Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Congrats! Looks great.

When mine pounds, I trim the bow way down with the drive trim and trim tabs. Really softens the ride. I have also noticed that passengers in the cuddy soften the ride too. Try moving gear as far forward as possible and see if that helps. If pounding remains a problem, maybe go with more chain in your anchor rode (assuming you have windlass...), that would be the best bang for your buck if you really need to add weight. Unfortunately, adding weight forward makes the boat less fuel efficient and slower. Can't be worse that running bow high and plowing though...

Thanks for your :thumb: on my boat. I can't imagine that your boat 'pounds', as I recall it has a 24 degree hull.

Anyway, I took your advice and trimmed in on the way over to Kettle Cove, going against the sea . . . the boat seemed to do better and we could maintain about 26 mph without 'pounding' much. On the the way back we were going with the sea and the waves were a bit bigger by then, so I trimmed up a bit

I do have to get mechanical indicators for the outdrives, because these analog trim gauges are going to drive me nuts. . . not precise or consistent at all. I am so used to the mechanical indicators on my 'old' boat, where you could put the outdrive in an exact trim position on a repeatable basis.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

It was a really calm day on the Bay today, so the water was really flat . . . about a 9 on a 10 scale . . .




We anchored a couple hundred feet off the beach today, but the water was really cold (62 F) so did not swim . . .



While anchored, I replaced the starboard engine temperature gauge. The new one seems to be fine. The old one was intermittent. So, 1 "Gremlin" down . . . 1 to go. I'll have to do some more work in finding the exact source of the coolant leak, etc.

With the Bay fairly flat today, I took the engines up to 3800 RPM . . . about 44 mph. . . . and 1/2 gallon of gas per minute

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Thanks for your :thumb: on my boat. I can't imagine that your boat 'pounds', as I recall it has a 24 degree hull.

Anyway, I took your advice and trimmed in on the way over to Kettle Cove, going against the sea . . . the boat seemed to do better and we could maintain about 26 mph without 'pounding' much. On the the way back we were going with the sea and the waves were a bit bigger by then, so I trimmed up a bit

Despite the 24 degree hull, mine will pound in that steep, nasty chop that sometimes happens on Winnipesaukee. Never had an issue on the open ocean or on a deeper lake like Sebago, despite taller waves. I imagine Buzzards Bay gets that steep chop too. The problem is exacerbated if all the passengers sit in the cockpit; put two people in the cabin and the ride improved dramatically. No one wants to sit in the cabin on a choppy day though, but a brief rain shower will chase them in there, that's how I know. In 1-2 foot chop, I have found that the ride improves on my boat if I throttle up a bit from my normal 30 MPH cruise. If I go 35 or faster, the boat dances lightly from one wave to the next. I suspect the extra speed lifts the boat higher and that gets the reverse chines on my hull out of the water near the bow. The chines are pretty dramatic and carried well forward. They can't make the ride any smoother.

This isn't my boat, but it has the same hull, you can see the reverse chines well forward of the step:

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Yup, we were out again early this morning and came back into a 2 foot chop. The boat did fine trimmed in and going about 28 mph. When it gets to a 3 foot chop, then it is probably going to be too rough to maintain speed as the boat will catch too much air and land hard.

It has clouded over so now I am sitting on the beach watching the waves.

I'm still casing a coolant leak in the starboard engine . . . But the new temp gauge is working fine and the engine is running the same temp as the other one.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

She's looking awesome Ted. Can't believe all the work you guys completed so far. Don't recall / or see what you named her. Any ideas yet for the first overnight trip aboard her ? Good luck !!!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Thanks, Rooster

No plans yet for an overnight. We might wait until September as the weather is still really good on Cape Cod and the crowds are gone.

I have not named the boat yet, but I am thinking about a name, etc . . . Since I originally did sailboats and sailing is fairly big around my waters, I was going to name the boat something along the lines of "Iron Sails" or "Ferrous Sails" or something like that - combining the powerboat and sailboat theme together.

Any ideas to add on that theme ??? :noidea: I'm open to them :thumb:

The funny thing is that of the 3 boats that I have bought over the past 20 years, all used, none of them had been previously named.

I named my Catalina 22 sailboat "Essentials", never did name my Formula 242, but would like to name the F-330

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Summer update . . .

I wanted to post an update now that I have a bit of experience under my belt with this boat. I was initially concerned about the ride, but have experimented with trim and have trimmed in when heading into a chop and then trimmed up when going with the seas.

The boat rides a whole lot better with it trimmed all the way in. With the length of the hull, I can traverse a chop fairly well and the bow is taking the next wave as the stern is coming off the previous wave. It can do this up to about 3 feet of chop with 2-3 second wave intervals. If it gets to 4 feet then it gets to be a bit much.

So, :thumb: as far as the ride, now that I have got the trim stuff down. Still would like to get the mechanical trim indicators so I can be more exact with the outdrive position. the standard analog gauges are really only good for judging the tilt, not the trim.

I also wanted to see how close I could get the boat into shore for the beaching and boating stuff. So, I brought it in until it slightly grounded today. With the outdrives up, it draws about 2 feet of water, same as my 24 footer.

Here is a pic of me coming ashore that The Admiral took.

 

[Quit It]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

:thumb: Looks like you're having a good summer.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Looking for a 'new' boat . . .

Update:

I finally isolated the leak in the starboard engine to the recirculating pump. It was leaking through the bearing. So, I replaced it last weekend. I'll have to monitor the coolant to make sure it is no longer leaking, just to confirm that I found the source and only source of the leak.

 

[tpenfield]

Just re-kindling my old thread from 2012 & 2013 . . .

In my boat browsing 'a la Internet', I have come across some of the same boats for sale that were listed 2 years ago when I was looking. One in particular is the 1996 F-280SS in Arnold, MD (listed at $31,700).

The price has not changed in 2 years. I originally saw it listed on CL for under $30K, but then it was listed with a broker for the $31,700 price (probably to cover the commission).

So . . . . seriously ???? . . . If it has not sold in 2 years at $31,700, it is not likely to sell for that now :noidea:

I always wonder about folks that list boats for a price that they won't sell at and never move the price. I could see holding at a price for a little while, but 2 years :noidea:

Anyway, just thought that I would mention that . . . some of the boats that I was considering 2 years ago are STILL for sale.

BTW - my 'old' F-242 that I had before the F-330 . . . that has been listed on CL all summer . . . still there for anyone interested. Not sure what the owner did about the engine. . . .

 

[HellRaZoR004]

I've noticed the same thing. There's a number of formula boats on CL in the Boston area that have been listed for over two years with the same pictures, the same descriptions, and the SAME price.

 

[tpenfield]

I've noticed the same thing. There's a number of formula boats on CL in the Boston area that have been listed for over two years with the same pictures, the same descriptions, and the SAME price.

Yup, I also noticed that one of the boats that I put an offer on in NJ is still for sale. Same price as 2 years ago. I offered quite a bit lower than the asking price, due to the amount of fix-it stuff that the boat needed. Most likely, the boat will eventually sell for less than what I offered.

 

[Brian 26]

This boat has been for sale for about two years also without ever having a price reduction. I made an offer of 17 or 18k over a year ago and they quickly came down to 19. I walked away. Why you would price this thing so high is beyond me.

If I had that boat this spring I could have sold it for more than 19 in less than two weeks. Selling boats is easy, some people make it so hard.

This same consignment dealer has had a seadoo jet ski for sale for $7k for a year or two. I sold the exact same model this spring in a about a week for $7k.

 

[maddog49]

How are you liking to the boat now? Was looking at information on the 280ss and saw all your posts and enjoyed reading them. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who keeps spreadsheets and is so methodical!