FS17 - July 27, 2020 - Narfi's Build

[narfi]

Haven't built the windshields yet, still need to clean up the wire tangles, but it was close enough to lauch.

Brand new Mercury so didnt take it over 3500rpm but at 3500 we were going 24mph by the GPS, 17mph at 2800rpm. Thats with 3 of us on board and 19 gallons of fuel.

We filled it up with fuel which took a while, the fill hose has too many bends in it so couldn't open the nozzle wide open without it back feeding. Not sure if I will change anything or live with it. Then we hooked a hose up to it and tested it would start and run ok. (It did)

Then we dropped it in the water and Landon and I took it around the bay a couple times. Everything was smooth so we picked up momma and went out on the Lake. Put a total of 50 minutes on it but wind was picking up and we were starting to slam Landon in the front pretty good so we called it a success and headed back in.

The side drains are well above the water line but I didnt take measurements. Will have to play around with that a bit next time we are in the water. I did have Landon and Alison both stand against the motorwell bulkhead and with the full 19gal tank they were still above water(without me in the boat)

I'll post adventures on the water with it here and continue the build related info in my build thread.

[OrangeQuest]

Your boat looks right at home on the water and I really like the angle it is on plane. Bet there was 3 very happy people putting that thing on the water!


The extra spray coming up at the transom, is that the transducer kicking it up? Did it read ok on plane?

[Jeff]

Congrats Narfi, she looks great on the water!!! Jeff

[silentneko]

Congratulations! Looks like it's floating nice. 24mph at 3500rpm is pretty good with a stock prop. I was hoping for a 25-26mph cruise at 3800-4000rpm when I'm done. To many people focus on WOT speed, but how often will you run wide open for a long time.
Well you definitely beat me to the launch.

[narfi]

Your boat looks right at home on the water and I really like the angle it is on plane. Bet there was 3 very happy people putting that thing on the water!


The extra spray coming up at the transom, is that the transducer kicking it up? Did it read ok on plane?

Yes very happy! Was one of those surreal feelings when we were coming back into the bay, a moment you have dreamed about and it just registers that you are now experiencing it A feeling usually reserved for extravagant vacations that you plan for years in advance.

Good question about the transducer, I never even messed with it while we were out, only had the engine info on screen. I still have a lot to learn about the use of the MFD, but like you said, we had 3 eager people ready to get out of the house I can toy around with that as we go.

Last 2 weeks has been a hard push to get this far, and now even less time as we will be on the water more, and I have 2 weeks backlog of mowing the lawn and burning trash to get done as well.......

[narfi]

Congrats Narfi, she looks great on the water!!! Jeff

Thanks!!!

Congratulations! Looks like it's floating nice. 24mph at 3500rpm is pretty good with a stock prop. I was hoping for a 25-26mph cruise at 3800-4000rpm when I'm done. To many people focus on WOT speed, but how often will you run wide open for a long time.
Well you definitely beat me to the launch.

Break in is up to 3500rpm for first hour varying settings, up to 4500rpm second hour varying settings and WOT for 1 minute increments every 10 minutes, and then the remaining 8 hours max 5 minutes WOT at a time.
I doubt I will ever need to go WOT much, it is a big lake, but I am cheap, so will have fun learning economy settings more than top speeds.(unless the weather turns on me of course)

As for beating you.... I did cheat quite a bit. Been going on marginal sleep last couple of weeks to get this far, got home last night and felt the stress had left me and I was in bed by 8 thought I would watch a movie and passed out promptly. The windshields arent done, need to figure out how to operate all the electronics, need to straighten the tangled wires everywhere, cup holders were cheap and most of their LEDs dont work, so we didn't really secure them down, just their cheap foam tape for now, but need to replace them with some sort of quality. Etc..... Ill be the rest of the summer at least in the build thread I think actually finishing the project. Was very nice to get it in the water though, looking forward to seeing yours wet as well.

[Fuzz]

Boat looks great on the water. And it runs really well too. I am sure it was a great day for all involved. Congratulations!

[joe2700]

Looks great! Love the performance report as I just hung a 60hp on mine but am still a ways from launch. Some good speeds for mid throttle though I'm sure mine will be a heavy one.

How tender is the boat? That's one of the things I'm most curious about. With a few people on board do you need to be careful as people move around at all or pretty stable?

[narfi]

How tender is the boat? That's one of the things I'm most curious about. With a few people on board do you need to be careful as people move around at all or pretty stable?

It seemed pretty stable, but I didn't really test that much. If weather is nice and we go out tonight, I might try walking around the gunwlaes and see how it feels.

As to the transducer question, I found a picture I took of the screen and it does seem to be displaying depth ok.

[cape man]

Oh Hell yes! Congrats! I too had those crazy 16 hour days at the end of the OD18 build and can appreciate the thrill of running her for the first time. You did it!