Squirt with Jet Power
by Nate Brown
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And runs like a gazelle. The first time out I was shocked it did so good. On this good day it would top out with me in the boat at 50 MPH! With my 13-year-old it would go 53 and with 2 adults it goes a tad over 40. This is about 10 MPH more than I had even hoped for. It corners on a dime with the 2 keel strips I added to the bottom and I even had to slow down the ratio for it was way too quick.
It is not often you see a 13 year old with a smile like this. He races Quarter and Half midgets and he tells me this is real, real fun.
His buddy Carter went for a ride and the smiles tell it all. This is a great little boat and I am looking forward to a little fine tuning and polishing. I will be building a lift for it on the back of my cruiser so we can take it with us and use it as a dinghy. And in harbor as a ski boat!
This is the first wood boat I have ever built from plans and I must say that it was a fun project. I know I went a little overboard but when it works as well as this seems it is all worth the effort. I have restored many boats and built many composite hydroplanes but none have been as cool as this one. I owe this building project to Glen-L for the basic plans and my dad who built his first boat with wood from a chicken coupe during the depression. He taught me the love I have for boats today and the older I get the more I can just stare at one with nice lines and really appreciate the builder and designers involved. John Gage, a builder of a jet ski powered Squirt was the inspiration for me to build one as well. He did a very nice job and was kind enough to send me pictures and answered any question I had for him. I love this boat!!
Thanks Glen-L!
Links:
John Gage's Squirt
Jet Jon by Larry Pullon