Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

I am thrilled to become the newest MARIAH owner to join the MARIAH CLUB. I have been watching all MARIAH promotion videos and now understand why the boat looks and feels so perfect. Quality workmanship, design, and integrity by an American company. I'm takin her out to Catalina Island (Los Angeles) Monday, with Carmen, the previous owner and to a fancy lunch as a thanks for her perfect upkeep over the last 15 years.

This is my first boat and I am tickled pink on my great find. $(18,500) The boat has under 200 hours on her and is in"showroom condition" throughout. It has 5.7 liter Mercury and I hope I can learn the tricks to getting the best fuel economy possible.

Can anyone advise me on the speed and trim I should attempt. What can I expect fuel wise. I'm hoping for 2 mikes per gallon or more. Am I dreaming? I am a recent widower and want to jump on my MARIAH at a moments notice and drive out and back to Catalina (30 miles each way) for a long weekend and not break the bank or be forced to solicit gas money from my friends.

I look forward to speaking to some of you in the near future, and no doubt asking a zillion questions I will have over the coming months.

See you on the water,

Mark Cheshire

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Congrats on the purchase of your new Mariah and welcome to MOC Mark! :)
Speed is whatever your comfortable with , and the trim settings will come with more and more use of your new toy.
Trick is too try to keep the boat as level as possible while on plane. However conditions , weight , etc all effect the settings.
As for fuel mileage.......there isn't any , it's a boat that weights a bunch , with more than likely a BB engine.
However , your "2 MPG" senario is probably not far off Mark.
Get us some pics and more info on her!:wink_thumbup:

Once again Welcome!:yes_grin:

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Congrats Mark!

I've got a Z280, so I'll offer some advice that may help. The trick is to keep the bow the farthest out of the water that you're comfortable with, but not to the point where it's bouncing you to death. Start off with your engine trim all the way down, and start bringing it up once you plane. You'll feel the speed picking up, and when it starts to porpoise (bounce up & down), you've gone too far, back it down a hair. I usually try to stay around the 1/4 and 1/2 mark on the trim gauge after planing. From there, bring your hydraulic trim tabs all the way up, so you're not dragging in the rear. The boat will get a little squirrely and you can use these to level itself out. Don't let the tabs take control of the boat, if it starts getting uncomfortable (which it will), just adjust them back down to what feels comfortable, and keeps you straight on your course. It'll take a bit of adjustment to get them just right. Optimal cruising speed is about 3200 RPM, however, if you can get the boat to plane below that, you'll save more fuel. The easiest thing to do if you want to conserve fuel is not be in a hurry. Get the boat to plane, and stick with it.

Here's the fuel consumption numbers that were given on my survey. Keep in mind I have the big block 7.4L, so she's a little more thirsty than your 5.7L.

3400 RPM, 23 MPH, 14 gallons per hour
4000 RPM, 33 MPH, 24 gallons per hour

When you see it in numbers, it's less tempting to push it to full throttle unless it's absolutely necessary. To me, it's all about keeping a good cruise speed right above plane, keeping myself and the passengers comfy, and enjoying the ride. You'll love your Mariah. :wink_thumbup:

BTW, take some pics of your trip to Catalina Island! Every time I was out in CA, I always wanted to go there!

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Thanks for your feed back!

Sorry to take so long to respond. I have been so crazy getting everything together for the Catalina trip this weekend, and my I Pad froze so I had to drop by the Apple store for adjustments.

Your advise on optimum fuel consumption hit the nail on the head. It's just what I needed to test out my mileage this trip. I am a sailor so 5-7 knots was fine and I have NO. Problem finding that sweet spot at the "Barely Plaining" position.

I'll take some pics art Catalina of my new MARIAH and post them next week!

Thanks again for your kind welcomes and great advice!

Mark Cheshire

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Definitely post some pics(boat too) Mark!
We would all love to see them , I'm sure.:yes_grin:

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Congrats. I'll be looking forward to the pics too! I've always wanted to boat out to Catalina too.

MARIAH 2600 Z back from a week in Catalina
 

Hey I returned home from CATALINA ISLAND on Thursday. My 3day weekend turned into 6 days after the harbor patrol boat told me I got 5 extra days at the mooring free (through Palm Sunday end of April) after purchasing the first two night for $56 . What a great deal and great idea. I happily left every last dollar I had on the island. Went swimming and the water was amazingly temperate. Had beautiful weather the whole time I was there. Lots of friendly people.

I took some pictures of the boat and Avalon harbor but am not so sure how to get them in to this forum.

Back to civilization with a killer tan,

Mark Cheshire

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Mark , glad you had a ball! :)

Click on "Edit Post"
Click on "Go Advanced"
Scroll down the page about halfway and you'll see "Manage Attachments" , click on it
Brouse the files in your computer for your pics
Upload them

That's all there is too it :wink_thumbup:

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Thanks I'll try it later today.

Mark

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

:yes_grin::yes_grin::yes_grin:

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

Hey! I finally put together some pictures from my maiden voyage to CATALINA Island in early April. I took my cat BOO. She loved it! A two day stay turned into 6 . The weather was great and the water surprisingly warm. I swam twice. On the way back the engin over heated. $2,000 later I am up and ready to go again. The boat was stored in doors for man years, then purchased and in a slip for 2 more. But she was rarely run for more than an hour at a time. So I guess I had it coming. The good news is the Merc. 5.7 engin tested at a perfect 175 compression on all 8 cylinders. The engin has 186 hours on her. I am thinking I should some how test how much water may have accumulated in the tank after such a long storage time. It runs well, but my mechanic tasted the gas coming out of the carburetor and he thought it tasted watery. Any of you folks out there have any thoughts on how t proceed, or ignore? Oh yeah, a couple of pictures from my Maiden Voyage!

Mark Cheshire

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

I would get a new water separating fuel filter at a minimum. The better idea would be to drain the tank and start fresh. The fuel with ethanol in it absorbs moisture out of the atmosphere. Plus fresh fuel wouldn't hurt.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

And get your mechanic a beer or two to wash the bad taste out of his mouth.:yes_grin:
Click "Edit Post"
Click "Go Advanced"
Click "Manage Attachments" under "Additional Options" just below the main box
Upload pics from your puter
Done deal:wink_thumbup:

Re: Brand new MARIAH Club member and on Monday proud new owner if a MARIAH 2600 Z!
 

I've had great luck with a product called "Gas-Shok". It's made by a company called USA Fuel Service. It's a "fuel polisher". I've seen it in person at the boat show and have used it myself for years. It's some sort of chemical compound that literally attacks water particles and does something scientific (that i could probably never explain), but the water disappears. You can read up on it here.

USA Fuel Service

Like I said, I've used it for a few years, and the boats I've used it in have run like a champ. It's about $45-50 for a bottle that'll treat 320 gallons. Well worth it.

Just for good measure, if you plan on doing the Catalina trip often, and/or traveling in the ocean more often, buy a spare impeller. These tend to go out over time, and I'd bet a dime to a dollar that's what caused your overheating situation on the last trip. Also, get familiar with your engine compartment. Know where your thru-hulls and strainers are, and how to close the sea-cocks, in the event you need to change an impeller while out on the water. It's easy to do once you know what you're doing. I'd also recommend buying a spare fuel-water separator and keeping that onboard as well. If you have the Mercruiser service books, it will lay out the exact procedure for changing the impeller and fuel water separator replacement. If not, we do have them here available to contributing members. Also, I might recommend Boat US membership with towing as well. Better safe than sorry... I had to have a soft extraction and tow 1.3 miles to a launch ramp, and had I not had their towing coverage, it would have been $874... And that was only for a 1.3 mile tow. Just some food for thought. :wink_thumbup: