Gary Kenyon

    "Endangered Species"
     Garry Kenyon's 1960 1400c
   Memorial day weekend 2001 the family and I went to Lake
Hemet, a small fishing only lake located in the San Bernardino
mountains in Southern California. As we pulled in I noticed this
cool little blue boat with a different kind of hull, like a tunnel hull,
but not a hydro parked with for sale sign. It looked kind of rough
and faded with only two seats in it and they were not installed
well at all and the price seemed a little high. We visited the lake a
few more times that summer and I would see the boat sitting
there and the price was getting lower.

Labor day weekend the boat was gone and figured good I do
not need the temptation any more. While I was riding my bike there it
was sitting in a driveway and the price was less than half
what it was originally priced. I looked the boat over it
seemed to be sound all the tags were current and the wife
said "its cute". That's all I needed but there were no emblems
on the boat. The engine was a Merc 400 (I know very little about
boats but I thought, "Who would paint a Mercury engine white?")
The only other markings I could find was Air Guide on the speedo.
With the shape of the hull that had to be the brand, WRONG.

A neighbor told me the owner was on vacation. I was determined to
find out what this boat was. I found Fiberglassics on the web and
went through every brand listed to find out the boat is a 1960
1400 Power Cat and that the engine is supposed to be white WOW.
The boat is a work in progress and will be used all summer as fun
a boat. I had the boat out one day working the bugs out and this old
timer said "That's a Power Cat, Hot Rod of the lake". I liked the way
that sounded. (To think this boat was confined to a lake with a speed
limit of 10 mph.) That is the theme I am going to use while I work
on the boat. I installed some race car seats just to be different and
folding seats in the rear so it will look like hot rod when they are down.

The kids want to put flames on it but I like original red.
I am looking for another Merc 400 so I can run twin engines.
For now I am planning on running a 1960 75 HP Johnson to keep the
hours down on the 400. We have decided to name the cat "Endangered Species".
The title on the trailer says the builder was Heco. It needs a little work and paint.