Recent content by JeffS

My Malibu ski boat trailer is 20 years old and has enough rust (inside --> out) that I had to have metal patch plates welded to the cross members. A little Rustoleum spray paint and she's solid as a rock again. The grinding and welding was $125 plus the metal stock...which if I remember right...

It's a balancing act for me. I have the same helm shown in that picture. But this is my standard-issue glass.   If I go over 3,000rpm, my drink spills. And life's too short to drink cheap scotch. So...throttle percent is a function of drink-spillage, not glassware.    But in all...

Love fall boating and wouldn't miss it. We said goodbye to the inland lakes last weekend, and are shifting over to Lake Michigan.  In spring and early summer, the big lake takes so long to warm up...it can be 80 inland and 55 out on the water. So that's inland-lake season. This time of year...

Boats are either purpose-built, or a compromise.  This takes the purpose built pontoon (purpose built for comfortable day-boating), and makes it a compromise. I'm not interested enough to look up pricing, but with $70,000 worth of outboards, I'm guessing $160+. You would be amazed what 3yr old...

1st thing to try with any dent anywhere (nothing about this will make the situation worse...it doesn't always make it better...but it doesn't make it worse) is the hair dryer and canned computer duster spray. Heat the area with the hair dryer. Get the metal hot to the touch. Spend a lot of time...

I'm of the school that the USCG tells you which motor to get. It's on the yellow and black placard next to the helm. It's sometimes referred to as Max HP rating. I always interpret that to mean "Motor For This Boat Is...".  There are so many buyers that have nearly immediate remorse for their...

I've got no horse in this race...but very much did enjoy the thread. :-) Pull-start...that one got me.

Update - my repair did not go well, but ended well. For those with black'd out boats - the actuators are in far shorter supply than regular aluminum finish boats. The whole process ended up taking a couple of weeks, but now I'm back to a fully featured boat.

Before I purchased my GBR I had decided that I would never own another boat without a bar. So I respect the upgrade. Stocking the bar...that's where engineering turns in to art. :)

We travel. Lake Michigan is the biggest lake in this 1/2 of...Earth. So many places to explore. A lake like no other. If you have never been, and you have a big HP tritoon with rough water package, it is an amazing place to visit.

At cruise speed on open water, I burn 8gal/hr at about 3800rpm and 25mph.  When I'm just puttering with the occasional short dash to another bay to inspect rumors of toplessness...I burn 2-3gal/hr. I know you know there are a lot of variables, but I've done lots of range calculations based on...

It's only been one year with my 2014 2250 GBR. And I don't own a lake home...we trailer everywhere we go. On my boats one-th anniversary, this made me smile big enough to commemorate it with a picture.

I am unsure how this thought has not been posted yet (or at least I didn't see it as I was perusing through the comments)...so here-goes... You can buy your last boat...first, second, third, ninth, or like me - twelfth.  Your last boat will probably be a Bennington, and will be something...