Request Permission to Come Aboard!!!

SLOWDUK

New member
All,
This is my first post to let you know that you have a new member from Pensacola, FL and to thank you for your assistance.
I purchased my V20 Friday 22 NOV after considerable research which included lurking on this forum to gather insight into heritage of the breed.
Your personal stories detailing the maintenance required, sturdiness of the hull, and the usefulness of your vessels made my decision much easier.
Two of my grand children and I made our first voyage Saturday 23 NOV out on Bayou Texar into Pensacola Bay to the west past Naval Air Station Pensacola into Big Lagoon on the inter-coastal waterway. We replicated that venture Sunday 1 DEC with my wife, our son and daughter-in-law, and the same two grand kids. From these two treks of approximately 35 miles each, the vessel is truly a pleasure to operate in conditions varying from smooth bayou waters to the moderate bay chop we experienced. We will get to the Gulf of Mexico when temperatures heat up next spring.
The vessel is a 1988 Wellcraft V20 Dual Console powered by a 2006 Yamaha F225 four stroke outboard with 120 hours on the clock. Although I purchased from a dealer here in Florida, I learned of the boat from a private listing in Boattrader.com. Unfortunately when I contacted the seller, who had been the sole owner of the boat since it was new in 1988, he informed me that he had traded in the boat 3 weeks ago during his purchase of a new boat. I visited the dealer to examine the boat and negotiated a purchase price equal to the original owner’s asking price which the dealer had paid for trade in ($11,500). I know that seems steep when compared to the stories on this forum where members have acquired an inexpensive package headed for the landfill and resurrected the beast with much labor and love. But this boat has been meticulously maintained and had received significant renovations in the past 4 years. Specifically, a refurbished transom in NOV ’09, new upholstery in 2010, and re-cored decking and hatches in 2013 (over $5,000 in receipts since NOV ’09 included in the documentation). Multiple phone conversations with the original owner totaling over an hour revealed his pride and passion for the boat similar to those expressed by the members of this forum. He seemed sincere in his regret from having to trade the boat in.
I know, you want pictures, but I wanted to get at least one post in before attempting the “post a photo procedure.” I don’t have many pictures so far, but I’ll post the best examples I have in a follow-on post to this thread.
One note before I hit send – All of the boats I have seen discussed on this forum are either center consoles or cuddy cabins. Does anyone have a dual console boat? Are the dual consoles a rare version?
I look forward to learning more from the veterans of this site and eventually contributing some knowledge as I acquire it through experience.
Thanks again for the assist, Slow
 
Hi Slowduk. Welcome to the forums. You may just have won the title of "longest first post ever". To answer your question about dualies.... Yes, they are a rare (but not unheard of) breed. Lumberslinger and I believe one other member have them also. Great designs, and very practical.

As to your photobucket photos. If you right click on the photo in Photobucket you can select which venue that you want to use. Different sites use different ways to tell the program that you want to display a photo. This site requires you to have
in order for it to display here. So select that venue, then copy/paste here and it will display properly. I'll do the first one here for you.

In all cases, welcome to the site, and congratulations on your choice of a really fine, seaworthy hull.... quite possibly the best all around hull design ever invented for this size pleasure boat.

Welcome aboard sailor :beer:

639_zpse316a87f.jpg


Great looking boat .. best of luck with her.
 
Last edited:
Welcome aboard!!
I just bought a 1981 Fisherman which I brought over to Oahu. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get it out due to 3 straight weekends of rain. :rain:
As far as the price, It looks real clean and the motor alone has to be worth $7-8k I would think.. I paid $10k for mine because as it was in great condition as well.
Enjoy it and again...welcome!
 
That's a good looking boat! I always liked the dual console models. You have an awesome motor there.

It is one of the heaviest motors on any of the boats on the forum I think. I'm curious do you get water coming up through the scuppers?

The f225 is a sweet motor! You should see speeds in the low 50s I would think. Your screen name seems a little ironic.

Welcome to the club.
 
always glad to see another gulf coast member aboard. considering the motor and the shape of the rig, i'd say you done good.
 
Thanks for the Warm Welcome

Appreciate the enthusiastic welcome aboard from all.
Destroyer, thanks for the photo posting guidance. Here’s my latest effort:

In response to Dbettered, I think the motor weighs nearly 600# and yes with a couple of adults standing near the motor well, water starts flowing into the cockpit through the scupper drains. Standing starts are not eye-watering but once up on plane the boat feels planted and I suspect the engine weight has something to do with that.
Regarding top speed, so far I have seen 52 mph without too much effort trimming the bow up but top speed has not been a major focus. Cruising around at 4500 RPM yields a comfortable 39-40 mph speed with fuel consumption in the 3.0-3.5 mpg range according to the Command Link digital readout (not sure how accurate that is). I don’t know the prop specs as they are not apparent with it installed and I have yet to remove it.
The most impressive aspect of the motor is the quietness. Casual conversation is possible at 40 mph. I couldn’t do that with the 200 Johnson 2-stroke I had on my last boat in the mid 80’s.
All-in-all, I’m damn glad to be a boat owner again and thankful to be included into the camaraderie of this forum. Hopefully, I can meet some of y’all face-to-face in the near future.
V/R, Slow
 
Back
Top