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Some shots of John pulling out of the lift and down the channel for sea trials. Looks like a motley crew namely the guy up in the tower. Way jealous John, wish I was with you!

a better shot with John in the tower.

Lookin' good John! Thanks for posting, Mark...

looks great john, best of luck with her, oh by the way is that tow boat us standing by
in the first pic

Charlie,

The towboatus boat sits at the marina where John had Reel Cowboy put in. No need for that today though, she ran great.

I didn't get to make the run with John today, but from all reports she ran like a bat out of hell. John mentioned that he has some prop adjustments to do as the motors wouldn't reach full RPM. But even with the current props they were impressed with the performance of the boat. Sounded like she ran out as good as she looks.



Mark,

I know probably not this year, but perhaps some January when ya'll get cabin fever you can head south. You know the welcome mat is always out for you. Maybe if we ply the young Mr. Cranston with enough cold drinks we can talk him into giving us a ride. You may have to twist his arm to get him to imbibe but I bet we can get him to toss back a couple.



John,

The boat looks sweet. You've done well. Time to get some hours on her.

Later,

Danny

John,
Congrat's she looks reel nice like the tower even though I can't climb up one anymore the boat looks great, You and all your loyal helpers should be proud.
Pete Fallon

Looks great! Keep up with the pictures.

What color is that? Looks very sharp. Darker than ice blue, but not as "blue" as sky blue. About what I am looking at for my 20.

Stock or custom mix?

Ian.

WOW, I really mean that, wow.

Very nice! Congrats!!!

Danny I am seriously considering this January or February. As always much appreciated on the hospitality! Would love to see your whole fam and Pam and maybe even John. You know as well as I do Danny there will be no arm twisting. The hole opens up and the shit just pours in! :)

Hey I guess I forgot about the Packer fans across the channel? I mean who else paints their house green and gold?

John,
If you were like me after all that work there were tears running down your face that got caught in the ear-to-ear grin.
She is absolutely beautiful! You should be justifiably proud.
How about some pix under the hoods and the wiring, All the nooks and crannies. Just got to see it all.

Beautiful

Thanks for the kind words, fellas.
Ian, she's painted with Awlgrip aqua mist. Thanks for posting the pics, Mark. We had 9 people aboard with a full tank of fuel and water...Slow out of the hole, but, after the turbos kicked inwe hit 37 mph at 3250 on the port engine and 3350 on the starboard...using a digital tach gun.at wot.Yanmar tachs were showing 150 rpms higher that the digital gun. We pulled the 4 bladed, lightly cupped 19x20 and 1/2 props off today...I need 500 more rpms on the port and 600 on the starboard...any advice would be greatly appreciated. She ran real nice at 2800 rpms at 30 mph. I got the survey done on last Thursday and will be getting from nice pics from him and will post them asap.
Thanks again,
John.

She's beautiful John.
I love the Bahia Mar styling, maybe the most copied of all the Bertram designs, but it has yet to be duplicated. That design is still the standard for sport fishing boats, 40 years later.

Very classic lines John, she came out great!!

Sorry, I got it backwards...I need 600 more on the port and 500 from the starboard. Thanks Scott...come on over and go fishing with us.
John.

Nice John........Really nice! ! !

Good job


hb

She really looks great! I considered your hull color when I had mine painted.. buy went conservative with Fighting Lady Yellow.. Now I sort of wish I had seen yours first! Good work!

John, reel pretty , you should be very proud of her. love the color. best of luck with her..Russ

John,

Looks great, I think it is one of the best looking Bahia's --love the color and the way you handled the windshield.

Wow! Fantastic!

Great job John. Boat looks fin-nominal.
I dont claim to know much about proping a boat but this is what I did and what happened.
with 230 hp diesels and wot @ 3900 rpms
Displacement of 12k
hull style as planing
and gear ratio of 2:1
I plugged into calibrator on Boat Diesel .com
Out came 20x24.7 three blades
I scraped the .7 on the pitch for more torque
and engine rpms topped at 4100 in a light boat

After reading Bob Lico discuss light cupping the props I tried a light to med cup and it was no good. Boat would not get on plane. Not sure why it would not work but I Went back to 20x24 no cup and hit recommended rs eveytime out no matter the load
I would guess 4 blade changes some things as well

I think 1 pitch either direction equates to 200 rpms respectively Or something close to that

Best of Luck, Matt

Reel Nice, John! Congratulations!

Matt, my tranny is 1.54 (or 1.56) : 1
has to make a big differnce, huh?

Thanks again, guys.
It was a long time coming. Matt, I sent my old props to the shop today...they turned out to be 19x20 1/2 with a #5 cup. He figured on his program that 18x18 3 blade or 18x17 4 blade should be close. He said it would cost $800 to cut down and repitch my old props. I bought a new pair on ebay that are 18x18 3 blade for $700 today. I'm going to try those out and let him fine tune them if needed.
I'll keep ya'll posted.
John.

John

As the kids say, OMG. She's a thing of beauty. You got everything right from the rail to the look and proportion of the tower to the color. You should be very proud. Best of luck!!!

JR

Andre,
Sounds like it would, thats what? 50% more spin on the prop? From the looks of Johns new props look at the reduction in diameter and pitch. 200rpms per pitch is pretty close if you stay with the 4 blades. The boat i got my engines out of had 1.55 gears and the props were 17x17. Was a bit heavier too. Sea Ray Sedan/Fly Bridge
Are you ready for props?

John,

Congrats!! It's got to be a good feeling getting out on the water after all the work you've put into her, in a word ENJOY!!!

br,
JohnD

To clairify for myself mainly, the ratio is indirect!! Less pitch more rs.

Would love to see more pics if you have any.

John

Looks Great the best of luck. I guess the shaft nuts I sent you worked.

Did u alter the chine to create a spray rail? Maybe I'm seeing things

John, Great job she looks saweeeeeeeet....a bit partial to the Bahia Mar.. great fishing platform..now go kill some fish..Ive got 60 hours run up already cant get enough of running her around..enjoy all the hard work..more pics Mark...BH

Marlin,
The spray rails are thru bolted and glassed into place. No modifications were made to the chines...They're the best addition to Reel Cowboy that we made...turned a wet boat into a very dry boat. Kip Creed has the same rails on Targeted species.
Bob,
I've been following your progress and my buddies tell me that you did a real fine job on your 6 year project...you don't know it, but, I've secretly been racing you to get mine splashe first, but, you beat me on that one by a little bit. Thanks for the response on painting the rub rail as it came out well. I just got my survey done, and, she's insured with Ace Insurance as of today. I'll get some pics up and some real performance numbers with the new props asap.

Thanks.
John.

More Reel Cowboy pics all the way from Freeport via Waupaca and on to y'all. Oh the things i'll do for a shot at the helm!!! :)

she sure is pretty john
mark thanks for the pics

John

Looks great. I see you are back from Fishing, I will call you about those props.