Best smallcraft for diving

[Hank49]

The absolute finest boat out there for fishing, diving or cruising is a 1997 Century 3000CC. Jacques Cousteau would be using this boat EVERY single day if he wasn't dead.
I am down to my last one of these boats, so when it's gone and sold to someone else, you will only have yourself to blame.

Nice boat for sure Tom. But with those twin Yamaha 2 strokes on there I bet it doesn't get 2 miles a gallon. Now if you want a REAL boat, try one of the Guatemalan made Mexican skiffs....with a 90 four stroke or an E-TEC.....

 

[Tom Winters]

Hank - I decided not to sell the critter after all. At 25 knots, I burn 19 gallons/hour and brand new 4-strokes on a brand new hull were only marginally better - not even 10%, and the guy paid $100K more for his new boat than I did for my old one.
If I slung a pair of big new E-Tecs on the stern, I'd pay more for them that I did for the whole boat. And I gotta admit, it's nice being out there in a 30' hull.
After working the numbers, it was actually cheaper to buy a trailer and tow vehicle rather than keep it in the water year round.
So I'm going to buy a giant trailer and a big truck to drag it, and it's going right next to the house where it belongs.
I promised my wife that I would not put in dive benches and tank racks. Well, I kinda promised.
Well no, I never addressed the ish-ee-yew. It'll just happen...
So if Jacques comes back from the dead and wants my boat, he's SOL.
You're going to like that E-Tec - 3 years before the first dealer service. Powerboat Reports bought one and had some trouble with it though, so keep a close eye on it for the first 100 hours.

 

[Aquanautchuck]

It is called twofolds.You see, you start out with the boat you need, the one that works and you can afford to operate. Then you see that shiny big one, two feet longer, you get it. Well, then you see another one, even more shiny and it is two feet longer. Pretty soon your saying things like, "I'm selling mine for $39K - I can't throw it on a trailer without buying a serious fuel-guzzling tow vehicle and a pretty good-sized trailer, especially now with gas prices hitting the $3/gallon mark."
Big is good but not so big can be good too. N

In my younger years this was me. Started with a nice 16' then fell in love with a 19' after a few years thought it would be nice to sleep in the boat over the weekend. So then it was a 26', I finally gave up after the 28', having to get a permit to just move it have a big rig and triple axle trailer to put it on became a pain. I love my handy little 16' Zodiac, but........I would like a couple more feet. Here I go all over again.

 

[james croft]

The best boat I have found to dive from is somebody else's boat. Very economical, minimal upkeep.

 

[Hank49]

Hank - I decided not to sell the critter after all. At 25 knots, I burn 19 gallons/hour and brand new 4-strokes on a brand new hull were only marginally better - not even 10%, and the guy paid $100K more for his new boat than I did for my old one.
If I slung a pair of big new E-Tecs on the stern, I'd pay more for them that I did for the whole boat. And I gotta admit, it's nice being out there in a 30' hull.
After working the numbers, it was actually cheaper to buy a trailer and tow vehicle rather than keep it in the water year round.
So I'm going to buy a giant trailer and a big truck to drag it, and it's going right next to the house where it belongs.
I promised my wife that I would not put in dive benches and tank racks. Well, I kinda promised.
Well no, I never addressed the ish-ee-yew. It'll just happen...
So if Jacques comes back from the dead and wants my boat, he's SOL.
You're going to like that E-Tec - 3 years before the first dealer service. Powerboat Reports bought one and had some trouble with it though, so keep a close eye on it for the first 100 hours.

I would have thought the four strokes would have improved the mileage by at least 40%. That's been my experience here with different size boats and motors. For instance, we had a 50 hp 4stroke and a 60 2 stroke (both Yamahas) on identical boats and the 50 burned about 55% the gas of the 60. I also had a Merc 115 4 stroke and it got more than twice the mileage of my Yamaha 150 2 stroke on the same boat. And I rarely ran the Yamaha over 3,600 rpms. (Both motors had correct props and would max out at 5,200 rpms).
I hear you on the trailering. Besides the savings on cleaning and paint, the fiberglass stays lighter, I'm told, and the boat will look newer for much longer if you can keep it out of the sun. Plus, down here in the boonies, theft if a major concern. They love to get the lower end or prop.
They say 3 years of no service on the E-TECS but I'm going to put new plugs in every 50 hours or so and change the lower end oil. It can't hurt and they are 2 strokes. I guess I just can't believe they won't foul plugs. But this 90 should be really economical. I'm putting it on a pretty flat bottom 25 foot skiff that weighs about 1500 lbs. These boats plane well with a 40 hp. Gas is US$5.15/gal here. I'll post a picture of the Carrot Juice (don't ask ) after I get her rigged.

 

[Marlinspike]

While I happen to really like my Sea Ray, I found your comment funny. Just yesterday while installing new speakers in my boat, my son (4 yrs) is standing up on the console/windshield area and states that we should fill the boat with water. I said why do that, and he responded, so that he could swim in it like the bathtub.

FD

Clearly you have a very gifted child with the insight of a true mariner.

~Marlinspike

 

[Nemrod]

Mercury OptiMax got the JD Powers Award this year. It is also a two stroke and mine is extremely fuel efficient. DFI two strokes are at least as efficient as the four strokes and lighter. The next generation Opti Max, still a ways out, will also be more quite than four strokes while retaining the weight advantage.
There were early problems with this E-tec, DFI, Opti, Orbital technology but it has all been ironed out and it looks like four stroke outboards are superior only if more weight is what you need. N

 

[Marlinspike]

Mercury OptiMax got the JD Powers Award this year. It is also a two stroke and mine is extremely fuel efficient. DFI two strokes are at least as efficient as the four strokes and lighter. The next generation Opti Max, still a ways out, will also be more quite than four strokes while retaining the weight advantage.
There were early problems with this E-tec, DFI, Opti, Orbital technology but it has all been ironed out and it looks like four stroke outboards are superior only if more weight is what you need. N

JD Powers relies on surveys, which are not an accurate measure of anything except what poeple want to say on a survey. According to thier 2005 survey of dependibility, Honda, Acura, Infinity and Toyota were LESS reliable than Lincoln and Buick. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? JD Powers results are often in conflict with results by Consumer Reports, which actually conducts independent testing instead of a silly survey.

JD Powers is not a reliable measure of quality, just a measure of the answers they got on surveys. People lie on surveys. There is a reason why statisticians and econometricians don't rely on surveys.

~Marlinspike

 

[Nemrod]

People don't like JD Powers when it does not agree with their preconcieved notions.

As to Toyota, having owned Toyots since college, they have lost quality and they are not as reliable and trouble free as they once were. I have a brand new one, in the shop a bunch. I think this is reflected in the JD survey results. Toyota is number three now and closing on number two, hope they don't forget what got them there--QUALITY and reliability.

The fact is that the new DFI technologies being marketed by Mercuy are Bombardier (Evinrude) are very efficient, light and increasingly reliable. There systems are not identical but both are efficient and light weight. N

 

[Hank49]

The fact is that the new DFI technologies being marketed by Mercuy are Bombardier (Evinrude) are very efficient, light and increasingly reliable. There systems are not identical but both are efficient and light weight. N

I had a Mercury and Yamahas. (don't know about the E-TEC...yet) but Merury just didn't seem to pay enough attention to detail in finishing the product. I've heard this from other owners of them here too. Mine, the first day I ran it, blew the water pressure guage line off the block, blowing sea water all over the engine and everything. The engine cover itself wasn't water proof. I always had some water in there after using the boat. My buddies 90 corroded (or something) through the head after only 3 years and less then 200 hours, and he had water in his oil and vise versa. I had a few other minor little things too. No complaints at all on the Yamahas (60,50 and a 150) except the gas consumption on the 2 strokes.