Re: Some Questions
OK. Baja's are fine boats. I have heard some complaints about product support, but that's what iboats is for, you do not need Baja for anything. BTW welcome aboard!
You need to do a lot of reading around here and maybe poke around on Boat Test . com and look at some test data. Basically 23 foot planing hulls get around 3 - 3.5 MPG at best cruise speed. Yours being carbed will be towards the 3. Electronic Fuel Injected (EFI, MPI, TBI) engines will do better. Your best cruise speed for economy will be somewhere around 3000 - 3500 RPM. This is not about engine efficiency as much as it is about hull efficiency. Almost all pleasure boats of that size run between 40 and 55 MPH, because they do not have gears this automatically makes the most efficient planing speed in that RPM range. Don't spend a lot of time stressing about that, it just happens. You'll get from 2.5 - 3 MPG at 4000 RPM and less than 2 at wide open throttle (WOT). Probably around 5 MPG at idle.
Most Bajas have high deadrise hulls (sharp V). This makes them a little unstable from side to side at rest, but very smooth in chop and rough water at high speeds. Good luck, she should make you happy.
Is this your first I/O? Boat? Whether it is an Alpha drive or a Bravo, stay after the maintenance and go by the book!!!
