I'm not a cat guy. Have a question about the drag of the lower units. Is it not better to have the outboard in line with the hulls ? Seems that the hulls have disrupted the water so why not have the lower unit drag their also ?
Thanks.

Maybe it is going to be another Skater surprise! :party-smiley-004:
Could it be some new motors also?????????? Who knows!:party-smiley-048:

Sorry guys for the delayed response, as ive been out fishing with my granpa

"Nice" :-)

Lol that's good Dave!!

Has Gramps got you talked into 5) more mercs on the 36? ;-)

Its been difficult making time to work on this latest project. after getting the Skater back from glassdave my schedule has been extremely busy. Here and there ive been able to get a few things done.
Dave did a great job of re-sculpting the tunnel pods and filling the old bolt holes giving me a fresh new transom to work with.
Then I made a template out of masonite of the engine jackplate bolt pattern and clamped it to the transom so that I could mark the new hole configuration. I moved everything in 2.5 inches,

I then used the template to have a 1/4" aluminum plate made to add strength and protect the transom

Then it came time to drill the mounting holes. The old saying measure twice cut (drill) once, takes on new meaning here. There's little room for error here.
Mounting the jackplates, It's critical to have everything square in to relation to each of them. You dont want an engine to be mounted crooked even slightly. Its proven that for maximum efficiency, you want all engines mounted perfectly straight up and down. In this I took extra time to do my best.
Once there I used mounting bolt kits straight from Mercury Marine, they are pricey but I believe worth the price to avoid problems down ghe road. They are stainless bolts fine thread with bronze nuts to prevent gauling. They come in pkgs of 4 complete with wide and narrow stainless flat washers that you need to mount an outboard.

With enough boat life 2 part loaded and ready in the caulk guns I proceeded to apply liberal amounts of caulking to the mating areas of the transom, aluminum plate and jackplate mating surfaces
I was working by myself and had to work with a sense of urgency due to the cure times of the 2 part sealant. Eventually I got it done