Went boating today!

[p729lws]

I finally got a chance to run my new to me 18’ classic! :party: We ran for about an hour on Pensacola Bay in a 1’ chop with 65 degree temperatures and about a 25 mph breeze. This is my first boat and I do not have much boating experience. I like the way she handles. I was surprised how little the bow rises getting on plane and how good the acceleration is after it planes. We had a great time and didn’t get too wet. :cool:

The prop has three blades with a 21 degree pitch and a 15” diameter. The motor is a 350 ci SBC with 260 HP and the outdrive is a gen one Alpha one With me, two Donzi girls, one weiner dog (about 400 lbs total) and a full tank of gas we got a top speed of 50 mph on GPS but only got about 4000 rpm on the tachometer. Seems like the revs should have been higher, so we’ll look into that on Monday.

And no ToonaFish, the boat did not break, sink, catch fire or need towed in! :rolleyes:

Dan

[boxy]

......one weiner dog (about 400 lbs total)...
Dan
:eek: :eek: :eek:
That is one big assed weiner dog. :D

J/K..... sounds like a great first day.

[Fish boy]

Good looking boat Dan. I think the weiner dog is what is costing you the rpms. Get a dog that weighs les than 100 lbs and you should be fine. ;)

Seriously, before you go chasing/changing props, do three things:
1) run it by yourself with a half tank of gas and see what rpms you are turning or if you are reaching the limiter.
2) Search old threads here on the registry and see what others are turning with a similar setup. Might try the "true lies" thread too since a lot of people posted their setups, hp, performance.
3) post some pics of the donzi girls! LOL :D

sounds like you had a great time, hope to see ya at mt. dora or one of the other seadog events.

fish

[gold-n-rod]

Heh-heh, this post has both "ToonaFish" and "weiner" in it! :alligator

:biggrin:

[Cuda]

Great looking boat. What year is it?

[ToonaFish]

Heh-heh, this post has both "ToonaFish" and "weiner" in it! :alligator

And nothing says "Happy Valentines" quite like that combination!

[ToonaFish]

And no ToonaFish, the boat did not break, sink, catch fire or need towed in! :rolleyes:

Yet. When does David O plan to help you tweak it?

(Congratulations, sounds like a blast!)

[p729lws]

I only have a 9 lb weiner....... dog :rolleyes:

Fish Boy, I've seen a few recommendations to select the prop based on no passengers and minial fuel. I'll have to give that a try.

I'm thinking about Mt Dora, but I'm still living in my camper in my driveway due to Ivan damage to the house. Cann't go to Dora unless we're back in the house :banghead:

Cuda, she's a '79. It's the ebay boat that sold back in December. The gel has been wet sanded since that photo and she looks much better. She has new decals and a windshield also. I'll post photos soon.

Toona, I have to put that radio in David's X-18 first :wink:

Dan

[Fish boy]

Dan, if you are always going to have a couple of people, full of fuel, a cooler, dog...etc, then perhaps proping that way would be best. However, if that is not the case, then the half tank, one person will give you a good control set of numbers for rpms, prop size, etc. You can then make adjustments from there to attain performance goals.

fish

PS, I actually have a second prop I use when I go diving offshore and know I will have extra fuel, tanks, dive gear, a few people, and coolers. It takes 2 minutes to change.

[p729lws]

Fish,
I had the drive down all the way while I was running on Sunday. I did not know that I needed to trim that up. We were bow down the whole time. I guess I'll get a few more MPH and RPM's using the trim correctly. Hopefully we have some nice weather this weekend and I can check that out.
Dan

[RedDog]

I had the drive down all the way while I was running on Sunday. I did not know that I needed to trim that up. We were bow down the whole time.

Proper trim will make a HUGH diffence
:yes:

[Fish boy]

Fish,
I had the drive down all the way while I was running on Sunday. I did not know that I needed to trim that up. We were bow down the whole time. I guess I'll get a few more MPH and RPM's using the trim correctly. Hopefully we have some nice weather this weekend and I can check that out.
Dan
THat will definitely make a difference. Getting the bow up will mean less boat in the water and less surface friction, so greater speed and higher rpms due to the reduced drag. you will probably be a little drier over waves too. :D

You might experiment where you put people in the boat too. I weigh 235 and when riding with another donzi member in his 18, he put me in the back seat in the middle to get a good attitude on the bow when he wanted to wind it out.

keep us posted,

fish