Quote:
Originally Posted by Baja Guy
I'm a part timer but I'm here now. Took my old Baja out today and finally got to really use it as intended. I've had it about 14 months now and it's finally mechanically correct.
Today I took the kids & wife for ice cream after an early supper. We had a nice ride up to Center Harbor from just above Trexler's. When we started home it was 7:30 and the light was fading so I looked for my stern lamp, couldn't find it anywhere.
A guy in a yellow Donzi Classic left the Center Harbor docks at the same time as I did and jumped right up to speed as I was discovering my lamp was missing. So being the optimist I am and having just had my boat in chop all afternoon I told the kids to hold on and we would rip it home. We ran home at 45MPH indicated. I followed the Donzi below the lighted marker and then he peeled off toward Pine Island to the east.
What a fun ride boiling along in smooth water on a weekend evening!
You need to understand that I grew up with a 68 Evinrude 115 that would go 32 on a good day. The 5.7 Baja felt like it loved going 45, it wasn't maxed, there was a little more throttle, but I was doing the limit and there's not much sense in overrevving and risking both a ticket and engine issues. I sure would like to put a speed prop on there. I'd guess it might turn a 23" propeller with the way it was pulling the 19 pitch that's on there now.
Oh well, maybe somewhere else where speed limits are higher.
Whatever, I thoroughly enjoyed my fast ride. We made it to the dock before the sun set, and when I got done tying up I looked down and there in the gunnel was the stern lamp hiding behind my paddle. Oh well, burned an extra gallon, but I sure did smile.
|
Sounds like fun. My boat seems to like 40+ MPH too, and it does not use much more gas to do it. At worst, I pay a 10% penalty in fuel economy when going 40 instead of 30. My MPG at 25 is worse than it is at 40 too... That said, I have to run 3600 to 3800 RPM (depending on load) to maintain 40 and my basic 7.4 MPI engine is not built for sustained running at those speeds.
You need to know your WOT RPM with the 19" prop before jumping to a 23". If the engine cannot reach it's normal WOT with a 23" prop, you'll shorten the life of the valves by lugging it.