I recently purchased a '02 248 Voyager and was curious if anyone on here could share their experience with the ride quality and handling. I have owned many boats and most recently owned a 204 Overnighter. This 248 seems to handle differently, especially when docking. It tends to slide sideways when turning into a slip or when docking. Is it that the keel is rounded and not sharp like most other models? Also, we had our first long trip across Tampa Bay last weekend and experienced a very rough ride ... much more so than I experienced in the 204 Overnighter. I am not unhappy with the boat but really just trying to understand the shortfalls. Thank you.
2002 248 Voyager
- Thread starter JKenyon1506
- Start date
I've owned one for 10 years.
The docking issue has to do with the water flow of the prop hitting the "step" in the hull. When docking get into the habit of tilting your engine up until the water flows under the step. The boat should handle like any other boat by doing this.
As for the ride, the hull really likes weight forward and running over 28 mph or so. The higher speed lifts the stern. If you can't get enough weight forward, tab down to lift the stern and get the V into the waves. Everyone will tell you this will kill your fuel economy, but this hull is marginally impacted by running tabs. If you have the auxiliary tank, keep it full and the boat will eat chop. I don't have one so I put 100lbs of ballast in the bow for some improvement.
Lightly loaded in 2 ' chop, I actually get a better ride at 32-34 than I do at 24 mph. 3' chop gets a little more tricky, but I have been blown away how well the boat can ride with enough load. 3/4 tank and 700 lbs of people near the helm and the hull devours chop.
Learn the quirks of the hull and you will be rewarded. Good luck.
The docking issue has to do with the water flow of the prop hitting the "step" in the hull. When docking get into the habit of tilting your engine up until the water flows under the step. The boat should handle like any other boat by doing this.
As for the ride, the hull really likes weight forward and running over 28 mph or so. The higher speed lifts the stern. If you can't get enough weight forward, tab down to lift the stern and get the V into the waves. Everyone will tell you this will kill your fuel economy, but this hull is marginally impacted by running tabs. If you have the auxiliary tank, keep it full and the boat will eat chop. I don't have one so I put 100lbs of ballast in the bow for some improvement.
Lightly loaded in 2 ' chop, I actually get a better ride at 32-34 than I do at 24 mph. 3' chop gets a little more tricky, but I have been blown away how well the boat can ride with enough load. 3/4 tank and 700 lbs of people near the helm and the hull devours chop.
Learn the quirks of the hull and you will be rewarded. Good luck.
Family Affair - This is exactly the information I was looking for. I do not have the extra tank and I always thought it was sitting a bit bow high. I will try your idea with ballast up forward. I did notice a better ride when I trimmed the tabs to get the bow down and I did try running faster but my wife was a bit beat up at this point and did not enjoy the extra speed. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with this boat. BTW, I made a storage locker where the extra tank was supposed to be. We put chairs, grill and beach stuff in there and gives us a ton of room. Did you use sandbags for weight or something else? Just another note, I repowered from a 02 225 Yamaha to the new V8 Merc 300hp and it made a world of difference in all aspects.
Thanks again for the advice! John
Thanks again for the advice! John
Happy to help.
Please post photos of your storage locker.
I used pea gravel and triple bagged it in heavy duty trash bags. I figured it would be a lot easier to clean up if the bag ever leaked and it won't hold water. 100 lbs won't make a world of difference, but it will be better, especially if you don't have a hard top. If you don't want to drag 100 lbs into the cabin, try 150-200 in your storage locker.
What kind of numbers are you seeing with the Merc? Excellent choice btw!
Please post photos of your storage locker.
I used pea gravel and triple bagged it in heavy duty trash bags. I figured it would be a lot easier to clean up if the bag ever leaked and it won't hold water. 100 lbs won't make a world of difference, but it will be better, especially if you don't have a hard top. If you don't want to drag 100 lbs into the cabin, try 150-200 in your storage locker.
What kind of numbers are you seeing with the Merc? Excellent choice btw!
What did you use for access to the aux tank area for storage, I was thinking about turning that area on my 248 into a dive equipment storage area and was looking for a large water tight hatch door to install on the deck panel in between the seats, lots of room for maybe 2-4 tanks and BC’s etc
I will post some pictures soon. I used the existing panel with surface flush latches and used weather strip tape around perimeter. Painted with white epoxy paint and it works great. Also, I embedded short stainless screws in the screw holes with 5200. Looks like they go all the way thru.
Great use of space and I like how clean and factory-like it looks.
How tough is it to lift the hatch out? My preference would be to have it hinge so it swings up towards the passenger seat, but I don't know of any hinges that will allow that to happen.
How tough is it to lift the hatch out? My preference would be to have it hinge so it swings up towards the passenger seat, but I don't know of any hinges that will allow that to happen.
Taking the hatch off is a bit tricky due to the amount of room between the seats. I take out one of the ports and it makes handling the hatch much easier. I would also be concerned that a hinge would catch your foot.
I was thinking of an internal hinge. Something that works like that of a car hood. It might be doable if blocking is mounted on the vertical face of the bulkheads. Hmmm.
If you could design a hinge to work, you might have a good market out there. The only drawback to my design is getting the hatch out of the way. I try to only store things that I will not use often. I have the larger seats and it makes it very tight to access the area.
By chance have you ever tried to see if there is enough clearance between the seat boxes to have the hatch swing up towards the cabin? I know it will ultimately hit the bottom of the seats, but I didn't know if there was enough draft to the seat boxes to miss the water fill and drawer pull.
I'd love to have the extra storage, but I know I would only access it at the dock unless I could hing it.
I'd love to have the extra storage, but I know I would only access it at the dock unless I could hing it.
I would swap your 3 blade props or prop and put on 4 blade props. This will improve your stern lift and get better performance with lower planning speeds. Use those tabs. Great modification on the use of space .
Been there. Done that. Doesn't work unfortunately. The problem is the short running surface and 30" shaft engine. You can't get the engine high enough to get a 4 blade out of the water to enable it to lift. All the 4 blade will do on a 30" engine is use more fuel.
A 4 blade on a 25" shaft might work well, but I don't want to be the guy to find out that it doesn't!
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With the new Mercury V8, I have no issues with staying on plane at low speed. This motor has tons of low end torque. The old Yam 225 would barely stay on plane with tabs all the way down at low speed and when turning. I did just add 160lbs to the bow using gravel. This leveled out the boat on the waterline and lifted the stern about 2 inches. I will be taking out on Saturday and looking forward to a smoother ride.
I started with about 150 lbs in the bow and pulled around 40-50 lbs out. I didn't like how the bow plowed at low speed under certain conditions. BTW, I don't have a hard top either. Having 600 lbs of hardtop and gas would make a huge difference in the ride, but causes other issues.
If you get a similar result, consider moving some if the gravel to your locker. I was too lazy to pull the hatch to put the pea gravel there. You won't have that issue!
If you get a similar result, consider moving some if the gravel to your locker. I was too lazy to pull the hatch to put the pea gravel there. You won't have that issue!
Headed down to the Voyager this weekend. Most defiantly going to look into this storage option...
PNW_Drifter
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I like your storage idea. Tons of room. I recently cut a hole for a hatch. Both have their pros and cons.