First Mariah
 

Hi all, Just bought a new sx18 bowrider still eagerly awaiting it's arrival from USA. Due to Arrive in Sydney Australia on 27 th of November. Looking for any tips on maintenance and overall care for my new toy. Also I will be towing it from Sydney to Cairns which is about 2500 klm so any tips for avioding hull damage would be good ( I don't have a boat cover yet ). My family and I can't wait to show off our new boat on the lake, there will be nothing like it here. :yes_grin:. There is some confusion in Aus about the standard dash instruments on the new model sx18 ( tacho, speed, fuel, ect, doe's anybody know for sure what instuments it comes with standard. Thanks for any help

Congrats!! That'll be 2 of those SX-18's in OZ that we know of. I sent an email to our resident Aussie "Dudders" (who has the other one over in Perth) and hopefully he'll chime in with the info you need.

Thanks mikeyt, can't wait to take my new Mariah for a run I have heard a lot of good things.

Congrats and welcome to the boards! You'll find this place pretty useful for anything you need to know about your new toy! Once you get it, post some pics for us, as most of us over here in the states are winterized, and we all need our boating fix to last us through the cold months. And if you have any questions, by all means, post them, and we'll try to help you!

Thanks Chris, Already getting some replies it's nice to see people still help each other out. I will be on the water by early December and will be glad to post some pics of some summer boating fun from down under.

Gidday Mayal, Welcome to the Forum and thank christ there is another Aussie here. Now we will be able to talk some sense.!! :rolling_laugh:

Thats a bloody long way to tow your boat! There are companies that put on plastic covers to keep stones from chipping the gel coat from your back tyres.
If you ask the dealer I am sure he will get that sorted for you. The boats that arrive here in Perth are just about always totally covered in white plastic, so perhaps yours will too.
As far as the qauges are concerned mine are Fariah ones with Mariah embossed on the speedo and rev counter and look really nice.
I have these gauges fitted as standard on my '06 model - Fuel, Volt meter, Speedo, Compass, Rev counter, Oil Pressure, Engine water temp, and Trim indicator. - Check out the pic I have attached.
2 gauges that are optional extra are the depth gauge and Hour meter.
I recommend getting the depth gauge fitted, with the lakes and rivers around here running aground can be easy to do.
Although with the 'standard' fittings, I am unsure of the new '08 models, I do have the brochure for '07 that was sent to me direct from Mariah in the states, so perhaps you can check with them.
www.mariah-boats.com - you will see my setup on that site too in the owners showcase section.
I know there is another SX18 identical to ours on the Gold Coast, cause when I was over there last year I was sitting at a set of traffic lights when the wife excitedly pointed it out to me. Bugger me if it wasnt the exact same as ours!!:p

When you do pick up your boat the Mercruiser manual says to keep to certain rev limits and speeds etc for the first 20 hours. I hope there will guys here who can let you know if this is correct and whether to strictly adhere to it. (I bought mine with about 35hrs on it so dont know if the previous owner did this or not).

If you are in a lake then your anchor rope shouldnt be fully used, just check to make sure that the end is tied off in the anchor well otherwise you might just loose the lot one day if you are in real deep water. I managed to check mine before making this mistake ( surprise surprise :eek_animated: ) but my mate didnt!!

Have fun with your new boat, and yeah please post some pics for us to enjoy.
I spent 4 or five days on ours over the past 3 weeks, up rivers out on the Mandurah estuary, we also watched the Red Bull Air Race in Perth a couple of weeks ago on it. Last Saturday we went to Fremantle down the Swan River
and went out to lunch, it was fantastic - we had the boat up to 52 mph with 4 people on board, just hammering - awesome :wink_thumbup:
Bayliners are a dime a dozen around here and I like to think of them as the Fords
of the boating world, where as the Mariahs are more like the Ferrari's.
Keep that in mind when people are asking about your new toy. They are as rare
as rocking horse s**t in Oz, and thats how we like it!!

Looking forward to your input on this great forum.

Merria Christmas
 

Thanks Dudders for your reply, Yep will definately have to look into the plastic cover for our new toy cause we don't want any damage before we even have our first ride. :shakehead:
Glad to know other Mariah families in Aus :wink_thumbup: Nicole and I are giving the kids two Christmas's this year, an early xmas for when the Mariah gets home around the week before xmas, Nicole has a corner set up with all our and the kids life jackets, flares, v sheet, even sun screen and zinc wrapped in xmas paper under our 'Christmas oars' decorated like a tree, for the kids to open as an early christmas or as Nicole would say rather than "Merry Christmas" "Merria (Mariah) Christmas", try to send a pic.
We really appreciate your advice keep it coming!
We'll have to make our American Mariah counterparts drool with pics of our warm summer months of boating while they freeze and build snow men:p.:rolling_laugh:
Look forward to photos of your boat and family enjoying it, and to send ours to you guys.:yes_grin:
Catch you soon
Mayal.

Bugger off to both of you with your warm summer weather... ;)

Bloody hell Mikey with your grasp of the Queens english one would believe that you could be either a Pom or and Ocker!!!!
So which is it??????

Gidday Mayal,
What colour scheme and motor did you go with???
I will bet that on that long trip home you will see heaps of places you will want to drop the boat into for a blat. At least with the missus driving you can get the chance to read all the hand books that you will get.
Have a safe trip.
Tony

me is nyther. eye cannt spelll eether. i mite bee an aaboriginaal tho. :rolling_laugh:

The road trip
 

Hi Dudders, We went with electic blue and the V6 190hp:yes_grin:. I was going to ask you what pitch prop you run with. I will be flying down to Sydney and driving back in a hire car by my self. Hoping to drive straight through about 32 hours but I'll see how I go closedeyes:. My missus is more excited than the kids:shakehead:. Only 4 days to go the boat should be in Sydney on Tuesday can't wait:rolling_laugh:.

Regards
mayal:

With that spelling Mikey I would say you are definately a Newfy:D

Hi Mayal.. I've got a 21 pitch 3 blade aluminum on mine. Generally the factory gets it right with their prop selection though. If you do a lot of wakeboarding / skiing etc then you might be better off buying a 2nd prop with 1-2 lower pitch or upping to a 4 blade for a little more 'bite'.

well gosh golly darn......nope, not a newf either. :p I'm actually a pygmy from the Congo.

Which dealer in Sydney did you go through?

Sydney Dealer
 

Hi Shilo, I went through a direct importer, however he has now merged with Network Marine. His name is Con Amvrazis give him a call direct on 0421 107661. Con was the cheapest by far, I picked up my Mariah V6 for $29990 but no rego or safety gear. I have seen them on the net for $38000 so the small cost of rego and safety gear approx $1000 is nothing compared to a saving of $6000 - $7000. Comes on a Dunbier trailer included in the price. I hope this helps. He might be a little dearer now he is with a boat yard? :wink_thumbup:

:rolling_laugh: I would be a little wary of a salesman by the name of "con". His middle name wouldn't be "artist" would it??? :rolling_laugh:

The Con man
 

Hey mikeyt. very funny:worry_to_laugh:. My family and I had good laugh at his name too. Lucky for us his full name is Constantine. It was a bit of a worry though we have been waiting for nearly 5 months. It's in Sydney now being put on the trailer and having the windshield fitted. Yah hoo.

enjoy the trip home, bloody long way, thought would be cheaper getting it ship up by transport company anyway glad it you and not me, happy boating

Good luck with your long trip home, drive safely and take plenty of breaks Mayal. We want to see that boat arrive in one piece now:yes_grin: and you too of course:wink_thumbup:
Thats a distance of about 2730kms (1700 miles).
Take care mate.

Transport price
 

Thanks for the good wishes. The cheapest transport I could find was $3800. I can do it for about $1800 thats for hire car, airfare and fuel. It's a long way but will be well worth it I'm sure. :wink_thumbup:

Thanks for the good wishes
 

Hey Dudders, Thanks mate. I will be sure to take breaks I don't want to wreck our boat before I even go for a run. Just talked to my dealer and it will be ready on the 6th of December and I should be home by Sunday the 9th for our first run. Will send everybody some pics of the new 08 model as soon as I can. :rolling_laugh:

Best of luck with your return trip Mayal! Dont be runnin' over any 'roos on the way home! ;)

btw...how far is Cairns from Mackay? We have some friends who are from Mackay and they're heading home for Christmas this year.

ps....make sure you stick your pin on the member map!

Its 730 km's (453 miles) from Mackay to Cairns - a LOT of cane fields in between.
Not a bad drive though - not too many roos, its the snakes and cane toads you have to watch for!!:eek_animated:
MacKay is a really nice town, very tropical (and so is the climate - very humid right now I believe).

Hey Mikeyt, Dudders is spot on with the distance. The humidity is about 97% today and it's not even raining. At the local markets they sell stuffed cane toads holding a beer they are really disgusting but the asian tourists seem to love them. As for the Roo's we eat em up here, you can by them stuffed as well. We are one of the only nations who eat there national emblem. Weird I know:confused:. Anyway thanks for the good wishes. :wink_thumbup:

didnt think it was that high as a mate of mine use a transport company to ship his up from melbourne to gold coast for under 2k, but that was a year ago, or maybe cause it city to city, it will be well worth it once you get in the water:wink_thumbup: they are great boats:thumbup:

Pity I didnt know you were looking for transportation quotes Mayal, one of my best mates owns GKR transport, I know he would have done the righty by me and given you a good quote. He has 60 - 70 trucks continuously running all over the country.
Maybe next time eh?

At Home
 

Hi Dudders I made it home with our new Mariah midnight last night took me 30 hours and lots of red bull but the mrs was happy. The family loves it of course but we can't work out why the bilge pump keeps coming on every few minutes for a few seconds, can we turn it off or is this normal? Con (the dealer) would have shown me through the workings of the boat but after hastles with the rta to register a Queensland trailer in Sydney I just wanted to start the drive home so I'm not sure about the pump workings including the blower. Is there a Mariah specific manual? Sydney is a maze luckily Con picked me up from the airport, took me to see the boat then to get my hire car who's company froze my credit, debit card leaving me with the cash on me, and thats it, to get home. Con sorted the rta mess for me saved me from getting lost, shouted me lunch and put my faith back in sales men believe it or not! Anyway the $9.40 I had left in my pocket was all I had to fuel up at my last stop in innisfail the red light had been on for a very uncomfortable period of time when I arrived home to supprise Nicole who expected me to be at Mackay at midnight (luckily I didn't have to call her to pick me up from the side of the road:shakehead:) Going to take it for a spin tomorrow after we read up a bit how to operate it I'm sure we'll be fine just take it easy, kids can't wait. We'll post some pics after tomorrow we are blown away by the style, shape and general sleek sporty look of the 2008 Mariah!!!:eek_animated: whitsundays here we come woo hoo!!!:worry_to_laugh:
Mayal!!!

G'day mate made it home with the new boat safe and sound didn't have enough time for the dealer to run me through the switches and other workings of the boat cause of stuff up's with the transport department being in a different state to register the trailer etc. do you know much about the bilge pumps? ours is turning on every two minutes, is that normal or can and should we turn it off? We've had a look at the manual but it's very non specific being a general runabout manual which is really informative but not model specific. We're all happy with our purchase and can't wait to take it for a run tomorrow.
Thanks for your help mate
Mayal.

My bilge pump only runs under two situations:

1) I force it to pump by switching it on with the button at the helm
2) a sufficient amount of water has built up in the bilge to cause the float switch to rise, and the pump will turn on automatically.

Is there water in the bilge? I would think that being on the trailer for your drive home, the plug at the stern should have been removed, meaning the bilge should be darn near bone dry. Perhaps there is a problem with the float switch?

Thanks but our bilge is dry and still comes on however we don't have a float system in the new model it is fully automatic????

If no float, then there must be some kind of sensor to detect the water level. My guess would be that is what is malfunctioning.

It would seem to me that having a pump come on intermittently as a substitute for an "as needed" float or sensor type arrangement is just... well, whacked.

Welcome home Mayal,
30 hours....... after all that Red Bull you really did have wings!!:rolling_laugh:
What did you use for a tow vehicle - a Ferrari???

I am unsure about your blower and bilge pump, sounds like a short somewhere, when I had a problem both of mine siezed, they were covered by Warranty though and so will yours. MAKE SURE your blower is on for at least 5 minutes before you launch it, the fuel vapour build up can have drastic results.

My Bilge pump goes on (as Z202 says) manually or automatically, the blower just manually.

While the boat is running the bilge and blower wont be a problem, just sitting idle and doing this WILL cause the battery to go flat though.
Get a battery booster from Auto Cheap (they are only $40 or so) and good piece of mind.

Con may be able to set up something to get those two things looked at, at your local boat dealer and get warranty coverage.
I suppose you have already given him a call though.

After you have taken her for a run with the good wife and kiddies get some photos and post them, cant wait to see your new toy.
Bet you will crash it tonight.
Got to go before the comms crash.
Talk later

Hi Mayal, I hope your first day out on the water was awesome. Very daunting the first time though eh?? SO what did you forget?:rolleyes:

I checked on other sites regarding your problem with the blower / bilge pump.
Could be the wiring to each has been swapped. Are you able to check this?
When you put your blower on are you able to check if it is the blower working or the bilge pump?
Others here that are MUCH much more knowledgable about this sort of thing than I am, and will be able to help I am sure.

Good luck.

good to hear you made it home ok:wink_thumbup: {and like tony said did you have wings:yes_grin:) hope you:enjoy the boating today, be warned with trying to fix you problem yourself as it could void your warranty:mad: was the problem happening before the trip or after when you got home if after then you must of knock something with the flying trip home:rolling_laugh:

Hi, Thanks very much for your help, we have found the answer, called the dealer and he explained that the new system, which is fully automatic, does a check every 2 minutes. It would take a year to flatten the battery but it overcomes the sticky float problem they have experienced in the past. Had our first run went great turns great, ran into trouble and hit something with the prop which cut our day short and was disapointing but I guess I can get my stainless one now.
Mayal and Nicole

Yeah well Nicole said I looked like I had wings when I got home at midnight something like a wide eyed owl I think ha ha. The bilge comes on every 2 minutes with the new model and apparently would take a year to run the battery down so it's all normal. First run was great handles fantastic, kids excited were in the water for about an hour or so and hit something that broke the prop so our first run was cut short to my and the rest of the family's disapointment. Next weekend mate, ....thanks again for your help.

Hi Dudders,
thanks for checking it out for us, we were up at 6am brainstorming , even sent Nicole out to look under the engine cover at 6.15 to see what I may have missed in my groggy tired state,... but nothing. Ended up calling Con as soon at business hours started who told us that it was completely normal for the bilge to come on every 2 minutes to sense any water which avoids the sticky float problem apparently, especially if your boat is stored on the water. (he said it would take a year for that to drain the battery)
Took it out for a spin on the Tinaroo dam yesterday, felt great, cornered well, kids were excited. Just put 10 year old son in a tube, started off slow allowing rope slack to tighten, was about 20 m in from shore so gave it some and hit a damn rock or something and busted up the prop.!! Couldn't believe it after 3 months waiting, 30 hours driving and 30,000 bucks we lasted 30 minutes before we broke it!!!!! At least we got some good shots on camera and video for our first ride will post them as soon as we download them. Organising a new prop tomorrow to keep us going and going to order a stainless steel prop to use and keep the alloy as spare.
thanks mate
Mayal and Nicole

sorry hear about boat,:shakehead: and don t worry we alll done something to our boats as well so you are not alone:head_on_wall: you learn new things about the lakes, dams and oceans waters, every time you go out, sometime the hard way:very_mad: look forward on seeing the pictures:wink_thumbup: