Boating season is now done done.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
12/04/2018 at 17:01 • Filed to: None

I actually hauled it out for the season a month ago, but it had been at the fiberglass shop getting a fresh coat of bottom paint and barrier coat. Since I was heading up to Albuquerque anyway today, I picked it up on the way North. As always, the 2.7 ecoboost is deeply impressive towing. It was real windy today, so mileage suffered at 11.5mpg with the cruise control set at 80ish. Not the 13.5 mpg it posted in the spring on a less windy day, but still only the second tow vehicle that’s ever posted double digits towing this boat (my old 02 F-250 powerstroke being the other).

The boat is now all tucked away until early March.

Bonus content: the apartment building in the background of the second picture doubles as the Sandpiper retirement community in Better Call Saul.

DISCUSSION (10)

HammerheadFistpunch > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
12/04/2018 at 17:14

looking at the weather for where our boat is stored last night. -9 for the low. hmm. I hope I did a good job winterizing it.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > HammerheadFistpunch
12/04/2018 at 17:21

I’m too nervous to winterize my boat. I’ve heard too many horror stories about cracked blocks. My cousin had done his own for a few years and messed it up last year to the tune of $4000 in repairs.

HammerheadFistpunch > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
12/04/2018 at 17:26

I still can’t figure out how you crack a block since most have freeze plugs, but I did mine this year. Here’s hoping! I pulled all the blue drain plus and blew out the heater core so I can’t imagine too many more places water will hang out. Im a little worried about the ballast pumps and sacks though now that I think about it.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > HammerheadFistpunch
12/04/2018 at 17:39

Well, I don’t know if it was actually a cracked block but whatever issues he had were from improper winterization and cost him $4k to fix. He was understandably not in a mood to talk about when I had asked him.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
12/04/2018 at 17:41

Fat boat and a little truck

*sung to Chris Farley’s fat guy in a little coat tune*

24' cuddy cabin?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > HammerheadFistpunch
12/04/2018 at 19:29

There are lots of cavities in the block below the level of the freeze plugs that water gets trapped in, at least with GM big and small blocks. This boat isn’t too bad to winterize, but that’s only because I’ve done it 15+ times. Fog the engine once it’s on the trailer at the ramp, haul it out and pull the two plugs on the manifolds, seawater pump discharge hose, two drain plugs on the block and the drain plug on the engine oil cooler. On this boat, there is also the port a pottie and sink to winterize.

My best friend’s father bought a boat with cracked block from not being winterized here in NM a few years ago. He ignored my advisc e on getting a PPI... I went out with them the first time to show them the boating ropes a bit. I started the boat on the ramp and water started shooting out the sides of the block. I told him it could only be cracked manifolds, which I knew wasn’t the case, but after having urged him incessantly to get PPIs on boats he was looking at I didn’t have the heart to tell him he just bought a boat with a lump of scrap metal for an engine. Another $6.5k and a few months later, he got to take his boat off trailer for the first time.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
12/04/2018 at 20:27

22 foot bowrider , with a cabin/changing area/bathroom/sleeps 1.5 person area ahead of the helm. It is a big and deep 22 footer, at a bit shy of 6500lbs with the trailer when full of fuel, water and gear.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
12/04/2018 at 23:41

Yea, on the trailer it looks similar to ours which is a 24’ cuddy. Don’t see many bow riders that tall window top to Hull bottom.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
12/05/2018 at 01:05

Today pretty much every manufacturer has a big bowrider with a cabin on one side (and now most of them are in the 25 or 26 footer range and up) , but so far as know this model was the first of the type in 94/95. With a 7.4l Mercruiser in the back and a bravo 3 drive, it has been a great boat. We’ve had it since it was new. I’ve thought it is pretty similar is size to yours.

boxrocket > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
12/05/2018 at 06:22

I read the headline as “BLoating season”, and seeing the picture of your nicely-sized F-150 was such a lovely mental palate cleanser after seeing the horrors of the new HD silverado. Then I saw the boat and reread it. Not disappointed.