Twin-Engine Fish Nautique Number Two!

[NautiqueJeff]

I just came to an agreement to purchase a second twin-engine Fish Nautiques!

Here it is in all its glory! Looking forward to getting started on this one! I should have it here at Lake Norman in a couple of weeks.

[Evening Shade]

Jeff,

What is your long term plan with the 2 Twin Fish?

[NautiqueJeff]

Well, I want to preserve these two pieces of history, and after they are back in good shape, I'll keep at least one of them.

[NautiqueJeff]

This arrives at my house on Tuesday night.

Kinda excited!

[NautiqueJeff]

Well, this boat arrived this evening. It is very cool, but it is in pretty rough shape.

The engines are rotary 175c engines, which is kinda cool, but they are in rough shape, and will definitely need rebuilds.

Floor is fairly solid, but I am assuming the stringers are likely in need of replacement. It appears to have been stored outside for the last ten years or so unfortunately.

The trailer is the original 1983 Correct Craft 5-T-DV, modified at the factory for a twin-engine boat. It is in decent shape, and the wheels, tires and bearings are new.

One outstanding thing about this boat is the documentation that came with it. EVERYTHING seems to be there from the original owner's manual, to the engine manual for the original PCM V6 engines, all warranty cards from 1983, and even a signed letter from Walt Meloon appraising the boat in 1985. The receipt for the rotary engines from 1998 is there, and lots of other maintenance receipts.

Not sure what I am goin to do with this one yet. It is a little more of a project than I was hoping, but it is an important piece of Nautique/Correct Craft history.

[core-rider]

Rotary engines... like used in an Mazda RX7!?! Any documentation why they replaced the engines and not use standard replacements? Pretty cool boats and it's nice to see you preserving the history!

[NautiqueJeff]

Yep, that kind of rotary engines.

No idea why they replaced them, but it cost them $16,150 to do it back in 1998!

[Miljack]

Wow, this is a weird boat! Maybe the owner was involved in Rotary Marine? I wonder if those are 12A's or 13B's? Do the engines run? That boat would sound soooooo weird on the water! I can't imagine those engines have enough torque to move that big boat very well, but, a boat may be the only place where a rotary engine could get enough cooling capacity!

[shag]

Now that is interesting... Looks like a rats nest at the moment...
Should be a cool project!

[Mahnal]

Wow, impressive project. Please keep us posted on your progress. I love the rotary engines, I think if a small fraction of the R&D of conventional piston ICE was put into the rotary we would all be driving them now... Sounds like you are going to have to pull most of the boat apart and rebuilt it up... have fun.

[NautiqueJeff]

Not that this letter means anything at all about its condition now, but I thought this was a pretty cool piece of documentation that came with the boat.

[Evening Shade]

Very interesting that someone chose to repower this boat with rotary engines especially since they cost more than conventional V6s.