Update - First Trip 17MA 1995

[Wanaflatsfish]

Yesterday, Capt DonH and I were able to fish the new to me 1995 MA 17 which I recently purchased.  As mentioned in the rebuild thread, she's in nearly perfect condition cosmetically, but, I've had to do a lot of work on the fuel systems and electrical wiring which was out of date and never addressed in almost 20+ years.

 

We ran the boat yesterday from OutDoor resorts to New Turkey Key - stayed close on the first trip to get a feel for how she'd perform total trip 35 miles.

 

1.) Definately need a new prop....the 3 blade is a dog out of the hole...no idea what size is on it...but, it's taking about 3 boat lengths to come up on plane.

2.) The previous owner had a "dolphin" on the lower unit...it's causing the boat to run nose down and I could never get it to come up on the pad and run

3.) With his prop - it was running 39-41 WOT at only 46K rpm's....I want a 4 blade for whole shot as we fish shallow 90% of the time.

4.) Fuel Economy was right at 3.5 mpg as we ran most of the day between 28-32 mph at cruise and it was a great ride.

5.) Fishability - incredible - very very stable, live well worked great....handles well in the bit of chop we had during the day....

6.) On a scale of 1-10, I'm at a 9.5 right now on the decision to make the move - thanks to Paul (Conocean), Dave shoots, and my good friend John- Poleposition, all of whom owned MA's and moved me in the right direction.  On Saturday, took out Momma for an intercostal cruise and she was very happy with the ride and how dry it was even under windy conditions.

 

Next items -

 

1.) New Tires - it has a set of TowMaster tires that look to be originals or at least 5+ yrs old (Maxxis on order this week).

2.) Fix lights - had a problem with trailer lights

3.) Install Pro-Mariner battery charger

4.) Cover the holes in the stern cap where I attached the power pole bolts.

5.) Purchase Transducer and install for Garmin 741xs

6.) Get a new prop - 4 blade

 

At this point, the transformation will be completed and the boat will be ready of the summer and coming season....

 

More updates as they come....

 

 

dc

 

[MPFit]

Congrats! Glad to hear you're happy with the purchase. I'm in the same boat (no pun intended!) with a 4 blade. My prop spins in correct rpms but top end is 15mph less than the 21p Yamaha bulletin posted for my hewes; I'm no speed demon but I'm sure I could get same or better mph with a 4 blade AND better mpg AND better hole shot AND better slip in turns. Alas, I'm in no rush as I'm ok with terrible mpg (2.8) and top end at 33-35 with a 150 vmax. It is what it is.

good luck on your next fixes I look forward to keeping an eye on them!

[DaveC]

What motor are you running?  Check out Turning Point Propellers, they have an on line "prop wizard" that lets you insert all of the variables for you hull/motor, it will then calculate a couple of different props both 4 and 3 blade. And if you call ask for Phil, he's an old school "prop guy" and a great source of data.  They may even work a program out for you to test a prop and replace?  Seems like your revs should be a bit higher (115 ?). 

[Wanaflatsfish]

1 hour ago, DaveC said:

What motor are you running?  Check out Turning Point Propellers, they have an on line "prop wizard" that lets you insert all of the variables for you hull/motor, it will then calculate a couple of different props both 4 and 3 blade. And if you call ask for Phil, he's an old school "prop guy" and a great source of data.  They may even work a program out for you to test a prop and replace?  Seems like your revs should be a bit higher (115 ?). 

thank you....will do.

 

DC