) The rudders are Idasailor replacements and they float at a 20 degree angle in the water instead of sinking down like the originals. That and the fact that the 50 HP Honda was very hard to start and wouldn’t idle below 2K, did not deterred us and we were still able to back out of the slip without hitting anyone, although it was close. I had to tape the idle lever up to keep her running. Once out on the river, the boat was very slow to respond to my steering commands, and I was always overcorrecting, so I motored in long S shaped curves into the 10-15mph wind. At one point I thought the Coast Guard would board me for BUI.Without any ballast, when one of my 200 lb+ boys would moved around on the boat, she would veer radically, so once we were out in some deep water, I stopped and filled the ballast. We motored around for a bit and then we stopped and deployed the anchor. We then fired her up again to see how fast we could get her to go with 850lb of crew and a full ballast, 9.5mph according to the GPS. Wish I had done a speed test before filling the ballast.
Soon I became more comfortable with steering the boat and we made it back to the slip, but not as graceful as we left (docking was normally not a problem in the other two boats.) First thing I’ll be installing is the “haul-down” lines (does anyone have a good diagram of the path and know the best way to thread the lines, once I open the holes?)
One of the reasons I took her out was to try and clean the engine out to get her to idle better. My plan was to use fresh gas and some SeaFoam, but West Marine didn’t carry it so I got some Sta-Bil Gas Stabilizer. I’ll think next I’ll still put in some SeaFoam and see if that helps and get some new plugs, any recommendations? I found these on Amazon; Bosch (4501) FGR8DQI Platinum IR Fusion Spark Plugs. Do the ethanol gasoline treatments help? I’d really like to put off rebuilding the carburetors till next winter if I can.
which I kept at Ft. Belvoir until weekend before last when I moved out to Maryland for sailing on the Chesapeake. I have a 40 HP 2-stroke Mercury and also have issues with low-speed and idle (engine wants to quit). I was told to get Sea Foam and got to WM today but as you said they didn't carry it. So I got some other fuel treatment/cleaner stuff which I will give a try.
out to run wide open throttle and see what rpm's and top speed I get then decide from there where i'm going.
) My motor idles at 850-900 rpm so I imagine that 1700 rpm is a bit over the top. It may need a tune up once you are sure that the fuel system is clean
