first ride new minx

[jeffdds]

Joe ( Margo here on the forums ) delivered his reluctantly sold 86 Minx to me in NJ on thursday, I took the afternoon off to meet him at the marina for the arrival . The exchange went smoothly , we got the boat in the water, Joe went over a few of the particulars with me , and then he and bro in law Vic hopped into the f350 and headed back for upstate NY ... leaving me alone with my shiny new boat ... It was at that moment that my veteran boater friend texted me to say he was in a jam at work and probably wouldnt be able to make it to the marina till after 6 pm. It was one oclock. So my first three hours with my new boat were spent at the marina sitting on it listening to music, answering questions about it to all the people I met at my new marina , and texting pics of it parked in the slip to all my friends . Im new to boating, this boat, and this lake so there was no way I was going out for the first time alone ...4 pm... bingo & thank goodness another friend showed up , I contracted him to get the trailer out of the marina and into my yard for me cause I dont have a trailer hitch on my SUV yet and he has one on his van . He came right from work , hallelujah I thought , an angel has arrived in the form of a wingman . I ll cut to the chase, the first ride was amazing , I loved it . I have nothing to compare it to, the last time I was on a donzi was 27 years ago, and no one I know has a boat like this but to me it rides awesome, handles great, super steering etc, everything I expected and more. Only thing I cant tell you is how fast I got it going cause the speedo doesnt seem to be working and I havent had a chance to call Joe and ask him about that yet but I was generally running it around 3500 to 4500 rpms and loving every minute of it . The ride ended with a few laughs as I struggled back into the slip . I made it but with alot of maneuvering and I was joking to some onlookers to be patient cause it was my first day . When I got on the dock they were asking me about the age of the boat and they were shocked when I told them it was a 1986 . One guy asked "1986 , wow, how long have you owned it ?" I asked him what time it was and he looked at me funny and said , " 6 oclock , why ? " . 5 hours , I told him, I have had it for five hours . He started laughing , " it REALLY is your first day ". Nice guy we both laughed alot, Frank, my first friend at the marina ...going out for another ride tomorrow, weather forecast looks good, will report ...thanks again to all the guys on the forum that helped me with other posts and info before I got the boat ... jeff

[WifeHatesMyDonzi]

Good to hear everything went well on the maiden voyage Jeff. :) Reading your post reminded me of my first Donzi purchase, as I'm sure it will to all of the other members that read it...... Don't worry about the speedo, fast is fast, and if you want a true speed reading grab a gps.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Jeff,
Congratulations! Good story, too. A little seat time and you will be right at home. Bill

[jeffdds]

Thanks for the comments guys , Im glad you liked my story. I went out again today, had another great run cruising lake hopatcong with my friend and his girl. Adventurous maneuvering in and out of the slip again but everything was fine out on the open lake . Alot more traffic on the weekend I see ---got it up to 45 mph using the gps speedometer iphone app but no faster that is the limit on the lake for weekends Im told, also didnt want to do anything stupid with the new boat that has the wrong registration numbers , and novice captain here on a busy saturday ! Having nice guys at the marina put the new numbers on for me before the next cruise . Dashboard speedo even came back to life momentarily . My boat generally seems to be running close to the speed in mph as the tach is showing in rpm , generally slightly higher on the tach, all the other gauges were steady, ran about 160 degrees the whole day , oil and volt meter very consistant. Really happy new boater here, I love driving nice sports cars and motorcycles and driving my new donzi seems the same and more . More to come .... jeff

[Ghost]

Congrats on the new boat. -Mike

[silverghost]

Congrats on your new Donzi Minx.
They are a fantastic fun speedboat.

Re: Speedometer

Make sure your speedo pick-up pitot water pressure pickup pilot tube is not blocked by dirt & debris.
There is a very small water pressure hole in the lower part of the pickup facing foreward.
Also check the 1/4 " hose connections at pickup itself & speedometer head for tightness.

A boat speedometer is basically a simple water pressure gauge.
The faster your boat goes~
The higher the water pressure you generate at the speedometer's pickup [o;py pitot tube.
The speedometer pickup is located on your boat's stern transom ; or in some cases the outdrive's case itself.

[jeffdds]

Brad, thanks, I will give it a look tomorrow . Im going to the lake again and I will check it while the boat is on the rack . Appreciate all the help , pointers , advice , etc . jeff

[joseph m. hahnl]

Congrats!!!!!!!! I have one bit of advise for you,You'll probably learn this on your own, but......... Always be very careful getting on plane in another's boat wake. These boats can trip when not on plane. If it does be prepared to cut the throttle:drive:, wipe yourself:toiletpap and start again.:yes: