sfcarioca wrote:
Hey all,

I am somewhat of a newbie and am trying to revive a 1987 Larson 25 foot
cabin cruiser and I have several boat maintenance questions... figured
the nice people that participate in this group probably have the
answers.

- The engine on the boat is only 2 years old, looks really clean, and
starts with ease. It's a 160HP engine and should not have trouble
propelling this relatively light boat (4500 lbs.) However, the boat
strugles to go more than 18 mph or so at full throttle and I can't get
it to plane at all. A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier
said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine
and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom.
I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and
believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have
such a large impact. Any thoughts?

- The fiberglass on the deck has lots of markings and is generally very
dirty. Should I just give it some elbow grease by scrubbing with
household cleaners or are those expensive cleaning solutions intended
just for boats better?

- I went to the local marine store, and I thought the non marking shoes
that grip well to the deck were overpriced and uncomfortable. Any tips
for shoe brands/models available in a run of the mill retail store that
won't mark the boat and will give sure footing?

- The colored part of the gel coating is rather faded... and I heard
that waxing it will shine it up very little... what is the best
approach whe dealing with faded gel coats.

thanks!
Phil


If the bottom proves to be clean you may be overpropped.
Got a tach? If so, check your rpm at WOT against the factory specs- if
you're coming up short its likely that a previous owner hung too large
a prop on the boat. No tach or just want an easier check than running
the boat? See if the prop is stamped for diameter and pitch (D x P)
and compare that to mfgr specifications. You don't have to be off much
to have performance suffer notably.

And fair warning- if you think boat shoes are "overpriced", get in, sit
down, strap up, and hang on. You ain't seen nuthin, yet. :-)