Draining my lower unit oil today and got this tasty result.

When I took out the lower screw holding the oil in, I noticed there was no washer on it. No clue how that happened. I'm pretty positive I put a fresh one on last year, but who knows. Maybe I had one too many maintenence beers while doing the work. Hopefully that's the culprit but I'll go ahead replace the prop seals anyway 🤷

Originally posted in r/ElectricBoats, but I'd like to hear from regular boaters too, not just the EV crowd.

Home-built 2.5 kW / 24 V outboard on a 13 ft fiberglass boat, ~8 km/h (4.3 kn) top speed and 15-20 km range. Next goal is getting it up on plane.

If you run a small boat on lakes or on waters with gas motor restrictions: what would an electric outboard need to do for you to actually make the switch?

Hey guys, anyone in here with a Bravo 1 OC (or a friend with one) that could measure the total length of the barrell for me please?

Bought a cheap stock Bravo 1 that I will have shipped away for a cut, clean up, and blueprint into a knock off OC.

Prop guy has never seen a Bravo OC though as it is an unusual propeller where I live, he knows what needs to be done to the blades but needs info on how much of the barrell needs to be cut away at the back.

Trolls (mind if I call you that? 😂), what's the most powerful trolling motor for the least money?

I'm curious about your actual experience with trolling motors for small boats...

Which trolling motor currently offers the highest power at the lowest price?

I'm particularly interested in:

1. Maximum thrust (Newtons) versus purchase price.

2. Actual electrical power consumption (watts).

3. Battery voltage (12V, 24V, 36V, or higher).

4. Reliability, efficiency, and real world performance.

5. Whether cheaper brands can compete with expensive ones.

6. Ability to quickly swap props on the go !

I'm more interested in actual performance and value than brand names or marketing claims. If you've tested multiple motors, which one gives you the most thrust per dollar?

Looking forward to hearing your experiences, thanks in advance.

I have been looking at boats lately and realized I am not really sure what type would suit my lifestyle best.

I enjoy fishing, but I also like the idea of taking friends and family out for a full day on the water. Having comfortable seating, shade and somewhere to relax sounds just as important as having good performance.

Is there a good middle ground between a fishing boat and a luxury day cruiser? Or does trying to combine both usually mean compromising too much?

I wonder how long this was sitting? Interesting way to remove the I/O.

Hi everyone,

Bombard AX3 SIB not a RIB as title says.

I’m looking for some advice on repairing a second-hand PVC RIB I’ve recently bought.
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that the previous owner has done a pretty poor job of repairing the floor.
The boat has a single-sheet flexible black PVC floor which is bonded directly to the orange PVC hull. The floor has been peeled away around the edges and there is a substantial amount of what appears to be 3M sealant around the perimeter of the floor and on the PVC itself.
The sealant is rubbery and stretchy.
Some of it will peel away, but in other areas it’s really well bonded and I can’t scrape it off easily.
The orange PVC underneath appears to be in good condition with no visible damage and thankfully the boat holds air perfectly.
I’ve ordered Polymarine two-part PVC adhesive, which should arrive this week, as I’d like to restore the original floor bond properly.
However, I’m unsure how best to tackle the existing 3M sealant.

Does all the old 3M sealant need to be completely removed before rebonding the floor?
What’s the safest and most effective way of removing cured 3M sealant from PVC without damaging the fabric or its coating?
Are there any particular products or solvents that are safe to use on PVC for removing this type of sealant?
If some stubborn residue cannot be removed mechanically, is there any way to prepare the surface so that the new Polymarine adhesive will bond properly?

This is my first time undertaking an inflatable boat repair, so I’m keen to get it right rather than make things worse!
I’ve attached photographs showing the existing sealant and the condition of the floor.
Any advice, recommendations or personal experience would be massively appreciated.
Thanks!

Motor: 1981 200HP Johnson V6 Seahorse

Motors been running perfectly fine and I haven't had any issues, took it out maybe 4-5 Times the entire summer, 4 of which were very short trips. I forgot since I was extremley low on oil last year, I threw regular gear oil in it to just winterize but ofcourse I forgot. Ran it and sprayed it with fogging oil when winterizing and went to drain the oil and this is what I saw. I plan on selling it come spring as I just bought a new center console, though my conscience is telling me it would be an asshole move to sell it to someone when it might be a few trips away from the lower unit going out. What bothers me is that i did have the lower unit seals all reppaced 4 years back.

Ciao a tutti e benvenuti su r/BoatLifeItalia!

Ho aperto questo spazio con un'idea semplice: creare una community di diportisti (a vela e a motore) dove ci si confronta senza snobismo, senza spam e senza la bacheca ridotta a un mercatino dell'usato. Qui parliamo di vita di banchina, manutenzione, problemi reali, rotte e consigli pratici, dal gommone al cabinato.

Per rompere il ghiaccio, usiamo questo thread per le presentazioni. Scrivete qui sotto:

1. In che zona d'Italia navigate di solito?

2. Che barca avete (o su cui andate più spesso)?

3. Qual è la cosa che amate di più (o che vi fa più tribolare) quando siete in acqua?

Buon vento a tutti!

I finally got it running right after messing with the carb, and there's a steady stream out the telltale. Only issue is the stream comes out hot. I have removed the nuts, sprayed the studs with pb blaster overnight, took a putty knife to try and break the seal all around, and this thing is STUCK. Anyone with older BF8A's have any tips or tricks?

(It’s unbolted to the wall currently but has been mounted this side up for 5+ years)
I cleaned out the valves, nothing stuck. Voltage is fine. Just a constant up and down in the pipe, any ideas? (Reposted for extra help 🥲)

Buying first boat but have been around boats my whole life. Family had early 2000's SeaRay 220 which has been great. Now have own family, teenage kids and a new place in the Lakes Region of NH. Need a great boat for the family and cruising the lake. Brother in law has ski boat so have the covered. Looking at a later model SeaRay SPX10 and the Cobalt CS22. Budget is not set but up to around $100k is ok. Probably under 24 feet. This is an investment (not a good one :) ) so willing to spend a bit more for quality. Any advice/thoughts/other ideas would be great!

I'm curious what the tight spot was for people who make it work, and for people who gave up. Tongue length counted? Outboard trimmed up? Door height?

I'm a student building a hackathon prototype this weekend that measures a garage and driveway with an iPhone and checks whether a car, truck, RV or boat on its trailer fits. No link and nothing to buy. I just want to know which numbers actually matter.

Alright guys, I’m pretty new to the outboard world and fixing them so I need some help troubleshooting an issue I am having.

I recently got an older bass tracker pro 17 that has a 1992 johnson 40 2 stroke. I changed the fuel lines redid the lower unit gear fluid as well as made sure I greased every thing else up for routine maintenance. The biggest issue I’m seeing is that it is not wanting to sit at idle very well. It will crank up and run really good for about 10-15 seconds and then slow down on the rpm’s.

I also had what seemed to be excessive oil coming out of the lower unit which could be a seal issue.

Let me know if you guys have any opinions.

Plan to buy a new mid-sized SUV to tow my small aluminum boat (16-ft Lund Fury fishing boat). The trailer is for light duty and has no brakes. Trailer +boat+gear total weight is 1,300 pounds. Any suggestions for choosing a new 2026/2027 SUV to handle the towing and boat launch? Thank you!

I am in central MS, my boat is in a boat house/lift. It’s an I/O 5.0 volvo penta sx. The plan was to get it back on a trailer a couple of weeks ago, but the water has gotten very low, to the point i can’t get the boat out.

The way i winterize it, and the way it has always been winterized is to pull the brass plugs from the exhaust manifolds and drain the water out of the block.

Well the trouble with that is, the boat sits on the sling at a bit of a forward angle. So i am worried about water pooling in the front of the block and manifolds, as well as the seawater pump that sits at the front if the crank pulley.

There is not a good way to get anti freeze pumped into it with it sitting out of the water, and flush muffs don’t seal well. The water hose in the engine bay is a block drain and nothing else

Is my concern about water pooling valid? Would a boat engine bay heater be a good solution or a incandescent light? Any thoughts?

I found a new fishing spot.

Hi all,

My father just purchased a fishing boat in Long Island NY. He just asked chatGBT and he learned that he needs to take a safe boating course (https://parks.ny.gov/activities/boating/boating-education)

owner already transferred title to his name and we got temporary registration. this is the first time he bought a boat.... what other things do we need to do? thank you!

ive got 1993 mercury 200hp xri 2.5L with 2 bad cylinders (no compression). any rebuilders who can tackle this old dog?

can't afford a new one and want to try and save it before I downgrade by a lot to fit a budget.

I’m trying to finance a boat and not have to put a huge down payment on a new or used boat. One bank I talked to said they use dealer invoice to determine value on a new boat and jd power/nada low retail no options for a used boat. Another bank told me they use Msrp for value on a new boat and jd power for used boats but they can add options to increase value.
Do some banks really assume the value of the boat is only dealer cost on a new boat? While another bank would use Msrp as the value? I feel like I’m missing something as those two values are incredibly different. Also I am realizing that jd power is incredibly far off on the boats I am looking at and that is causing some issues for us.
For example: one used boat I’m looking at is current year model (2026), bank tells me jd power says it’s worth 95,000. Dealer tells me and shows me buc value shows 155,000. Msrp for same model but new 2027 is like 260,000. Closest comparable are older with way more hours are asking 160,000.
Another new boat I’m looking at: manufactures website says Msrp is like 179000 for 2027. Jd power says Msrp for 2026 is about the same, but then jd power says Msrp for 2027 is 135,000.
My confusion of how the bank is going to determine the value and thus affecting my down payment, is giving me and the sales man and lot of grief and making it difficult to close on a boat. If I understood this a little better I feel like I could be better prepared and be looking at the right boat with the right down payment. Thanks for any explanations