bought a new boat

[Aswaff400]

yesterday evening,



today, took my mom, brother, and niece out.

[RickK]

How's the forward cabin?  Just storage area?

[Aswaff400]

theres just enough room for 2 people to sleep somewhat comfortable, and nice for extra dry storage space, theres also a porta potty under the center cushion in the cabin.

[Aswaff400]

working on getting the boat dialed in, changed the spark plugs and tried a different set of props. boat came with a set of 25p Mirage's, which originally gave me a top speed of 64 mph turning 5250 rpm. tried a set of 23p Bravo One's after changing the plugs, 61 mph turning over 5900 and hitting the rev limiter when trimmed out with half fuel and full livewell on board. gonna put the 25's back on and see what i get with the new plugs.

[Aswaff400]

well 2 weeks ago i started removing the stripes, sanded off pretty easily with 320 on a sander, followed by 600 on a sander, then a pretty abrasive compound on a high speed buffer.













then installed a used garmin 740s i picked up off craigslist, and hooked up the mercury gateway module




next will be pulling the bolster seat and installing this birdsall leaning post tackle center that came out of the contender as im installing a new leaningpost/tackle center/cooler in it

[Aswaff400]

had to replace both bilge pumps which was an absolute pain in the !! removal of the livewell is the only way to get to the pumps. and i didnt like how everything was butt connected together, which appears to be original.


new terminal block, still need to run a larger ground, they have 3 pumps running off a single 14ga. ground




FINALLY!! got rid of ALL of the pink and teal 80's upholstery! and installed the new leaning post, also installed a new steering wheel with knob.

[RickK]

Looks good Aaron.

[Aswaff400]

thanks rick. one thing i have been liking about this boat, for a 31 ft boat, it gets great mileage. better than my flatback with the old 225EFI
2.5 mpg at 36mph turning 2900 rpm
2 mpg at 48 mph, turning 3900 rpm

[Aswaff400]

working on dialing the boat in, raised the motors to the highest holes, and plugged the top 4 water intake holes. pulled 68.5 mph out of her. gained 3.5 mph just from raising the motors. my overall goal is 70.1 mph



before


after


plugged holes with 5/16" set screws




reached 68.5 mph sHa-shakeshout

[Aswaff400]

took the boat up to Suwannee for Scream and Fly run/bbq first weekend of march, squeezed out 69.9 mph out of the boat on the river. lots of really fast and nice boats.



this custom lake and bay runs 106 mph, i was running about 55mph and he passed me like i was sitting still

















ran offshore on tuesday with how calm its been, 30 miles out, almost glass. we ran 55-60mph most of the day, not often we're able to do it.



caught easily 30 of these out of season red snapper within an hour in 100ft of water

[Aswaff400]

link to the Suwannee photo album http://s10.photobucket.com/user/recklesabandon727/library/2017%20Suwannee%20River





running offshore, cruising 55 mph

[Aswaff400]

Done a bunch of work to the boat, re did the dash, new garmin and radar, and tested some new props from mercury racing...

Before


After



new 26p Bravo One FS
135 gallons of fuel
rpm: 5800-5900 depending on trim
top speed: 72.5 mph
felt more stable at WOT/trimmed out, hit the rev limiters after trimming all the way out








I am definitely happy with how she runs, feels a little more stable at speed than she did with the mirage plus'... Went out today to get some numbers, amount of trim has a huge effect on mpg, trim was at 17% until 5500 rpm, then trimmed out to 30%

RPM--MPH--MPG
3000--32.4--2.73
3500--43.0--2.36
4000--49.7--1.80
4500--55.8--1.56
5000--62.0--1.35
5500--68.8--1.42**
5900--72.5--?.??**
**trimmed out

[Uncutproducts]

bonertastic.

[RickK]

bonertastic.

[Aswaff400]

Added a Bob's double jack to the boat since I was maxed out on engine height, and allows me to run bigger props easier. The 26p Bravo 1 FS would hit the rev limiters pretty easily with less than a half tank of fuel. New top speed so far is 73.8 mph turning 28p Bravo 1 FS to 5750 rpm and was shooting for +75 mph at the scream and fly run with a lightened load. Ended up blowing up the clutch dog in one of my lower units first day of the trip, 35 miles down river from the boat ramp...

Video from the party, can see my boat at the 1 minute mark
https://www.skypixel.com/share/video/suwannee-river-run-2017-379caf30-74e5-461a-b8dd-ec624f250613