Summer 2007

At some point I put a sonar/fish finder in.  I got a Navman 4431with speedometer function (http://www.navmanmarine.net/fish-4431.html).   It worked well, but had a speed wheel that would disintegrate without any warning.  I replaced the speed wheel sensor three times until I could no longer find replacement parts.  The speedometer on the Searay is pretty useless as are most boat speedos, so I appreciated the Navman speedo.  We had a great summer on the water.

 June at Lake Lowell.  We used to catch lots of bluegill as well as bass and catfish there. 

 Of course a lot of playing and swimming off the swim deck!

 McCall in August - the best week of the year!  The boat stays in the water all week and we fish and play the whole time. 

 Trolling For big Mackinaw.  We catch a few.  Ev with his lucky fishing hat.  I think it really did work

 Then more of this after a little fishing!

 Nice September trip to Lowell again with my fishing boys.

Fall 2006 - Trim Tabs!

I wanted to try something to control speed and wake in the Searay SD 220.  A speed control like Perfect Pass, was too expensive, and I knew it would do nothing for my wake.  I saw the Volvo trim tabs (450 mm) and really liked them better than other designs.  And they were less expensive than Perfect Pass.
See: http://www.volvopenta.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Penta/Parts%20brochures/QL%20-%20Boat%20Trim%20System%20-%20Eng.pdf

I had to take a few deep breaths before I drilled some big holes in the transom!  Measure twice, cut once.  You tape the template down, and mark the holes.

 

You can see the holes I drilled to mount the interceptors.   From the inside, I drilled the holes to run the wires to the interceptors. 

 I took off the spark arrestor and laid a piece of siding on top of the motor to lay on to reach the area I needed to. 

 Here's the hole...

 Here is the connector. filling the big hole.

 I had to move this a bit to get the hole drilled on the port side.

 I used a small hole at first and a sprinkler flag to make sure I was in the right spot. 

 Here you can see where I mounted the control up front.  Nice hole...

 Yes, that does look better. 

 Here is the finished product on the transom. 

And do they work?   Yes and no.   I can now hold a speed much better, but the wake is still frothy.  I love being able to drive slow and pull a tube at 12 mph, and have the bow flat as can be.  They also allow me to level the boat when a hefty passenger is making the boat list to one side. 

Having had these now for 6 years, I would be hard pressed to own a boat without them.  They are slim and elegant, and take up almost no space.  I absolutely love them.  But, I still have a frothy wake at slow speed, and some trouble holding speed at 19 mph. 

The only trouble I have had with them was once when a mechanic unplugged them to service the boat, and then plugged them back in wrong.  It took me a while to figure it out. 

Here's how we rocked in summer of 2006!

 My fishing boys.  We caught a lot of bluegill and crappie near the dock at Lake Lowell.  You can see the dual props and the Bravo 3 outdrive in this photo.

My two year old looking pretty smooth in the shades,  

 Yes, she is about three months old and already on the boat.  And loving it... 

My best friend from high school driving the boat.  He is wishing he had something so fine...

 McCall, Payette Lake, in the summer.  We love our week at the cabin!

 My oldest daughter on the wakeboard.

 Beautiful water.

 Here's tiny in her sun bonnet.

 Mom and Miranda in the tube.

Beautiful boat! New 20 pitch prop set

New prop set.  The Bravo 3 has dual  props.  Since the 5.0L MPI engine is only 260 hp for a large boat like this, I found a 20p prop set on ebay for around $450.00.  It did give it a little better hole shot, getting up on plane, but it still seemed to be hard to hold that 18-20 mph speed.

  In this photo you can see the wake quality at about 19 mph.  Its a big wake, but not very clean. 

We also do some fishing out of this boat.  Here my son is trolling.

We used the boat all summer and loved it.  A few observations from using the boat:
1.  Hard to hold wakeboard speed of 18-20 mph.  That speed is just barely on plane, so I wanted to do something to try to hold that speed better.

2.  The wake is frothy at that speed.  Once you hit 21 and above the wake cleans up and is nice, but below that it is frothy.  I think the wide bow is why the wake is like that.  I do love all the space in the bow area. 

I have the Mercruise Bravo3 with the 5.0L MPI engine for an output of 260hp.

It came with a 22 pitch prop, and I wanted to try a lower pitch prop set to see if that would help the boat to maintain a lower speed. 

Purchased Used 2002 Searay SD220 in March 2005

I wanted to start this blog to show what a fantastic boat my Searay is, and to show all the things that I have done to make it functional for me and my family of six kids.

In the fall of 2004, after a long search I found the boat I wanted to purchase.  I first went to the Searay dealership and had them give me a quote on a new SD 220.  It was around $46K.  I decided that was too much, so I began looking for a gently used boat.  I found a nice 2002, on consignment at a Marine Max dealership with only 44 hours on it, but it was in Missouri!  I looked into shipping, and found out that I could get it shipped to Salt Lake City (a five hour drive from here) for $350.00.  So, We did it!  For a lot less than new, plus shipping.  Here is our first outing to Lake Lowell in Nampa Idaho, in May. 

Why did I choose this boat?  I wanted a changing room and a head.  For you boaters who like to stay on the water for a whole day, and want to make your wife and girls comfortable - it's the only way to go!  In early of late season you can change into and out of your swimsuit to match the weather. The sink allows for clean hands. Additionally, there is so much storage space on this boat.

I removed the table holder rack and cooler rack under the steering wheel area, and now I have space for a larger cooler and a laundry basket for jackets and additional clothing.  When we sleep on the boat, I can fit sleeping bags and pillows in there and never worry about them getting wet.

On the water the boat is smooth and responsive.  Trailering?  Well, you better have a good sized rig with a heavy duty tow package.  I have pulled this boat down to Lake Powell (12 hours one way) and it is a load with six kids and a weeks worth of gear!  But that is  an awesome and unforgettable vacation!