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Author Topic:   Two Year Aniversary in my 305

handn posted 06-19-2006 09:15 PM ET (US)
I have observations after 660 hours of use and two years of ownership in my 305 Conquest.
1. The boat still looks like new. Boston Whalers even old ones look good with care and even neglected ones can be brought back. The fiberglass and the stainless retain that new look luster, the vinyl is soft and supple and the cabin still looks great.
There is a dock scratch from an unsucessful attempt to teach my wife how to dock and a cut in the coaming pad from combat fishing with schoolie dorado but these will be set right. I am still deciding what to do about windshield wipers that rust all over the cabin top and Mercury decals that are peeling off. Any ideas?
2. The boat is very versatile. It is a offshore and inshore fishing boat, a pocket cruiser and even a party boat if you don't have too many friends. We have cruised in the boat for almost a month total in little installments. The cabin is suprisingingly comfortable and the cockpit more so.
3. Once the new boat bugs were repaired, we have had few repairs and problems. There have been a lot of loose connections, but hopefully all that is going to come loose has been tightened. We had cabin leaks but these have been fixed.
4. The boat has been economical to run. We have YamaMmerc 225 efi 4-strokes and these have required zero repairs and routine maintenance is easy and economical. The engines have Revolution 4 17P props and the motors and props are well matched to the boat. Cruise at 4200 rpm is 21 knots and the boat gets 1.3 n.m.p.g overall including one engine trolling. Some might want more power, but where we boat, we couldn't use it.
5. The ride is smooth, safe and stable. We came back from Baja California a few days ago because we had too and conditions were horrible. We were beamed by six foot wind chop for 52 nautical miles and had to slow to seven knots. I turned into the sea to check out some birds working but gave that up when green water came over the bowsprit and splashed into the windshield. It quickly drained out of the cockpit. There were no other boats foolish enough to be out and the radio was silent except our friends calling to question our sanity. In all of this we felt safe, the ride was remarkably stable and we were dry behind the weather curtains.
If conditions are merely bad, like 3-4 footers, we would have planed between 11 and 14 knots. The revolution 4 props grip like death, even going up steep wind chop.
Hit the trim tabs and the boat will plane into 3 footers with a comfortable ride.
6. I do have some gripes. I don't like the passenger seating. I hate to sit sideways, you can't comfortably look forward or back.
The transom seat is nice, but useless when you are trolling. Even 4-strokes are too noisy when you are sitting right on top of them.
It wouldn't have taken much for BW to put a rear facing seat on the port side. Somebody has to watch the baits and I am too old and stiff to sit on the little step.
The boat is wet especially at trolling speeds. Even a little bit of wind and chop puts spray on the weather curtains and windshield. In the spray, the weather curtains get zipped up and you can't see that marlin right in front of you until you run over him and he goes down.
My 23 Conquest was a bone shaker but so dry, I never used the curtains except in the winter.
Tuna hate my 305 but that is because the outboards and all those bubbles. I guess BW can't do anything about that. I hope they work on the other problems, especially the wetness.
Royboy posted 06-19-2006 10:06 PM ET (US)
Thanks for taking the time to post all of that. While not immediately useful, I found it interesting. I'm surprised that the boat rides wet. I have a buddy with a 23 Conquest and it's bone dry.
Roy
rocket posted 06-20-2006 12:05 PM ET (US)
I have 2001 260 conquest. In a 20 knot side wind with 3 to 5 foot swells and small white caps topping the swells, when forced to truly run at a right angle to the wind, heavy spray absolutely soaks anyone on the rear folding transom seat; as in, dump a bucket full of water on you type soaking. Thats at minimum planing speed, engines tucked fully under and trim tabs used heavily to keep the nose down (around 20 MPH).
Then when quartering into the wind, every once in a while, one would break just right and throw a few buckets worth of heavy spray at the helm station. Those curtains are worth a million $$ as is the hard top.
I found myself coming across from Alexandria Bay, ST. Lawrence River to Fair Haven on Lake Ontario, on an absolutely beautiful, clear blue sky summer day, when the wind went from 5 to 15 to a steady 20 out of the West. Still clear blue sky, but windy. I have not ridden in enough boats in such conditions to truly compare dryness of ride, but, my Conquest "rides wet", too, in these types of conditions.
Are there actually boats out there in this size range that can truly ride dry at right angles to a steady 20 Knt wind in this type of steep, closely spaced white caps that Ontario has? Sounds like hogwash to me.

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Author	Topic: Two Year Aniversary in my 305
handn	posted 06-19-2006 09:15 PM ET (US) I have observations after 660 hours of use and two years of ownership in my 305 Conquest. 1. The boat still looks like new. Boston Whalers even old ones look good with care and even neglected ones can be brought back. The fiberglass and the stainless retain that new look luster, the vinyl is soft and supple and the cabin still looks great. There is a dock scratch from an unsucessful attempt to teach my wife how to dock and a cut in the coaming pad from combat fishing with schoolie dorado but these will be set right. I am still deciding what to do about windshield wipers that rust all over the cabin top and Mercury decals that are peeling off. Any ideas? 2. The boat is very versatile. It is a offshore and inshore fishing boat, a pocket cruiser and even a party boat if you don't have too many friends. We have cruised in the boat for almost a month total in little installments. The cabin is suprisingingly comfortable and the cockpit more so. 3. Once the new boat bugs were repaired, we have had few repairs and problems. There have been a lot of loose connections, but hopefully all that is going to come loose has been tightened. We had cabin leaks but these have been fixed. 4. The boat has been economical to run. We have YamaMmerc 225 efi 4-strokes and these have required zero repairs and routine maintenance is easy and economical. The engines have Revolution 4 17P props and the motors and props are well matched to the boat. Cruise at 4200 rpm is 21 knots and the boat gets 1.3 n.m.p.g overall including one engine trolling. Some might want more power, but where we boat, we couldn't use it. 5. The ride is smooth, safe and stable. We came back from Baja California a few days ago because we had too and conditions were horrible. We were beamed by six foot wind chop for 52 nautical miles and had to slow to seven knots. I turned into the sea to check out some birds working but gave that up when green water came over the bowsprit and splashed into the windshield. It quickly drained out of the cockpit. There were no other boats foolish enough to be out and the radio was silent except our friends calling to question our sanity. In all of this we felt safe, the ride was remarkably stable and we were dry behind the weather curtains. If conditions are merely bad, like 3-4 footers, we would have planed between 11 and 14 knots. The revolution 4 props grip like death, even going up steep wind chop. Hit the trim tabs and the boat will plane into 3 footers with a comfortable ride. 6. I do have some gripes. I don't like the passenger seating. I hate to sit sideways, you can't comfortably look forward or back. The transom seat is nice, but useless when you are trolling. Even 4-strokes are too noisy when you are sitting right on top of them. It wouldn't have taken much for BW to put a rear facing seat on the port side. Somebody has to watch the baits and I am too old and stiff to sit on the little step. The boat is wet especially at trolling speeds. Even a little bit of wind and chop puts spray on the weather curtains and windshield. In the spray, the weather curtains get zipped up and you can't see that marlin right in front of you until you run over him and he goes down. My 23 Conquest was a bone shaker but so dry, I never used the curtains except in the winter. Tuna hate my 305 but that is because the outboards and all those bubbles. I guess BW can't do anything about that. I hope they work on the other problems, especially the wetness.
Royboy	posted 06-19-2006 10:06 PM ET (US) Thanks for taking the time to post all of that. While not immediately useful, I found it interesting. I'm surprised that the boat rides wet. I have a buddy with a 23 Conquest and it's bone dry. Roy
rocket	posted 06-20-2006 12:05 PM ET (US) I have 2001 260 conquest. In a 20 knot side wind with 3 to 5 foot swells and small white caps topping the swells, when forced to truly run at a right angle to the wind, heavy spray absolutely soaks anyone on the rear folding transom seat; as in, dump a bucket full of water on you type soaking. Thats at minimum planing speed, engines tucked fully under and trim tabs used heavily to keep the nose down (around 20 MPH). Then when quartering into the wind, every once in a while, one would break just right and throw a few buckets worth of heavy spray at the helm station. Those curtains are worth a million $$ as is the hard top. I found myself coming across from Alexandria Bay, ST. Lawrence River to Fair Haven on Lake Ontario, on an absolutely beautiful, clear blue sky summer day, when the wind went from 5 to 15 to a steady 20 out of the West. Still clear blue sky, but windy. I have not ridden in enough boats in such conditions to truly compare dryness of ride, but, my Conquest "rides wet", too, in these types of conditions. Are there actually boats out there in this size range that can truly ride dry at right angles to a steady 20 Knt wind in this type of steep, closely spaced white caps that Ontario has? Sounds like hogwash to me.