Offshoreonly.com

Hi Everyone, We are Betty and Charles, a couple of old boaters who recently decided to upgrade from bass boats and ski boats to a performance cuddy. We are not racers, but do have four grown children, their spouses and 11 grandchildren, most of who avid in water sports, so we spend a lot of time on the water.

We are boaters on a budget, so be prepared to be unimpressed. Our boat is a 1990 Mach I Condor 22' 4" with a 7.4 Liter Mercruiser & Bravo I. I bought the boat in May, and was mainly looking for an extra clean low priced boat with a big block chevy and a Bravo I sterndrive. The boat is a time capsule, all original, 350 hours, fresh water only, trailered, garage kept, and babied.

Prior to purchase, I did about two years of research. I wanted a 454 Chevy engine, just because. I decided on the Bravo I outdrive for durablity, economy, and performance. We we finally selected the boat of our dreams, I had a professional check her out completely, and I got a comprehensive report of the boat's condition prior to purchase. It was not perfect, however the problems found were minor, and not unexpected for a 20 year old boat.

The boat has just completed a flawless summer of running, and is now in the shop for winterization, service, and a punch list of small items to repair, most of which were wrong when we bought the rig.

The boat is very clean, and appears to have many years of service life left in her, however I have a tenative plan in the back of my mind to customize her, and make her a real show piece. Time and money will dictate that decision.

The boat came with a 14 x 21 three blade SS Stilleto prop that pushes in along at 54.9 MPH at 4600 RPM per GPS. I figure that for the hull design, configuration, HP, and age of the boat, that this is about right were it should be.

During the first of the summer, I purchased a 14.75 x 17 four blade SS Mercury Revolution prop for sking, and have now have a hole shot that is incredible! The boat will run 44.9 MPH at 4600 RPM, which is plenty fast enough for our purposes, and easily pulls three on the salom without any difficulty. The 17 pitch prop will allow the engine to over rev. Our mechanic is installing an MSD ignition system with a rev limiter, so we can preset to allow a certain RPM and not risk a blown engine. I am making this modification, because our children and grandchildren operate the boat.

We mainly boat on Fontana Lake in western NC, a man made mountain lake with 78 miles of coastline. It is ideal for camping, fishing, and water sports.