The Good, the Bad, and the F*CKING ugly!!
 

Ok, today started off great, went and swapped out the batteries, then went by my local marine mechanic's shop and showed him my 29' Nuera. He couldn't believe what great condition it was in. He then caught a small chip on the bottom of one of the steps and told me to be careful when loading the boat on the trailer due to the steps. He stated that I would want the trailer in deeper than usual with my PQ.**Keep this in mind for later**.

Today was windy, 25-30 mph maintained winds on the lake all day, I was hesitant to the put the boat in the water solely because of loading it in wind. But of course I said screw it, and launched. Waves were 2-3' with an occasional 3.5-4' in he main body of the lake. The boat is SO different than my PQ. Much lower to the water, my PQ was "very" bow sensitive, drop the drive a lil bit and the bow dips dramatically, same with the tabs. With the Nuera I found it "insensitive", it wouldn't move much no matter what I did, or at least that was my perception. I played with the tabs and the trim, it was hard to listen the response of the engine with the trim due to the wind today. So I was going by the RPM meter a lot.

The tabs seem slow, and I guess because I'm not as high out of the water anymore, the effects seemed less prominent. I get comfortable and head out to the main body of the lake, it handled flawlessly, and again, completely different than my PQ. I launched a few time and always dead on level. The bow didn't move at all, it just sliced through everything. Not once did I get "jarred" from a hard landing.

Throttle was very sensitive, too easy to move, is there some kind of brake or tension screw to make it harder to push? I didn't really get on it too much, GPS was 63 and that was going with the rollers.

The good:
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...sfirstday2.jpg


The bad: I got wet, especially when coming to a quick stop, not sure if it's due to being closer to the water or the steps catching when slowing down, but I got sprayed in a major way on about 5 occasions. The seat, it's pretty low when you sit in it and the bolster doesn't drop all the way, it hits the floor for stand up. I really never got comfortable, but I just need to get the 3" steering extension instead of the 9" that's on there now.

THE UGLY:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...RollerBolt.jpg

The trailer is a brand new Zieman, and due to my inexperience I didn't notice it had a VERY small roller, so small that the roller bolt sticks out past the roller about 1.25" on the starboard side. Well after doing my runs I called my wife to come get me, we spoke about putting the trailer in deeper than before, so she did. I was worried about the wind but my approach was pretty good, and here comes the ugly. The bow catches the roller and slides past it on the right hand side, the side where the bolt is sticking out. Yup! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...oltdamage2.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...oltdamage1.jpg

So tomorrow I will be putting a normal size roller on and patching that up until I can find someone to repair it with the gel matching. The boat WAS really in mint condition, and now I put my dumb a$$ mark on it the first time out.

an that is sad to see sorry But thanks for posting something to keep in mind

I keep kicking myself for not noticing the damn bolt sticking out, I would have replaced the damn roller before I ever took it out! An expensive overlook!!!!

Thing is its all in the white area of the gel- This is why I insisted on zero color on the bottom side- Ive beached every boat Ive ever owned and will continue to do so and I've always got scratches on the bottom- not like what you are showing thats a gouge, but even though you are probably kicking yourself it'll be a an easy fix.

no problem a quick fix and you wont even know it happened.

pain in the a-$$ but better than gouging through the color.

Im a bit surprised by your wet comment- I've gone out in 3-6's in the ocean and only been lightly sprayed a few times, but I typically dont decellerate hard but rather let it slow down on its own.

I notice your PQ had a tall glass windhsield- are you getting wet from the front?

You will find the Nuera bottom neither likes nor needs a lot of positive trim .

UD

1st...get rit of all rollers and install carpet bunks !
2nd.. a boat will do that if the trailer is to far in the water since it can not align itself on the lower V !
3rd... EASY FIX..dont stress out !

Is positive trim up or down?

I got wet from the front starboard side of the boat, about midway between the bow and the steering wheel, that's where the water spray up from while I was driving.

Positive meaning up - past center.

You got sprayed from here when you chopped the throttle?

There should be a tension control on the back side of the throttle.

Im wondering if the 25-30 MPH "maintained" wind you describe added to this.

Uncle Dave

Where is the hour meter on this thing?

Hour meter should be in engine compartment - when looking at engine Left side up against the "firewall" if you will....near the light in the engine compartment... that where mine was.


You must have had pretty strong cross winds....to get wet.

I ran both of my 29's in all type of water and rarely got wet..rarely!!! When I did it had to do with slowing down and strong cross winds.

I never load a boat in the wind...I dock it and float it on by hand... wind will screw up more things then gel... but I only know this because I too have scratch a boat loading in the wind...haha

As far as the water you were in....that's what that boat loves.... GREAT rough water boat for the size - hands down!! organized or dis organized water, that boat just dances on the tops...

the roller should be fine......just install a shorter bolt that is hidden in the raised boss of the roller
i dont have trouble with loading the boat and dont need to have the trailer deeper for this and the strakes help to center the boat when loading
but where i launch ours flattens out so i have to be back further to launch only the steps and 2 of the lower strakes clip the bunks i have already replaced the bunks once and recovered them twice
i am considering making new bunk supports at work so that i can have tappered lead in on the bunks that the steps and strakes clip

If you do, please post some pics.

easy to do...... the metal angles that bolt to the bunks themselves .
the flat portion of the plate that bolts to the bunk itself needs to be about 6 inches longer
the bunk needs a 30 degree lead tapering back starting 1/2 inch above the bottom of the bunk itself, use the same overall length of material for the bunk
this will ensure that when bolted down there will be enough metal supporting the bunk itself
on my 26 nuera the 4 lowest strakes towards the stern are offset and they clip the bunks

hey bert what size of pq did u have....and maybe a dumb question but how does the lavey compare? build quality etc cheers

I had a 1998 260SX 454mpi. The PQ is a great all around boat, does everything well, I would say it handles the rough very well. Definitely not the fastest though, and it doesn't matter if you put 1500hp into the hull, it's not designed beyond 72mph. It's a thick heavy hull that likes to power through the rough.

The Lavey Craft is finesse machine! Extremely efficient hull, complete opposite of the PQ, I was shocked at my "lack" of gas bill, the 525 was very fuel efficient. The ride is awesome, I hit some decent size waves this summer and whereas the PQ would have handled it, the Lavey excelled in it with speed. Never a hard landing, never got jarred, and I was avg about 50mph.

There's not a single stress crack in my Lavey, and I only had one in my PQ, and that was only 3". The difference is the PQ is made for everyday cruising and family fun. The Lavey is made for performance riding and doing the everyday cruising just 30mph faster. I'm really shocked that there aren't really that many owners on this board. Perhaps it's because of the West Coast build, but the limit on the hull vs power is very high, you can constantly add more and more power and get greater speeds respectively.

Hope this helps.

Yeah I hera ya about adding power & the return you get on the pq...I've got a 93 257 legend was 400ish hp and added new power this year (535h)p, maybe got 7mph quicker -just gets there quicker now. Was curious to hear the diifs between the two. Cheers pat

What are you topping out at?

OSO is primarily an East coast site.

You will find many more Laveycraft owners at performance boats website which is more West coast based.

Glad you are impressed with your ride and I wish it fit your family better.

Uncle Dave

65gps that was a full tank and 4 adults....spining a 4 blade 24 b1 prop, had a 22 on it before

Yup that's about 68-69 with everything and everyone out of the boat + a 1/4 tank. Shame, if that hull was just more speed efficient it would be close to perfect. Have fun.

was at the 1000island poker run and spoke to an engine builder that was running a customers 28'pq silencer....had 650hp and was able to pull 83mph on gps...amazing what a step will do:coolcowboy:

True .

The "silencer" model seems to be the most efficient hull in the PQ line. Im uncertain of what the interior amenities are like and Ill take it from you guys construction is good.

The closest third party apples to apple comparison has the lavey with a 10 HP advantage running 4.2 MPH faster.

Powerquest 280 Silencer (stepped) (502 Mag MPI 415 shp) 67.2 radar Powerboat 12/98

Laveycraft 2750 Nu Era (stepped) (496 MAG HO 425 shp) 71.4 radar Powerboat 3/02


This is about a 6% speed\ efficiency advantage with about 2.5% more power.

Uncle Dave

Berts 29 Lavey is really nice, its well balance, rides on top of the waves, tracks very straight, handles the rough very well. I did not even drive it to get a good feel for his boat being a passenger.


I am looking for a 29 Lavey cabin version - year model 2000 to ???? with Power or no power - with drive or no drive - its all fine by me but has to be a single motor set up. Time frame is open but I think not to many 29 single engine cabin Lavey's were made so it might take a while to find one thats worth buying.

I would rather do my own power and drive but not a deal breaker if the boat has motor / drive. Hull has to be in good shape with no issues nor damage. Send me a message if you have any info on a 29 cabin . Thanks

- Bert call me on that Dallas location that we talked about. Good luck with your sale. Nice boat / mid cabin - if it was not a mid cabin I would be all over it.

John,

Sorry I got really tied up at work, I'll hit you up this weekend.