Among

Ive got a 290 Sea-Ray bowrider with twin merc. 6.2 's and bravo drives ...

problems:
-im having horrible trouble with cavitation at lower speeds
-difficulty getting on plane, even with just me in the boat.
-if I fall off plane, its almost impossible to accelerate back onto plane without coming to a complete stop ...
- when pulling tube or kneeboard ( cant even think about pulling up a ski or wakeboard with this current problem ) and performing average turns and menouvers such as turning around, or sharply , boat will slow and props will cavitate, forcing me to come to a complete stop again.
- when accelerating from a dead stop, one prop may cavitate, while the other doesnt, obviusly causing difficulty having to back off both throttles trying to get them to sycro.

i ordered the special order big power engines ( i know thats ironic for an offshore race boat site, but for stock sea-ray power is was special order ) so i wouldnt have trouble getting on plane or pulling a wakeboarder or skier ...

im not very experienced with this stuff, but everyone's telling me that the props are way wrong. Would you agree this is the problem ?

why would sea-ray put a prop on the boat that caused it to perform so horribly ?

which prop and pitch should I go with ?

any help is greatly appreciated.

Pat McPherson

If you're running 3 blade props, going to 4 blade props should help...

Westcoast

make sure the drives are trimmed all the way in

bbladesprops

What propellers are on boat?

Among

ill look at the props this evening and post tommorow .... thanks.

RaggedEdge

I sell Sea Rays on a part time basis here in northern New York. Actually sold a very good friend a 290 BR last year, his has twin 5.0's with Bravo III's.

Sea Ray often shipps the boats with the standard version of the props rather than the ones with the additional cup dialed in to them. We have run into this more times than not across the entire line. The Bravo III set ups, be they sport boats or sport cruisers will benefit greatly from the switch to the cupped version. So much so that we request them when our boats are shipped, or change them out before delivery in many cases. The problems you mention here are typical, and easily cured with the prop change. Check with your dealership, have them look up the recomended prop in the sales guide, and get them to changed them out for you. I'd give you the info now but am at home and the "Bible" is in my office, if you can't get the info let me know and I'll gladly help you out. The 290 BR is a great running boat, you'll love it once you get this little bug corrected.

You didn't actually state but I am assuming you have the Bravo III's....let me know. One last thing here.....Sea Ray builds a chit load of boats and sometimes make the mistake of putting the wrong props in the boat when shipped, then the prep guy at the marina puts them on just because they are the props shipped in the boat. At our facility we water test every boat before delivery, and the owner will not let us, as sales people, deliver any boat, new or used, without doing an in-water delivery with the buyer. His theory is that by doing so many of the little bugs are corrected before the buyer leaves the marina. It works!!! Makes for a bunch of real informed and happy boaters.

Among

ragged , thanks so much for your direction on this .. just sent you a PM.

RaggedEdge

Got it, and glad to help. BTW if you do experience problems with your dealer, call Sea Ray direct and explain your situation. They are good about helping, either with your dealer or another. Your best bet to resolve is always thru your selling dealer first.

SeaRay Jim

A Searay post every now and then is a good thing.

Among

hey guys .... havent taken the boat to sea ray yet ... or called them< but i got the prop information as some had asked for: maybe you can give me direction based on this info. ... that way i can just be educated and have a direction when i talk to the dealer.

the props are Mercury Mirage Plus 3 blades.

port: 48-13703 21-P

starboard: 48-13702 21-P

thanks for any help.