Bozeman Bob

Well it is his boat. He has 4 options, ,,,,,,leave it in Ontario,,,,,,,buy/rent/borrow a trailer,,,,,,,pay some local hauler/ try some marinas that have trailers before they get super busy hauling boats out, ,,,,,, or take the one time trip and have passport/ enhanced licence with you. Not sure if you can legally do it without at some point touching Canadian land .Maybe Google that to see what comes up.

Yed ,it's a solid 8 hours once you get in the first lock. You may wait anywhere from 1 to 12 hours to get paired up with a freighter that you will go through the whole system with. Once you start there is no stopping along the way. They normally don't send pleasure boats through by themselves, probably to expensive and time consuming on there end. Somewhat exciting the first time and a royal pain anytime you have to do it again.

You can research this topic on yachtsurvey.com. to get a comprehensive report on this subject.( Marine Engines is the title and then go to gas vs diesel and then open up the entire article.) Many points have been made, one that has not is the initial cost which can be astronomical compared to a gas engine. And it might take you 25 years( in this area )to make up any fuel savings. Diesel fuel nowadays is more money than gasoline There is also the weight of them on anything under 35ft to consider. You could probably drop in 4 more fresh engines into a gas boat and still be ahead of the extra money you laid out to buy the diesels. Oil changes and general maintenance on diesels vs gas is also through the roof. For me it would have to be a boat in the 40ft range ,anything under with the newer 7.4s/ 8.2s gassers out there would be more to my likings and cost efficient.

Not true,almost all Tiaras have wood encapsulated stringers. All the boats mentioned so far have had moisture problems one way or another. Tiara the least of them,but some issues nevertheless. I would Google each make year and model to see what problems there may be. A survey is a must especially with the thermal.imaging devices that are out there being used. Of the 4 mentioned I would say the Tiara would be the most versatile one of them,specifically for overnight stays combined with fishing. Motors are 2500 - 3 grand all day long and if your handy there relatively easy to swap out. No reason they won't last 6-10,000 hours. Resale value is higher as well. You can get a mid to late 90s for 30 gs or less if your willing to look at a closed cooling system salty from the northeast as they are pulled about the same time as the great Lakes = less time sitting in saltwater. I know a lot of people that have gone that route with no issues besides a occasional exhaust manifold replacement. Good luck !

I would expect the same "life " hours from a SB. Generally speaking the SB goes in a smaller /lighter hull than a BB. So they should be turning about the same rpms at cruise and pushing the same load in relation to there displacement. The only difference I might see is a 4 bolt main vs a 2 bolt but as noted the load difference may make up for that and if not horsed into a planning mode it shouldn't matter.

The only thing about ASB is your 30+ miles from Buffalo. Your question was in the Buffalo area ,so if you consider that distance area, then yes ASB.

Just message the guy on ebay and ask him if its two piece etc.

I know two charter boats and one was over 6,000 hours when he swapped them out and the other is still running strong at 4,000 hours. In these cases 90-95% of the hours are trolling. To me there relatively cheap to buy,3-3500 for a long block vs the price of a new outboard which are outrageous.

I would put money on it was a hit n run. Unless the parking lot has cameras the driver will never be found Can't even see any bumper paint on the damaged area, so it probably was a pickup...... As I was hitting the post icon the OP replied. Would like to see a picture of the repair job when done !

I would use yellow or blue masking tape just because the original masking tape has a tendency to shred when removing. If you want to finish it flush you can sand it while hitting the tape. Eventually you will sand the tape off. Just try to end your strokes before going on the other side of the tape where the original gel coat is. If you go that route with the sanding then any masking tape will do bc your going to end up sanding it off. I think there is a 24 hour complete drying time,could be wrong on that, so get on it ASAP Saturday.

Just glanced at one of the videos and the guy never taped it off. I would tape the area off ,makes for a cleaner look and is usually a smaller area to sand flush to the tape when done.

"Handles like putty ,Hardens like steel, Sands like wood " Marine Tex is a heavy duty structural epoxy. This easy to use putty can be molded to any shape. Can be applied to vertical and overhead surfaces . Forms tenacious bond to fiberglass "

I would use Marine Tex ,about 17.00 on ebay. Not sure how much West will gouge you but if you need it right away then that's your best option. Penetrates and is made for above and below the waterline. Easier to use than gel coat, which rarely matches anyway and IMHO not as durable. Probably do not want the raw glass getting any wetter than it already might be. Just rough it up a bit and apply per instructions. The white epoxy is probably a close match and over time has a tendency fade into a close match

A little more info wouldn't hurt. Do you have a outboard or I/O and year/ make/ model might help.

From what I can decipher from your post it sounds like the prop hub may be slipping under load. Do you have a spare prop that you can swap it out with ? Most non inboard props have a rubber hub that can come unglued over time.

Outboard repowering in the hp rating your looking at is expensive and then some. Rebuilding them is right up there as well. Now if you went with I/Os or straight inboards a 350 long block, will run you anywhere from 2500 to 3500 which is a fraction of the cost of a new outboard. Most used outboards will have just as many hours as the one's hanging on the boat your looking at and still set you back 5-10 grand per. Depending on how much you want to spend, may dictate a outboard or inboard setup. A saltwater outboard is a time bomb vs a closed cooling system inboard if your going that route. All the hulls you mentioned have wood in them, including the whalers transom,< along with the closed cell foam sometimes getting waterlogged. Gradys used to have some stringer and transom issues ,not sure if or when they may have been corrected, maybe google the models your looking at and see what pops up from boating forums etc. I would get a survey done and base any purchase offers on the boat passing a survey.

I assume you have a I/O. The first thing I would do is narrow down where the problem is. Try disconnecting the steering linkage from the outdrive. Is the outdrive hard to move by hand or is the steering cable sticking ? Maybe it has a hydraulic steering ram that is starting to bind up and needs to be rebuilt. Or power steering pump is on the way out . Really need more info than your original post states ,like make and model of outdrive and steering system/brand as well.

^^^^ I agree in that something is out of kilter. With the radar that all the boats involved have how in the world can you not foresee/track a collision. I realize there ships and don't turn on a dime but a simple shout out to one your on a collision course with, as in, you head to your port and I will head to my port or whatever would of stopped these "accidents" from happening

Make sure you tell the wife that you need 200 lbs of ballast up in the bow area and to get a move on it !!! hahaha

From what I read with your link it didn't say anything about low /idle speed handling . To me it looks like drag being added on to the outdrive and ventilation plate . To me that would negate any top end gains, which the report showed it lost with one boat and gained with the other. I would think the area immediately around the prop would not have any effect on compacting the thrust. Maybe 6" to a foot behind the prop would condense the thrust like a jet engine. And if it worked that great Mercruiser would of developed something like that as a stock unit years ago. People have been complaining about I/O wander for decades, more so with the deeper V hulls. Seems more like a sales gimmick but what do I know ? Maybe try googling it and see what kind of feedback you can find. Having said all that give it a try and report back one way or another if you want to.

So your not putting a hose down the filler tube ,just screwing a hose on the top of the tube ? If so I would buy a fluid evacuator [ Mighty Vac is top of the line ] from harbor freight/ebay/amazon etc and get one that the small diameter hose goes down the filler tube and bottoms out on the pan. Or just change your oil a bit sooner to hopefully compensate for what your leaving behind.

When you say "it was the same shape as the original " does that mean the holes all lined up, the side view was exactly the same as well as the top view. Did you fill each of them to see if they held the same amount of oil ? Hard to say without looking at it to see if it would retain oil ,depends on where the dipstick tube lines up with the configuration of the pan. Many pans have a high and low side. If you have been running it for 2 seasons and it hasn't seized up I would guess that around 1 quart was being left in the pan. Are you counting the oil filter in the 3.5 fill up? Most of them hold 1 to begin with unless your putting a small one on. Do you still have the old pan and can you google the year and models to see if you have the correct one. How much oil did it hold before you changed pans ? Hopefully a expert on this can chime in and set you straight.

Let L+M talk you through it. Just trying to.help seeing that no one else was offering any suggestions ,help,thoughts on what might be the issue.