Any Bluewater 25 owners? - The Hull Truth

DN · 06-23-2008, 07:49 AM

Have a Bluewater 25 with twin Yam HPDI 200hps.
Lost starboard engine so needed to make run home on the port engine. (trimmed broken engine all the way up and out of water)

Was barely able to get on to a plane...had to have wife and kids all go to bow to even do that and top speed was just over 30mph and RPM highest was 4500? (Top speed with both engines is 55+ and RPM's over 5000)

Is there something wrong with the port engine or what you would expect with one engine doing all the work? (I had thought the boat would do better than that on one engine)

Thanks

SeaJay · 06-23-2008, 07:58 AM

I think you had better performance than a lot of twin setups would have on one motor.

kitebuz · 06-23-2008, 08:13 AM

That doesn't sound bad on a single 200. Alot of people carry a spare prop with extra pitch/size, or even 4 blade, for if/when they have to run home on one engine. Seajay is right - alot of twin set-ups don't actually plane on one engine, but it still gets you home...

DN · 06-23-2008, 10:30 AM

OK...thank you for that input. I guess once everything fixed i may see if each engine does the same when using only one?
Did have full tank of fuel at the time as well.

b04747 · 06-23-2008, 10:58 AM

Just wondering, but would the single engine being off center also be a factor?

Flot · 06-23-2008, 11:23 AM

Quote:

DN - 6/23/2008 12:30 PM

OK...thank you for that input. I guess once everything fixed i may see if each engine does the same when using only one?
Did have full tank of fuel at the time as well.

That sounds like great performance for a single engine. A lot of boats with twins will NOT plane on just one, period.

However since you brought up WOT speed etc, someone should point out - just because it has one working engine does not mean that it is designed to push the boat that fast.

Having twins is peace of mind to get you home in the event of a failure (like you had). But you are putting a lot more stress on that one engine so be reasonable in your expectations and use (ie give it enough power to maintain plane but not necessarily more) - you don't want to blow the SECOND engine while you are "limping home."

b07 - the real "limiting factor" is the fact that the engine is propped too big - the prop size is selected assuming that BOTH engines are pushing the load. If the boat were factory equipped with a single 200, that 200 would have a much smaller prop, allowing it to reach the correct RPM range. (although a single 200 on a 25 would be overworked in general)

DN · 06-23-2008, 11:53 AM

flot...thank you.
I was worried as I tried to get home on the one engine that I was over loading it.
There were storms coming and with the kids wanted to get home asap. (So I guess I wasn't really "limping" but in fact pushing it as hard as I could)
Will have mechanic check both engines.

phillipj1 · 06-23-2008, 12:08 PM

Quote:

b07 - the real "limiting factor" is the fact that the engine is propped too big - the prop size is selected assuming that BOTH engines are pushing the load. If the boat were factory equipped with a single 200, that 200 would have a much smaller prop, allowing it to reach the correct RPM range. (although a single 200 on a 25 would be overworked in general)

Right, Isnt WOT max RPM much greater that 5k of that engine? If so, I guess you
prop twins for WOT RPM lower that you would a single?

JP

Sea Hawk · 06-23-2008, 04:05 PM

Quote:

kitebuz - 6/23/2008 10:13 AM

That doesn't sound bad on a single 200. Alot of people carry a spare prop with extra pitch/size, or even 4 blade, for if/when they have to run home on one engine. Seajay is right - alot of twin set-ups don't actually plane on one engine, but it still gets you home...

It will require a smaller spare prop for this situation to have that motor running higher rpm and not overloaded ,Im susprise that you were able to plane that boat with the prop set for twin opperation ,indeed very strong engine ,Im sure if it was 4 stroke you would be doing about 8mph and oly 1,800 to 2k rpm.

flats392 · 06-23-2008, 04:33 PM

Quote:

DN - 6/23/2008 6:49 AM

(trimmed broken engine all the way up and out of water)

DN....

Do you know you could have lowered the engine manually?

All outboards have value screw that allows you to lower the engine manually if it gets stuck in the up position. It is usually located on the starboard side on the engine mount. All you need is a flat head screw driver. Open the value screw a little at a time and the engine drops. When you get the engine to drop into the water at a good depth just tighten the valve screw and head in using your tabs to adjust the boat.

Good information to remember for everyone…..

tlhmiami · 06-23-2008, 04:54 PM

My 25 Bluewater with twin 200 hpdi's will plane on one engine, but it takes weight in the front and a lot of patience. I have only had to run twice with one engine and would recommend that you just putt along (if weather permits) and not put any extra stress on the working engine (as per my mechanic). And I too trim my non running engine up when I need to run on one engine.

DN · 06-24-2008, 06:57 AM

Quote:

flats392 - 6/23/2008 3:33 PM

Quote:

DN - 6/23/2008 6:49 AM

(trimmed broken engine all the way up and out of water)

DN....

Do you know you could have lowered the engine manually?

All outboards have value screw that allows you to lower the engine manually if it gets stuck in the up position. It is usually located on the starboard side on the engine mount. All you need is a flat head screw driver. Open the value screw a little at a time and the engine drops. When you get the engine to drop into the water at a good depth just tighten the valve screw and head in using your tabs to adjust the boat.

Good information to remember for everyone…..

I did not know that...thanks.
Problem I had was that the T & T pump for the starboard engine wouldn't shut off even when switch was not depressed and engine all the way up...I was worried it would burn out so I switched the starboard battery off which stopped the T & T pump from running.
I wonder if I had then did what you said to lower the starboard engine...turned battery on to just start that engine and then off once running so pump wouldn't continue to run? Does that make sense?

flats392 · 06-24-2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

DN - 6/24/2008 5:57 AM

I wonder if I had then did what you said to lower the starboard engine...turned battery on to just start that engine and then off once running so pump wouldn't continue to run? Does that make sense?

No..... you CAN NOT turn any battery off while an engine is runnig. That is a big NO NO

. If you turn off your battery while the engine is running you will fire your alternator and the engine's electrical components.

You did the right thing..... Shut off the power & came back on one motor.

or you could of disconnected the trim motor and then dropped the engine with the value screw. Once the motor was in the water you could run back in.

The trim "remedy" is only good if the trim motor is not working either up nor down.

bradmd · 07-19-2008, 06:13 PM

that's funny, my zuke 250 did the same thing a few wks ago. It was the trim switch on the motor that is stuck in the "up" position. I just unplugged the switch on the motor after removing the cowling...........you can control the trim from the binnacle. My dealer is going to replace the switch Monday.