23' Sceptre Repower

[bmajvi]

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?