Cary 50

You see them around South Florida from time to time. I've never seen one from the factory with 4-540's. Most of them were rigged with 4-454's and TRS outdrives. Most people cannot afford to feed them and fix them. You're going to have a mechanic on retainer, and a credit card on file at the fuel dock.

A few were rigged with twin diesels and that is the only way I'd go if I wanted one, especially with the power to weight ratio of modern diesels. Other than seeing them around town, I've never stepped foot on one. As far as I know they were pretty well built.

+1 on CaptJ's comments. I once peered under the bonnet of a Cary with a brace of big blocks and it tried to grab my wallet. The Cary 50 really was the precursor to today's big express cruisers and they were built very well. There's a thread on Boat Design about it, including a few comments by one of the guys that worked at the Cary Marine plant...

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/powerboats/cary-marine-2086.html

If memory serves, Randy Postma was the principal at Cary in the early '90s and perhaps prior to that. He was a Michigan boy; maybe you can Google and locate him.

I have his contact info if somebody needs it.

I owned the 50 (454 x 4 with TRS) that was featured in the Miami Vice Episode "Great McCarthy" which was originally named "leading lady" then later owned by the owner of Shooters and named "Hary Cary". The boat was solid as a rock but the powertrain was garbage. After spending tons of money on the drives/gimbles/motors, I never could get everything to run right for more than half an hour before something blew up. I would strongly recommend steering clear of the gas powered 50's.

Years later (06 or early 07) when the remaining assets of the company were liquidated, I purchased the turbine powered 70 but when I got it the turbine was out and frozen from salt water ingestion and the boat wouldn't get up on plane with the remaining deutz powered water jets. Another goofy set up that was near worthless. After the auction I did get a ride in a 50 that had big MTU's and arnesons, that boat wasn't finished nicely but was fast. This power package finally got the boat up to the speeds where the hull ran the way it was supposed to.

Hey Candyman...

I know you are probably hot to buy a really cool boat to run around that gorgeous area you live in.............but................

Let me tell you from experience, that set up is a NIGHTMARE! It's not just because it's 4 of EVERYTHING, it's the TRS drives, trim pumps & all the little stuff that goes wrong with them (including the inability to find parts anymore). Think about all the smaller components like starters, water pumps, ignition parts, trim indicators etc, etc. Does it have the old Gill aluminum exhaust? yeikes, run like the wind.
You can't imagine the headache. Think about the simple act of getting it up on plane. Tabs down, hit 4 throttles, as it planes off, start bringing tabs up while trying to trim the drives evenly.
Unless you have very deep pockets or lots of time & know how (plus deep pockets for the TRS stuff if you can find it).......

run my boy, run.............

Candyman would be a great name for it!!! The reputation the boats had and the connotation of your screen name would be a great fit. Definetly would get more than a few chuckles in South Florida.

One of the last ones built was sitting on the hard at Rybovich North for awhile, I think it was a 70 looking for a new owner. I heard she ran well too, buts that was a year and a half ago.

TRS-no problem

I have a 28' Delta Marine Offshore (1984)with twin small blocks driving TRS's through Borg Warners and they still run great after 30 years. Sure you replace a trim pump and some gimbals from time to time, but the drives are bullitproof at 300 HP. I know a friend running tall decks through TRS at 500+HP. There are still parts available however you have to find a smaller shop because Mercruiser factory quit servicing them when one of their mechanics skinned their pinky and threw the special tools away.There are still some drives ands parts available. Honestly, I wouldn't want four of them at once though Say, I was told my Delta was built on a Don Arnow Magnum 28 hull with alittle more height above the gunnals for head room in the cabin. I too love 1980's heavy glass which cuts the waves like a hot knife threw butter. I'll try and post a picture.

I agree that the TRS drives coupled to the Borg Warner's was the best set up. I put lots of HP to the BW's & never had a failure.
The issue with them in this application is the TRS drives & a very heavy boat. LOTS of torque being applied! There are still some parts around but the TRS stuff has become difficult to locate & the people who have it know that there are not many around & they get top dollar.
Getting past the TRS set up, I simply found that 4x the rest of the equipment (solenoids, pumps ets as well as all of the direct engine components) was a non stop job to keep up.

They made plenty of them so there must have been lots of people who loved em. How about hunting down a 50' Wellcraft Meteor with triples? Less weight & one less engine to deal with? I know many of them had diesels.

Don't let my opinion ruin your idea of buying one. Just giving a "heads up" on the maintenence.

White Lightening

White Lightening that was owned by Ben Novack has been sitting in Apex Marine's yard in Fort Lauderdale for months and months with not much activity. Reportedly she was one of his most prized possessions. In the last several weeks all 4 out drives have been removed and patch work has been done on the hull. Is this the boat you are talking about?

Looks like surface drives in the picture

Yes, I took that picture on 3/6/11. Yesterday when I was walking along the Riverwalk I noticed the drives were gone. I'll take some more pics next weekend when I am down that way again.

ctDave,

I see your point about the extra weight of a 50+ foot boat with 4 big blocks, and the X4 maintenance factor would be over the top. My 28' weighs 8,000lbs with small blocks + BW&TRS, so this Cary must weigh over 25,000lbs-I'm guessing, actually one on YW says 28,000lbs. The picture of the boat on YW with 4 TRS's does make the drives look small. If I wanted on of these, there is one whcih is partially converted too diesels and surface drives and for $19,000 might be the best way to go.

Dave

The TRS drives were never meant to be on this type of boat, cary really half assed the instalation, if there's any doubt, just take a look at the tie bar set up used to tie all four drives together. I was in disbelief when I first realized how chintzy it was. Besides the TRS drives being overloaded in this application, you also have to understand that the TRS drives were never designed to spend a lot of time in the water, most of these 50's were kept in the water which was the TRS's worst nightmare. As far as repowering a 50', don't waste your time, just wait till the right diesel 50 comes along. The old "Lady Columbo" sold recently in the 60's powered by 3 3208's with arnesons. There was another 50 that was repowered with 6 cylinder mans (by the Columbo factory) that sold for somewhere in the $80's and if I'm not mistaken another 50 with quad 420 Yanmars sold about two years ago in the $40's. There's no sense in repowering a gas 50.

Here's a boat that was built out of the 50 Cary molds with an integrated platform added at the stern.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/53-F...15008?pt=Power_Motorboats&hash=item1e646d7980

This guys going to be in for a rude awakening with that power package!

IF I was looking for a boat like this. I'd go with the 48' Fountain express cruiser with triple yanmar's and surface drives. They run fast, are very fuel efficient and run well. They also are pretty reasonably priced now.

Or a 50' Cary with twin diesels and surface drives. It would also probably be a good candidate for a set of pods if one were to repower it. A set of 700hp cummins with zues drives would probably push it pretty well......At least as fast as the 4-454's with 4 TRS drives hanging in the water.......I've heard the BW transmission on the TRS ate 30hp alone.