Dive boat 'Argonaut'

[phsdive]

Got a new dive boat. 20ft plate aluminium with 150hp Mecury Optimax. 5mm bottom and 4mm sides. Named it Argonaut. Takes five divers.

[swimjim]

Sweet ride! As cool as the MV Swimjim only not near as vintage. The Swimjim is a 1964 Searay.

[phsdive]

Swimjim. Nice! Looks to be in great nic. What motor and is it original? My last boat had a Johnson outboard for 27 years and started every time and nothing went wrong until it punched a piston out the side.

[Nemrod]

Love the plate boat, n-i-c-e .

Optimax, hmmm, do not listen to the trash talk, the things run like a top and go like stink with a delicious roar as the hammer goes down. Did I mention excellent fuel economy, compared to the old Johnson 135, well, there is no comparison in fuel consumption.

The latest Whaler, 19 foot Outrage, Nemrod, shortly after we got it. That is my dad sitting in the boat as it lays off an island in Table Rock I think it is.



On the Gulf, Florida is somewhere over the horizon.



James

[swimjim]

Swimjim. Nice! Looks to be in great nic. What motor and is it original? My last boat had a Johnson outboard for 27 years and started every time and nothing went wrong until it punched a piston out the side.

When I bought the boat a dozen or so years ago, it had a 6 cylinder Mercury "Tower of Power". I believe that engine was original to the boat. I'm currently running a 90 hp Johnson VRO and an 8 hp Johnson for trolling and back up. On a flat lake, the boat will cruise at 30 mph fully loaded.
I've used Johnson/Evinrude motors for most of my years on Lake Michigan and have found them to be very dependable indeed. They were good enough for JYC, good enough for me. LOL

[Nemrod]

Swimjim. Nice! Looks to be in great nic. What motor and is it original? My last boat had a Johnson outboard for 27 years and started every time and nothing went wrong until it punched a piston out the side.

When I bought the boat a dozen or so years ago, it had a 6 cylinder Mercury "Tower of Power". I believe that engine was original to the boat. I'm currently running a 90 hp Johnson VRO and an 8 hp Johnson for trolling and back up. On a flat lake, the boat will cruise at 30 mph fully loaded.
I've used Johnson/Evinrude motors for most of my years on Lake Michigan and have found them to be very dependable indeed. They were good enough for JYC, good enough for me. LOL

First, more pics of the new Argonaut please, please??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!


OMC products and Johnson outboards, miss them. The Johnson 135 on our last boat sucked gas at a prodigious rate, other than that it was a fine engine. It was pre-inhjection and pre prop shaft horsepower ratings, I suspect it made about 100ish horsepower from its 100 cubes. The Optimax like all new engines is rated at the prop shaft, not crankshaft and I think the requirement now is dyne horsepower, not calculated horsepower.

Just got back from Table Rock, annual trip, water was clear and nice for a lake. There was an antique and classic boat show going on. I was looking at an old wooden Lyman 19 foot utility skiff with a Johnson 75 (1964ish) like my dad's boat. One older fellow struck up a conversation and mentioned those things "used fuel to cool them" and he is correct. I swear it used 6 gallons to go 3 miles, we calculated how far we could go by counting gallons and dividing by 2, 18 in the rear tank and 12 in the front and two 6 gallon portables, and we would use every drop. The Johnson 73 135 would go 6 miles on 6 gallons, the 84 Johnson 135 might have gotten 2MPG, the Opti will go 30 miles on 6 gallons or very close.

My Opti 150 on my boat, at 26 MPH, shows 5MPG on the Smartcraft gauges, which have been demonstrated to be pretty accurate in fuel used mode, distance traveled etc. and I suspect the 5MPG is real close to what I get. That is with a 4 blade Rev 4 prop, engine trimmed out properly and tabs at neutral and just me and M.C. I fueled at the marina to get no ethanol gas and I think the bill plus drinks and snacks was a tad over 300 dollars, yikes!

On the Johnson 75, lol, it was an OK engine for it's era.

I hope the Argonaut does as well, a foot longer but the light aluminum construction, might be super thrifty on fuel. Hope so. More details needed please!

James

[phsdive]

Nemrod; agree the Johnson white motors were very reliable. I purchased a silver model in about 2000 and didn't think that motor was anywhere near as good. The early ones did chew a bit of fuel! Nice Boston, she'd fly with the 150. WE don't get that many boston's here and they are fairly expensive. Don't have that many photo's of Argonaut yet.

[SurfLung]

- Congratulations... That's a beautiful boat. Good aluminum thickness, too.
- As for cost of gas, boats, and motors... My Dad always said, "A boat is a wood, metal, or fiberglass lined hole in the water that you throw money into!"
- I drive a 16 foot Lund Renegade from 1982... The interior is pretty wore out but that aluminum hull just looks good as new year after year. I've got a 94 Yamaha 90 horse on it with a 19 pitch prop... Very powerful for the size of the boat, and it sucks plenty of gas. The previous 60 hp Mariner seemed a bit more reasonable gas-wise. I need to make a decent ladder for diving and fix up the interior. Zebra Mussels are clearing up the water on our "chain-o-lakes" and diving gives me renewed interest in my boat.