After the SEMA Ignited event was over it was time to say goodbye to Vegas and head south.
It was time to finally get a taste of another one of my growing passions.
Small boats with big engines.
For me vintage choppers share many characteristics with vintage drag cars and vintage drag cars share many characteristics with vintage speed boats.
Something happened in the 1960’s that made modified boats, bikes and cars just so amazingly beautiful.
When you see and hear one of these boats rocketing through down the Colorado River past the Avi Casino’s beach with only a few inchs of hull touching the water, open headers blasting out to the atmosphere and two people having the time of their lives its hard to see whats not to love about them.
When the throttle’s closed they dip back down in the water and the silhouette of the big V8 resting inside a bath of timber and fiberglass make these a functional art piece.
As the engine returns to idle, the blower creates a rhythmic surge as it coasts to the shore line.
Its not just another day on the water for these guys its the Avi Casino Horsepower fest and is if I hadnt seen enough horsepower at SEMA I was about to get another 20,000 odd.
Some boats sat in the water and others were on display on the Avi Casino’s grounds.
It was a good chance to really get a look and find out what makes these things tick.
I always run through the scenario in my head “what if I had the chance to own one of these boats, how would I build it?”
Naturally aspirated?
Or blown? Blown of course.
Colours? Id have a wood deck with a black hull.
V drive?
Or jet driven? Definitely jet driven, I love the engine sitting far back in the boat and facing the right way, not to mention the rooster tails you can pull with a jet.
How would I build the headers?
In an equal length corkscrew fashion so they create a real spectacle.
What trim would you use on the seats?
Black leather with diamond stitching and stainless press studs like they did in the dragsters of the 60’s, that way you could pull the covers off the seats and wash down the boat.
But it wasn’t all about the boats.
Destin Cantrell was in the carpark with a 75 foot ramp to ramp setup.
It was great to see Destin doing what he does best.
On his KTM 450.
Boats, bikes……
Blowers….
And badass cars.
Doing SEMA next year? Keep an eye on this event and put it on your to do list.
I only stayed for a couple of hours, had a few tacos and enjoyed the perfect weather before following the Colorado River south.
Nevada to California and then into Arizona, then back into California, the road from Parker Dam along the Colorado River gives a pretty good view of the amount of fun this river must be on the long weekends, bars and restaurants line the water and allow those in boats to stock up with everything they need.
I really want to come back here, one Saturday morning wasn’t enough.