cruise speed

[Kevin]

Saw a 31 for sale in a magazine the other day. Think the name was Reel nice. Claimed a 40 mph cruise speed with 0ver 400 hp per side I think. I know my 28 feels faster than the 23kts I cruise at but a 35 kt cruise for that style boat seems crazy. Anyone seen this boat? What is the most power ever jammed into a 28 or a 31? This has got me thinking now. Kevin

[In Memory Walter K]

All I've learned from this site about 31's and speed tells me that if this boat does what it says, it should have prop pockets cut into it's stern. 400 hp is overkill as the boat's safe max is in the 30-35 kt speed and the 315-330 HP Cummins probably would give you that at WOT. I have two personal feelings about speed, probably affected by my living in the Northeast. Given the few glass flat days we get a season, high speed in our waters on those other days is a matter of "the boat may be able to take it, but I can't". The flip side of the really big engines with big props is it's speed on the low end of the scale. Unless set up with trolling valves, slow trolling is on one engine and the use of a lot of neutral maneuvering in the marina. One man's opinion. Walter

[Carl]

There was a 28 by me that was donated to the Maritime Chaplins that had a pair of 502's.

Powerplants where yanked out as she was too fast and unmanuverable at low speed, or was it, the boat could not go slow enough to manuveur?

[randall]

walter...just came back from a little gardiners island cruise with mike....it is dead calm...........2 times in one week...definately a new record........the times printed average yearly wind speed for various places today and gardiners bay was over 20MPH.....

[In Memory Walter K]

Randall- Hauled and winterized Bluebeard early this year in preparation for my hip surgery but used the little skiff in 3 Mi Harbor on one of those calm days. Water ws crystal clear and I could see the bottom on spots where my Depth Recorder was telling me it was 10 ft deep. Caught 3 Bass in the same area I took 19 about a week and a half ago. Guess the cooler water and weather moved them out. This certainly has been a spectacular Fall for us this year. Walter

[randall]

walter...the tide was so low when we got back we had to help a fellow boater who was" hangin not bangin".......i could see all kinds of crap thats fallen in the water around my boat in the last five years.....the flats by cartwright shoal were impassable even in a small outboard.......never saw that before....full moon?

[In Memory Walter K]

It's been quite wierd. I have a weather radio in my bathroom so I listen to the predictions every am. On those extremely windy days last week, I went to check my skiff at low tide and the water was as high as a normal high tide. The ramp to the floating dockwas actually straight across at dead low. The next morning the weather channel warned of extremely low tides, two feet below normal...and it was. It has been a full moon (tonight or yesterday night) but these spreads seem exceptional. Walter