Sommaire pour November/December 2020 de Boating

Wintertime is nearly here; if you live in the North, your boat’s covered and asleep for the long snooze, or resting and waiting for those occasional warm, sunny days when you can ride. In the South, you’re boating less frequently but still want to ride. What are some things you can do in the meantime? Let’s find out. 1. You live in the South; your boat is not winterized, but the forecast is calling for subzero temps the next four days. What should you do to prepare? A. Keep the outdrive tilted all the way down and ensure any water runs out, so if it does freeze, there’s no water in the gear case to freeze and potentially crack it. B. Decorate the outboard with a winter theme. C. Drain…

VALHALLA V-46 The V-46 takes Valhalla Boatworks, which was started by Viking Yacht Company last year and boasts over 70 boats sold to date, to a new level, broadening its appeal with more accommodations and amenities while maintaining fishing boat DNA. “We never stop innovating, fine-tuning, and staying out in front of the needs of our owners and the marine industry,” says Pat Healey, Viking Yacht Company president. Riding a Michael Peters double-stepped hull, the V-46 sports either quad Mercury V-8 450Rs or Yamaha V-8 425s. Either version utilizes fly-by-wire power steering and is available with joystick control. Carrying nearly 700 gallons of fuel, the V-46 possesses the range for canyon trips or extended island cruising. Installing the available Seakeeper gyrostabilizer minimizes roll in rough water. Plentiful seating, luxury amenities…

Installing an interceptor trim and stabilization system is not necessarily difficult, depending on how much access you have to the inner transom and wire runs. However, this Weekend Workbook does require a greater number of steps, and so we chose to cover it in two parts. This is Part II. Our first phase (boatingmag.com/interceptors-1) in the October 2020 issue covered installation of the Humphree X300 interceptors on a 27-foot runabout with a single sterndrive. Unlike conventional trim tabs, interceptors not only trim the bow down and correct for a list, they can also add stability and dampen pitch. They can do so automatically or manually, using advanced sensors, integrated microprocessors, and ultra-fast actuators driving the interceptors’ composite blades that deploy vertically to create hydrodynamic lift. Here, we will complete the…

Well, thank goodness Reggie saved the molds. For the first time in more than a decade, a brand-new Fountain 47 Lightning has been launched, and it’s a fire-breathing beauty. Right now, the world could use the excitement a proper speedboat brings to the water, so we are lucky the tooling for this classic model survived the recession-induced closure of Fountain Powerboats and the brand’s revival under the umbrella of the Iconic Marine Group. A pair of real Fountain aficionados commissioned this $1.2 million boat (including paint and trailer). The owner and his wife, who operate a specialty construction outfit in the New York City area and boat on Long Island Sound, owned a Fountain 35 Lightning and a 38 Lightning before buying a pre-owned 2009-model 47 Lightning—Fountain passion runs deep.…

Pursuit’s new S268 Sport delivers 5 gallons from a 4-gallon bucket. The S268 Sport boasts a bigger cockpit, bigger helm, 3 inches of additional beam, and 7 more inches of internal volume fore and aft. Additionally, Pursuit added 8 more inches of deck extension on each side of the twin 200 hp Yamaha outboards, making boarding safer and changing a prop easier while the boat is in the water. Bow seating with optional pivoting backrests and stowage underneath allows lounging while facing forward. Our test boat came fitted with a standard fiberglass hardtop with powder-coated frame, and a Makrolon polycarbonate windscreen. A tempered-glass windshield with wiper and washer ($2,130) is available. The foldaway transom seat boasts a raised backrest for more comfortable support than is typical. Most boxes and scuppers…

The night I wore my Red Cap into the Lake View Inn, it was not my intention to be disruptive, or to make a statement. I was just trying to cover my hair. I checked my look in the truck mirror. I guess at my age, vanity is a waste of time, but geez, I looked rough. I’d spent the day on the water alternately sweating and running 60 mph, and my gray locks were not heroically windswept; they were scruffy. Finger-combing didn’t help. I needed a cover. But I’d left my trusty Mercury cap in the boat, and the Red Cap on the truck seat was my only coverage option. Hungry and thirsty, I popped it on. This is Packer territory, and it’s also Mercury country. My dentist is…

There’s a crazy boating video that recently circulated around social media and was picked up by several major media outlets. In the video, recorded at a marina in Italy, a woman is seen on the swim platform of a typical sterndrive cruiser, handling lines as her captain eases the boat away from the fuel dock. As the boat pulls away, the woman is suddenly propelled into the air by a violent explosion coming from under the engine hatch. As she lands in the water, a dockhand jumps into the water to help her. Reportedly, all the people involved in the video escaped serious harm, but it is a sobering reminder that fueling your boat is not a task to be taken for granted. Normally, we reserve this page for stories…

Adventure Marine’s Propeller Line Guard is an electro-polished stainless-steel prop guard that prevents dredge lines, fishing lines, downrigger wires, pot warp or mooring buoy lines from tangling in your propeller. It also provides prop protection from debris strikes and rocky bottoms. Integral pressure-relief ports prevent cavitation and enhance performance. The Propeller Line Guard comes in nine sizes for propellers ranging from 9 to 17 inches in diameter, and outboard motors from 8 to 200 hp. Prices range from $221 for a 9-inch guard and increase to $299.99 for the largest model, a 17-inch guard. Installation is straightforward, and it took me about one hour using the included stainless-steel hardware. Here’s how I installed mine. MEASURE Measure from the bottom of the anti-ventilation plate to the bottom of the skeg. For…

One look at the helm of a modern powerboat and it’s obvious digital switching is rapidly becoming the industry standard. Traditional analog gauge arrays and the rows of toggle, push-button or rocker switches that once dominated dash real estate are fewer and farther between. Increasingly in their place are intuitive touchscreen displays that streamline dash layouts, and combine multiple functions and indicators into one central location. While this rise of the machines is liable to give old-timers pause, it’s not exactly unproven new technology. Digital switching has actually been common in the automotive industry for decades. Its move into the boating market has been made possible by the adoption of NMEA 2000 (often pronounced “nee-ma”), a plug-and-play communications standard created by the National Marine Electronics Association. In simple terms, digital…

Yamaha’s 275SD brings to the water a commanding length and a 9-foot beam, plus a dominating 500 hp to rocket across the waves. This twin-engine jet boat resides at the apex of Yamaha product design, featuring systems integration that makes it a pleasure to own, exciting to drive, easy to maintain, and reliable year after year. Let’s start with the DRiVE system. Yamaha took the process of docking, one of the hardest parts of piloting a jet boat, and made it simple and easy. Paddles on the steering wheel provide the ultimate in precision speed control and the ability to instantly shift from forward to reverse. The paddles fall under your fingertips on the wheel, the right paddle activating forward propulsion to 3,000 rpm, and the left triggering reverse propulsion…

The Axis A20 has long been considered one of the more versatile 20-foot watersports boats. For 2020, it off ers some serious upgrades that make it even better. Smaller boats prove easier to tow and store. With its shorter length, the A20 also handles tight docking and launch-ramp situations better. You’ll save at the pump too, both in the A20 and whatever you use to tow it. Equipped with parent company Malibu’s new Monsoon M5 Di engine, our test boat produced gobs of torque while sipping 6.7 gph at an optimal cruising speed of 23 mph. Thanks to both standard and optional equipment, the A20 can produce a surprisingly solid wakeboard wake and wakesurf wave. Push a couple of buttons, and up to 3,810 pounds of ballast can pump aboard,…

Once upon a time, bowriders were relegated in size to boats that could fit on a trailer, so if you wanted a large boat that could hold lots of people, you were stuck with a cabin cruiser, even if you never once planned to spend the night. Today, you can buy bowriders exceeding 40 feet length overall that are designed to fit how most people use their boats—as large entertainment platforms with plenty of space to enjoy the open air yet still handle big water. Here are five great dayboat mega-bowriders that will exceed your boating expectations. Formula is historically all about performance combined with top-level fit and finish. The 380 SSC has everything Formula brings to the table in this large dayboat that the builder calls a crossover. Beyond…

This past summer, Body Glove announced its sponsorship of the first-of-its-kind women’s wakeboarding series, dubbed the Moxie Pro (moxie-pro.com). The Moxie Pro features three events designed for women wakeboarders around the world. “This is a huge step for women’s wakeboarding, and I’m excited to see what this opportunity brings for women in the industry,” says Meagan Ethell, a professional wakeboarder and current holder of the wakeboarding world title. “We’ve been working toward an event like this for as long as I can remember. It’s amazing to finally see it come together.” The first two events, held in September included a digital cable-park event and a digital boating event. In those events, contestants from around the world competed online for a shot to win the competition. They had to register and…

Most boaters know that we are responsible for any damage or injury caused by the wake created by our boats. But do we really need to operate on the theory of death and destruction? How about we slow down and reduce our wake in advance of other boats or a nearby shoreline because it’s a courteous thing to do? What if we or our kids or our friends were in the boat getting waked? What if we or our friends or our kids owned that piece of shoreline our wake is eroding? I say we chuck the law, metaphorically speaking, and just do the right thing. Just as the tide causes a moored boat to swing both ways, so does putting ourselves in another boater’s Top-Siders. On a recent photo…

The choice of antennas available for marine VHF radios is large and confusing. To squelch the noise and help you cut through the clutter when shopping for a marine VHF antenna, I’ve compiled a group of essential considerations for you to use. While not every facet of antenna selection is covered, the information presented here should help you make a good buying decision. LENGTH AND HEIGHT VHF range is determined by the height of both the transmitting and sending antennas. So, a taller antenna will provide more range—but doubling the antenna’s height doesn’t mean transmission is twice as far. Again, depending upon the height of the other antenna, the difference can be as much as 20 percent farther or a little as 5 percent, again depending upon the other boat…

In and of itself, digital switching offers great advantages to boaters. Add in the capability to remotely monitor and control ships systems, as Siren Marine’s connected boat platform does, and the convenience level rings the wow bell. “Our ability to remotely control NMEA 2000-compatible systems means that boaters can fire up their genset, spool up their gyrostabilizer, turn on their cabin lights or start cooling off the cabin, all before heading down to the boat. We’ve worked hand-in-hand with CZone to tailor a mobile connectivity solution for its leading digital-switching platform,” states Phil Gaynor, VP of product management for Siren Marine. With the Siren Marine Connected Boat app for iOS or Android, you can monitor as well as control, checking the battery voltage, bilge activity, tank levels, the boat’s location…

The outboard revolution continues with Monterey’s latest thoroughbred in its stable, the 255 SS OB. The performance of Yamaha’s 4.2-liter V-6 powerplant is the perfect matchup of power, performance and reliability for Monterey’s luxury 255 SS. The 255 SS OB may seem like simply an outboard revision of Monterey’s popular 258 sterndrive, but it’s actually much more than a bolt-on engine in the transom. Hull changes adapt the 255’s center of gravity, lift and stability to enhance the outboard’s performance. We tested the 255 SS in relatively tight quarters on the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs, and the boat not only accelerated well and hit a rewarding top speed, more importantly, it held its midrange power for predictable performance turns. We confidently performed 180-degree turns in the narrow channel, and…

REMOVE AND STORE If practical, remove your electronics from the boat and store them at home. BACK’EM UP Save your waypoints, routes and tracks to external media. With multifunction displays, you can back up to a microSD card or sync to an app on your mobile device. Should anything bad happen (such as theft), at least you’ll have your data saved. WASH AND COVER Use fresh water, mild soap and a microfiber towel to clean and dry electronics left aboard. Then protect each unit with a sun cover. Wash radar scanners, GPS sensors, and thermal cameras too (don’t use a pressure washer) to remove salt and bird droppings before shrink-wrapping. LENS ADVICE If you have a FLIR camera, place it into its “Park” position, which faces the lens surface down…