Might Add Sea Legs After All

[Renegade34]

The difference from what you could sell your lift for and the price of sea legs shouldn’t be too crazy.
Maybe you need to try and sell the safety aspect to your wife. Lol.
It could be costly if you hurt your back dragging that lift in and out. Especially that far.

 

[lakeliving]

Maybe you could buy an air boat and throw some Benny seats in it.

 

[Vikingstaff]

The difference from what you could sell your lift for and the price of sea legs shouldn’t be too crazy.
Maybe you need to try and sell the safety aspect to your wife. Lol.
It could be costly if you hurt your back dragging that lift in and out. Especially that far.

On a serious note, that is legitimate. Today I have been hobbled by my sciatic nerve flaring up after having worked on moving that lift out there yesterday. I have a bad back due to a car accident in ‘94, so that is an actual concern. Now back to icing it down and some ibuprofen.

 

[Link]

For me it is a no brainer, I would go for the sea legs. You said you enjoyed performance not sure if you tow kids or grandkids but for me whereas I am a slow cruiser and the sea legs would only cost me a little more gas to reach my 12mph cruising speed

 

[Vikingstaff]

For me it is a no brainer, I would go for the sea legs. You said you enjoyed performance not sure if you tow kids or grandkids but for me whereas I am a slow cruiser and the sea legs would only cost me a little more gas to reach my 12mph cruising speed

Our main uses are pretty evening divided between water sports and cruising the lake. Since kids are older, water sports involves teens to mid-20’s young adults, with younger nieces, nephews, and friends kids sprinkled in.

ALL of that said, with my 200hp Verado, Sea Legs does not really impact that too much. I rationally have speed to spare - like 15 extra mph above water sports needs, let alone my wife’s comfort level.

However, when on my own, I LOOOOOOVE going out in the middle of the lake and hammering my throttle for awhile. Heck, I’d go faster if I could with my current set up.

Clearly PADS is hitting me. I need more HP to combine with Sea Legs! Anyone want to buy my boat for about $20k MORE than I paid so I can move up a couple models and motor sizes?

 

[Michiman]

Jeff, I think it's pretty clear that performance is still a key driver in this decision. I think I'd stick with the lift at least another season. Just like the toon blemish, adding sea legs might leave you thinking about your "reduced" performance every time you open it up. The mind is a powerful thing...

 

[Vikingstaff]

Jeff, I think it's pretty clear that performance is still a key driver in this decision. I think I'd stick with the lift at least another season. Just like the toon blemish, adding sea legs might leave you thinking about your "reduced" performance every time you open it up. The mind is a powerful thing...

Good point. And, I can be patient. The lake and boat are not going anywhere.

 

[Renegade34]

Just out of curiosity, what is your top speed right now?

 

[Vikingstaff]

With a light load at WOT it is about 43-44. Medium sized group around 38-41. Fully loaded with people, 36-38.

 

[DaveyJ]

I have a 2013 2375GCW ESP with a Yamaha 150 and sea legs and can tell you that there is a definite performance hit. We bought the boat used 2 years ago and it already had the sea legs installed so I don't know the exact hit but, based on the performance bulletins with larger motors, it's pretty substantial. The added weight, loss of the underskin, and the legs themselves hanging below deck create a substantial amount of drag. My top speed with just me and running a 15 1/4 x 15 prop is 33mph. I have the boat currently propped for pulling tube with 8+ people on board so 29 is my current top end. The other part of the equation is you will be losing roughly 680 lbs off of your capacity rating which depending on the boat can be a huge issue. Our boat is rated for 15 people so we have more flexibility than most. Additionally, depending on the type of bottom you drop on, the feet will get mud/rocks on top of them so they don't close properly. This will cause you to drop the legs in the middle of the lake to clean them so you can close them so they don't create more drag than normal. I've also had 2 hydraulic leaks which required mid-season trips to the dealer. I have a love/hate relationship with my sea legs. They serve as a means to an end in that we rent a cabin and didn't have to buy/install/store a lift for the boat and could just drop right next to the dock but there are definitely tradeoffs for the convenience. You have a larger motor so the hit won't be as pronounced as our boat but I wanted to give you my 2 cents with my experiences. I've attached a couple of pics - first one shows the legs deployed out of the water and the second shows how the legs look tucked up.

 

[cwag911]

Do you have an aluminum prop on that? That will give you a bigger hit.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Thanks! This was very valuable input. I appreciate it!

 

[DaveyJ]

Do you have an aluminum prop on that? That will give you a bigger hit.

I would normally agree with you if my boat weren’t so heavy. I have run 5 different props on the boat including a 14 pitch Enertia that I demoed. The best top end prop was the aluminum 15 1/4 x 15 prop that was on the boat when I bought it (33 mph) while the Enertia was good for 31. My theory is that the weight of my boat (roughly 4200lbs with half a tank of gas) basically makes my 150 into a 115 so she can only do so much. The 150 is a borderline motor on a 2375GCW without sea legs and is definitely underpowered for my setup. The platform is rated for 250hp and, if I had that motor, I’m sure I wouldn’t have any performance concerns and would have a permanent smile.

 

[Michiman]

DaveyJ, I think you're absolutely correct that you are somewhat underpowered.

 

[Renegade34]

In hindsight I should've went with the 200hp instead of the 150hp. I was ready to spend the $3500-$4000 but my dealer said I'd have to go with digital controls with the 200hp which added another $2500 (and another approx. $2500 for power steering which I'd likely need with the 200) and that was more than I wanted to spend. Of course soon after I bought it Mercury came out with a 200hp with cable controls
Oh well, my goal was 30-32 mph with the Sea legs and I can reach 35-36 mph so I can't complain. I also haven't found steering too bad with the 150 but may add the power assist down the road.
Also, fyi, the new method of installing Sea Legs doesn't require removal or modification of the underskinning.

 

[DaveyJ]

In hindsight I should've went with the 200hp instead of the 150hp. I was ready to spend the $3500-$4000 but my dealer said I'd have to go with digital controls with the 200hp which added another $2500 (and another approx. $2500 for power steering which I'd likely need with the 200) and that was more than I wanted to spend. Of course soon after I bought it Mercury came out with a 200hp with cable controls
Oh well, my goal was 30-32 mph with the Sea legs and I can reach 35-36 mph so I can't complain. I also haven't found steering too bad with the 150 but may add the power assist down the road.
Also, fyi, the new method of installing Sea Legs doesn't require removal or modification of the underskinning.

Do you have any pics of the sea leg install with the underskin intact? Be curious to see how they do it considering the mess of hoses I have running all over the bottom of my boat. Also what Benny do you have?

 

[DaveyJ]

DaveyJ, I think you're absolutely correct that you are somewhat underpowered.

Just for fun, I checked into upgrading to a 200 last year. After trading in my 150, which had around 100 hours on it at the time, they wanted another $12k. Needless to say, I’d buy a different boat before I dropped that kind of money into this one.

 

[Renegade34]

Just for fun, I checked into upgrading to a 200 last year. After trading in my 150, which had around 100 hours on it at the time, they wanted another $12k. Needless to say, I’d buy a different boat before I dropped that kind of money into this one.

Wow, $12k is crazy!

My boat is a 2018 ssbxp with sps package and a 150 Merc 4 stroke.

Here's a pic of the sea legs install (looking from the rear) :

 

[Vikingstaff]

I really like that install Renegade. Very clean look. Underskinning is more in tact than I had imagined, even with the newer install techniques.

 

[Renegade34]

Yeah, there's not an exposed hose under the deck. They also did a great job (and I'm picky) installing the pump. I don't have a pic of that right now though. I highly recommend getting the Sea Legs installers (as opposed to the dealer) to do the install if possible. I couldn't be happier with them! Yes, performance took a small hit (4-5 mph) but that's pretty reasonable when you consider that you have your freekin boat lift with you!! Lol.