Another Bearcat gets back in the fleet

[bham-rick]

Still working on my 17ft Skagit but I have the Bearcat shroud finished and ready to complete the engine. I will post some progress pictures of the boat which was just finished painting. Now the fun part starts , putting it back together. I put some heat on the front top Homelight emblem and with a painters tool It came off pretty easy. I put some heat on the back emblem and it fell right off. 12 fT. rule is in effect !

[Nomad55]

Looking good Rick. I wonder if they will let us run the Bearcats on Lake Whatcom?

Would love to hear that run! Have always had a soft spot for any of the Crosley derivatives!

[Yardman]

Rick, glad to see your progress! Looks sweet. Good idea about removing the emblems with heat. When I rehabed mine I sort of chickend out for fear of breaking them.
That will make a nice power on your shiney Skagit. Not a real hot rod but nice smooth power for crusing. We really like ours. Be prepared for lots of interest at the dock! - Ross

[bham-rick]

Bearcat

The ban as I know it for Lake Whatcom is no "2 Cycle" engines in the city limit. Next year it covers the whole Lake. I have not heard anything about a ban on the Homelights?? If anybody knows anything different ,I would like to know? As far as the Bearcats not being fast ,I spent about 3 years in the Bering Sea and anything faster than 9 knots seems like I'm flying. From everything I've heard they purr like a cat and that will work for me. When I'm on the water I don't like to hurry ,

[Steve_Kiesel]

Looks great Rick. We will have to have a Bearcat outing one of these days. Seems to be a lot of them in the club, thanks to Bill.

[Nomad55]

Actually they have banned 2 strokes in all parts of the lake and I think I read only certified 4 strokes manufactured after a certain date will be permitted. Mary will look into it this week.

I wish the political and tree hugger types could understand technical things so they wouldn't pass half baked laws and regulations...a simple solution that would allow 2 strokes to remain in service would be to switch to synthetic oil. Now THERE'S an environmental regulation that I would gladly comply with.

[Tim McCrain]

Looking good Rick. I wonder if they will let us run the Bearcats on Lake Whatcom?

Melanie, they're fine, the ban is only on two strokes.

Tim

[Tim McCrain]

Lake Whatcom 2 stroke ban

There are no restrictions on 4 strokes. I had the complete text of the regulation somewhere but can't find it now. Here's the offical summary on the ban from the city of Bellingham's Whatcom boating guide:

http://www.cob.org/documents/pw/envi...ook_2006_6.pdf

Summary of Boating Restriction Timelines

January 1, 2006—The operation of all carbureted two-stroke engine powered watercraft is prohibited
on the portion of Lake Whatcom in the City limits, except: Watercraft powered by a two-stroke engine whose engine is certified and labeled as meeting the 2006 or later model year US EPA emission
standards and two-stroke carbureted engines of 10 horsepower or less.
January 1, 2007—The operation of all carbureted two-stroke engines including 10 horsepower
less is prohibited on the portion of Lake Whatcom in the City limits.
January 1, 2009—The operation of all carbureted two-stroke engine powered watercraft on Lake Whatcom is prohibited, except: Watercraft powered by a two-stroke engine that is certified and labeled as meeting the 2006 or later model year US EPA emissions standards, auxiliary sailboat engines, 10 horsepower or less engines, and all electronic fuel injected two-stroke engines originally purchased before August 2004.
January 1, 2013—The operation of all carbureted two-stoke auxiliary sailboat engines, all carbureted
two-stroke engines of 10 horsepower or less, and all electronic fuel injected two-stroke engines originally purchased before August 2004 is prohibited.
City of Bellingham Ordinance 2005-06-045 and Whatcom County Ordinance 2004-02

[Tim McCrain]

I wish the political and tree hugger types could understand technical things so they wouldn't pass half baked laws and regulations...a simple solution that would allow 2 strokes to remain in service would be to switch to synthetic oil. Now THERE'S an environmental regulation that I would gladly comply with.

My understanding from reading all the material available online (and anyone feel free to point out if I've misunderstood this) is that the oil isn't the concern, it is actually the benzine level in the water which comes from the amount of unburned gasoline that 2 strokes exhaust into the water through incomplete combustion. It can't be filtered out as it stays in the water at a molecular level and builds up in the body without being passed out, similar to the cumulative effect of carbon monoxide poisening. As the lake is the area's drinking water source it is a concern. Down in the Seattle area we're used to heavy restrictions around the watersheds which feed our water supply, Bellingham is really late to the game in protecting theirs.

[Tim McCrain]

Still working on my 17ft Skagit but I have the Bearcat shroud finished and ready to complete the engine. I will post some progress pictures of the boat which was just finished painting. Now the fun part starts , putting it back together. I put some heat on the front top Homelight emblem and with a painters tool It came off pretty easy. I put some heat on the back emblem and it fell right off. 12 fT. rule is in effect !

Rick, that looks great! I'm anxious to get mine done and in the water. I've spent most of my time so far drilling out and tapping broken bolts from tearing it down. My water jacket covers had been seeping for what looks like quite a while (previous owner) and the paint was peeling on them and all around on the block. Now I'm finally ready to bolt it back together and do some paint prep. Thanks for the motivational pictures!

Tim

[Nomad55]

Thanks for the clarification Tim.

My understanding from reading all the material available online (and anyone feel free to point out if I've misunderstood this) is that the oil isn't the concern, it is actually the benzine level in the water which comes from the amount of unburned gasoline that 2 strokes exhaust into the water through incomplete combustion. It can't be filtered out as it stays in the water at a molecular level and builds up in the body without being passed out, similar to the cumulative effect of carbon monoxide poisening. As the lake is the area's drinking water source it is a concern. Down in the Seattle area we're used to heavy restrictions around the watersheds which feed our water supply, Bellingham is really late to the game in protecting theirs.

Aha, didn't realize that was the water supply...then I can certainly understand the situation. Irony of ironies is that when the brain trust of elected officials decided to approve MTBE for use in fuels no one understood that the nature of this particular oxygenator...it SEEKS out water and actually increased pollution to a horrendous level. Sure, the skies were cleaner (being facetious here) but they poisoned the drinking water!

[Tim McCrain]

Aha, didn't realize that was the water supply...then I can certainly understand the situation. Irony of ironies is that when the brain trust of elected officials decided to approve MTBE for use in fuels no one understood that the nature of this particular oxygenator...it SEEKS out water and actually increased pollution to a horrendous level. Sure, the skies were cleaner (being facetious here) but they poisoned the drinking water!

Yeah, when you think about it being their potable water supply, it is actually pretty amazing that they allow anything or anybody near it at all. But it's a matter of being too late to back up many decades of development and established use. An interesting thing (maybe related to your point above?) is that there are those who agree that the benzine level is too high, but argue that some tests show that the vast majority of it comes from the air, and that the contribution from 2 stroke exhaust is negligible.