Boating 2006
Here it is again, yet another year has come and gone by and we're at the beginning of another up and coming boating season. And in a strange sort of deja vu, like last year, a few things have happened in the off-season which may affect my boating opportunities this year, and how and where I might end up sharing the experience.
First things first, the Checkmate is still up for sale. I had a real near miss in the beginning of May, where a guy actually came to look at it (I have received numerous calls from people who claim to want to look at it and then never call back, sheesh!), liked what he saw, and left me a deposit, with the promise that he'd take it the next week after a water trial. But a few days later he called and said that he had to back out, citing "family issues". So I'm still hopeful, but I'm getting nervous as the season is starting, and the prime time to buy may have already peaked. The one thing that may be adversely affecting my sale prospects is, once again, the insanely high price of gasoline. Things had pretty much settled down from post hurricane Katrina highs of $3.19 a gallon down to a still too high, but less alarming, $2.29 a gallon. But almost as if on a deliberate cue for the spring season, political and economic factors have combined to push the price up to just below $3.00 a gallon again, and people are getting a bit concerned about things that use gas, of which a power boat is certainly a prime example. I'm hopeful that people who are attracted to (and have the money to afford) a performance boat, will not cry too much if they have to dig a little deeper in their pockets to pay for gas. But I'm sure it's turned off a few fence sitters. So meanwhile, I'm still in a holding pattern, ever hopeful that the boat will eventually sell so I can move on and buy a new one which better fits our family's needs (and uses a little less gas!). The family and I did attend the local boat show in February, and pretty much saw the same boats as we did last year. But until I sell the present boat, there's not much point in aggressively pursuing a new boat. The good news, if you could call it that, is that due to the (almost) sale prospect, I unwinterized the boat in early May, so I'm basically ready to go at any time. Although if the past is any indication, I probably won't get out until July.......
Remember how I said a few things have happened in the off-season? Well, after a lot of subtle strong arm tactics, I caved in to the wife's desire to have a pool installed. After lambasting Art for becoming a pool geek last year, I now find myself in a similar position. Our pool is not quite as elaborate, it's only a 24' above ground, but it's another diversionary activity which has the potential to derail boating desires. I mean, why go all through the trouble to drag the boat to a body of water just to cool off, when there's a pool 10 feet off the back deck? This is not my logic mind you, but I'm sure I'll be facing it at least a few times this year. On the other hand, Art's boat is very close to being "waterworthy" so there's some potential there. I am getting tired of losing bets with my wife, in years past, on whether Art will finally get one of his boats wet. So I'm hopeful that this will finally be the year that Art will splash his boat, and I'll finally win that bet. I have also recently become acquainted with a fellow radio guy, Gene, who is a transplant from Miami, and has 2 boats of his own, one of which is now docked at the Chesapeake Bay. I've also obtained my fishing license this year, so my daughter and I will probably take the small boat out on some fishing trips at some point as well. So it's not a totally bleak forecast, and there are some interesting prospects for boat related encounters and activities.
Another influencing factor in the potential for boating related activities is the weather. If the weather is nice, more opportunities present themselves. In years past, we have run the gamut from rain practically every weekend, to excessive heat starting in late April. Other years have been dry and warm. Last year, having to dodge hurricanes derailed a few camping/boating trip plans, as well as regular boat outings. This year has actually started off rather well overall. Temperatures have been a little on the cool side, which is great for working outside and getting those "must-do" chores out of the way before we can concentrate on leisure activities. We are also running a deficit in rainfall (Although what little we did get seemed to have happened mostly on the weekends). It's hard to predict the weather, hell even the trained professionals can't seem to do it accurately. But in those times, when we have had a dry spring, in many cases, the weather will "correct" itself in the summer, and we'll make up for the shortfall of rain then. This is, of course, bad news for outdoor recreation enthusiasts.
Almost as soon as I penned that last comment, the weather took a turn for the dreary, as rain took out the weekend of the 13th and 14th of May and is poised to dump on us for the rest of the coming week. So the "correction" may already be in process. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.
The week long rain event came and went, and the rest of May was a flurry of activity. The pool got installed, and much work was spent "getting ready" to use it. The Memorial day weekend turned very warm and the pool water temp rose up quickly from its way-too-cold-for-me temp of 70 degrees, all the way up to a comfortable 84 degrees. My daughter was the first to christen it, and I followed the next day. Then when I had enough of pool geeking, I had another surprise. The guy who had expressed interest in buying the boat at the beginning of the month, but backed out, had managed to come up with the extra money and now wanted the boat. So we arranged for a water trial, which took place on May 30th, up at Blue Marsh Lake. So it's official, my first time out on the boat occurred (barely) before June this year. The weather was warm, an almost perfect day for boating. The water trial went well, with much time spent trying to get that maximum top end speed number. I saw the speedo hit 73, which wasn't bad considering the horsepower loss from the baffles, and the fact that the air was a bit humid that day. The would-be buyer was pleased with how it ran, and hopefully the boat is sold this time. I am a bit nervous about the whole deal though, as the prospective buyer has been nit-picking me over small details and trying to use them as a lever to get the price down further, which I've thus far held firm on. My intuition tells me that he really likes the boat (and not to brag, but I doubt if you will find many 10 year old boats in as good a shape as mine), but was financially short and has cashed in every favor he has to get the rest of the money to afford it, and now has little left over for associated costs like dock space, and accessories. Plus, he seems to have other people he knows, filling his mind with doubts and trying to talk him out of it. I'm cautiously optimistic but I won't breath a sigh of relief (or start boat shopping) until the boat's gone and the money is safely in the bank. Even then, something tells me I'll be barraged with phone calls for months afterward about one loose screw or another.
Well, I guess I won't have to worry much about phone calls about loose screws, since he backed out of the deal AGAIN! This time he was overly (IMHO) concerned about the possibility that the Coast Guard would bust his stones about a few drops of oil collecting in the bilge. Ever since the boat was new, it leaked a small amount (A teaspoon or less) of oil through the oil pan gasket. It never bothered me that much and I usually just wiped it up after each outing. But to him it was a big deal, and he tried to use that as a bargaining chip to try to get the price down farther than my bottom line amount. But I wouldn't budge over such a minor issue. I get the feeling that I haven't heard the last from him. I only hope that the boat sells this year.
There's a Wallenpaupack camping trip planned for the 23rd of June. It'll be strange not taking the boat along, and if history is any indicator, the trip will probably get postponed due to weather or some other derailing issue. Maybe I'll be wrong this time (hopefully!). We'll just have to wait and see.
I should probably consider a career in prognostication, as I seem to have a better track record than the local weather forecasters. Yup, just as I had predicted above, the prospective boat buyer came back once again on the 21st of June, and this time the deal was done. I guess it's true when they say "The third time's the charm". We took care of the paperwork, I said my goodbyes, and then watched the boat pull away for the last time as the new owner drove off with it hitched to the back of his truck. I couldn't help but feel a little sad watching the boat go, after having it for the last 10 years. But truth be told, I was never all that happy with it. Yes, it was great for the rough water, but I hated the air in my face (which made my eyes tear unmercifully), and the really poor skiing performance. I only hope that the next boat is better. I'm relieved that the boat has finally sold, but now I find myself, for the first time in over 23 years, without a significant sized boat to use (The 12' aluminum boat really doesn't count). My previous boats had all been traded in, so I was never without a boat. This time it's different. I hadn't been doing all that much boating before, but now that I can't, I really miss it! But now that the boat is gone, I have resumed my quest for a new boat at full throttle, knowing that boat shopping is always fun anyway.
My second prediction also nearly came true in that our Wallenpaupack camping trip was laced with rain, but we stuck it out and went anyway. While we were there, we looked at the lake area marinas for some new boat ideas and once again have changed our minds as to what we want in the next boat. Where last year we were leaning toward a closed bow sport boat, we found our choices very limited, and have warmed to the idea of an open bow deckboat or sporty bow-rider. Topping the short list of candidates for the next member of my marine fleet is the Azure AZ-228. It has plenty of seating room, a unique double sided convertible transom seat that you can use to fish from, put on skis, or just lounge on. A "potty" compartment is contained within the passenger side console, and a slick, high tech dash, as well as room for up to 11 people (gasp!), round out the major features. It's also not too heavy, which is a plus, for both boat speed and towing concerns. But with all these plus points, comes a big downside. This boat, loaded with the usual options, will run around $40K, which is a bit over my budget. There are a few other candidates, and the story is pretty much the same with them as well. I can settle for a few less options (and take a major hit in speed potential) and maybe be able to swing it this year, as the dealers scramble to get rid of their 2006 stock before the 2007's come out (which is in July). But if I truly want what I want, I'll probably have to order a boat, and it'll have to wait until next year. I don't know if I can stand the wait but.....
Well, here it is in the beginning of July, and the new boat is on order! I didn't want to have to order a boat, but there were simply no AZ-228's in stock at any of the local dealers. We looked around and found a good dealer who was willing to wheel and deal and the wife played the numbers game and managed to talk the price down to what we could afford. Since we are ordering the boat, it will be a 2007 model. It will be equipped with the Mercruiser 260 HP 5.0L MPI, which should push the boat somewhere in the 50-52 MPH range. A little slow for me, but with a high performance stainless prop, and maybe some exhaust modifications later on down the road, I hope to break 55 MPH, which shouldn't be too bad. I was a little trepidacious about ordering a boat, as I didn't want to be taking delivery in October, use it once, maybe twice, and then have to put it away for the LONG winter. But the dealer explained how Azure did their "thing". Supposedly, they can build the boat in about a month's time from the receipt of order. They can also do this at the same time that they shut down for a week and retool for the next year's production. I'm not sure I'm very comfortable knowing that I'll be getting one of the first boats off the line (The Monday/Friday syndrome), while they work the kinks out of their production schedule. Murphy being what he is, I also don't expect that the boat will be ready by the beginning of August as promised. I'm figuring on late August or September. We'll see if my uncanny skill of pessimistic prognostication holds true.
I also took a trip down to Art's over the past weekend to give him a hand. He's finally working on his Celebrity again. He's painted the outdrive, and is working on replacing the flooring and seats. He expects to be ready to run by the next month. I went over to try welding his trailer where the spring shackle had torn free. I should also point out that I have never welded before, and this would be essentially a practice for me. But after looking at the spring and shackle and how badly they were rusted (fused) together, I felt that there would be no point in welding it, if we couldn't free it up. Art now has to decide whether to take the trailer to a professional shop to have the suspension replaced, or just buy another trailer. We also made tentative plans to take my new boat (Assuming it comes in) down to the Chesapeake Bay in September for the sequel to our "Boating 2003" trip. Art has been making steady progress on his boat. The carpet has been laid, the seats put in, and the engine started. So, as the end of August is upon us, he is just about ready to test-splash it. There may be a companion story to cover this momentous event if the "never-a-dull-moment " boating history of Art is any indication.
The month of July and most of August were tough for me, while I waited for the new boat to come in. You never know how much you miss something, until you no longer have it. And I really hate it when I'm right, at least when it involves bad luck predictions and the corollaries to Murphy's law. But I did predict that the boat would not arrive by the beginning of August, and I was right about that. But when all things were considered, the boat was only a little over a week late. But when you are biting your nails in relentless anticipation, a week can feel like a lot longer, especially when the end of boating season is looming ever so much closer.
But despite all my well founded pessimism, I finally did pick up the new boat. So, on August 19th, after a 260 mile round trip drive to the dealer, I finally have my 8th boat, the Azure AZ-228:
The dealer outfitted the boat with a 4 blade 20" pitch aluminum prop, and explained to me that it was propped for a "heavy load" and that it hit the rev limiter at WOT with a light load. So I'm now wondering if I could get my leftover 23' pitch cleaver prop to work. It might just fall within the proper WOT RPM range, and if it does, it'll improve my cruising RPM/Speed ratio and hopefully my MPG as well. I know this boat will never see the speeds that the Checkmate did, but any improvement I can make will help. My calculations show that I should be able to hit the low 50's with this setup, and with the right prop, I might be able to hit close to 55, so it shouldn't be too bad. But I digress. As I explored every nook and cranny of my new toy, I did make a few observations. First, it's ironic how a 2 foot shorter boat can actually feel bigger, but with the open bow, it lends itself to more open and usable floor space. There is also storage space galore. There is space under the floor for ski's, tubes and even my fishing poles. The ropes/fenders/cushions/towels/lifejackets etc., fit under the bow seating area and in a large compartment in front of the helm. Tools, spare prop, and the cockpit covers etc, fit under one of the rear wrap-around bench seats. There is even a dedicated bow compartment for the anchor, and the bow ladder. There are also 3 compartments which are designed to drain overboard, and can be used for keeping cold stuff. There is also a large compartment opposite the helm, which can be used as a changing room or to hold the potty. After figuring that the only people who could use that room were either children or those with arrested hormones, I actually tried it and, even at 6' of height, I found that I could get changed if I employed a few creative body contortions. I would not recommend it if you have stiff joints though.
The following Monday, the family and I took it up to Blue Marsh Lake for its maiden shakedown cruise. Having an EFI engine in a boat was a new experience for me, and it was nice to have it start instantly without having to pump the throttle to keep it running when it's first started from stone cold. It was also strange to hear how quiet the engine was. After having the last 3 boats with thru-transom exhaust, having a thru-prop exhaust was eerily quiet. On the plus side, you can actually have somewhat of a conversation while cruising, but I still miss the authoritative sound of the thru-transoms. Since it's a brand new engine with only .5 hours on it, I'll have to take it easy on it for the first 20 hours, which means no top speed runs for a little while. It felt a little strange, almost like the prop was slipping, to run the engine up to 3500 RPM and only be running 35 MPH. We ran the boat around for a while getting a feel for how it handled and then anchored and tried to fish. Other than a few nibbles, we pretty much came up empty. I had wanted to try tubing, but we soon ran out of time (Boy time sure flies when you're out on the water). I'm hopeful that I get a chance before the season turns cool. During my shakedown cruise, I discovered that the trim gauge needs adjustment, and that the trim limit may also have to be bumped up a little. These are typical new boat issues that normally crop up, and are no big deal. Fortunately, I can take care of most of these myself, as I'd hate to have to drag it all the way back to the dealer for such simple little things. I was also concerned when I pulled the boat out and pulled the plug and noted the amount of water that poured out. In boats past, a 6 hour jaunt in a smooth lake resulted in no more than a half cupful of water in the bilge. This time I got about a gallon of water, which seemed a bit much. It's obvious that something is leaking. I don't know where the leak is, but I'm going to keep an eye out for it. Likely causes are the transom plate not sealing completely, cable grommets not seating where cables pass through, and the drain plug itself. The pain-in-the-butt factor will be getting back to the transom to see it, as this boat does not have the same level of engine access as my last one.
Of course no boating account would not be complete without a weather update. Practically the whole month of August had been rain free up to the last week. So predictably, the deficit in rain was pretty much made up in the last week. I had tentative plans to take the boat out the Friday before Labor Day, but it looks like the first hurricane of the season may make a run up the coast and stands poised to dump on the whole entire weekend. It figures, the whole month when I had no boat, nothing but bright, sunny (if perhaps a bit too hot) days. Now that I have the boat, yep you guessed it, rain on every free day. We'll have to wait and see......
Well I did manage to get the boat out again, but not until Sept 8th, the week AFTER Labor day. Because school had started, I was not able to take Heather with me, and she was more than a little bummed that I was going boating without her. I felt bad, but at this point in the season, I have to take the good days when they come. We decided to venture to Blue Marsh again to do a little fishing and some cruising. To make the trip even more interesting, I decided to put my 23" pitch Cleaver prop (a remnant from my old 22' Pachanga) on the Azure to see the effect on cruising speed. Based on what the dealer had told me about the boat hitting the rev limiter (Which should be somewhere near 5100 RPM) with the 20" pitch 4 blade aluminum prop, I figured (based on the accepted formula of 200 RPM per each 1 inch of pitch change) that the 23 Cleaver should turn somewhere close to 4500 RPM at WOT, which is just on the low end of the proper RPM range. When we started cruising around, I noticed that the boat struggled a bit getting up on plane, but the cruising speed looked more like what I'm used to seeing. 3100 RPM showed about 36 MPH, which wasn't all that bad. The RPM was where I liked to run and the speed was acceptable as well. But I was in for a shock when I decided to punch it up to WOT, for the first time, just to see where the RPM's fell. After a few seconds and a little trimming up, I could just barely make 4000 RPM and 45 MPH at WOT. This is definitely too low for the engine, and there is no way that a 3" change in pitch should drop over 1100 RPM's (I was estimating no more than 600). So I'm left with the conclusion that either my tachometer is way off, or the dealer lied to me about the RPM hitting the rev limiter. As it stands now, with the aluminum prop, calculations estimate that I'll barely be able to make 4600 at the low end of the recommended WOT RPM range. My top end speed also looks to be only in the mid 40's, which is a bit short of what I had hoped for when I ordered the boat. When Art and I take the boat down to the Chesapeake, I'll test WOT on the 20" prop and see where it falls. I'm also concerned about the water leak. When I pulled the boat out of the water this time, the bilge pump kicked on briefly, and a few gallons poured out when I pulled the plug. So I tried to pin down where the leak was coming from. The next day, I put the plug back in, tilted the boat way up in the front, and filled up the bilge with water from the garden hose. I didn't want to fill it to the point of leaking into the drive bellows, so all I was able to test was the bottom of the transom plate and the plug. Neither of which leaked. I suspect that one of the thru-transom fittings that pass either one of the trim cables or the speedometer tube is not sealed and they are allowing water to pass through. The next time I'm out, I'll bring along a light and see if I can see where the leak is. I'm dreading the thought of having to return the boat to the dealer, considering the travel distance. But considering that the engine compartment is very tight and it's doubtful that I'll be able to do much, I may have no other choice. I'm still a bit put off by dealer's service, based on my experiences with them in years past.
On a different front, during a nice warm day on the 18th of September, we finally splashed Art's boat. Anyone who's followed the last couple of years of my boating reviews will note the sheer magnitude of this achievement. For a full recount of the day's fun, read my separate write up of the event. Hopefully this won't be the last time Art's boat sees water. I'm also still waiting to splash the Azure down at the Chesapeake. Hopefully that will happen in the next week or so. Hopefully the weather will hold. It's already starting to look a little like fall with daytime high temps now no higher than 75 and the nights have dipped into the looks-a-lot-like-winter, 40's, and it could turn really cold at the snap of the fingers at any time now. Or it could remain relatively warm all the way to Thanksgiving, you really can never tell. I closed my pool for the winter (yea!), and am starting to shift from summer to winter mode, so I'm getting a little antsy.
On the subject of the boat's water leak, I had another inspiration. I noticed that at the very front of the boat, there is a drain hole for the bow's anchor storage compartment. The drain looks to sit only about a foot or so above the water line under normal conditions. The last time I had the boat out, both my wife and I sat in the bow section fishing for a while. Our combined weight in the bow could conceivably push that hole below the waterline. But this should only result in water entering the anchor compartment. Or should it? On a hunch, I took a drop light and looked into the anchor compartment and at the drain. Sure enough, who ever drilled the drain hole did so about a half inch or so too low and in the process, broke through the partition that insulates the anchor compartment from the main bilge. So any water that enters through this hole, will drain right into the bilge, just like on the Titanic, and we all know what happened to that ship....... Feeling fairly confident that I had found the source of my leak, I took the caulk gun and sealed the entire hole closed including the break into the main bilge (I don't really need a drain there anyway). I'm hopeful that this is the source of my leak, but I won't be able to test it until I take the boat out again. If, for some reason, I decide later that I need this drain, I can always open it up again, but I'll redo it such that there won't be an easy path for water to re-enter the boat.
Our planned Chesapeake trip now looks to be tentatively planned for Columbus Day, October 9th. The weather is predicted to be nice with a temperature around 70. Hopefully this forecast holds, but past history would suggest that this is probably not likely. One can only hope. I am bolstered by the fact that summer seems to be fighting its inevitable concession to fall temperatures. While we have had some fall cold snaps, it has not gone below freezing yet, and most days are still hovering in or close to the 70's. Of course, it's only the beginning of October and a lot can change in 25 days.
Well, wonders never cease. October 9th came. The weather held true to forecast, a clear, picture-perfect sunny day with high temps in the upper 70's. It couldn't have been a better day. No strange issues cropped up to cause either Art or I to bow out of the event, and neither one of us got sick. I couldn't believe it, Mr. Murphy was going to let us have a good time at the Chesapeake? This couldn't be, could it? Well read on.......
The day started out with a mission. The mission objectives were 3 fold. First off, I wanted to see if I had found the source of my leak and had made an effective correction. Secondly, I wanted to get to the bottom of yet another mystery, whether my original 20" pitch prop would turn within the proper RPM range. Earlier tests with the 23" cleaver prop have left me with doubts. Finally, we wanted to scope out the marinas at the tip of the Elk river, where Gene has his boat, as Art is thinking about putting his boat down there next year. Yea, we've been through this before, but I'm always willing to indulge another boater's fantasies, if it gives me a place to go.
With those goals in mind, I set out at about 8:00 in the morning. I wanted to have the most time that I could out on the water, but I didn't want to hit the traffic at the height of the rush hour either, so I felt that this would be the best compromise. Like the last time, I left earlier than Art did because his trip would likely be quicker. But Art didn't get on the radio and on his way until around 8:35, and I was pretty far along at that point. So that gave me the opportunity to try a new route in the hope of avoiding the traffic-light-at-every-block mess that is route 202 in Wilmington Delaware. But if it took longer, it would give Art a chance to catch up. I decided to take U.S. RT-1 down to RT 841, which became MD RT 213 and continued straight down to Chesapeake City. The destination of Chesapeake City was chosen this time due to a combination of fuel cost and time. Chesapeake City is a bit further away than Delaware City, where we launched before, but I figured the truck would get better fuel mileage than the boat would. Also, since this boat is a bit slower than my old one, I didn't want to add the extra 30 or so miles of the C&D canal to our schedule. The ramp in Chesapeake City is a free one maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, and it's located adjacent to the C&D canal museum. It's a small ramp, with very limited parking. But I figured that on a weekday in October, we should not have a problem finding an open parking spot (Rule #1, never assume).
When I arrived at the ramp, it looked as if my heretofore perfect day was about to encounter a speed bump or two. The already limited parking lot was basically full, as the early morning fishermen were out wetting their hooks. I wasn't expecting this on an October weekday to be sure. The haphazard way that the trailers were parked yielded even fewer spaces than optimal. Whatever the case, there was no room for my rig, and it would have to be parked in the "overflow" lot, which was little more than a dirt patch at the end of the access road adjacent to a cornfield. But that was not my only problem. The access road did not have a wide area to turn around, and not much room to turn the trailer to fit on the ramp. Part of the problem was an electric gate which marked the entrance to the museum. If the gate was open, you could drive through, and turn around in that parking lot, and better position your ramp approach. But today for whatever reason, the gate was closed. I now had to decide whether to attempt to cut the trailer hard and see if I could make the swing onto the ramp, or back the whole rig back out the access road, and then back it back in again. I decided to wait until Art came to make any real moves, and in the meantime I started uncovering the boat and getting ready to launch. I hoped that I would not be blocking anyone, as there was no place for me to go to get out of the way. Once the boat was uncovered, I still could not raise Art on the radio, so I decided to try to "park" on the ramp, where I would at least be out of the way of any museum-bound traffic that might come by. I pulled as close to the gate as I could and cut the wheel hard. It took two tries but I managed to swing the trailer sharp enough to get it down the ramp. A good thing too, as no sooner did I back down the ramp, a delivery truck came in destined for the museum. The gate opened magically to allow his passage, and then promptly closed again. It was then that it occurred to me that the gate was probably actively monitored by security, and I'm sure they had a chuckle watching my boat launching predicament. So there I sat on the ramp for what seemed like a good while, until Art finally came within radio range. A few minutes later he showed up. In a strange case of Deja-vu from 2003, Art came once again loaded for bear, with all of his "stuff". He had his hand-held VHF marine HT, which we used to monitor channel 16 ( I brought my HT which I parked on channel 68). He also put fresh batteries in his handheld GPS and had that ready to go. He also brought his digital cameras, a flare kit, as well as something to eat. Once all his stuff was loaded onto the boat, we were ready to launch.
Art dumped me in and then parked the truck......
Once Art was on board, we settled in and checked out the immediate area sights
And marvel at just how nice the day was and how smooth the water in the canal was.....
Once all of our things were safely stored, Art fired up the GPS and we were off. Once clear of the slow speed area, we jumped up on plane, and I settled on a 3500 RPM cruise which was running around 30 MPH on the speedo. Art's GPS recorded a speed of around 27 MPH. We appeared to be fighting an incoming tide, but it looks as if my speedo is off by 2 MPH or so, which is not bad for a boat speedometer. After a short while, I decided to settle my RPM mystery and I went to WOT. I trimmed up accordingly as the speed increased, and watched the tach as it settled at a 5000 RPM maximum. Hmmm........ Now I AM confused. On the one hand, I am glad that the engine is able to reach maximum rated RPM with this 20" pitch prop. But on the other hand, I'm left trying to figure out why the 3" change in pitch between the two different props, dropped 1000 RPM. In any case, it looks like my top speed was just shy of 50 MPH, which re-ignited my "50 MPH or Bust!" goal. I'm fairly certain that with the right prop (I'm thinking a 21" pitch Mirage or Laser II), I can hit that mark.
Our first destination was to head up the Elk River to check out the marinas there and see if we could find Gene's boat. We rounded the point where the C&D canal intersects the Elk River, and with that, the depth of the water went from 42' to less than 10'. The further we went up the river the shallower it got. I brought out the chart and looked for the best water and headed in that direction. We hadn't headed all that much farther upstream when we saw our next obstacle(s), a load of floating debris.....
I'm guessing this load of flotsam was the result of the "nor'easter" type storm that ran through here a few days ago. Most of it was of the weed and twig variety, but there were a few larger logs (And even a telephone pole) thrown in the mix. Between the uncertain depth, the minefield of debris, and the fact that Art was along and my not wanting to risk the chance that his knack for finding bottom would rub off, we stayed at a slow pre-plane speed while heading up the river, which ate up a lot of time. Fortunately, we were traveling with the tide, which added 1 or 2 MPH to our forward speed. Eventually we made it up to Gene's marina and found his boat....
And then further upstream, at the next marina, we located that marina's webcam. Too bad we didn't have a wireless laptop along so we could see ourselves....
Once we satisfied our marina curiosity, we headed back down the Elk River, and through the ubiquitous debris field once again. Not wanting to keep the engine speed down for too long (The engine manual specifically advises to not run it below 1500 RPM for extended periods during break-in), I bravely jumped back on plane as soon as we cleared the worst part of the debris. Since the tide was coming in, I didn't worry too much about running aground. I set my speed a bit slower at 3100 RPM, and about 27 MPH, so as to run the engine at a variety of speeds during its critical break-in period. As I got some extended seat time in this still new boat, I did make a note of one negative point. The sun reflected off of the white gelcoat behind the dash causing a glare in the windshield, which somewhat obscured visibility. I will have to cover that area with something darker to correct that problem. We headed further down the Elk, until we hit the Bohemia River. We then headed up the Bohemia until we hit the no-wake area, and stopped in sight of the RT 213 bridge and had our lunch. By now it was after 12:00, and I was conscious of the fact that we were slowly running out of time. Time is something you never seem to have enough of, when you're out on the boat. We were also running down on gasoline as well. The boat is still too new so I do not know how the gas gauge reacts yet. My last boat would show empty on the gauge with over 10 gallons left in a 75 gallon tank. The new boat's tank is 20 gallons smaller, and I started out with less than a full tank. The last thing I needed was to find myself with less than half a tank, with more than half the distance to go to get back to the ramp. So I wanted to be heading back, before the gauge dropped too far below half a tank. After lunch, we headed out of the Bohemia River and back south on the Elk. We checked out the Elk Neck State Park launch ramp and continued on until we came to Turkey Point. After being informed by Art that the GPS showed a "Skull and Crossbones" in our general heading, I changed course and moved out into deeper water, where I stopped to take a quick shot of the lighthouse.....
We then headed back up the Elk River toward the launch ramp. On the way back I played around with setting my course by the navigational heading lights that are used to guide large ships through the channel at night. I also had the opportunity to cross a few heavy wakes and the boat handled it well. I gave Art a turn at the wheel while I stood by and watched the water run by as we headed once again into the C&D canal. I was dreading the ramp encounter, as I didn't know what to expect. But things were not all that bad. Most of the morning fishing boats were now gone, and Art didn't have too much trouble backing the trailer onto the ramp. I drove the boat up on the trailer and we pulled out. Once on dry land, I was delighted to learn that when I pulled the plug, only a few drops of water came out. This pretty much confirms my earlier theory about the front drain hole being the source of the water ingress. When I was getting ready to attach the stern tie-downs, I noticed that the boat was not up far enough on the trailer, so I had to drop it back into the water so that I could winch it all the way up to the proper stop. Art helped me wipe the scum line off the boat (thanks, I'm getting too old for this) and we headed out. It was now about 2:30, and I was hopeful that I would make it home by 4:30. I didn't start my journey out well, when I missed a turn in town and ended up having to back up a whole block (I am getting a lot of remedial backing practice). I decided to try yet another way to get home, by heading south on 40 until reaching route 272, and then taking that north to route 10 and then up to I-176, and home to RT 422. Art and I parted company at RT 40 as he headed off the other way, and we lost radio contact about 15 minutes later. This new route was not the greatest though, as it took me over 2 hours to get home. By contrast, the journey down took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I finally did make it home, and with enough time to flush the engine out and clean up before putting the boat away for likely the last time this year. In the next couple of weeks it'll probably get winterized. I did manage to put over 4 more hours on the engine this trip and, so far, it's running great. I am also glad that I found answers to those two nagging questions concerning max RPM's and the leak. It was a worthwhile trip, although I doubt if I could deal with a trip like this on a weekly basis, like I was doing 10 years ago. A GPS map of the day's trip can be found here. The long winter lay-up will go a lot better with those uncertainties behind me. Hopefully next year will be filled with some fun skiing and tubing. This boat appears to be very well suited to this kind of activity. I also have some prop research and shopping to do in my quest to improve midrange and high speed performance and fuel economy. In any case, we'll have to wait for Boating 2007 to learn the answer to these questions, and the answer to the eternal question of what Art will finally end up doing with his boat situation. Until then........
