16 BONITO 175 MERC

[stan merck]

I RUN A 16 FT BONITO BOWRIDER WITH A 1980 175 MERC. HAVENT FINISHED SETTING UP YET BUT IS TURNING A 23 TROPHY 6400 THRU A 2:1 CASE RIGHT NOW. EVENTUALLY GOING TO RUN A 2.4 OR 2.5 ON IT. ALSO GOT A 1976 SKEETER COPY OF A HYDROSTREAM VIPER,EVENTUALLY WILL RUN AN INLINE 6 ON IT IF I DONT SELL IT.ANYONE HEARD OF SKEETER MAKING COPIES OF HYDROSTREAMS?

Hey! Can you get digital pictures of that Skeeter?? What kind of shape is it in? What are you asking for it? Where is it located?

Way Way Way back, my family took a trip to Higgins Lake in mid-Michigan. We stayed at a camp ground and one day we were standing on shore and saw a bunch of boats out lake racing. Jets shooting monster roosters, OB's, IO's, there was a bunch of em. One boat lit up, and absolutely wasted every other boat out there at that time. He was going so fast he made the others look like they had the anchors out. Much to our good fortune, after his run he headed back right towards us! We walked over to the boat docks and by the time we got there he was gone but we checked out the boat. Merc tower of power on the best looking boat I had EVER seen. This was in the late '70s. Long hooked nose, wings on the back. Said Skeeter on the side. Flash forward over 20 years later, and I start researching fast outboards. I find the boat from 'way back', but it's on the I.H.R., says Hydrostream on it, not Skeeter! After talking with a lot of people on this board, I found what you did, that Skeeter made some 'Stream splashed boats. I'd like to see a Skeeter and a 'Stream side by side sometime to see how close they are.

[Edited by JW on 05-06-2001 at 08:44 AM]

[stan merck]

The Skeeter is identical to the first vipers. Except where the deck and hull meet it is a regular overlapping cap. The boat had transom and floor replaced but gel coat on the deck is gone. worn down to glass in some areas. gel coat on the hull still looks alright it is blue and silver metal flake. i am not set up to send pictures over web. we are located in winter haven florida. the boat is just a bare hull no rigging at all. does not even have a rub rail. i don't know what kinda of rub rail would even look good on it. the boat seems to be laid up lighter than a hydrostream.I'm asking 500 for it. I have a galvanized rtailer for it. Its down to the frame right now . It needs an axle and fenders. It sounds like quite a project doesnt it. I only got time to keep my other boat running right now, so wouldnt mind getting rid of it.

[stan merck]

This boat sold a long, long time ago, just cleaning up some old threads. There is a 2.5 on the Bonita now though. Not for sale!

[tigweld]

How's the Bonita run with the 2.5:D

[stan merck]

I run a 2.5 175 hp, ex ports raised and ex chest cut a little. Runs 76 on gps turning a 27 6300 rpm with a 2:1 case and has tons more bottom end than the old 2 liter. I never finished totally setting up the 2 liter, it might have got 66 out of it as it was pretty rich running. I could never go back to anything lesser than a 2.4 or 2.5. Eventually now I would like to build up a 2.6 Yamaha. Run about the same top end but probably even more bottom end. This is my family boat and it sees everything from tubing to fishing, camping, I load the crap out of the thing. Its been a fun boat, I like running something totally different. Its neat to here wow, I never saw a jackplate on a Bonita before.