We are camping at aloha state park on mullet lake,plan on going regardless of weather,going up fri afternoon,if weather permits will be on indian river sat and going over to mackinaw island on boat over night sunday night,I'll call you tonight,Smitty
Boat is a 272 baja boss,blown 540,called "never enough_____!

The weather report has improved, I'm going.
Is one of those numbers your cell? I'm not leaving until about 7 Fri. night.
I'll be on the road after that. Give me a call. I plan on doing the lakes sat.
and may join you to macinaw sun. I wont stay but it would be nice to say I went there by boat. I can add a bridge to my pics. See ya, John

I also have a 272 Islander and I run with alot of "crap" on board (tubes, air pumps, 10 gals of fresh water, coolers, massive tool box, etc). The boat has a 502 efi and had the hook removed from the hull.

The 502 originally ran about 62 on the dash speedo with a 24" Bravo at 5000rpms.

I added an M1SC procharger (severe duty valves, AZM ECU, 2 bar map sensor, Stainless Marine Exhaust). I now run with both a 26" Bravo and a 28" Bravo. The dash speedo would show 73-74 with ocassional bump-ups to 76mph.

I recently got a color Magellan to check out the speedo (BTW the Magellan is great and I also use in on my Harley and in my Denali). Last weekend I had 8 people on board and the engine was turning 5000rpms at 5psi boost. The boat ran a solid 71mph on the Magellan. I am planning to raise the boost by 2psi and see if there's more to gain while still keeping the engine reliable.

I haven't run the boat with the GPS and the 28" Bravo yet however when I ran it before, it had abit more top end on the dash speedo but was alot less fun in the low and mid-range, particularly with a load of people on board.

I also tried to calibrate the dash speedo against the GPS. Here's what I found:

Speedo GPS
30 30
40 41
50 52
60 63
70 74-75

Sorry guys...I posted the calibration of the speedo and GPS backwards. Should have been:

GPS..........Speedo
30...................30
40...................41
50...................52
60...................63
70...................74-75

Guess this board isn't the forum to question the sanity of running 71 mpg with 8 people aboard. Now really!!!! they're just slowing you down regardless of their sanity!

Like its any more sane to have 5 people going 95 in a 23 ft hydro. Going 71 with 8 people in a 27 ft performance bow rider (Baja272 Islander) hardly seems risky at all in the right water conditions. In fact I'd say this boat would still be quite comfortable at 80 given its rock-solid stability and comfort at 71.

Time to find more hp out of my 502/blower combo.

Who said anything about having 5 people in a 23' Hydro. Nothing wrong with airing it out all the way. So much for safety first and responsible operation. Either way good luck with your boat and I hope you get it running to its potential.
R

Last two cents I will give, running 70+ in any boat is irresponsible in any size boat!
While more impressive with all that extra weight it will be ugly if something bad happens.
enough preaching.....
R

So what's your idea of responsible? ...A row boat with 2 passengers in full life jacket gear? Clearly this is safer but hardly more responsible.

Any boat, at any speed can be dangerous to its passngers when not operating safely for the conditions its operating in. BTW, what boat are you operating and do you consider it operating at safe speeds?

I've been operating hi-perf boats for 18 years. Not a single time have I or a pseenger been even dinged. Never has the boat come into contact with something it wasn't intened to to come in contact with.

Safety in my opinion is not a matter of speed. Its a matter of a safe and smart operator that takes into consideration the water and weather, the types and ages of passengers, the boat's capabilities, his/her own capabilities and the local laws.

I've seen guys launching 23' cuddies with 4 passengers that probably couldn't reach 45mph that were more dangerous at the ramp let alone on the water than the experienced boater with 4 passengers in a hi-perf boat that runs 80mph.

Your view that any boat running over 70 mph is irresponsible can only be chalked up to the view of an inexperienced boater or someone that's completely unfamiliar with hi-performance boating. Maybe your in the wrong forum. I think the forum you're looking for is called "Onshore Only".

OK maybe getting carried away here... the rowboat would be fine as long as both passengers were sitting down. I will be the first to admit that my boat won't break 70 with 8 passengers onboard and the above was just my opinion.
Think in your words safety in not a matter of speed, Its a matter of a safe and smart operator that takes into consideration the water......
Unlike many other boaters at least you have experience with your boat. Couple of questions to think over- How well is your boat built (not meant as a slam to Bajas think they are nice boats) is it built to run at those speeds with 12-1600lbs of cargo when the boat itself is around 4500? Have you ever been a passenger when someone else is hauling a**- not as much fun as being the driver? Is it also OK to have a few beers while being the captain? I like going fast too but my idea of responsible wouldn't be running full throttle with 8 other lives in my hands. Whatever started out posting just because "Charley" had us stuck inside. Didn't mean to start a slam on you or your boat but then again without knowing me you can stick your Onshoreonly..
Rick