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    Snaps Screwed into Fiberglass Pulling Out

    I have an elderly Sea Ray cuddy vintage 1984. The male component of the snaps that secure the cockpit cover to the hull are screwed into the fiberglass with a sheetmetal screw. Some of the snaps have pulled out of the fiberglass and need to be replaced. What are the ways to accomplish this?
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    2005 Crownline 270 CR Underpowered?

    There's a one-owner private sale 2002 Crownline 270 CR available locally. It's very well equipped, including a 7.3KW generator. The problem I see is the powerplant is a Merc 350MPI driving a Bravo III. That seems to me to be significantly underpowered. Most I've seen for sale have bigger...
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    Damaged Bottom Paint

    The bottom on my Sea Ray cuddy is painted with a typical ablative paint. I don't know the exact brand and type. I had the boat detailed by a local shop a few weeks back and one of the steps was an acid wash. The shop claims the acid wash took off some of the bottom paint in one area and left...
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    Indexing V-P Duoprops

    I'm certain I'm not the first to make this inquiry, but I did a search and couldn't find a post that addresses my specific question: Should the two props on a Volvo-Penta DP-S be installed in any certain position relative to one another? The V-P manual for my engine/drive makes no mention of...
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    Missing Boater Found on Kentucky Lake

    These situations usually don't end well. Boat sinks, five swim to shore. One missing. Hours later, and an hour after search called off for the night, cries for help are heard by a shoreline resident and rescue is effected. The missing person was found a mile from location of sunken boat...
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    Pocket Cruiser Questions

    I'm considering the purchase of a trailerable cruiser in the 25'-27' range. One cruiser I'm looking at has a 28 gallon waste holding tank for a vacuflush head. Is 28 gallons sufficient for a night or two with four adults and that type of head? Four people would be the max and then only a time...
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    Tachometer Fix

    The Faria tach in my 2002 Four Winns deckboat started indicating about 400-500 rpm high. I called Faria tech support and left a message. I was pleasantly surprised when my call was returned almost immediately. The advice given was that my 13 year-old instrument probably needed to be replaced...
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    MPG Towing With/Without Cover

    I have a well-fitting cover for my Four Winns deckboat. I almost always tow cover-on. There is no flapping of fabric or anything of the like. This week I conducted an experiment to verify what I've experienced in the past. I towed the same route with/without cover. The total weight was...
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    DP-S Shift Cable Throttle/Shift Coordination

    I had the shift cable replaced on my DP-S outdrive #4012069514. It shifts into forward OK, but now there is a significant gap in shift lever movement between idle and increasing throttle. It's on the order of 30 degrees of shift lever movement before throttle increase, but I haven't measured...
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    2002 DP-S FWD Shift Issue

    Drive serial #4202054335 The drive doesn't shift into FWD reliably. Sometimes there is a hesitation, sometimes a light shot of throttle causes it to shift and then it engages with a clunk. It ain't right. It shifts instantly and properly into neutral and reverse. The problem is only into...
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    250-Mile Tow Statistics- Temps, etc.

    Occasionally there are posts inquiring whether the trailer hub temperatures the poster is experiencing are normal. I just towed my Four Winns 214 deckboat on a tandem axle trailer 257 miles from its storage at our farm in western Kentucky to Louisville, Ky. The terrain is gently rolling and the...
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    Painting MR-1 Outdrive

    I have a good old Merc MR-1 outdrive on my 1984 Sea Cuddy. It's off the boat for maintenance and it would be a good time to paint it. A couple times over the seven years I have owned it, I have sanded and primed it and repainted it. I'd like to do a little better job this time. Is there a...
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    Boating Cartographer

    I fly big airplanes for a living. This morning I flew from Europe to the the U.S. All along the coast of Canada are a series of fixes that are used as "Coast-in" points for airplanes crossing the North Atlantic. They're also used as "Coast-out" fixes for airplanes heading the opposite...
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    Long River Trip Stats

    Several folks have inquired here about making extended boat trips on lakes and rivers. To give folks who might be contemplating such a trip a baseline from which to plan, here are some statistics from a trip on the Tennessee River I just made in a 1984 21' Sea Ray cuddy, my fifth long river...
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    Metal Shavings On MR-1 Plug

    I'm changing the drive oil on my 1984 MR-1 drive before making a 600-mile trip (40-45 hours engine run time) on the Tennessee River. The plug magnet has some metal shavings that seem to be slightly more than I'm used to seeing. This metal has been collected in 17 hours.
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    Water Dripping From Transom Screw Hole

    In the process of replacing it, I removed the pitot bracket from the transom of my '84 Sea Ray cuddy this evening. Water immediately began dripping from the lowest screw hole. I watched it and timed it- a drip every two seconds for at least 20 minutes. I stopped watching after that. The boat...
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    DP-S Shifting

    I recently noticed that when shifting from neutral to forward with my DP-S drive, it is taking a moment to to make the change. There doesn't seem to be a commensurate delay when shifting from neutral to reverse. Is there an issue that needs to be addressed?
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    Engine Swap- agallant80

    Whatever happened with the blown engine on the Excursion tow vehicle?
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    Cleaning Outdrive

    I'm going to pull my Merc MR-1 equipped boat out of the water next week. It has been in the water since mid-April and the outdrive will be a gunky mess! I need "best practice" ideas on how to clean it.
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    Setting Jack Stands to Support Tandem Axle Trailer

    I'm going to remove all four wheels from my tandem axle trailer while it has a 5,000 pound boat on it. I plan to set the two pairs of jack stands at four points around the trailer frame and not on the axles. Is this the best way to do this? Better dumb questions than dumb mistakes.
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