have to rely on you experts to determine if anything is missing for this year like the engine cover grills or anything else. BTW: it does have a flat carpeted floor. I've had it in the water twice now this year and although it does not turn on a dime without the skag, the radius is satisfactory for my slaloming needs. Unless someone can verify that this boat initially had a skag, I'm not inclined to drill any holes in the bottom just as you suggest. I'll post some more pics soon to join so many others with great classics too. What fun! Dave
If you guys don't mind, my next question is about the steering of my 68. Again, I have no skag on the boat bottom and there never was one. Also I have the Volvo outdrive if anyone is familiar with it. First of all, I noticed that I can make nice rolling left turns at pretty good speed (30mph+) but not so smooth when making right turns. When I ease in a RT turn and then sharpen it, the boat jumps a bit losing it's grip. Is this typical? Next question: my insurance company needs something in writing to authenticate it's worth beyond a few thousand dollars. Does anyone have any experience obtaining documentation like this? Anyone know what goes into determining it's insured value? Thanks, Dave
It might be time to look for a new insurance company. I insure mine through AAA as a "Stated Value" Basically I told them I want it to be worth $17000 and if it gets totaled thats what I get. It costs me around $200 a year for it but I don't have to document anything except for the serial numbers of the engines, boat and trailer. Daniel
I just noticed that you have a Doel fin or similiar on the cavitation plate. Try it with that fin and see how it does. An uncupped prop will help the handling of that boat also. jim
I assume you are aware that at those speeds you need to trim the bow up a little. It not only gives more speed, but it prevents "bow steer" in the turns. jim
On the insurance issue, I do not carry hull insurance. I assume the risk myself since the boat is used so little now. I do have liability insurance. Do not under insure. If you do and the boat is damaged the insurance company will likely total it and give the under insured value and your boat is gone. I have heard of motorcycles just falling off the stand and damaging the fairing and getting totalled. I have had several friends lose their airplane from being under insured. One company sold a damaged Stearman for more than they payed the owner I believe. jim
