[cdavisdb]

Much work done, now the testing begins

New Bimini, stainless F3 props, dive platform, 8hp hi thrust Yamaha kicker, lots of cabinetry. Now lets see what it will do.

First the kicker. Very pleased. I'm still breaking it in and only ran up to 3/4 throttle, was getting 4.6 kts in calm water and 4.0 into a steep chop and 15 knots of wind. My old 15 hp on a 24 Seabird would do no more than 4 knots in flat water and practically nothing against wind and chop. Further, the Yamaha has full control of the boat even into that chop. I plan to use it as a trolling motor, follow the divers, etc, which should cut my fuel consumption considerable.

New props dropped the max rpm from 5200 to 5000 with a light load (full fuel and one person) That's right at the top of the recommended rpm range for this engine. I talked extensively to a prop guy and decided to go with less pitch than I originally wanted. Think I got it just about right. Found the props used, like new, on Craigslist.

Platform is outstanding. I had it built to include a big box (5.8 ft x 1 x 1) for storage of freediving gear. This takes care of the only real drawback in the Seafari, lack of gear/fish storage. One negative, we made the box lids a little too close to the transom rub rail and I had to mount the platform a couple of inches lower than planned. That may require some modification down the road.

Looks like max efficiency based on the vac gauge is 3200-3300. I did a 15 mile mpg run and must have messed up somewhere, got 2.3 nautical mpg. Will redo that. Boat speed (and mpg) seem very sensitive to tab and trim. Lots to learn on how to tweek it.

Speed at a given rpm with the new props picked up about 3.5 knots in the 3200-3400 range. Looks like 27-28 knots at 3300. That will drop some with a heavy load, not sure how much. Did not write down the max speed, but I think 44 knots.

Here is a funny one, maybe somebody can shed some light.

I have two gps units. the one that came with the boat (all data above) and a hand held Garmin 76 off my old boat. The two give quite different speeds, 7-8 percent off, with the Garmin giving slower speeds. Makes quite a difference at 25 knots. Anybody know why?

And I promise, really, to take a bunch of pics this weekend and try to figure out how to post them.

Thanks to all for your help.

Connor