Canadian Yachting October 2016 - 56

Photo: Vanessa Schmidt THE JET SET THE PORT HOLE Bradley Schmidt Markham Agincourt Power and Sail Squadron Regular readers of this column will recall that on a cold day in January, at the Toronto Boat Show, I signed the paperwork to purchase a brand new Evinrude ETEC 75 to repower my 16' Spectrum bowrider. A few weeks later I dropped the boat off and waited patiently for spring to arrive. I picked the boat up on a cold, rainy day in May and have nothing but positive things to report! It was through a series of happy coincidences that my local cottage country marina, Smart's Marina on Lake Mazinaw in the Land'O'Lakes, had a new, non-current example of the exact motor I had researched and dreamt of for my boat on display in their showroom. I can't write a review of the new motor without commenting that the whole experience from the first discussion last summer to the signing at the boat show, to the day I picked up the boat, not to mention the regular emails and updates, was nothing short of amazing. I am so happy I chose to "buy local." Steve, Pauline, and James Smart run a great business and I would recommend them to anyone. They are a full service marina close to Bon Echo Provincial Park, offering sales, service, rentals, docking, and fuel. You can look them up yourself at: http://www.smartsmarina.com/. As delivery day approached I found myself getting very excited and asking myself a lot of questions. How would the installation look? Would the new motor look out of place on my 1990s boat? Would the new controls and gauges be installed neatly? How would the performance be improved? What would the fuel consumption be like? I soon realized there was absolutely nothing to worry about. After settling in the front office with Pauline, James showed us the installation. The motor looked like it was made for our boat (one of the advantages of the ETEC is that because it is two stroke it is considerably smaller and lighter than its four stroke competition). The team at Smart's did a great installation job, with concealed side mount controls 56 Canadian Yachting in place of the old ones. They even cleaned up the appearance of the dashboard, with a new plastic backing so that the original gauges along with the new ETEC tach all fit very nicely. James lent me a rain coat and put the boat in the water. He demonstrated the features and warning lights, the safety tether, then turned the key. It started instantly, stayed at fast idle for a few moments, and settled down. It is remarkably quieter than the 1990s Mercury it replaced. He backed it out of the launch area and handed the controls over to me. For a frame of reference, with two people in the boat, the old 60hp would need a full throttle application and patience to get on plane. With four people the weight would have to be distributed and fingers crossed. I could not wipe the smile off my face as I pushed the lever forward and the ETEC had the boat on plane before it was at half throttle! We did some circles on the lake and I got used to trimming the motor. We also idled the motor down to trolling speed. I learned that the ETEC can be adjusted by the dealer to idle at a range of speeds. Mine is at the factory setting, but it can be programmed to idle more slowly if needed (though this can come with a bit of vibration). We got the boat back on the trailer and James demonstrated the automatic winterization feature, where the motor can fog itself for long term storage. Since the initial test ride I've had the boat out a few times, even with a full load of passengers. The motor is perfectly suited to the boat. I have yet to pull a tube, but I imagine it will do just fine. We have gained over 10 mph on the top end as well but for me the biggest takeaways are the drastically improved hole shot, the ability to cruise at our old top speed at only 3000 rpm, the reduced fuel consumption vs the old motor, and the fact that it is quiet enough we can now carry on a conversation underway. I love this motor! October 2016 http://www.smartsmarina.com/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting October 2016