Maiden Voyage in the books

Jw_Tampa

A few observations, pics and a question.

First the 350 Mag with the Bravo III just leaps out of the water when going from no wake to cruising. I would guess around 4 seconds to plane? Made the wife smile and that's not easy to do!

Second with a full load of fuel, supplies and 4 people I am missing trim tabs. Not that there is a noticeable list to one side, you just feel it a little min turns and course.

Third, this is a fun boat! She really can handle a lot of water time. For those familiar with the Tampa Bay area we put in at the marina (high and dry) by Indian Rocks beach and took the I.C. up to Caladesi Island and even with no wake zones it was only a 30 minute trip.

We were cruising about 40mph and we topped at 50mph! I'm curious to see what my fuel burn rate is, that's why I topped off gas before running out so I can compare later this week when we go out again.

So my question is - We have a bow anchor and it stores in the bow compartment, however we do not yet have a second anchor to anchor the stern. we will be using this second anchor just for when laying up around the islands when it is busy and we don't want to swing the stern.

What size is your second anchor and where do you keep it?

Thanks in advance, here are my obligatory first pics.

MarkB

Wow, 50 mph.  350 mag will do that in your boat! Nice thing is your on the gulf side, nice flat water out there. We have a place in Treasure Island - will be there beginning of August for 2 weeks. Indian Rocks is only 15 minutes away.

Dream_Inn

Beautiful boat!  As far as anchor size, I'd say you should have something very similar to what you use on the bow.  Just my opinion, but when wind shifts, your entire boat could and does end up on the stern anchor.  Also it will give you a good second anchor if you ever need it to hold your boat.  As far as storage, I'll let someone that knows your boat tell you that one!

Enjoy those nice clear waters!

TikiHut2

That sky looks pretty familiar this time of year. We're just south of you in Sarasota...mostly. Sounds like a really fun ride. We also have a 350 merc but ours is pushing some serious pork compared to yours. We get out of the hole far better with tabs down and cruise at 4000rpm around 29mph getting just shy of 2mpg or 15gph. You should do significantly better.

A stern anchor for your boat is really only for backing up to the beach....which we do often. I keep a few feet of chain on mine with about 100' of nylon braid rode and it holds our 270 even in the most challenging cross current.

Great pics and welcome to the forum. Have fun and watch out for those squall lines.

Cya Mike

midweste

Congrats on a fun and safe maiden voyage! Thats a sweet ride for sure

raybo3

Great boat and awesome pic's....

DZ

Nice looking boat! Love our 246, and heading to it in the river in a couple hours. Can't get the 350 to do 50mph anymore though, after a couple months of river junk growing on the bottom. Even with bottom paint. Salt water would be nice, but has plenty of it's own problems. Enjoy!