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What a day...
I went down to Bass Pro Shops and picked up the Z-6. It looked great all shined up and BPS took care of all the issues I had to have them address. There is one issue but I'll get to that in a minute.
I took two of my friends out who have a lot more experience then me to Markham Park Canal (Sawgrass Expressway side) for some test running and a little fishing. We put the boat in easy enough, though the canal is about 2 or 3 feet lower then normal. Once we got underway, I throttled up and got on plane after a good bit of bow rise, and then powered up trying not porpoise it (failed a few times). The boat's a bit heavy in the backside, and it takes a while to get on plane with 3 people on it. Dropping below 3200RPM, no matter where trim was, would start to show signs of porpoising. Keeping it about that, it glided over the water smoothly, even when dealing with some Jet Ski wakes.
Had no trouble storing 7 rods in the center rod locker, plus all the tackle and other gear. Spinning rods with large eyes won't fit in the rod tubes, but that's not a big deal. Live wells cycled well, and the 54lb thrust standard motor was good even with the wind. We had to keep cranking it down as it was too much. Overall the the boat handled everything I threw at it really well, and we had no problems fishing three guys out of it so long as we were careful.
Sadly I did not catch the boats first bass. My friends both caught some 8 inch Bass that had eyes bigger than their stomachs.
Aside from the getting-out-fished-in-my-own-boat issue, I noticed the steering is very, very loose to the right, and tight to the left. This is to the point that I have to hold it steady to the left while underway so the motor doesn't turn to the right, and after pulling the transom saver off, the engine will automatically turn to the right by gravity alone. Haven't gotten to call BPS on it yet, but I'm hoping something can be done as both of them said it wasn't normal.
Despite what a lot of Varedo owner's say, I thought the 115 Optimax was pretty quiet. Not like a Varedo, but not like an outboard from the early 90s. It started smoothly every time, and seemed like a good outboard for the boat.
Pictures to come soon. I'm just too tired to post them this minute.
Next week, we're planning to go to Holiday Park if it's not packed.
I went down to Bass Pro Shops and picked up the Z-6. It looked great all shined up and BPS took care of all the issues I had to have them address. There is one issue but I'll get to that in a minute.
I took two of my friends out who have a lot more experience then me to Markham Park Canal (Sawgrass Expressway side) for some test running and a little fishing. We put the boat in easy enough, though the canal is about 2 or 3 feet lower then normal. Once we got underway, I throttled up and got on plane after a good bit of bow rise, and then powered up trying not porpoise it (failed a few times). The boat's a bit heavy in the backside, and it takes a while to get on plane with 3 people on it. Dropping below 3200RPM, no matter where trim was, would start to show signs of porpoising. Keeping it about that, it glided over the water smoothly, even when dealing with some Jet Ski wakes.
Had no trouble storing 7 rods in the center rod locker, plus all the tackle and other gear. Spinning rods with large eyes won't fit in the rod tubes, but that's not a big deal. Live wells cycled well, and the 54lb thrust standard motor was good even with the wind. We had to keep cranking it down as it was too much. Overall the the boat handled everything I threw at it really well, and we had no problems fishing three guys out of it so long as we were careful.
Sadly I did not catch the boats first bass. My friends both caught some 8 inch Bass that had eyes bigger than their stomachs.
Aside from the getting-out-fished-in-my-own-boat issue, I noticed the steering is very, very loose to the right, and tight to the left. This is to the point that I have to hold it steady to the left while underway so the motor doesn't turn to the right, and after pulling the transom saver off, the engine will automatically turn to the right by gravity alone. Haven't gotten to call BPS on it yet, but I'm hoping something can be done as both of them said it wasn't normal.
Despite what a lot of Varedo owner's say, I thought the 115 Optimax was pretty quiet. Not like a Varedo, but not like an outboard from the early 90s. It started smoothly every time, and seemed like a good outboard for the boat.
Pictures to come soon. I'm just too tired to post them this minute.
Next week, we're planning to go to Holiday Park if it's not packed.