always glad to see another gulf coast member aboard. considering the motor and the shape of the rig, i'd say you done good.

Thanks for the Warm Welcome
 

Appreciate the enthusiastic welcome aboard from all.
Destroyer, thanks for the photo posting guidance. Here’s my latest effort:
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps92a5023b.jpg
In response to Dbettered, I think the motor weighs nearly 600# and yes with a couple of adults standing near the motor well, water starts flowing into the cockpit through the scupper drains. Standing starts are not eye-watering but once up on plane the boat feels planted and I suspect the engine weight has something to do with that.
Regarding top speed, so far I have seen 52 mph without too much effort trimming the bow up but top speed has not been a major focus. Cruising around at 4500 RPM yields a comfortable 39-40 mph speed with fuel consumption in the 3.0-3.5 mpg range according to the Command Link digital readout (not sure how accurate that is). I don’t know the prop specs as they are not apparent with it installed and I have yet to remove it.
The most impressive aspect of the motor is the quietness. Casual conversation is possible at 40 mph. I couldn’t do that with the 200 Johnson 2-stroke I had on my last boat in the mid 80’s.
All-in-all, I’m damn glad to be a boat owner again and thankful to be included into the camaraderie of this forum. Hopefully, I can meet some of y’all face-to-face in the near future.
V/R, Slow

Welcome aboard. Boat looks great! Something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it so I'd say you did just fine.