Gillie - congratulations on a good shakedown run! What size prop are you running? Your max speed is comparable to what I got with my old V-4 115 running a 13 3/4 x 15 pitch prop @ 55-5600 rpm. Your rpm numbers are way off - I can't believe you'd get that kind of speed if you were really overpropped that badly, so I'd get that tach checked. The very first new tach I bought was off by about 500 rpm and led me to choose wrong prop. I think your gear ratio is also 2:1, so you should be running about same size prop. I averaged 2.8 mpg with my old 115 V-4 on the Bahama trips, most of it with very heavy load. It dropped to about 2 mpg when the power trim died!
Good observation on the better ride at 25 vs 20 mph! I didn't learn that till I made a 20 mile run in Abaco Sound from Green Turtle to Man-O-War Cay, straight into a 20 kt wind and 2' square waves! Check the Boating test article on the Seafari in the literature section, and you'll notice the running angle is flatter at 25 than at 20, which I believe explains the softer ride. The deadrise of that center panel is much higher a couple of feet aft of the bow than it is amidships, which is why I think trim and weight distribution is so important in the 20' hull! I concluded the ride would be even better if I could keep the boat running flat, but slow down and not hit 'em so hard! The trim tabs I installed for trip the following year were the best money I ever spent on that boat! They allowed me to plane at 12-15 mph and ride very comfortably SITTING DOWN in a 2-3' chop!
The key to easy anchoring is to keep the anchor chocked on deck or in a bow pulpit and use a big oval deck pipe to feed line into anchor locker. I was trying to conserve deck space and mounted deck pipe a little too far forward, so if I let out a lot of line, when retrieving I have to periodically reach down thru the deck pipe and shove the pile of line aft to keep it from blocking the opening. Would have been better if I had centered deck pipe over the anchor locker. Here's my anchor setup. Second shot shows how deck pipe is too far forward.
Denny
