I'm back with a 1994 Islander 221V!

[Gibbles]

New prop ordered the other day.
I confirmed the other day that the props this thing has currently are both high five.
23 pitch and a 17 pitch.

I ordered a 3 bladed 4 1/2 inch with a 19 pitch off of amazon to try out.
From the reviews, it's a nice combo with the 4.3 MerCruiser and towing tubes around.

I also have a prop wrench in the boat now, figuring I can load up all three props when at the lake with the fam to try different options.

I'm thinking this weekend I'll run the 23 pitched high 5 to see if I still hate it.
Then swap the 3 bladed prop on to see how it does.

 

[Gibbles]

Splashed over the weekend.
The outing went very well, I think the water in the oil has stopped and it's just working the remaining bit out.




Ran it several hours on the lake near me, did some trolling with the little yamaha 9.9 kicker while I let the engine cool off (heat cycles)..

I found I'm digging the remote troll and its wireless remote.
I sat on the front with it chooching me around and had no problem steering the boat around the lake.

Then later around noon the lake started filling up.
Tons of boats and skidoos, wake boarders were 100% worse than the skidoos?!

As the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter outside.
The top went up and we proceeded to just cruise around the lake.
I found working the edges of the lake and going through others wakes seemed to be the best throttle usage for the ring seating adventure.

Oil changed, and so far, it looks pretty decent, I'm not seeing much water if any left in there.
I did see a little steam from the crankcase vents, but I think it's just working its way out at this point.

 

[Gibbles]

Also it has been over 100F the last few days.
I let the boat sit outside with the cover off for a solid day before the adventure.

The Faux teak finally started doing some shrinking?!
more than I thought it would for sure.
One side almost looks like it's sun burnt a little.



Oh well, it looks great but I'm also having issues with it sticking to the aluminum.
If I end up redoing it, I'm planning to clean the aluminum and hit it with some etching primer before applying.
That seems to be helping quite a bit.

 

[Gibbles]

I had a nice long weekend with the Islander (Thursday - Sunday)


The Faux teak is showing a little sunburn and it shrunk from sitting in the 100+ degree heat, but it still looks pretty decent overall.


The water at this lake is super clear and blue.

 

[Gibbles]

I also did some anchoring and got to try out the swim platform a few times.
That's the first time I have ever done that on a boat.

I'm really glad I went with the swim ladder that had extra steps vs a basic 2 or 3 step ladders.
It made it much easier to deal with.

I really like it, especially when it's just so damn hot outside, jump in the water and do a few laps around the boat to cool off.

 

[Gibbles]

I have been doing my best to enjoy the boat as much as possible, I missed a weekend because the wife felt she was too sunburnt from the weekend before that.

Last weekend we went out with another group, their little Glasser had the fun stuff like a tube and a wake board.


I have been thinking about getting a tube, so i finally pulled the trigger.

I bought a 12v high flow pump, airhead brand, and I'm planning to hardwire a dongle with a quick disconnect with a cap for its use/storage.
Maybe one day I'll install a flush plug, for now a dongle should work.

And I opted to get a two-person "wow" branded towable, spent a little extra for one that looked like it was easier to get on and stay on.
$149 shipped next day via amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077K4BK3Z?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

And reading they suggest a tow rope with a ball in the middle for a better experience for the captain and the riders.
I opted for the airhead, it came the same day so I went with it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01713ON4M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

I think the WOW branded one looked a little better since it has a covering to protect it, but it was iffy if it would arrive by this weekend, so i went with this.

I tested the pump by connecting it to a car battery, I found it filled up quicky, and the deflate function was just as fast.
It should work well to keep the toys deflated when not in use, and then fill up when needed.

I have an image but I'm getting errors trying to upload it?

 

[Gibbles]

I tried a few times, I can't upload an image of the toys.

Anyways, moving onto the next subject.

Last weekend I finally did some beaching with the islander.
Pulling into the boat camping cove at the local lake, I followed suit with the big cabin cruisers, dropped anchor in the front and backed up to the beach.

It went really well overall, but we didn't drop the anchor quite far enough out, I ended up with the lower in the full trailer position resting on the shore line a bit.
I just started imagining damage happening to that expensive gimble housing.


We also had a boat full of people aboard, and the father in law on the front to drop anchor.
I decided it would be really hard for me to park if it was just myself and the wife, so I'm now looking at anchor rollers for the front, and a possible windlass to assist me.

I'm just not sure what to buy, and what sizes I need.
At a minimum, a bow roller is needed to make it a little easier/faster to drop anchor.

 

[Gibbles]

WOW also sent me a little booklet with images and numbers of their other products.
One that caught my eye was a floating dock/platform.

I saw one of the big cruisers had those foam floating pads, they used that to cross from the water to the beach.
it seemed like a great idea.

The WOW floating platforms will zip together, allowing you to expand them.
I might try a couple of them to see what I think, but maybe not until next year.

 

[jbcurt00]

Pix are fubar at the server level. IT/Admin are aware, no fix yet

SOTY 2024