finally got our boat home!!

[Baby Blue]

1998 maxum 2800 454cu bravo 3
Found boat in Jan from local broker, bought in Feb. After a 5 month wait for winter to finally let up (Cleveland) and a 50 year flood on the river we are going to dock at, and oh yeah daughters appendix lets go for emergency surgery (doing well now) the day before we planned to bring it home it finally got here.
made the 46 mile ride yesterday on Lake Erie and went well once I figured out trim tabs and trim on outdrive to get the ride right. surprising only moved the fuel needle from full to 7/8 full. Not sure how many gallons it took but didn't seem bad.

Definitely far different than the 21' outboard center console we fish with and are used to.
I did notice the engine noise is much more than I was expecting, not deafening but certainly a bit loud. had the bimini on with side curtains on. the back camper top on but screen open and front clear canvas off. Next time out I will pull everything and see how it is.
I'm guessing it's normal and part of owning a bigger boat with a 454. curious any thoughts from those here.

thanks again for all the info and answers I got from the board here. Great resource.
enjoy the summer!
BB

[shrew]

Congrats!!!!!

[mmwjr]

Glad to hear everything is working out, enjoy the season

[Phillbo]

Nice.. What was your cruising speed and RPM?

I have a buddy with the same boat and he saw a huge improvement in performance by swapping out the props for a set of 4 blade props from Hill Marine.

[Baby Blue]

I had full tank of gas, 3 people, and 2' of less on the lake. Cruised 24 mph at 3400 RPM.
Opened it up one time and got up to 30 mph at 4,000 rpm.
what kind of results did your friend see?
BB