[SLOWDUK]

Appreciate the enthusiastic welcome aboard from all.
Destroyer, thanks for the photo posting guidance. Here’s my latest effort:

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