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Projects - Glacier Boats of Alaska boat projects / Re: GA30 in Silverton Oregon
« on: July 19, 2023, 09:09:13 PM »
Hey all! Great day and feeling good!
Working on the video tonight. It was a great first outing but not without problems. I had a fuel issue and ended up running my test off the 3 gallon kicker can. However, everything else worked great.
The Suzuki DF9.9B got us off the dock at Mongold Rec Area in good order. It moves the boat along about 6 mph at 2/3 throttle. Once I got the big motor going, it worked flawlessly. I kept it below 4k rpm and could cruise at just over 21 mph. The computer said 7 gph so at 20 mph that’s about 3 mpg. Briefly at 4500k I was doing 25-26 mph so I’m sure I can hit 30 once the motor is broken in. That’s all I need.
I played with the bow thruster as well. While docking in flat water it was very cool to sidle ride up to the dock. Can’t wait to get more used to that.
I put 40 gallons in the rear tank and the boat sat level in the water. With 90 gallons it’ll squat a bit, but with 40 gallons up front it should be level again.
It sits slightly to starboard, which can be addressed with equipment loads and maybe moving the batteries to port. Once planing it was flat and level.
There is virtually no transition from displacement to planing. She just rises out of the water! Very nice.
It was choppy out and she handled the chop well, better than my 20’ Thunder Jet did. She turns on a dime as well. Throw in the bow thruster and crab pots will be easy.
In short, no bad habits and no surprises. I need to add cup holders, some aft seats and get the cabinets in, though. But I figure a few hours on the punch list and she’ll be ready for a bigger trial next week.
Whew. Feels good.
Working on the video tonight. It was a great first outing but not without problems. I had a fuel issue and ended up running my test off the 3 gallon kicker can. However, everything else worked great.
The Suzuki DF9.9B got us off the dock at Mongold Rec Area in good order. It moves the boat along about 6 mph at 2/3 throttle. Once I got the big motor going, it worked flawlessly. I kept it below 4k rpm and could cruise at just over 21 mph. The computer said 7 gph so at 20 mph that’s about 3 mpg. Briefly at 4500k I was doing 25-26 mph so I’m sure I can hit 30 once the motor is broken in. That’s all I need.
I played with the bow thruster as well. While docking in flat water it was very cool to sidle ride up to the dock. Can’t wait to get more used to that.
I put 40 gallons in the rear tank and the boat sat level in the water. With 90 gallons it’ll squat a bit, but with 40 gallons up front it should be level again.
It sits slightly to starboard, which can be addressed with equipment loads and maybe moving the batteries to port. Once planing it was flat and level.
There is virtually no transition from displacement to planing. She just rises out of the water! Very nice.
It was choppy out and she handled the chop well, better than my 20’ Thunder Jet did. She turns on a dime as well. Throw in the bow thruster and crab pots will be easy.
In short, no bad habits and no surprises. I need to add cup holders, some aft seats and get the cabinets in, though. But I figure a few hours on the punch list and she’ll be ready for a bigger trial next week.
Whew. Feels good.