Our new Hewescraft

[hewesfisher]

She's home and we're happy!

[Aaron]

Looks great Phil! Do you take your dog out fishing with you?

Did you get the first coat of Sharkhide applied? If so, What did you do to get to that part of the bow that's touching the trailer?

[Marc Martyn]

Great looking boat! Wow! No tight squeeze getting it into that garage!

Now, Phil. Try to get some sleep at night instead of laying there thinking about that jewel out in the garage!:thumright

[hewesfisher]

Looks great Phil! Do you take your dog out fishing with you?

Did you get the first coat of Sharkhide applied? If so, What did you do to get to that part of the bow that's touching the trailer?

Hi Aaron - Our dog Amber absolutely loves to be on the boat with us, the problem with our 16' Hewes was it was too small except when the canvas was down in warm weather. So, yes, we do!

Didn't get the first coat on yesterday, I had put the Sharkhide away, and forgot where it was. I looked for it all day in the houe and shop, and finally found it at 8pm last night. I'd put it in the closet in my "sports room" and it had been shuffled behind something. Sad part is I looked in that closet 3 times too, but didn't move anything around. I wouldn't have buried it on the shelf now, would I?#-o

So, first coat goes on this morning, and a full 24hrs before the second coat, then another 24hrs before the boat can get wet, so maybe I'll get the boat wet on Sunday afternoon if it's not too windy/rainy. Haven't seen the forecast yet this morning, and yesterday they were predicting high winds and gusts to 35 - 40 Saturday night into Sunday.

Great looking boat! Wow! No tight squeeze getting it into that garage!

Now, Phil. Try to get some sleep at night instead of laying there thinking about that jewel out in the garage!

Your're right Marc, no tight squeeze in here.:bball:

[Gisteppo]

sunday eh?

E

[racfish]

Very very sweet boat.Use it in good health.Next picture we want to see blood on the floor and sides.(fish blood of course)

[wolverine]

I'm drooling over both the boat and the garage.

[swedefish4life1]

Very Very nice:thumleft: =d>

[swedefish4life1]

Phil the Shop/Garage you sport off the hook Sweet:-$

Also many sport and sell (Keel Guard protection) without impacting any bottom performance.
Which is sweet for smaller rocks, ramps, sand and even the main support and front roller protection as well.

If You have a kicker motor and I would never leave home without one (Mac's Troll Prop Gaurd as well):-$ =creates a great safety barrier against most= even fishing line elements when your sporting Goofs:cyclopsan .


You can also add (Trailer walk plates) clamp on as well, provides the user a safer walk way out to hook up tub, safety chains and lights without ever using boots.

[Anyfish]

Man, I got jealousy written all over my face!!! Nice boat and a great looking family. Cool garage, every man's dream! I know what you'll be thinking when you back er down the ramp and are finally sittin at the helm at 180 from shore, "LIFE IS GOOD".

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike Carey]

I'll second that. Nice, very nice!

[Dave]

Beautiful boat. OMG what a building you have to store it in! I will have a large out building like yours in my lifetime for my travel trailer and boats. Very Very Nice!!! Congrats.

[Gisteppo]

He hasn't even made it back to the dock yet and the pictures on the water are here!



She's wet, runs like a top, and looks GORGEOUS in the flesh. No mishaps, no errors, and off into the rainy afternoon. The proud owner tillering through the shallows behind the house out to deeper water. Something about 4000rpm in 60 seconds for break-in.

For an interesting comparison, take a gander at this photo:



My 1979 16' river runner looks microscopic next to that new Pro-V!

Congrats on the new boat Phil!

E

[hewesfisher]

I have to say how humbled we were by your generosity Gisteppo, we deeply appreciate you letting us come and launch, guiding us through the shallows, and then running point to good water. We'll make that up to you in the future - promise.

I also greatly appreciate the photos your wife (?) took of us on our way out for the inaugural voyage, I never get to see pics of our boat on the water unless it's sitting at a dock. Please let her know we are very thankful.

So, here are some more pictures of the initial launching, ready to get wet...



Final prep...



Gettin wet...



Put some muscle in that Dear!



The return trip from Long Lake Dam, it wasn't all rainy.



And that's how I feel now, a beautiful sunset to a nice 1 1/2 hours on the lake. Gisteppo, I can't thank you enough for being part of this today.

The motors ran great, and the round trip to the dam took care of the critical first hour on the Optimax. Kind of goes against conventional wisdom to take a brand new motor and run it up to 3000 to 4500 virtually cold, but that's exactly what the break-in process requires. Reminds me of my younger days and mechanics who said, "break 'em in the way you plan to run 'em." Well, the V6 Optimax has a nice growl at about 3600, and really steps up over 4000. There were some WOT blasts too, but just for a few seconds per the Merc procedure.

Yeah, I'm still grinnin! Time for a late dinner! :-D

[Kevin K]

Great looking boat Hewesfisher, and excellent pics. Enjoy her as much as you can, and please post any reporst and pics you are able to get. I will be spending more time at home this year than fishing, new baby on the way, so pics and reports will be my lifeline. Again, she's a great looking boat, I am drooling just imagining all the fun you are going to have breaking her in.

[Aaron]

Congrats! Sounds like you all had a good time. I'm jealous beyond words.

I know I'll be doing a break-in of my own soon enough. Can't wait!

[Mike Carey]

SWEET!

[Gisteppo]

Glad to have ya out Phil. Sorry I couldn't be around for the retrieval, but it looks like you guys had a fantastic evening to be out on the water after that rain squall tapered off.

Thats a helluva sweet boat you have there. My wife made jokes about how tiny my little Hewes looked next to it when we left, but its all in the family.

Thanks for coming out!


Oh and Aaron, you're next, so come out to the house and bring your fishing poles!

E

[hewesfisher]

Congrats! Sounds like you all had a good time. I'm jealous beyond words.

I know I'll be doing a break-in of my own soon enough. Can't wait!

No need to be jealous, yours is on the way, and I'll be there to take all the initial launch/maiden voyage photos you want plus provide moral support.

I've had a "big grin" twice, now it's your turn! :compress:

Glad to have ya out Phil. Sorry I couldn't be around for the retrieval, but it looks like you guys had a fantastic evening to be out on the water after that rain squall tapered off.

Thats a helluva sweet boat you have there. My wife made jokes about how tiny my little Hewes looked next to it when we left, but its all in the family.

Thanks for coming out!

No problem on the retrieval, it went smoothly. We're kind of "experienced" with them after 3 years with our other Hewes. :bball:

I can't tell you how nice this new boat is, and a nice ride in what would have been bouncy/rough in our other boat. No worries, you'll get to experience it first hand. It's probably a good thing you didn't come along, we didn't get back to the launch until about 7:20. We met your neighbor, too, and he's really nice!

Tell your wife "tiny" is what our first Hewes was, a 14' Open Fisherman with a 15hp Merc 2-stroke. It now lives in my brother's garage, and it's only been out a couple times in the last 3 years. The Sporstman was a huge step up from that one, and the ProV is almost as big a step up from the Sportsman. My wife summed it up nicely during our return from the dam, "absolutely no regrets on this upgrade, none whatsoever."

Thanks, again, for having us out. :-)

[Aaron]

The return trip from Long Lake Dam, it wasn't all rainy.

How was it inside the curtains at 35+ mph? Is the motor loud enough that it's hard to talk? How much wind leaks through?