Update on my boat

[oceanwarrior20]

Last year was fun due to rebuilding my transom and having fun getting a new motor and sorting it out.
Anyway now coming up to the 100 hour mark with my Mercury 200 Optimax with the DTS system and Smartcraft SC500O LCD display.
It was worth all the grief I went through!!
Engine has been PERFECT and the Digital Throttle and Shift was worth the extra money spent for it.
I will never go back to a conventional cable throttle and shift as the DTS is sooooo easy to use and requires no effort at all.
I can set my desired RPM and sit back and steer,the engine will hold set RPM with no throttle tending.
Finally got propellers sorted out,now running a Mirage 17 pitch,lost a little top end but getting fuel economy of 3.9---4.1 MPG with top end speed of 49 MPH.
Used Seacast pourable composite to repair the transom and now can highly reccomend it.
Ran the boat hard in rough seas,had a few hard landings(got carried away having 200 HP on a 20 ft.SeaCraft) and the transom took it all,no stress cracks or delamination.
If anyone out there is thinking of installing an Optimax engine,PLEASE spend the extra to install the SC5000 system view display.
I was kind of hesitant to spend the extra it cost but can now reccomend it.
It is very important now as you can monitor fuel consumption rates in real time to set max fuel economy in all sea conditions.
Also very easy to use as it can be controlled bt using the keypad on the binnacle controls.
Oh,by the way.we started this years Yellowfin Tuna season with a bang,caught a 220 pound Yellowfin on our first trip out!
Had Sushi and Sashimi until we were ready to burst!

oceanwarrior7447

[1bayouboy]

If the engine has smartcraft you can also go with the System Tach/Speedo. They look like standard gauges but have LCD screens in the bottom where you pull up all kinds of info. I have them on a 5.7L I/O and on one trip it said we used 80 gallons.....it took 81 to refill the tank. The gauges fit the standard holes.