sorry, this will be sort of long winded, I want to get as much info for responses as possible.
put a deposit this weekend on a 2014 21' sea skiff (carolina skiff) with a 2013 suzuki DF115 engine on it.
here's the engine it has:
http://www.suzukimarine.com/Product Lines/Outboard Motors/Products/DF115/2012/DF115A.aspx
took it out yesterday afternoon and I must say I'm extremely impressed with how quiet it is and how quick it is.
the question comes about mainly due to how new of a model the boat itself is. Its new to the point the sales guy we're working with admitted the dealership hasnt even had a chance to get one of the boats in the water for testing yet. apparently they only had to two examples about a week before the boat show. the other one wasnt even factory finished out yet and the manufacturer tech was coming to finish it out lol.
they put on a 19 pitch 3-blade no-name prop (I believe actual numbers were 3x14x19 the side of it). we got it in the water and it did jump up quick and got on plane quick.
we were cruising at 35mph @ 5000rpm and I think it hit 45~46mph at 6000rpm. he said you could hear it bouncing at redline a little and he only kept it up there a short time since the motor was so new and not broken in.
do these numbers sound right? he said the tech's at the dealership were guessing at what prop to use and he was going to report the numbers back to them. said they might take it out a time or two more to test others out on it depending on what they say. kinda interesting.
it was also choppy as all get out yesterday lol.
one other thing. I've always had great respect for what could happen bad when boating so I never have pushed boats in the past. This guy's been selling boats for 20 years and lots of my friends in the boating community know him and how good he is with boats.
he wanted to see how the boat turns and such to get a better feel for the hull for when selling them in the future so he started doing some high speed tight turns (wife loved it. she grabbed the oh-crap bars and held on lol).
it was actually kind of fun as I wouldnt have the nerve to try it but watching him do it, I at least know the boat can handle it if the need arises. I'd personally be too scared to try it thinking I'd flip the boat or something crazy.
anyway, twice in turns, the boat got this goofy flat noise from the engine as if it were over-revving. He'd play with the trim and it would come out of it. I asked him back at the ramp what that was and he said it was causing the engine cavitate and that trimming it will take it out of that.
he was kind of shocked I had no clue what it was as he knows me and knows I'm very mechanically inclined and owned several boats.
I just explained to him how I wrote it up above, that I've never pushed a boat as I'm nervous about something horrible happening. he laughed a little and said he was gonna tell some of my friends so they'd rib me a little haha.
so I guess my second question is I'd like a better explanation of what happens during cavitation? The engine had over-rev protection on it so I dont think anything bad happened but what happens if you experience this too often? are there cures for it? are there things to look out for?
All my past boats were dual console runabouts that were small enough I never wanted to push them just because of how small they were. this boat is one I feel I can finally get into some serious boating with and I want to learn the proper way a boat like this behaves before I hurt the engine and such.
Its also kind of weird but even though its got an 8' beam on it and is a 21' boat, it was leaning a bit and he even mentioned it seems like the boat was weight sensitive so I'm wondering if I need to think about getting some trim tabs too?
put a deposit this weekend on a 2014 21' sea skiff (carolina skiff) with a 2013 suzuki DF115 engine on it.
here's the engine it has:
http://www.suzukimarine.com/Product Lines/Outboard Motors/Products/DF115/2012/DF115A.aspx
took it out yesterday afternoon and I must say I'm extremely impressed with how quiet it is and how quick it is.
the question comes about mainly due to how new of a model the boat itself is. Its new to the point the sales guy we're working with admitted the dealership hasnt even had a chance to get one of the boats in the water for testing yet. apparently they only had to two examples about a week before the boat show. the other one wasnt even factory finished out yet and the manufacturer tech was coming to finish it out lol.
they put on a 19 pitch 3-blade no-name prop (I believe actual numbers were 3x14x19 the side of it). we got it in the water and it did jump up quick and got on plane quick.
we were cruising at 35mph @ 5000rpm and I think it hit 45~46mph at 6000rpm. he said you could hear it bouncing at redline a little and he only kept it up there a short time since the motor was so new and not broken in.
do these numbers sound right? he said the tech's at the dealership were guessing at what prop to use and he was going to report the numbers back to them. said they might take it out a time or two more to test others out on it depending on what they say. kinda interesting.
it was also choppy as all get out yesterday lol.
one other thing. I've always had great respect for what could happen bad when boating so I never have pushed boats in the past. This guy's been selling boats for 20 years and lots of my friends in the boating community know him and how good he is with boats.
he wanted to see how the boat turns and such to get a better feel for the hull for when selling them in the future so he started doing some high speed tight turns (wife loved it. she grabbed the oh-crap bars and held on lol).
it was actually kind of fun as I wouldnt have the nerve to try it but watching him do it, I at least know the boat can handle it if the need arises. I'd personally be too scared to try it thinking I'd flip the boat or something crazy.
anyway, twice in turns, the boat got this goofy flat noise from the engine as if it were over-revving. He'd play with the trim and it would come out of it. I asked him back at the ramp what that was and he said it was causing the engine cavitate and that trimming it will take it out of that.
he was kind of shocked I had no clue what it was as he knows me and knows I'm very mechanically inclined and owned several boats.
I just explained to him how I wrote it up above, that I've never pushed a boat as I'm nervous about something horrible happening. he laughed a little and said he was gonna tell some of my friends so they'd rib me a little haha.
so I guess my second question is I'd like a better explanation of what happens during cavitation? The engine had over-rev protection on it so I dont think anything bad happened but what happens if you experience this too often? are there cures for it? are there things to look out for?
All my past boats were dual console runabouts that were small enough I never wanted to push them just because of how small they were. this boat is one I feel I can finally get into some serious boating with and I want to learn the proper way a boat like this behaves before I hurt the engine and such.
Its also kind of weird but even though its got an 8' beam on it and is a 21' boat, it was leaning a bit and he even mentioned it seems like the boat was weight sensitive so I'm wondering if I need to think about getting some trim tabs too?
