Whether to wait for the new Verado 150 was a tough decision.
My understanding was the new Verado 150 was still supercharged (I think all Verados are), but Mercury removed the digital throttle and shift, which shaved the price down a LOT. I still would have had to add hydraulic steering though, and after a test drive with the 115, we were satisfied with the 115. We were already spending twice what we were originally going to on this boat. Talk about scope creep...
Like spinzone, I probably would have went for it had it been available though. Are you sure the 22 allows 150? I'm to lazy to "build a boat" to find out...
On the "wet ride", I am SO glad you asked that question, because you have put the pieces together for me on that. I was told my boat would also have a "wet ride", but I never knew what that meant. I do have some water spraying up on the deck though, and based on your comment, that must be what they meant. And, I did not know what caused it exactly, but sounds like you were told the inside strakes on the outer tubes cause it, and that makes sense. Coincidentally, the aluminum underskinning on our boat has a bent corner near the motor pod, and until now, I had thought that was what it might be. I think you saved me from going down a wild goose chase on that.
Anyway, the water spray is not much, and does not happen constantly. I've only had our boat out a few times before winter (grrrr), and I didn't notice it at first, but I noticed it and started watching it on just the last 2 outings before we winterized it. I had planned to take video of it and post a link here, but I forgot to take the camera on our last trip. Actually, I didn't think our last trip was going to be our last trip at the time.
Again, I only watched it (and not real closely) on just a couple outings, and what I observed so far was it happened whenever I cut the throttle quickly from full speed, and I seem to recall it also would happen once in a while at a certain fixed speed (somewhere in the mid-RPM range as I recall). The amount of water, and how it hit the swim deck (I have the extended deck by the way) was similar to someone taking a pint glass of water and gently throwing it from the motor side toward the rear fence, if you can picture that. When I was able to witness it, I would generally see a 3-4 inch wide swath of water from the end of the rear deck by the motor to the fence. Sometimes the water would get under the fence and go into the changing station area a little, and anything on the floor there would get a little wet, but again, it's all vinyl, and it drains right back off the back of the boat due to the slant of the boat (the weight of the motor makes the back end sit lower than the front of the boat). It's not a big deal, more of a minor annoyance. It doesn't get the carpet wet, not even close. And, Bennington may come up with a fix for this at some point. It's not so much a "spray" as a short/quick "puke" of a glass of water being thrown (gently) up on the rear deck. In my opinion, the kids will get the rear deck MUCH wetter than this.
I hope that helps describe it, and I wouldn't let it deter your decision on the strakes, but just know that it happens. Worst case, if it really gets on my nerves, I'd bolt a small panel of black plexiglass (my boat is black and I would cut it carefully so that looked like it was meant to be there) and bolt/screw/glue it to the rear rail to shield the spray.
Again, thanks for your comment. I now know what they meant by "wet ride". If you have other questions, just ask. I HEAVILY leaned on the experience of the other guys on this forum when making my purchase decision, so I'm more than happy to pay that back. This is the best forum I've used.
