First time boat owner

[NWJeff]

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to post a quick thread here and say I am finally a first time boat owner! I wanted to give kudos to all on this website as it seems most everyone is very knowledgable about their passion of boating and I have learned so much just reading on this site! I'm sure i'm going to have numerous questions in regards to boating and the boat I picked up (94 Maxum 2000 SR) and wanted to give everyone a thank you ahead of time for the help i'll need haha... Looking forward to picking the brains of what I believe to be the best boaters online!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: First time boat owner

welcome to iboats and I hope you enjoy your new boat!

See if you can get a knowledgeable boater to go with you on your first trip--even hire someone. Do not, however, take the family for the maiden voyage. Big mistake.

If you also have to launch at a busy ramp, practice your driving and backing off-site, and then go on a weekday when it's less crowded for your first; do several launch and retrieves when no one's around.

 

[NWJeff]

Re: First time boat owner

Thank you Home Cookin for the friendly welcome and the wise words of advise! I'm pretty lucky in a few aspects... My brother in-law is an avid boater so it will absolutely be a him and I maiden voyage to dial everything and my step-father has a private access dock on smaller local lake here for me to perfect my skills. I definitely dont want to be the "newb" when I get to the good spots haha... Luckily I have my class A cdl so backing and towing is the one part I can be 100% confident in. I think my main concern and need for help is going to be getting down to the nitty gritty and knowing my boat thoroughly and I have no doubts that this is going to be the place to help me with questions. Thanks again!!!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: First time boat owner

Once you figure out everything that needs to be done, make a list and use it!!
Eventually you will remember every step to have a fun day.
Nothing wrong with going after work and making a few practice dry runs at the launch. I do it with every new boat I get, and it helps!!

 

[littlerayray]

Re: First time boat owner

welcome aboard and make yourself a checklist

 

[NWJeff]

Re: First time boat owner

Hey there everyone,
Sorry it took so long to get back and let everyone know how the maiden voyage went (if anyone cares to know hahaha)... So after a couple weeks of cleaning the boat back up and getting all the little things I noticed taken care of and water worthy (not to mention the thousand + bucks I spent on all the required boat supplies and upgrades that I wanted haha gotta have a kickin stereo), I was finally able to get my boat in the water for a maiden voyage. Boy was I impressed!!! She ran fantastic, oil pressure stayed good always, temp stayed right on the money, charge was good and didn't burn as much fuel as I anticipated I would. Guess there is a plus side of the 3.0LX 4 banger... After all the research I did on this forum I was a little skeptical of the prop that was on the boat (13.75" X 21" P) but it did really well and I think I'm happy with it! Jumped right up on plane and was hitting 43 mph at 4600 rpms.

My only concern with the boat, and here is where I reach out to you folks, is the steering was really hard when on power?? Steers easy on the trailer, well easily enough to not have the outdrive clapping around. Steered very easily at low rpm cruising around (has the low speed wander which I hear is normal for the sterndrive?) but when I power up on plane and keep the rpms on it is really stiff to steer. So stiff my arm was kind of sore from it and I'm sure the old lady is not going to be thrilled about having to put in that much work to steer it haha... My boat does not have power steering so I'm curious if this is just the normal for a sterndrive with no power steering? Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you guys for reading my short novel!

 

[emilsr]

Re: First time boat owner

Great news.....glad she ran well for you!

Yea, gonna be hard to steer at speed without power steering. As long as it doesn't "pull" to one side or another that means the trim tab is set up properly....that's about all you can do.

 

[NWJeff]

Re: First time boat owner

Thank you emilsr! I'm sure i'll get used to it. I'm actually going to try lubing everything up and see if it gets any easier but if not, then it is what it is! I'm sure there are alot of people out there that have gotten a used boat and have had way bigger issues than being concerned about stiff steering. I'm considering myself lucky that this is my only concern! In my research on why it's hard to steer, almost everyone talks about "pulling" to onside or the other. Mine went straight as an arrow just drives like my 63 chevy with no power steering haha... Needs a bigger seat in the boat so I can seat bounce the turning like I have to do in my hot rod hahaha... Have a good one!