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So this past Sunday (4-02-06) my father and I went out to the storage yard and pulled the Guardian he bought out of the barn.

He had bought the boat back in December from the online GSA auctions. When he saw it come up he did some investigating and made some calls. Turns out the boat was used by the federal law enforcement training group in Southern Georgia on a fresh water river and the boat had not seen salt water. The motors were supposedly in running order when taken out of the water but there was no guarantee that they did run. So he bid on the boat and ended up with it. After a long trip north it ended up here in Michigan where it would have to sit out the cold and wait for open water.

So finally with temps in the 50's and all the ice off the lakes we figured it would be a good time to head out and see if motors really did run.

We met at the yard and uncovered the boat. After hooking up the batteries we kicked the motors over to make sure they would turn then off to the ramp.

I must say I was a bit surprised at the towing capabilities of my dad's Buick Rainier I-6. It really did well towing that beast of a boat. I would not use it for cross country towing but for the 20-30 mile trip it works out just fine.

After backing the boat in and getting the lower units underwater we fired up the motors. Took a little coaxing but they fired up on the 2nd or 3rd turn of the key. It took some time but the motors started pissing out the water so we knew the pumps where working. After a little warming up we proceeded to back the boat in further where I powered the boat off the trailer. This is where I found out the full splash door in the stern is a must for a Guardian with twins. It took nothing to get water rushing into the splashwell while in reverse with this boat.

The other thing I noticed was the difference in the side to side roll of a 22 with a T-Top. Very different from my 22 Outrage. I can not imagine an 18 with one on it. We tooled up the river a bit to an area of open water where we ran it through its paces. I know the hole shot of any boat with twins is great but man a 22 whaler with twin 150's is a rush. It will put you in the splashwell in a hurry if you are not holding on. We ran it up to just a hair over 50 MPH at 5300 RPM. The T-Top was a big sail though. Going into the wind you could lose as much as 4+ MPH. Knowing the motors were running well we ventured out to the St. Clair River then on to Lake Huron. It was a beautiful sunny calm day on the lake but the wind had a hard bite to it.

Once on the big water we ran the boat with one engine down and the other out of the water. The boat would plane and run mid to upper 20's on one motor. I have never done that before and it was truly a kick for me. After a nice chilling cruise we headed back and pulled out. Truly great being back on the water.

The boat is very interesting to me because for being "THE SAME" as my 22', it has many differences and I can not wait to spend some more time on it investigating.

Here are some images and two videos:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v42...rst%20run/


BTW something tells me his Montauk could be going up for sale soon....;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v42...052low.jpg

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Jeff,

Those are some great photos. That Guardian looks like its in great condition. I like the console. Any updates?

Mike.

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Mike,

There has been a lot done since that first time out...

Since then he has:
Redone the bearings on the trailer
Added new tires
Reworked and covered the side bunks
Rewired the trailer with new LED Lights
Rewired almost all of the boat
Rewired / Cleaned all grounds on both Motors
Replaced all fuel lines he could
Added Racor Filters
Added a new leaning post with cooler
Fixed all of the government issue scratches and dents. There were some that could have considered holes
Added a custom drain at the base of the transom to drain any water for the hull
Added 4 rod holders
Added a swim ladder
Added a refit electric oil pump on the starboard engine
Repainted the engine cowlings while I created new Hazy Grey graphics
Had a custom stainless close out panel made for the floor in front of the console
Had a new half of the close out panel made for the stern rigging well

Some of his proudest work is in the custom inset he designed for the electronics in the console. He made it of Stainless, waterjet cut out, brake formed and welded, the inset so he could have an area to flush mount the Garmin GPS, Depth Sounder, and VHF. As you can see the was about 1MM to spare. He also custom fabbed a tray for the other compartment.

This winter he is planning to replace the rubrail, custom recess stainless slam latches in to the console doors, repowdercoat the console doors, replace the bennette tabs with Lencos, and there has been talk of painting the hull this spring Black with a red boot stripe. Mike you can see all of his images on his homepage. Also on that page there is a link to lots more photobucket images.

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.whalercentral.com/infusion...user_id=55

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I viewed the pictures, that boat is Awesome!!!!!!! Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

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That boat is sweet! When you hear gov auction Whaler you expect to see something pretty beat up - That certainly does not seem the case at all with this one.

Is he going to add a leaning post or RPS? That would certainly help while under accelartion with those twin 150's.

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to get out myself!

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Sraab...

The pictures show the boat better than in real life. Trust me nothing the government owns is ever taken care of the way it should be. This boat does have its share of battle scars but, yes it is in much better shape than most all of the other "Classic Guardian" hulls that come up for auction.

He added a leaning post. Yes the 150's are fast to plane. First time he put the boat on plane I ended up on the floor in a hurry. There is almost to planing time when you hammer it.


you can see the most recent images here..

http://www.whalercentral.com/infusion...user_id=55

There are updated images there and follow the links to other images.

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I did not realzie the thread was almost a year old when I first read it. Now it makes sense. Thanks for sharing the updates. He has one heck of a ride there!