Skipper's Spotlight: Denise's Scarab III

Meet Miss Blue, Denise Frye's pride and joy! Denise and her husband, David, have lovingly restored this beautiful Wellcraft Scarab III boat over the last couple of years, using some parts from Great Lakes Skipper. The couple has put an enormous amount of work into this project, and the results are impressive. Denise was kind enough to answer our questions about it and share some photos of Miss Blue. 

Take it away, Denise!

"The boat is a 34’, 1988 Wellcraft Scarab III."

"We have owned the boat for approximately 1.5 years.  We have overhauled both engines, installed a new interior, installed a new stereo system, installed 2 new deck hatches, installed new dash and new gauges for both engines."

Before the renovation...

...and after. Wow!

"The dash is carbon fiber background with Gaffrig racing gauges. They have a blue bezel to offset the color of the dash."

"We have installed new forward and reverse cables as well as installed new gimbal bearings on both drives.  We have reworked the exterior of the drive cases and installed new skeg guards on both.  We have installed new props to better match the horsepower of the engines.  They are 15 1/4” / 24.5 pitch 4 blade props."

Engines?  "Both are 496 ci engines.  They have 284 / 547 duration cams built to provide a steady 5300-5400 RPM at peak range. Engines have aluminum heads with 2.25 I/1.92 E Inconel valves for durability.  We are going to trial 800 CFM Holley carbs initially.  We have Gil [Marine] offshore exhaust.  Our brother-in-law, John Larison, has provided maintenance and mechanical expertise for our project.  John Larison has assembled both engines and tuned it to optimal performance."

"We enjoy the size of the boat and interior cabin.  It has quite a few amenities including AC/heat, refrigerator, bar area, of which we have not had before in prior boats."

"We are most often on Lake Tyler in Tyler, TX.  We do however frequent Lake Palestine from time to time.  This lake is approximately 25 minutes south of Tyler, TX."

Miss Blue is not the Fryes' only toy. Here is their 1984 Kustom Kraft.

Denise says the engine is a 598 ci blown Merlin III, 1200 hp. Yes, 1200 horsepower. Check it out!

WOW.

And here's David in his 1976 DiMarco 5/8" Runner with a 489 ci BBC engine.

Thank you again, Denise and David, for sharing your awesome boats with us!

Would you like to be in the Skipper's Spotlight? Drop us a line at customerservice@greatlakesskipper.com and show us what you've got!