SPLASH! (finally) with pics!!!

[TunaHead]

I bought my V on Ebay in early March. She was living in New Jersey at the time but the old registration stickers showed previous addresses in New York and Florida. I had her hauled to California and have spent the past few months bringing her up to speed. My wife has an Excel spread sheet file on the desk top that has all of the expenses tallied. The file is called "BlackHole". I won't tell you the total cuz it's a little embarassing...

But FINALLY I splashed her in Humboldt Bay today for a shake down cruise. After some initial battery problems it ran like a top and we put 10 miles under the hull before the engine inexplicably sputtered to a stop. The new kicker motor came in handy on the first voyage and we made it back to the dock without further problems (there is no vessel towing service here).

First ever taste of Pacific water.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s76/TunaHead101/P1070671.jpg

View of the cockpit. The fancy seating will be upgraded next year.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s76/TunaHead101/P1070676.jpg

33 mpg (via GPS) with 60 gallons of fuel and 3 people aboard.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s76/TunaHead101/P1070684.jpg

I'm thinking of keeping this hairstyle...
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s76/TunaHead101/P1070685.jpg

Glad the wife was along. Suddenly that kicker motor and bracket didn't seem like such an extravagant expenditure.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s76/TunaHead101/P1070695.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

It could have been worse, you could have sank. So I view that as a successful first launch with a bump in the road. I hate to say it but them YAMAHA's are pretty good engines(I'm a JOHNNY-RUDE man myself), probably end up being somethin simple that you'll kick yourself over later.

[tsubaki]

The Yammy probably was confused as to where the sun rises (not over the water). ;D ;D
Like you said the kicker has already proven invaluable.

[C YENSEN]

Sorry to hear about the motor trouble, you'll get her going, dont worry ;)

[Blue_Runner]

Tuna way to go! Loving the hair man. ;D

I've gotten some use out of my little kicker too. Most recently when the steering cable broke on high rock lake close to 10 miles from the ramp. :o

[Skools Out]

looked good and i know it was fun while the yamaha was running, glad you had that lil guy to bring you home. what was your GPS speed with the kicker?

[TunaHead]

Skools, the GPS showed 7-8 mph with the kicker. Honestly I expected a little more out of a 15 hp 4 stroke but was just happy to get back to the dock. I seem to remember brother Willy saying he got 10 mph out of his 9.9 on Old School.

Maybe I need a different prop on the kicker.

[TunaHead]

HaHaHa... What an idiot I am!!!!
I spent all week bummed that I only got the boat up to 33.4 mph before the Yammie died. I was playing around with the new GPS unit tonight and realized I had the units of measure set to nautical miles rather than staute miles. Refigured, that makes my top speed 38 mph!

Oh yeah, I'm HAPPY

[macojoe]

Looks good and you will get her fixed!!

But you have made to BIG mistakes in boat ownership!!

1. Is keeping a tally on how much you spent. You never want to really know!!

2. Is letting the wife see how much you spent of fixing the boat!!

You a brave man!! My wife will nebver know what I have spent, He!! I don't even no and don't want to!

[msbhammer]

Tuna, congrads on the West Coast Splash. Gotta tell ya, your V looked great in the Pics. on -Bay, but she now even looks better. You done a great job on her. ;)
Didnt you have a storage box seat on the V ??? or was it a cooler seat that came with the V. Noticed it was missing.

[reelapeelin]

Houston, We have somewhat successful splashdown in the Pacifc!! ;D ... trouble or not, congrats on gettin' her belly wet ... the ferm's right...it'll be some lil' ol' somethin' you can chalk up to "live n' learn" ::) ...

Tuna yer V-20 looks GREAT 8) ... nice job on all the sweat-equity and I know it'll be a "V" put to good use out there :D ...


...and great pix (specially the hair...yes, KEEP it :-*)...keep 'em comin' :D ...

[TunaHead]

MJ: Where were you with that advice when I first bought the boat??? Seriously, there should be a sticky about that is the "For Sale" section. :'(

Hammer: Good eye detective. Both an old livewell and a built-in cooler were there. They weighed ALOT and we don't fish with live bait much here so they went to the dump. (The cooler objected to being removed but my sawzall gave it an attitude adjustment).

[macojoe]

LMFAO!!! ;)