Adventure 208 Shakedown run

[Sdfish]

Hi all - just purchased a 1999 Adventure 208. I'm coming from a 17 whaler, so this boat is a lot bigger! All my comments are based on comparing a 17 whaler to this 20 footer, not fair for sure.

I love the washdown deck and raw water washdown. Those are game changers for me. I'm going from a bucket to a hose to clean up the deck. Also, nice to have the 6 recessed rod and brush holders right next to me below the gunnels, lots of storage on this boat.

It wasn't too bumpy out there on my run, or least it didnt seem that way. I know in my whaler I would have been bouncing around a bit. Boat seemed heavy and cut through the chop easily and we were all very comfortable on the ride.

Layout of the boat was great. A little tight between the helm chairs, but again coming out of a smaller whaler, I'm boating in luxury on the 208. Walk around wasn't too bad, my son sat up front and fished comfortably up there. Not sure I would be as comfortable up there, seem like I would be standing with one foot behind the other and not straight if that makes sense.

The bilge stayed dried and did not seem to take on water, a little came out when I was trailering up hill. Assuming it was water sitting lower in the boat and not visible when level.

The only issue I had was with the 1999 150 Saltwater series Yamaha 2 stroke. The motor surges at high RPM 3000 +. Need to figure that out, possibly bad fuel? Any ideas to run down?

I know I will miss the simplicity of the whaler, it uses half the fuel, easier to trailer, takes half the time to clean and easier to maintain. Also, the whaler never let me down.

Looking forward to being part of the Grady family!

 

[seasick]

Glad you are enjoying the boat.
The water draining out while trailering is low water. You didn't say if it drained from the garboard drain hole or if the bilge pump ran but regardless, you will see that pretty much anytime the hull exceeds a certain angle. Water tends to pool forward towards the anchor locker area and mid hull.
The bilge should be pretty much dry all the time. Nothing drains directly into it except water that gets into the anchor rode locker and as mentioned, that tends to pool forward. If you start to see water in the bilge, you need to look for a leak.
Offten it is a bad deck plate gasket but could be something more serious.

The surging above 3000 revs is a symptom of a clogged VST screen. You need to get a service manual but there are lots of blogs and videos of VST service. The VST and on the motor fuel filter are the first things to look at.
Sometimes when the VST screen gets fouled, the surging will occur when the hull hits waves ( and pounds the boat a bit).

One piece of advice, I recommend using Ring Free or a similar carbon reducing additive in that motor.

If there is a filter on your fresh water system, it will tend to clog up since gunk grows in the water tank especially in warm weather. One way to keep the tank clean is to open the filler and insert a water hose. Run it till the tank overflows and then for 5 minutes or so. That will flush the growth out the filler. If as mentioned there is a filter (maybe attached to the inlet side of the pump) it can get clogged and need to be removed and cleaned.

 

[Sdfish]

Thanks Seasick! Thanks for the insight! Read about the VST filter, seems that may the culprit. I'm going out again this weekend and will run on a clean portable tank to rule out bad fuel and then move on to changing the filters.

 

[OZ WHITE]

Hey coincidently...I purchased a 1990 204c with a 2016 Yamaha 150 the first week of Sept. but I have been unable to take her out until this week. Yesterday was my second shakedown run and I was really impressed with the boat. I am not a fisherman...I like to burn gas but I thought the walk around was good, the cuddy cabin was a nice feature and the deck space was a big improvement coming off of a 15 ft seadoo speedster. The ride on the inland waterway with no chop at Palm Coast/Flagler was impressive with the heavier craft. At 3900 RPM I was at 25 mph and at 5300 rpm I was cruising at 38 mph...I have had a few other boats ranging from a 13 ft whaler, 18 ft thunderbird, and a 28 ft Cruisers and I can finally see why you all love the GW, So Sdfish good luck with the 208 Adventure and although I am also a new member to this site I have already picked up quite a bit of knowledge here....Again man...great boating