Raritan Bay Boogie

[SailorChlud]

So today I launched in the Raritan River with a friend and his son along, for a few hours of exploration and relaxation. The wind was pretty strong out of the west - right down river, adding to the 3-4 knot current. We took off fast from the dock!

Put in about a 32 NM jaunt around the bay, including gunkholing in Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island (where neither of us had ever peeked in before) and an hour or so on the hook off Keansburg beach, where we thought about swimming. I say thought about, because I got two rungs down the swim ladder and came back up - the bay still seemed to be sub-60 degree temps, so that was that.

Rolled past the Great Beds lighthouse on the way back, and had a photo op with the guests. Back at the dock by 12:30, and home by 1pm for a late lunch.

[Bikecop1]

Nice. Can’t wait to get mine out.

[cdavisdb]

Seafaris are so much fun, good one.

How do you like the performance of the 115? Low planing speed, cruise speed? If you load it heavy, does it make much difference in either of those two?

Looks like yours has the same gaps in the gel coat that my 1972 does. Same place too.

[SailorChlud]

Connor: I think the Johnson 115 is a good fit for the boat. Yesterday, with very calm seas, our max speed recorded was 29.8 knots with about a full tank, bimini up, and 3 on board. That was turning about 5600 rpm with a 3 blade aluminum 15.25x15 prop. The boat was not loaded down with extra gear, though, like it would be if we were going on a longer trip or diving. No livewell, either, and no big coolers of ice. I think with a full load it would still give me a good turn of speed. But only about 2 MPG, so with a 35 gallon tank we are not cruising far distances!

As to the gelcoat on the bow, I have yet to do the deck gelcoat repairs. The prior owner put some epoxy over some of the spots that have discolored, and I am terrible at matching colors, so have been avoiding that part of her restoration.

[Bushwacker]

Those later model looper “115”’s must be a lot stronger than the old 1975 cross-flow 115 that I had on my Seafari if it can turn that big a prop! I think I ran a 13.75” x 15”P OMC SST prop that gave me about 32-33 mph at WOT with a light load or 30 mph with a heavy Bahamas trip load. Used to cruise all day long at 4500 rpm/20 kts with those loads and averaged 2.8 mpg over 5 Bahamas trips, so I’d think your motor would do better than that.

Those old cross-flow motors weren’t particularly efficient but they were simple and easy to work on, plus they only weighed 300 lbs, so boat was well balanced and would plane easily at 12 mph! The one I had was extremely reliable; never failed to start once in the 31 years I owned it, and it was still running strong when I sold it!

[SailorChlud]

Hi, Denny: Actual mileage is now averaging 2.2mpg, but at least half of the time I am running at low planing speeds - say 12-15 knots, as it has been pretty choppy here this spring. I would expect that over a longer voyage, say cruising at 20-22 knots, mpg would go up. My other prop is an aluminum 15x15 BRP and it gets slightly better results.

[Bikecop1]

What the height of your Bimini.?

[SailorChlud]

I am not sure. I will measure it tonight and let you know.

[Bikecop1]

Thanks.

[SailorChlud]

Sorry for the delay - torrential downpours last two nights. But I measured the bimini bows. The bimini is approximately 5 feet wide from bend to bend at the top, and the length of the longest bow is 5 feet from the point it anchors on the pivot to the bend at the top. There is plenty of headroom for my 5'10'' height at the helm.