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23' Sceptre Repower
Last year I had the lower unit and SS prop stolen from my 1995 200 hp Yamaha, hanging off an old (non-floatation) Armstrong bracket, as bolted to my (former I/O) '76 Sceptre. I'll be selling my other boat soon, and have been thinking about what to do with the Sceptre. Time to get her useable or pass her on to a new owner. Although when the Yammie was running good the performance was fine for me, I was never really happy with the motor (gas hog, smoky, noisy), so I'm not enthusiastic about dumping more cash on the old motor, or the bracket. Thought I'd put this out there and let you gents provide what you see as pros and cons.
Primary use would be just two people on short hops (under 10 NM) for snorkeling, and occasionally a little trolling. Most prevalent sea conditions 2-3' seas. Every once in a blue moon longer trips (40 NM). Power priorities are: Reliabilty, Fuel economy, and bottom line installed and rigged price. Comfy cruise at 28-30 mph would be okay. Sadly, in my area there aren't any dealers of any brand that are stellar IMHO, so no deciders there. Thinking about a Hermco floatation bracket and a Suzuki DF 200A (the inline 4). I had a Zuke 140 4 stroke on an 18 SF for a few years (yeah, I know that was a ton of motor for the boat), and had great luck with it. What do you guys think? |
Well it will be a used Hermco, unfortunately Don is calling it quits. Not too familiar with the Zuke in line fours especially in the higher 200 HP version, I do know the Yamaha 200 in line four is kinda wimpy from what I read. Also I do not know the price difference from going from the I-4 up to the V-6 225 or 250, if it's real close in $$$ I'd go with the V-6. Good luck!
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Hey bmajvi- Remember that 18 SeaCraft with the 140 Zuke. You were one of the reasons why we put the 140 Zuke on my parents 18sf. I would recommend a 250 for resale for your 23. A 200 / 3.0 4 stroke 150 Merc will get it done, but the 250 price and resale even in the islands has to be worth it?!
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Hey Snookerd! Funny, but resale value hadn't even entered into my thinking - just looking for an ultra-reliable, (relatively) economical way to get out on the water when the weather is irresistibly nice. I've offered to buy back that 18 from the guy I sold it to a couple times, but he just grins and says "No way." How'd the 140 work out for your parents? I always felt like I was driving a Turbo Porsche or something, and the hull was very well mannered, even with all that weight out back.
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Hey bmajvi,
If your gonna go with a Zuke on a 23' you might want to consider the 300. I love mine and you will have that extra power in those trade wind swells, especially if you ever run over to St. Thomas or the BVIs. I run my Sceptre with one and hardly ever need all the power but I have been in situations where I needed it quick and it was comforting knowing it was there! I cruse at 27 knots and am under 10 GPH. The 300 is not much heavier and is only a couple/few K more than the 200. Lots of guys on CSC run them on brackets ( mine is stern mounted ) and they love the ride!!! |
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On the Sceptre, I would recommend the 150 Mercury if you went for price and and not on horse Power. Big Shrimpin has made us believers on that power plant. It rivals many 200’s and is already become a favorite with the high use guys due to reliability at a price of around10-12K. Eric and I have 300 Zukes and love them, but to just swap your old 200, I would recommend the Mercury. |
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Thanks guys, appreciate the input. I find Big Shrimpin's 150 Merc experience pretty amazing, will have to chew on that a little...I thought my original idea of sticking with 200hp was kind of on the low side!
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Update: I pulled the trigger on a Merc 150 four stroke CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) back in November of 2018. Computer showed the motor had .5 hours, "the story" was that it was on a new boat and didn't run right during commissioning, so the motor was returned to the factory. Shipped it down here, got the old Yamaha off and hung the Merc... Then my Dr. told me I needed heart surgery :-(
Longish recovery went okay, but it sure slowed boat work down to a crawl. Recored deck hatches, finally got the new controls and rigging installed, new gas tank built and installed, along with all new hoses. Put an Enertia 15P on, redid the wiring, rebuilt the hydraulic steering, new nav lights, anchor roller, yadda, yadda. Soooo... have had her in the water a couple of times in the past few weeks, only up to 4.6 hours, but so far I'm a happy camper! Once we're all broken in I'll run some numbers and post them. The boat still has a couple squishy areas in the deck, the cuddy overhead is yucky since I pulled the rabbit fur down, etc... plenty to keep me out of trouble for awhile anyway! |
congrats on your recovery and the 150!!!!!
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The tradewinds have laid down the past few days, so we took her out on a rare flat water day yesterday, for some swimming, snorkeling and just noodling around. With three adults, day trip supplies and 20 gallons of gas, briefly touched 40.5 mph on Vessel View Mobile at WOT 5,600 rpm. Also have a few seconds video of hole shot, but not sure I can post that because of size?
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Great stuff! Glad you are enjoying the boat and new motor! Looks beautiful where you are.
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Here's a link to a 9 second video clip on YouTube of our hole shot. My wife took it on her iPhone, and it ends a little early, but I think you can see that the 150 is doing just fine getting the old girl up and moving! No tabs, 475 lbs of people, various day trip supplies, 20 gallons of gas, bimini's folded down, and it has bottom paint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6A7Vpph-8k |
Nice!
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Cool
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Yup, Buck Island it is! It can get pretty busy on nice weekend afternoons these days, but weekdays are still pretty tranquil, and the water clarity is great. We had a lot of rain in December and January, so everything is nice and green too.
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I interviewed to become the vicar/pastor of a church in Christiansted a few years ago, and one member of the search committee took my wife and I out to Buck Island for snorkeling and a picnic. I would have liked to go to that church, but it wasn't where I believed God was calling me.
That's where the "Not my will, but yours be done" part comes in. |
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Yeah, re: "the dance floor," I had toyed with idea of adding a small console & leaning post, and turning her into a Savage, but I've come to appreciate the as-is layout's roominess and flexibility. We use the cuddy cabin for storage - seems like it'd be a bit snug for an overnight for two adults?
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Finally got around to doing some fuel consumption checking this morning, using the Merc Vessel View RPM, MPH & GPH data, then calculated the MPG (statute miles). Pretty light - 280 lbs of crew, 20 gallons of gas, and maybe 50-60 lbs of miscellaneous stuff onboard, bimini dropped. Seas were pretty calm, maybe averaged 1' and wind about 8 knots, mostly on the nose. I'm pretty happy with these numbers, and feel that the 150 has worked out as well or better than expected.
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Great numbers! Those are very close to the performance numbers I see with my 150. Cruising 30mph @ 3.5mpg is good in any book.
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Agreed, and a big thank you for trailblazing the path! For our purposes I'm real happy with the blend of weight, performance and expense. At some point we'll take her around the island or over to St. Thomas/St. John and back, and I'll collect and post some real world fuel use results.
A couple notes: the 1995 carbed, two stroke, 200 hp Yamaha that the Merc replaced only got about 1.5 mpg (plus two stroke oil) on a good day. The old gas tank was 75 gallons, foamed in, and fairly pitted on the bottom from water being trapped in there. I considered "repairing it" with JB Weld, but then it occurred to me that we were (hopefully!) going to be seeing some greatly improved fuel economy, so built/installed a new 40 gallon tank with all new hoses, and now appear to have actually increased range. Oh yeah, at the ramp the fellas running triple 350's on 30-35 footers do look at me like I must be from another planet! |
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Took both families and both boats, we both went about 32 miles from Crystal River offshore grouper digging, rafting up and having lunch together. Traveled at the same speed: about 22 mph avg speed in calm Gulf waters with a total trip distance of about 70 miles. We filled up at the same gas station near the boat ramp. I put in 12.5 gallons to fill my tank, he put in 33 gallons. He wasn't laughing then. Less than a year later he re-powered to a then new 2007 115 Etec. |
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