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Background

Overview

Neat Stuff-Part I

Neat Stuff-Part II

Parting Shots

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Conway obtained his boat and motor through Aim Marine in Lakeside, CA. The motor he selected was the Mercury Salt Water Edition Optimax 225. At the time he selected his boat, Captain Bowman had the choice of either purchasing the Optimax or the Verado, and decided to go with the Optimax.

Why? "The Verado was just a little bit too new for me", confided Conway. "They were very quiet, and looked to be pretty fuel efficient, but I need an absolutely reliable motor. The Verados just didn't have a track record."

What about the Optimax's reputed tendency towards self-destruction?

"That might have been true several years ago, but Merc's made the Optimax pretty much bulletproof" said Bowman, "This is actually my second 225, and they've been great - good fuel economy, reliable, plenty of power." The only negative? "They're loud. You can definitely hear us coming."

The big Merc is controlled by Teleflex's Sea Star hydraulic steering system. The Sea Star system has performed flawlessly.

Click for larger image	Click for larger image	Click for larger image
Captain Bowman has a small, but solid core set of electronics on board: a Lowrance LCX-25c sonar/GPS unit, and a Raymarine 54 DSC VHF radio. He's also had the engine rigged with Mercury's SmartCraft gauge system in order to monitor that big hunk of metal hanging on the stern.

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