The prodigal son has returned. 
We (ok, I) may have boat problem. This is the start of our fourth season of boat ownership. We are now on our 3rd boat. I hope it will be our last boat for a LONG time. This spring has turned into almost a copy of our last spring. We spent a few months discussing boats. Ours and the option of getting a different one. I was very close to moving forward with a supercharger install on the L96 in our MB F24. That would have required removing the stock ECM and running a GM ECM. That would have been fine, but I couldn't figure out how to make the Zero Off work with it. That meant swapping it out with Hydrophase and modifying the throttle to work with it. Yada yada yada, my wife decided she didn't want me doing all that. So the hunt began for a new boat. Just like last year we thought long and hard about building a new R23, or buying a used Z3. Storage to us is HUGE, so we reluctantly gave up those ideas as ballast would normally be full. We missed out on an awesome used RZX2 that Germaine Marine had because we were slow to respond. And then came VERY close to pulling the trigger on a new RZX3 they have, but after all the numbers came in it was just higher than the line we drew in the sand. So we reluctantly passed on it. Adam and Jason there have been great and very patient with us. I do hope to buy a boat from them someday.
At that point we started looking at an FI23. That's a nice boat, and brand new was within our budget. It has a ton of really cool features and my kids loved the idea of building our own and picking the colors. I'm sure glad we didn't go this route because of all the pinks and yellows they kept coming up with. Really my biggest hang up with that boat was how far back the tower was. I felt like I would hit my head every time I got in the boat. No thanks. Plus I really wanted a Tige.
We started looking hard at an RZX3 that PresTIGE watersports had in Boise. Chad (and Paden) made that decision a piece of cake. They gave me a great price and gave me what I needed on my trade in. I have to tell you, I was nervous about this one. One of my biggest hang ups was towing this heavy beast with my Ram 1500 ecodiesel. I love this truck and didn't want to get a new truck for towing duties once a week in the summer. Plus I think you all know concerns I have expressed about the "light weight" Boatmate 2 axle trailers. This one happens to sit on one of them. The last concern would be the power output of the 440 engine at our elevation.
So last friday I headed up to Boise to pick it up. Really full of fear. It was great to meet Chad and Paden and go over the boat with them. I then hooked up and started the drive home. I could definitely feel the boat back there. I felt slow to get going. As the miles passed comfort set in. I was at 70 pretty much the entire way home except on the bigger hill climbs. I got into some crazy side wind near the border of utah. The wind didn't phase the trailer, at all. That made me super happy. So it turned into a very uneventful trip home, covering about 360 or so miles at 70 mph and got just over 14 mpg. I can live with that. I have ordered air bags to help support the rear axle sag and to give support in bad roads. I think then the outcome will be great. I think my fears of these lighter weight trailers are about put to rest. I always keep a VERY close eye on my trailers while traveling so that will continue with this one.
We got it out on our lake for the first time on Monday night. I had no idea how to really work anything on the boat. I fumbled my way through the screen trying to set things up and run other things. We took off and got up to speed fast! 30 mph running only 3600ish rpms. My old boat did 24 mph at 5200ish, but was propped way down. We then figured out how to fill all the ballast full and got right up to 12.5 mph. Test #2 passed. I think it's safe to say this boat has a learning curve to it and I have a lot to learn! We look forward to getting out on it more in the next couple weeks and cannot wait for the water to warm up.
So I'm happy to say we are back.
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We (ok, I) may have boat problem. This is the start of our fourth season of boat ownership. We are now on our 3rd boat. I hope it will be our last boat for a LONG time. This spring has turned into almost a copy of our last spring. We spent a few months discussing boats. Ours and the option of getting a different one. I was very close to moving forward with a supercharger install on the L96 in our MB F24. That would have required removing the stock ECM and running a GM ECM. That would have been fine, but I couldn't figure out how to make the Zero Off work with it. That meant swapping it out with Hydrophase and modifying the throttle to work with it. Yada yada yada, my wife decided she didn't want me doing all that. So the hunt began for a new boat. Just like last year we thought long and hard about building a new R23, or buying a used Z3. Storage to us is HUGE, so we reluctantly gave up those ideas as ballast would normally be full. We missed out on an awesome used RZX2 that Germaine Marine had because we were slow to respond. And then came VERY close to pulling the trigger on a new RZX3 they have, but after all the numbers came in it was just higher than the line we drew in the sand. So we reluctantly passed on it. Adam and Jason there have been great and very patient with us. I do hope to buy a boat from them someday.
At that point we started looking at an FI23. That's a nice boat, and brand new was within our budget. It has a ton of really cool features and my kids loved the idea of building our own and picking the colors. I'm sure glad we didn't go this route because of all the pinks and yellows they kept coming up with. Really my biggest hang up with that boat was how far back the tower was. I felt like I would hit my head every time I got in the boat. No thanks. Plus I really wanted a Tige.
We started looking hard at an RZX3 that PresTIGE watersports had in Boise. Chad (and Paden) made that decision a piece of cake. They gave me a great price and gave me what I needed on my trade in. I have to tell you, I was nervous about this one. One of my biggest hang ups was towing this heavy beast with my Ram 1500 ecodiesel. I love this truck and didn't want to get a new truck for towing duties once a week in the summer. Plus I think you all know concerns I have expressed about the "light weight" Boatmate 2 axle trailers. This one happens to sit on one of them. The last concern would be the power output of the 440 engine at our elevation.
So last friday I headed up to Boise to pick it up. Really full of fear. It was great to meet Chad and Paden and go over the boat with them. I then hooked up and started the drive home. I could definitely feel the boat back there. I felt slow to get going. As the miles passed comfort set in. I was at 70 pretty much the entire way home except on the bigger hill climbs. I got into some crazy side wind near the border of utah. The wind didn't phase the trailer, at all. That made me super happy. So it turned into a very uneventful trip home, covering about 360 or so miles at 70 mph and got just over 14 mpg. I can live with that. I have ordered air bags to help support the rear axle sag and to give support in bad roads. I think then the outcome will be great. I think my fears of these lighter weight trailers are about put to rest. I always keep a VERY close eye on my trailers while traveling so that will continue with this one.
We got it out on our lake for the first time on Monday night. I had no idea how to really work anything on the boat. I fumbled my way through the screen trying to set things up and run other things. We took off and got up to speed fast! 30 mph running only 3600ish rpms. My old boat did 24 mph at 5200ish, but was propped way down. We then figured out how to fill all the ballast full and got right up to 12.5 mph. Test #2 passed. I think it's safe to say this boat has a learning curve to it and I have a lot to learn! We look forward to getting out on it more in the next couple weeks and cannot wait for the water to warm up.
So I'm happy to say we are back.
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