Caravelle PowerBoat Forum

[HOT PURSUIT]

On when I found her. Since WISDNR takes reading ONLY at idle for decibel levels it don't hurt a darned thing to have them on

HP

[SummerDaze]

[HOT PURSUIT]

Sorry summerdaze, that is incorrect. I have a long story behind the WISDNR and the constitutionality of the law as it is written. Just searched the forum, it is still here, somplace after Labor Day in 2007. Wish I knew a quick way to search my past posts

HP

[HOT PURSUIT]

FOUND IT!! Here are the old posts Summerdaze. I have been checked TWICE since this day and have changed nothing so still legal

The second one down covers LEGAL IN WI.


HP

The entire post is here:

http://caravelleboat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1891&highlight=exhaust

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:12 am Post subject: FINAL WORD ON OPEN EXHAUST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, after boating a week at Lake of the Ozarks, we were back on the water locally with our Buds
As we're cruising up river we came to a campground where a friend stays and he likes us to announce our presence when we go by via the open exhaust. He says it sounds like NASCAR So I hit the switch and throttle up to MAX. I see a fishing boat in my peripheral vision off to the side. As we go past well over the minimum allowed distance from another boat in WI, the little woman says, "Hon, that was a DNR boat with a jet skier stopped!" I smile and say, "Is he coming yet?" as we approach a pair of bridges that you have to slow down for or risk losing your windshield. Little woman says "No." As I began to throttle back for the bridges I feel a light tap on my arm and she says, "Hon, he's coming now, and FAST!" We're just going under the first bridge and I ask, "Where's he at?" She says, "Just coming to the bridge." I say, "Well, he better hit the lights cause once we clear this one (just going under the 2nd bridge) he ain't gonna catch us!!"
As the nose of HP approaches that point where she won't hit when I floor her I see the boat in my peripheral again off to the left and I ask the little woman, "Are the lights on yet?" She says, "No they aren't." I smile and SLAM that throttle right to the bottom, HP leaps outa the water and flattens out as I trim (remember, almost no bow rise with that ENERTIA 21P clawing at the water) her up watching that old Tach start headin towards that magical 4950 mark AND, I listen to that sweet sound of NASCAR as that 4 barrel feeds those eight cylinders just screaming for more fuel and air, also realizing that my buddies, I'm sure I know the warden in the boat after 34 years in LE, are in the PROPER position to hear that bellering 5.7L winding up
Now, I KNOW I am RIPE to be stopped, and I also know that after 8 more miles I am gonna run outa water to run, BUT, for some reason, maybe from way back when I was just a youngster and full of that thing they call "MISCHIEF", I watch that Tach move up to 4900 and the needle on the speedo pass that "60" mark, and I just touch the trailer trim button a tiny bit and she goes to 4950 and the speedo needle settles on 64.5
I know the DNR runs 4 stroke outboards on 18 foot aluminums and they just aren't that fast. I never look back, there's NO boat traffic yet and I ask the little woman, "Do they have there lights on yet?" She says, "I can't tell they're pretty far back there." Now, if you all think that CHESIRE CAT had a BIG smile, someone shoulda took a pic of mine right then
The river is very wide at this point and it's about two and a half miles to where it narrows back down to what we know as a river, maybe 500 yards wide and starts to wind. I settle back in the driver's seat playing with the trim button under my right thumb as we go around a couple channel markers on small corners as it winds around a bit and the little woman sees that smile and says. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Well what's a dumb Polack to say??? I just smile and say, "Wow! This is fun Hon! But it ain't gonna last too long Ya know?"
HP smokes across that 2 miles of water in short order with me playing that trailer button and trim switch to keep those Rs as close to 4950 as possible. As I turn her right around the last channel marker to enter the mouth of the river I say, "Hon, where they at?" She says, 'Turn around and look yourself!", smiling at me
Now I haven't looked back since leaving the bridge, I turn and look back and OH MY, all I see is the outline of the boat and a rooster tail from that outboard getting trimmed up There has to be at least a mile of open water between us
I turn around and my little Polish mind begans to whirl. The water has just a slight ripple as we enter the river and I venture a peak back again and I see the rooster tail even further back. That speedo needle is almost to the 65 mark and HP is screaming along flat and furiously There are a couple of fishing boats in the water and I steer HP way clear of them as we head up the winding river. Now there's a place where another river dumps into the WI just ahead that I call the Hole in the Wall, and I know I can steer HP into it, and for just a fleeting second the thought crosses my mind to do that, let them pass, and them go after them as I know they wanna measure them decibel levels That thought passes rapidly and goes away.
So I just keep HP at the top end and head up to what we, the "Sandbar Sand Fleas", call home on the river and refer to as "THE SANDBAR". We come around a corner anticipating some of our friends being there and nope, sandbar is empty.
I turn HP into the bar and park her and shut her down. The little woman says, "I don't even hear a boat. Do you think they're still coming Hon?" I said, "What a Ya mean they?" She says there are 2 wardens in the boat. I say, "Oh! Oh yea! They're comin. Get me an MGD would Ya please Dear?"
I pop a top and after one short swig I hear the sound of a big 4 stroke outboard coming fast. I'm stretched out in the front of HP takin in some sun when that Lund comes around the corner just smokin and heads right at us.
The throttle comes down and it turns toward the sand bar and she slides right up next to us. I say. "Good mornin L----" and stand up offering my hand, "How are Ya?""" He does the same and says, "Good mornin Ray, I'm good how bout you?" We shake hands and he says, "I gotta ask Ya', 'HOW FAST DOES THIS BOAT GO'?"
Now you ALL know that this is a very poorly veiled statement that says, "WOW! THAT BOAT HAULS A--!" I have once again found a reason for that Chesire Cat smile and say, "I can't tell Ya that L---- cause I'd have to kill Ya!" Now don't get all upset that's just an old LE saying that we often share when we're looking for another LEO to share some info with us. I tone down that Chesire smile to a sheepish grin and say, "Oh, somewhere's around 60." He smiles and says, "She sure is a GREAT boat! Love those colors." We do some small talk and L---- introduces me to his partner who I spoke to on the telephone about exhaust decibel limits but have never met and I introduce them to my wife. And L---- says, "Oh sure, I have met her before Ray, that's how I recognize for sure it's you in the boat, because of her blonde hair." I smile and wallow in that compliment and we do some more small talk about the new guy that has a 232BR in HP's colors.
After a bit I say, "I suspect you might wanna measure the decibels coming outa the back of Hot PURSUIT today L----??" He smiles and says, "Funny you should mention that Ray. We would like to do that." I smile back and ask if they have that decibel meter measuring thing with them and R----- holds it up and says. "We do!" , now he's smiling back with that Chesire Cat thing
We do a bunch more small talk and they provide me with all the info on how it works and I explain how we got us a meter and measured the decibels on all the Caravelles and then say, "Well, Let's get er done men." They say "Okay". I crank up HP with the exhaust open and gun her just a bit and we pull out into the channel, the little woman stays on shore, and get into position. They're slightly to the rear and offset to the port side. We have to shut the engines down so the meter can be calibrated. Now its VERY calm and QUIET, not another boat in sight or hearing distance as R---- calibrates that meter. He gets done and says, "Okay, Ray, go head and start her up." I crank HP up and jokingly ask if they have a screwdriver so I can idle HP down a bit if that's alright with them. R---- gets a tape measure out as L---- holds the boats at the right position and I grab hold too and help him out. R---- holds that meter back there and his face scrunches up as he stares at it. After a bit he says, "Okay Ray, you can shut her down now." I let go and walk up and turn HP off. L---- and I look back to hear the results and R---- says, "85.8 decibels is what it says." I say, "Is that actual or after subtracting the 4 decibels?" He says, "Nope, that's ACTUAL." The old Chesire thing returns and I say, "Wow! That's way legal huh?" He Chesire's back and says, "Yup."
Meantime one of the other Sand Fleas has arrived at the sand bar and everyone is watching us of course. We chat a goodly amount of time away about the other Caravelles and their exhausts and the complaints they have received over the summer and other boats on the water, etc....
I explain to my friend L---- that I don't have any hard feelings about this whole exhaust issue that we just wanted to understand how to make our boats legal and how it gets enforced. He said he didn't either and understood that and we did a bunch more friendly conversations about everything from fishing to retirement for a goodly amount of time. Of course on shore everyone was wondering if I was going to jail or something having been out there all that time, which was inconsiderate on my part.
Anyways, I thanked both of them for doing their jobs and told them to be safe and we parted company.
Based on our conversations it appears that ALL 4 of the Caravelles on this stretch of water are legal as far as exhaust decibel limits go. It is a fitting end to our season which is rapidly drawing to a close up here in the north country. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did composing it Now I'll have to get after reposting those Lake of the Ozark photos.
Probably no boating today, at 10am it's 58 degrees, cloudy and light rain. AND, the PACKERS are playing the Eagles at Noon

Back to top

LEGAL is "86" decibels, but, they subtract 4 from the reading, so if you are at 90 or lower at the time of the test, you are "LEGAL".