For sale: Pathfinder 2300dv / Suzuki 300 - PRICE REDUCTION (9/30)

[Cooper]

Thanks, Pearl Diver!

I answered some questions on another forum.

Here are the questions:

1. Weight

2. Beam

3. dedrise

4. Pics of Fish boxes and how big and how long (inches) are they in stern of boat

5. pic of the bow deck area (is it a flat deck)

6. pics of any and all storage areas on the boat (are they all in the floor)

7. pic of anchor locker open to see how big it is

8. could you put a lifejacket holder under the ttop (one of the custom ones) not a tbag

9. is there a trim tab gauge and a engine trim gauge??? (thats nice!!!!)

10. Is there a stereo with any speakers???

Here are my answers:

1) Weight is listed as 2300lbs. I'm guessing that's dry. Engine and basic gear probably add another 1000. 190 gallons of gas is another 1200 or so. Maybe 5000 ready to fish with a couple people. I tow with my dodge 1500 and used my ford f150 before that with no problems.

2) Beam is 8'6".

3) I believe the deadrise is 21 degrees, but it might be 22.

4) I have some pics of the fish boxes open, but no measurements. In the floor, there is one hatch in front of the console, two on the sides of the console (one on either side), two in the corners of the cockpit, and one in the center of the cockpit. I keep cleaning gear, dock lines, and life jackets in three of those hatches. The rest sit empty and wait for fish or passenger gear. I'll get measurements and better photos this weekend. In the meantime, here are a couple pictures.

This is the rear center hatch. The bilge hatch is on the vertical wall of the transom. The fish boxes are on either side.

Here's one of the fish boxes.

This is on the side of the console.

This is in the bow.

5) The floor is flat all the way bow to stern. See above for an aft-facing picture. I'll get more pictures this weekend facing forward.

6) Except for the the console, all storage is in the floor. There are drains and/or gutters around all hatches, so they stay relatively dry. Please see above for pictures.

7) The anchor locker is very large. I keep 600' of line attached to 12' of chain. You can see that it's maybe 1/3 full in this photo. There's easily room for a drift sock and anchor ball in addition to the anchor and rode.

8) I think you could probably have a mesh lifejacket holder under the canopy of the t-top, but I don't know how many jackets it would hold. I keep 6 type III life jackets and a throwable in my front hatch.

This picture is a little dark, but here's the underside of the top from a couple years ago.

9) The trim tabs have indicators built into the switch. the engine trim shows up on the gauges. You can configure it to show any number of ways.

This picture shows the trim tab switch with indicators.

10) I don't have a stereo with speakers. I have been using a small boombox connected to an ipod that I bungee to the top of the console.

[Cooper]

I was able to get measurements this weekend. The fish boxes are quite long. Here's a drawing I made, since I don't trust myself to accurately describe what's going on. There are two fish boxes in the rear sides, some sort of storage box in the rear center (this is sometimes plumbed as a livewell in other 2300dvs), two boxes on the sides of the console, and another storage box in front of the console. All three of the rear boxes drain via macerator. The other three drain to the bilge.

[Cooper]

This is a picture of the drains and transducers.

To locate this picture: the visible aluminum is the starboard bunk, the engine is out of the picture to the top, and the front of the boat is down and to the left.

The garboard drain plug is stainless. I drilled a hole in the plug and ran a piece of stainless wire to a starboard piece in the bilge so I don't ever forget it. It's held on with a snap swivel if it needs to be removed.

The two large through hull drains are both connected to stainless ball valves in the bilge. One of these drains the livewell. The other I'm not 100% sure of. I have been saying the forward 3 in-deck hatches drain to the bilge, but it's possible they drain through one of these through hulls. I'll find out this weekend and report back.

The dark thing to the bottom left is the flush mounted tilted element trandsucer. It reads depth and temp and any speed this boat will go. I've marked bait at 50mph. I never lose bottom at any speed. When I installed the tilted element transducer, I routed out the core around the opening for 1/2" - 3/4" and filled with thickened epoxy. And of course there's half a tube of 4200 sealing it up as well.

The dark elongated thing to the top right is the side scan transducer. It's out of the water at planing speed. It reads perfectly up to about 7 or 8mph, which is pretty standard because of the super high ping rate of the side scan sonar. This is the preferred mounting configuration for hulls that have a step like this. The side scan is great. I've seen fish off to the side while trolling and been able to turn enough to put the baits in front of them. The side scan transducer is held on with 5200. That means no holes drilled below the water line.

On the far side of the keel, not visible in this photo, is a "cheese grater". It's the opening to a seachest where the pumps pull water from. It's a very slick setup that I'll try to duplicate on my formula rebuild.

[Cooper]

New price! $45,000 OBO. I want this boat gone before I have to store it for the winter. Make an offer!

Here's a shot of the bilge. Sorry for the dirt, the rod holders are open to the bilge and construction has been going on all year at my marina. Dust is everywhere.

The hatch door is on breakaway hinges. If you open it all the way, you can slide it off. It's easy to get back on. I like the design and will try to incorporate it into my formula rebuild.

On the top left and top right of the opening are 10 micron racor fuel filters. Each is attached to a stainless base (one of the upgrades I made). When I repowered, I kept both fuel filters, but put in a selector switch. It's next to the center rod holder, not visible in this picture. I really like the idea of redundancy on the water like that. One filter gets clogged or full of water, just flip to the other. I alternate which one I use on each trip, to keep the fuel fresh.

In the center you can see I attached a drain to the rod holder. That prevents any water from dripping on the wiring in the bilge. All wiring uses adhesive lined heat shrink connectors, but better safe than sorry...

On the left side, on the starboard stringer, is the raw water washdown pump. The elevated location means that the pump doesn't get wet and water doesn't sit inside it rusting up the impeller shaft. I'm not sure what the flow rate is, but it's a strong pump.

You can just make out the stainless shutoff valves that all pumps and all through-hulls use. These are very high quality parts.

Mounted to the bulkhead that makes up the forward wall of the bilge area is the macerator pump. Like the washdown pump, it stays dry and doesn't hold water. It pumps out all three of the aft boxes.

Down in the bilge are the other pumps: two for the livewell, one for the pitchwells, and the bilge pump.

The bilge pump has a solid state switch (another upgrade). It doesn't get stuck on, and it doesn't turn on with oil or gas.

The livewell and pitchwell pumps all run through a seachest. Debris is less likely to get into the pumps and there's only one inlet into the boat. It's a very nice design - something else I'll try to duplicate on the formula. Page 6 of this pdf has a diagram: http://www.mbcboats.com/omanuals/22PC.pdf

Not visible in this picture, but up and to the left, is the wiring panel I showed earlier. Every single thing that runs int he bilge or runs through the bilge is connected there using a terminal block. That will make life way easier when chang out pumps or installing lights or whatever. I saw the idea of another forum and I don't think I'll own another boat without the wiring done this way. It was a lot of extra work, but I think it makes sense over the life of the boat.

[Cooper]

Somebody on another forum asked about the trailer:

Cooper, can you give more details about the trailer? condition, road worthiness, etc?

The trailer is a 2007 that I drove to VA from FL. Once in VA I've been to the mechanic a few times to raise/lower the engine and get the 20 hour service done. Otherwise it stays at my marina where the trailer storage is a few hundred yards from the ramps. It probably has less than 2,000 miles on it.

There is some rust on the brakes, but they definitely work. I know that because they locked on me the other day when I tried to back up without having the plug connected all the way.

I take the lugs off every year and put them back on to make sure they aren't rusted in place.

The tires have lots of tread left.

It's definitely road worthy, but I would have it looked over before any long trips just to be sure everything is cool. That's something I'll do at my expense before a buyer drives off with the boat.

Here are some pictures from 12/2008, before the repower:

[Cooper]

Somebody on another forums asked about how much of the engine is still in the water when it's tilted all the way up.

About 1-1/2" - 2" of the lower unit stays in the water when the engine is tilted all the way up. The water intakes are out of the water, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Here's the livewell filling up this past weekend. There are +/- 30 spot (similar to a pinfish) in this photo. Those are all 3-6", to give an idea of size of the livewell.

[Cooper]

This is the front of the console.

On my bluewater I had a molded cooler seat on the front with a door on the side. On my kencraft I had a front door with a molded seat, but no cooler. Neither had side rod holders. I like the pathfinder setup better than the other two. There are rod holders on the side, a front door that opens even with a cooler there, and you can choose to have a cooler or not.

I keep a small igloo there for drinks. It's secured with some short lines I spliced together with stainless snap hooks. It's all 100% removable. The cooler goes with the boat if anybody wants it.

With the console open, you can see some of the junk I store in there. That pocket on the door holds the plexiglass cover to the electronics box. To the right, you can just make out one of the two fire extinguishers that are in there. I keep tackle trays, spare parts, startron, stabil, etc in the free space. All the fluids and spare parts go with the boat.

[Cooper]

Somebody on another forum asked about my tow vehicles and weight of the entire package.

Cooper, what vehicle do you use to pull it? What is the weight of boat-motor-trailer ready to fish?

I previously towed with a 4.6l v8 ford f150 and now tow with a 5.7l v8 dodge 1500. Both trucks have 2 wheel drive. The dodge has larger wheels and is probably geared different, so it handles about the same at the ramp as the ford did. I keep good tires on the trucks and haven't been in slipping or pulling trouble yet at a ramp. I towed from fort lauderdale, fl to alexandria, va with the f150. Both trucks have been plenty, but I try not to tow any distance with a lot of gas.

Fully loaded, I'd guess 4500-6000 pounds, with trailer and depending on how much gas it has. 190 gallons of gas at 6.25 pounds per gallon = almost 1200 pounds.

The hull is supposed to be 2300. I'm guessing 1200 for the trailer. Another 600ish for the engine. Call that 4500 dry, with batteries and other junk.

[Cooper]

Here's another shot on the trailer from the winter before last:

[Cooper]

Somebody on another forum asked about trolling speed. Here in the chesapeake bay we troll relatively slow for striped bass during the colder months.

YOu said you are in Ches Beach? Will this set up troll 2.5 to 3 kts with electronic controls? I have heard that is an issue with these zukes.

I checked this weekend. Idle speed is 2.9mph.

And here's one of the reasons I bought this boat. I love to cast lures and a flyrod off the bow. That's actually a popup cleat that retracts to be flush. We were headed to lunch so I just left it on. It's usually perfectly clean and flat up there.