SO WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OR ON YOUR C-DORY TODAY??

[gulfcoast john]

Cat O’ Mine Repower

We decided to replace our 2010/2011 Yamaha F150 outboards with new F150’s with Digital Throttle and Shift and Integral electric steering. We’ve never had more reliable, bullet proof engines (now at 15 years) on 13 trailer boats over 40 years. Our calculus is that we hope to competently manage this boat on the water and on the road for another 10 years, when God willing, we’ll be 80. But then we’d be selling a boat with 25 year old engines. We know it’s not a great decision based solely on a ROI perspective. But we’re more interested in maximizing reliability as we cruise. Our Financial Planner said Go For It! As did experts we trust who know our style.

Our shop gave us $5,400 trade-in value on the 2010 F150s. . We lucked out that Yamaha is running a free extension of the warranty for six rather than 3 years now ($3600 savings over purchase). Suzuki 175’s would have been $10,000 less, but we’ve never owned one and never wanted more oomph than our faithful Yamahas have provided over our past 12 years with them.

Integral electric steering eliminated four hydraulic hoses and the SeaStar Liquid tie bar so that frees up engine bracket real estate without the seal leaks, manual realignment hassles etc.

We had all the fuel lines replaced with new Yamaha lines. All fuel hose manufacturers require ‘replacement’ at 10 years from the mfg date stamped on the hose (not boat purchase date), but I seem to be the only Brat to ever worry about this.

We opted for the Yamaha Electronic Keyless Start fob, which makes it impossible to start the engine if you Lock it with the Fob (with a red LED blinking, just like your car).

Thieves tend to skip these boats for easier targets. That system can be retrofitted onto any Yamaha Helm Master binnacle control.

Today the high was 78 degrees and calm in Pensacola Bay, so we clocked our initial one hour of break in time at varying from idle to 2000 RPM.

Cheers!

John

[colbysmith]

Electric steering, interesting. How's that work with the autopilot? Colby

[gulfcoast john]

Hi Colby,

It works because the autopilot is Yamaha, the rigging is all digital lines, the steering is Yamaha electric, and if you go with the joystick control, it too is all Yamaha. The table at the bottom lists the option packages with the Helmaster EX helm, which looks like a lit up Star Trek warp speed controller.

https://global.yamaha-motor.com/business/outboards/products/accessories/hm-ex/

We don’t have an AP (and never have). I understand how it’s indispensable for those who fish patterns, choose to cruise at low displacement speeds rather than cruising speeds, navigate long segments out of sight of land (where it really is surprisingly hard to steer a perfect straight line) and those who just want one etc. If I ever want to upgrade, the AP is just another module to rig. Although we’re outliers on this subject, we regard it as something we’d use so seldom that it’s not worth buying.

It’s interesting that this all-Yamaha approach mitigates against the problems you could encounter with different makers pointing the finger at the others when the Garmin pump, Seastar hydraulics, Simrad plotter, Raymarine AP etc don’t play well together or at all. And with widely spaced twin outboards, I can’t justify a joystick controller or thrusters for docking. It’s much cheaper to simply pay the fiberglass expert for the repairs every time we dock. Everyone's mileage is different.

John

[Captain Starbucks]

John,

It's nice to see you were so happy with your previous generation Yamaha's that you went with the same brand. You're the guy manufactures are trying to please and this time it worked!

I too was also curious about the A/P integration.

Rob

[gulfcoast john]

Yesterday we pressure-washed the exterior, including the brown stains above the waterline that we collected on the Down The Tenn-Tom cruise in Oct-Nov. Today it’s 76 degrees and sunny, and 90 degrees in the boat even with a full open door and all windows. We grew some moldy hairs on the mouse fur after the foggy mornings up there had condensation dripping off the window frames and ceiling and running down the mouse fur. It’s shedding with brushing and vinegar or hydrogen peroxide or Folex or Incredible cleaners, but it is 15 years old, so no surprise there. Since it’s only cosmetic, we’re not sure it’s worth investing in a pro total replacement project.

The new Yamaha F150 XSA engines with digital throttle, steering and shift are awesomely precise and quiet! Good riddance to the Sea Star liquid tie bar, four hoses and the engine bracket real estate it took up.

Jan 10 we plan to head down to cruise the Okeechobee waterway as an out and back, then stay at the Pink Shell Marina resort until the Hontoon Hoot in March. For planning purposes, I can’t find info on whether the Rim Route can be at planing speeds for us or not…as is so often the case, it may depend on local conditions like bass fishing tournaments, water levels etc. Good to be retired with no schedule. Appreciate any advice!

Last May we asked a fellow dry slip guy with much more experience than us to buff/polish the exterior with his pro Makita as best he could for $2500, and he did an unbelievably good job! It looked almost shiny new and reflective. There is now some expected oxidation, esp on the sun exposed side, and I’ll try my toy Shurehold buffer on that this weekend.

If Current Plans come to pass, we may finish our Loop this summer in only nine years! If not, no worries. Betty on Molly Brown’s blog yesterday wrote that they did the Gulf crossing after waiting only six days for a weather window and it was overall more pleasant than their Lake Michigan or Chesapeake Bay segments.

In three days, they start getting longer, so Summer Is Almost Here! Fire up the pressure washer and come down to enjoy south Florida!

John

[Pacificcoast101]

Merry and I went to the edge of Redondo Canyon a couple of nights last week for Blackwater dives. We hung our green fishing light overboard and waited for jellies, salps, and siphonophores to arrive. Instead, we were bombarded by millions of squid. We're hoping the swells will calm down soon so we can take photos on the sand to see the eggs and the animals who feast on the dead squid.

[DKennaC25]

Amazing!