Re: Hey Brine
Slow work day...<br /><br />When we were shopping to replace our 2100, we looked at many "pocket cruisers" like the Sea Ray 240, Monterey 248, Larson 245, Regal 2465, etc.; figuring they were the smallest thing we could sleep two adults and two kids aboard. Then we met some folks with a brand new Regal 2650 LSC and were shocked to discover it had two kid sized berths as well as the standard V-berth. We started shopping for one of those and my wonderful wife stumbled upon a cabin layout for the 2550 LSC online and realized it was identical to the 2650. We were really fond of the 2100/2500/2550 side window style and that pushed us toward a used 2550. Our 2100 was equipped with a 5.0 Merc V8 and was quite the little rocket, so I just HAD to have a big block in the bigger boat. <br /><br />Took us nearly a year to find the perfect boat, but it was worth it. She's fully loaded with every option Regal offered, plus a Powerwinch windlass. She only had 93 hours when we got her and is a total cream puff. Only caveat was the 2000 mile trip to Indianapolis to get her and bring her home. That was a long three days of towing since I ended up selling and delivering the 2100 to a buyer in the Indy area at the same time (gotta love the Internet).<br /><br />Since we've had her, I have upgraded the trailer tires to Goodyear Marathons, upgraded the anchor to a polished SS Delta plow, added a Standard Horizon Chart plotter, fabricated some power vents with weather gates for the kid berths, added a screen for the hatch, added two more 12 V outlets in the cabin, sandblasted and painted the stern drive, added an American flag to the stern and replaced the zinc anodes with magensium for our water in NH.<br /><br />The Trent Severn is on the list of things to do. We plan to take a trip on the NY canal system, Lake Champlain, Lake Senaca, etc. someday soon. It would be nice to take a month off and do the Trent Severn as well. <br /><br />Glad to hear the boat is adequately sized for bigger lakes. Figured it was. She handles chop better than I expected she would. Eager to see how she'll do in the ocean.<br /><br />If you do indeed have 24" props, I would figure that you have a 2.25:1 drive ratio. The math I used: 47 MPH = 49632 inches per minute. 49632" per minute divided by 24" props = 2068 revolutions per minute. 2068 RPM + 5% for slip(typical slip for the FASTRAC hull at WOT) = 2171 RPM. Typical max operating RPM for a marinized 5.0 GM V8 is 4900 RPM. 4900 RPM divided by 2171 RPM = 2.257. The ratio is stamped on the port side of the drive upper gear case, if memory serves. Lemme know if I was right
<br /><br />To post pictures, just upload them to a free account on a site like
www.shutterfly.com, open up the full size picture on shutterfly, right click on the picture and select properties to find the URL of the photo, copy the URL into a post here and bookend it with IMG and /IMG tags like these:<br /><br />
<br /><br />I posted a photo of the text because if I type the IMG and /IMG tags in this post with the brackets on them, they will not show up as text.<br /><br />The power vents I mentioned above:<br />
<br /><br />The exhaust in the cockpit:<br />
<br /><br />How they look in the cabin:<br />
