No I/O's in the Keys?

[mikeasb]

Hi All,
My first post so bear with me please. I went to visit my parents in Ft Lauderdale over the New Year holiday and while there took a day trip to the keys just to sightsee . I noticed while driving that I did not see a single I/O powered boat being trailered anywhere on the whole trip. I saw lots of twin outboards on fishing boats and that makes perfect sense for the redundency of having two for offshore trips. My parents are quite elderly and don't get around well so I didn't stop at any marinas and ask anyone about this. Having owned both I/O and OB's I know that there is a fair amount more maint involved with an I/O. Is this the reason that I didn't see any in the keys? Or is it the safety of having the two OB's, or something else? Or was it just a bad day for seeing I/O boats? I seem to remember them being fairly common on the Intercoastal in the Miami/ Lauderdale area.

I ask this because I am hoping to trailer one of my boats to the Keys next year and do some sightseeing (daytrips only) and I can choose between I/O or OB. It will only be my wife and I so I don't really need my deckboat (the I/O).

I really enjoy the iBoats forums, and have learned a ton of stuff here.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Welcome to iboats!

I believe it is just a coincidence.......

Enjoy yourself here! Look around. Look at the iboats store.....great customer service!

 

[Craigmri]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Mike,

In most coastal areas around Florida the Outboard is king. Less Maintenance, lighter weight, better corrosion resistance and they can be totally tilted up out of the water(benefit is again less tendancy for corrosion and less tendancy for marine growth in the warm waters). Oh, and no bellows to leak and potentially sink your boat.

Craig

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Plain and simple....OBs are better suited for Salt water than the vast majority of I/Os. In a raw water cooled I/O (most) you have water running through an iron block that was designed to be used in a car/truck. All motors need to be flushed after use in salt water, however, an I/O is more vunerable to corrosion than an OB.

 

[mpsyamaha]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

another consideration is all the shallow water in the keys, generally speaking I/O boats need more water. a smaller outboard powered boat is great for the keys. and as far as offshore fishing goes, outboards are definitely the vast majority.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

owners pay big bucks for their hulls, to match the type fishing they like. when it comes time to repower, it is much cheaper to change outboards.

we spend August on Little Torch Key. just recently sold our I/O, and going to a 27' AquaSport W/ 2 225 4 stroke yammys. the yammys will be much easier to maintain, than the 5.0 and outdrive.

 

[mikeasb]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Thanks for all of the replies everyone. It makes sense that the outboard would be better suited for salt water. Hadn't considered being able to tilt up all of the way out of the water. My boating has all been done in freshwater lakes and rivers and at the end of the day you put the boat on the traler and take it home. No issues with marine growth.

mpsyamaha- I did notice how shallow the water was in the Keys and with a lot of very mean looking reefs. I guess being from Kansas (not alot of reefs) I figured the ocean to be a very big deep lake surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches. Looks like getting around in the Keys could be challenging. At least the water was the clearist I have ever seen. Looks like my St. Maurice is up for the trip.

Thanks again everyone

 

[DukesFin]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

If you are going to be putting around the Keys in your boat and you've never been there before, GET A MAP of the area, or better yet, if your GPS has a card slot, buy the card you need for that area!

The keys can be a maze of VERY shallow water as well as deep, but it's the short sandy beach/reef that will get you! All it takes is a few feet of sand to ruin your trip/boat/day!!!

Personally, I'd never think of boating in the Keys without my color GPS and map card! I've beached a boat once and hope to NEVER repeat that!

Have a blast though!!!!

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Yeah boy! The keys can be a fun and exciting place to go boating. I lived there for a few years. A good GPS and map are essential. Also, talk to the locals about the good and bad places to go. When near shore or on the bay side, try to follow the larger boats and stay in their path. Mark your starting point and destinations on your GPS. Once away from shore, it all looks the same.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

you can run aground 300 miles off Newfoundland.

The posts above explain why OB's are also the preferred motor in the lower Chesapeake Bay adn mid-Atlantic coast, for boats under 21' and for many up into the 20's. The people who have the "lake boat" set-up: heavily padded and carpeted bow-rider I/O's are usually the ones whose boating is confined to sitting, riding and looking. Mariners call them "pimp boats" and "sofa boats." The rest are out there getting down and dirty, embracing the elements and testing the limits.
The fresh-water bass boaters who come out in the bay are called "the Sparkle Boys" due to the paint jobs. They are the only ones whose trailer's color scheme matches the boat's. Like the I/O, it is a boat style not best for open salt water.
To each his own. Some people want a Lincoln and some want a F150. So when seeking advice on a national-scoped forum such as this, it's important to discern the background perspective of the expert--no right or wrong, just different.

 

[mikeasb]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Dukesfin/rjlibscomb-Thank you for the good advice, I had already planned on getting the appropriate charts and a GPS. In fact I am going to shop for a GPS next month at the Topeka boat show and get one that I can load the local lakes on so that I can practice with it in familiar waters this summer. I have never used a marine GPS before so I figure some practice is in order. I picked up some charts when I was in Florida over New Years just to familiarize myself with the coastline but of course will get the latest charts before I ever put the boat in the water. The suggestion about following the bigger boats is a good one, thanks.

And yes Home Cookin I am going there to-sit, ride, and look, and I do not consider myself to be a "Mariner" I have spent most of my life horseback or in the cab of a tractor.

Thanks again everyone for the great advise.

Mike

 

[waju]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

I've wondered the same thing when I was in Dubai a few years ago. Probably 95% of the small boats there had twin outboards. They were usually 30 to 40 footers but were setup for fishing. The larger boats were usually very big and you would have to hire a crew the just the engines would be physically bigger than my boat.

 

[almostblue]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Hi All,
My first post so bear with me please. I went to visit my parents in Ft Lauderdale over the New Year holiday and while there took a day trip to the keys just to sightsee . I noticed while driving that I did not see a single I/O powered boat being trailered anywhere on the whole trip. I saw lots of twin outboards on fishing boats and that makes perfect sense for the redundency of having two for offshore trips. My parents are quite elderly and don't get around well so I didn't stop at any marinas and ask anyone about this. Having owned both I/O and OB's I know that there is a fair amount more maint involved with an I/O. Is this the reason that I didn't see any in the keys? Or is it the safety of having the two OB's, or something else? Or was it just a bad day for seeing I/O boats? I seem to remember them being fairly common on the Intercoastal in the Miami/ Lauderdale area.

I ask this because I am hoping to trailer one of my boats to the Keys next year and do some sightseeing (daytrips only) and I can choose between I/O or OB. It will only be my wife and I so I don't really need my deckboat (the I/O).

I really enjoy the iBoats forums, and have learned a ton of stuff here.

Thanks,

Mike

Shallow(er) draft, redundancy (with dual outboards), lighter weight, more flexibility.. But I prefer the I/O. but ONLY with fresh waste (closed system) cooling with a heat exchanger. Salt absolutely destorys everything out here if you don't rinse very well. I just saw a 2002 Yamaha 4 Stroke from a diveboat in the Keys that was almost completely eaten by salt.
I hate salt - even dry salt ! I used sand from our beach to lay underneath a brick path.. the salt in the DRY sand complete devoured a galvanized junction box.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

I have always ventured down to fish and boat, and we can do this all year long. Those boats spend a lot of time in the water, and an outboard seems to hold up better than I/O's in that heavy salt environment. As one guy mentioned, an OB can be tilted all the way up...many I/O's can't.
And I agree with TD..some of those old Mako hulls form the 70's are still seen and some I am sure are on their third or fourth repower. Lot cheaper and easier with an OB...

 

[Willyclay]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Looks like my St. Maurice is up for the trip.

I think a lot of forum members are hoping you will take the Starcraft instead. Good luck!

 

[mikeasb]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

I think a lot of forum members are hoping you will take the Starcraft instead. Good luck!

Interesting comment--Why the Starcraft?

The Starcraft has better sea keeping qualities than the St. Maurice but the St. Maurice is shallower draft, albeit by only a few inches.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

i was in a local shop not long ago, they were installing 2 250hp ETEC's on an old Wellcraft. the boat had a great set up. the owner had to really like it to put that kind of $$ on it's transom.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

A lot of people around here repower very old boats, especially if they have had them a long time. Maintained, nothing much can go wrong with a good fiberglass hull. So for the dollars, if you have a hull that works well for you, it makes sense to put $12,000 of motor on $1,200 of hull!
And you should see some of the hulks the crabbers use sporting brand new motors.

As to the comment about the motor on the dive boat--when talking about how motors age, the commercial use is a whole 'nother conversation. The best motors can be up for replacement after 2 years. I figure when Yamaha says "1 year or 100 hours" they figure that's an average recreational use. Or look at it this way: you saw a 8 year old commercial use motor eaten by salt--and still running!

 

[mikeasb]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

Home Cookin--We do much the same with tractors/trucks, I just put a new 16K engine in a 21 year old tractor. The rest of the tractor was in really good shape, hydrosat transmission, 4 wheel drive, hydraulics, cab etc, all real good. With new engine, tractor worth maybe 20K, without, worth the parts. Also the tractor is paid for and to replace it with new rig would cost 60-70K, and would not do the job any better then the one I have.

We get about 5 years out of a good "everyday" ranch horse, then we keep our good saddle and "repower".

Thanks again for the good input.

Mike

 

[capt sam]

Re: No I/O's in the Keys?

I spend a lot of time on Big Pine Key, alot of the channels are marked in the most commonly used areas, tides really affect where you can go near land. You read the water there just like anywhere else and you're fine most of the time, it's the oddball coral head that gets you.