2021 Adventure 208 Build

seasick

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Do the newer boats still have the drop down box inside the cabin, to give you access to the back of your electronics?
My 2001 doesn't have that feature either. So I suspect 2000 thru present don't have it. I am not sure when the cap mold changed.
 
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jason808

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Update on the OFS4 prop (15p) that I installed. I did love how much extra grip the 4 blade gave my Yamaha F200 and it’s handling in choppy seas and following seas. I knew I would lose a considerable amount of top end, but my top speed went from 45 knots to 30 knots and my WOT RPM went out of the factory range of 5,000-6,000 RPM as it would only reach 4,800. I like being on the lower end of that range for the type of boating/ conditions I’m in, but I think I’m a little over propped.
I worked with Ken at Propgods and he recommended the same prop (since I like the feel) but in a 13p rather than 15p.
I’ll report back with the new prop, I may keep the current one as a backup. My goal is to keep most of the 4 blade feel, but get back into my RPM range. I’ll be shooting for 5,300-5,500.

Hey @Koakine88

I had a year old adventure 208 shipped to Oahu a couple months ago. I took it out several times with the 14 1/4" x 17" yamaha prop, and it was not fun trying to maneuver around heeia harbor when the trades were blowing hard. The winds really grab the boat, and that prop had minimal bite.
I installed a OFS4 14" pitch prop last week. I have not had a chance to run it again. I am in the process of installing the electronics right now. Would be interesting to compare rpms.
 

Koakine88

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Update: Crazy Molokai Trip report.

Had quite the experience taking the 208 to an outer island for the first time. Planned the trip for a few weeks for Labor Day weekend in what looked like a good weather window and utilizing a 4 day weekend. I originally planned to leave on Friday morning to cross the Kaiwi Channel to Molokai and return back across Monday morning. Unfortunately the high winds that were forecasted all week (that were supposed to diminish by Friday) did not diminish in time. Due to this, I pushed departure until Saturday morning and loaded the boat up Friday night to sleep at the Harbor and depart just before dawn. Throughout the night, I could tell the winds still did not die down which raised some apprehension about the trip. We decided to launch out of Hawaii Kai with my three friends and see how conditions looked around China Walls. As the sun was rising we made an attempt about 1/4 mile off from the sea cliffs and as soon as we were out of the lee we were hit with consistent 8' breaking seas. It was an immediate "no-go" and we carefully turned around, putting the seas at our stern which was a scary 5 minutes until we were safely around the corner again. Checking Windy and weather reports confirmed that the winds persisted, but were expected to diminish through the day.

We decided to anchor just off Hawai'i Kai and relax until later in the morning and make an attempt further offshore, as being so close to the cliffs may have magnified the conditions. We figured if conditions don't improve by noon, we will just make a South shore surfing trip out of it since we had our boards with us and scrap the trip to Molokai altogether. Around 11:00 rolled around and more discussion, we decided to give it another shot with still a high apprehension. This time, I aimed more to the South and made a wider turn around China Walls and as expected saw conditions slowly pick up the further out and the less lee we had. The problem with what I did was that the conditions did not immediately change within a 100 yard area, instead it was a very gradual increase. By the time we were four or five miles out of Hawai'i Kai we noticed the conditions were not as bad as earlier, but still very hairy. I'm not the type of person to over-estimate seas and swells and have 5+ years on the water as a professional mariner and Captain. In the channel there were consistent 6-8' seas, with a steep 10' wave every 5 minutes or so. I would predict that winds were around a consistent 30mph with some higher gusts, and I would say we were at a 7 on the Beaufort Scale. For anyone that knows Hawai'i, you can get rare windows of good weather in the channels between the islands, but the tall mountains and constant tradewinds that aim right down the channels, normally funnels the wind and seas into these 25 or so mile gaps magnifying wind speeds and seas. You expect the channels to be rougher than your occasional fishing trip offshore, but this was NOT the day to cross over to Molokai.

As we aimed towards Molokai, our trackline had us taking the seas off our port bow. When the bigger sets came, I had to slow down to maintain just enough momentum to keep control over the crest, but to back off right at the peak so we did not air drop 10 feet but rather eased back into the trough. We went on for maybe 20 minutes and could tell the conditions were not worsening, despite being terrible as we continued into the Channel. A look back at my friends in the cockpit, soaked from head to toe and uneasy looks on their faces my friend Casey said "Are you sure about this, I think we should turn around and go back." In my head I answered "There is no way we can take these waves off the stern and maintain control for all those miles" so to ease the tension a little knowing that I honestly felt safer going into the seas, I said "It's going to suck, but we'll be ok."

So we continued on. About an hour into the crossing my shoulder was on fire from constant throttle jockeying and conditions were so bad that none of us even had a thought to let go of whatever we were holding on to, to get video or pictures. We were taking so much spray over the bow that even with the hard top and canvases fully shut I was soaking wet at the helm. I kept my radio set on Channel 16 and my girlfriend was guarding the PLB like it was her baby. The girls kept their lifejackets on and Casey and I had them at our feet. I knew of a friend that was crossing the channel the same day on a big sport fisher (he also regretted it), but he was more to the South heading toward Lanai' which gave me sort of the "At least I'm not alone out here" feeling. We passed a tug and barge within about a mile and I remember imagining what the tug boat Captain was thinking about us. "Idiots" came to mind as he likely saw my tiny 20' boat disappear and re-appear in the troughs and crests.

It took about 3 hours to get get into a little bit of lee of Molokai and conditions quickly improved when we finally were able to breath, open up the canvas, smile a little and take the below picture.

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I brought (2) 12 gallon tanks, which you see there in the cockpit and (3) five gallon tanks for extra fuel, since our trip was to remote areas of Molokai with no potential for refueling. My boat has an 82 gallon tank which was topped off before we left. This gave us an extra 38 or so gallons for a total of roughly 120 gallons. All the ice, food, camping equipment, gas, water, and the four of us meant the boat was rather bulky that day. After running up the West side of Molokai and anchoring in a few calm bays to snorkel and have a late lunch we anchored in a protected cove near the North West tip. The winds were very shifty in the cove and there was a narrow area to anchor in some sand pockets with reef and exposed rocks surrounding the small cove. We set the bow and stern anchor for extra security and camped at the beach for the night after a few celebratory drinks. Before the sunset, I did decide to syphon fuel from one of the external tanks to see where we were at. I was alarmed that we used nearly all of the 38 external gallons I brought in just a mere 30 or so mile trip, it was likely the extra weight and the conditions that forced our terrible mileage. I also learned later that the boat was very difficult to fill to full capacity and air pockets in the tank would make it start clicking off at the pump at nowhere near full.

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This raised endurance concerns, as we planned to go around the Northwest Point (Ilio Point) and past Kalaupapa to anchor among the various coves at the base of the highest sea cliffs in the world. After packing up shortly after sunrise we rounded the point and still had some residual wind, but much improved conditions. The weather was supposed to lay down for the rest of the weekend and we were already seeing it quickly improve that Sunday morning. We chugged along to the East as the sea cliffs got taller and taller.

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We took a break, drifted, and went for a swim around the leeward side of Kalaupapa before rounding the peninsula. My first planned anchorage was where we intended to spend the entire day and night if conditions were right, and it did not disappoint.

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We all slept on the boat that night as ferrying camping equipment to shore via the paddleboard sounded tedious, but it was an incredible day with the best views I've had in my life. We woke up early again and anchored in another small cove with equally impressive sea cliffs and some amazing caves.

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That Monday morning conditions were even better than Sunday, and we turned around at Pu'uka'oku Falls (I recommend googling that, as we took more videos than pictures during this trip). This is where my fuel status made me decide to turn around as we had 30 miles to get back to the Channel, and another 30 miles to O'ahu. The transit back was about as calm as the channel can get, enough so that I let my girlfriend drive as we put the outriggers and lines out and I took a nap in the sun. We were back in Hawai'i Kai around 3pm after a scenic route from Sandy's Beach past Hanauma Bay. My boat still had about half a tank left and a few gallons in my external tank, which means that either I truly burned nearly 40 gallons crossing the channel, or I was not nearly full when we left.

Below is a picture of the set-up the day before we left to camp at Hawaii Kai. My Ahi fish bag made for a great second cooler out of the way.
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Above is as were were testing different locations for the fuel tanks.



All in all it was an insane trip that I will never forget. Should we have crossed the channel that day? Absolutely not. Knowing that weather did not improve much, I should have saved it for another weekend, or taken more time off to push it to Sunday-Tuesday. However, I'm glad I did not panic and try to turn around, because knowing the conditions and the boat, I felt much safer continuing for a nasty three hours, than try to risk taking those seas off our stern for 30 minutes.

Hope you enjoyed the trip report.
 
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Koakine88

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Thanks for the update. I'm not up on the RPM specs on the F200 but I would think it may be the same as the bigger motors @ 6000, top end. I'd be shooting for the higher 5K's like 5700-5900 if possible. Don't want to leave anything on the table that could be usable, RPM/HP wise.
It took me awhile to give in to this advice, as I was liking how the boat handled when I fished. I had a ton of "grip" in following seas, got on plane soo much sooner (and stayed on plane), at a heavy sacrifice of top end speed. My friend noticed that the prop didn't "feel" smooth and doing more research has led to me believe that even with the extra grip I am still way over propped.

The OSF4 is 15 1/4" 15p, a full 1" bigger in diameter than the "stock" 3 blade Yamaha 14 1/4" 17p with added surface area. The diameter alone likely dropped my RPM's 400-500, with a few more hundred lost to the surface of the 4 blade. I just purchased a cheap aluminum Turning Point 4 blade that is 14 1/2", at 17p. I figured it's a $100 test to see if the prop still gives me some added grip without losing all of my RPM range and top end speed. It's also one of the smaller diameter 4 blade props I could find. I expect it to be more of a middle ground, and to get around 5,500 RPM's with it. If I love it, I can keep the aluminum as a spare and get the same model in stainless. If I hate it, try another prop. I just feel like all that extra size and surface area, it was not working well with the Yamaha I4.

I'll report back how the new prop feels.
 

Sdfish

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Great story and glad you made the right decisions given the situation. Beautiful pictures! I love the way you set up your boat.
 

nuclear

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How did the two sleeping on deck fare? I hope they had self inflating mattresses or something.
 

Koakine88

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How did the two sleeping on deck fare? I hope they had self inflating mattresses or something.
I have a lay down soft vinyl removable flooring that gave them some cushion. They had a good amount of blankets and sleeping bags and actually set up their small tent in the cockpit in case it rained.

Some words about safety:

Looking back on the trip, which I will definitely get to do this coming summer again, it definitely has a level of risk. The North side of Molokai is very, very, remote. Nearest harbor is about 70 miles (on the other side of the Island) or across the channel back to Oahu. Boat traffic is pretty much non-existent.

Having a single engine adds to that risk. If my engine failed as we were crossing the channel, it likely would have been VERY bad with no control. All four of us had very good discussions about safety that I think everyone should have on these trips or just in general. A EPIRB or at least a PLB should be mandatory and easily accessible, obviously lifejackets, and a radio, but what people don’t talk about much is what to do IF something happens. If the engine dies and the next big wave capsizes the boat? Stay together and stay with the boat. It is much easier to find a cluster of four people with bright orange life jackets than single person, it is also much easier to find a boat that a person, even if capsized. Picture yourself as someone searching in a plane hundreds of feet over the ocean, you want your search object to be as big as possible.
 
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Koakine88

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Aloha,
Just an update and photo dump. Had a bikini shoot on board a few months back and got some professional photography of the boat.

Got a nice Ulua last week off Kaena Point.

Also attached are photos of gelcoat chipping issue under the swim step. Keep an eye out on yours, I had this repaired this past week, it was definitely not prepped right at the factory for it to delaminate like that.7DD855F1-CD55-4559-AA53-8CA1FB245E1B.png
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Parthery

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I'm assuming GW took care of the gelcoat issue under warranty?

Great looking pics and enjoying your write ups....keep them coming.
 

Koakine88

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Hey @Koakine88

I had a year old adventure 208 shipped to Oahu a couple months ago. I took it out several times with the 14 1/4" x 17" yamaha prop, and it was not fun trying to maneuver around heeia harbor when the trades were blowing hard. The winds really grab the boat, and that prop had minimal bite.
I installed a OFS4 14" pitch prop last week. I have not had a chance to run it again. I am in the process of installing the electronics right now. Would be interesting to compare rpms.
Aloha Jason,

Yeah, I launch out of Hee'ia whenever I go sandbar or fish that side. I moved on from the OFS4 because I think it was over-propped for my Yamaha 200. If it had the 250, I think it would've been the perfect prop.

The normal launching ramp at Hee'ia is tricky and I agree, especially with hardtop and canvas my 208 gets grabbed by the wind VERY quickly. The launch there is very narrow with that reef and rocks... What has worked for me has been to back down from the ramp almost to the end where the turn starts to give yourself some wiggle room as the wind tries to blow you back towards the dock. Then I somewhat aggressively back down as I turn out and just as I am perpendicular, I switch to forward, also giving it a little extra juice. The first time launching there with my 208, I was much more light-handed with the throttles and no matter how quickly I tried to turn, The wind would grab me and keep me sideways facing the rocks. Got pretty sketchy when on my third try I was almost back on the dock, but I figured it out. My old boat had much less freeboard and never really had the same issues there. The 208 feels like a sailboat in that harbor.

-Tyler
 

Koakine88

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Maui Triangle Trip Report (2nd outer island trip:)

Ended up making a four day onboard camping trip labour day 2022. Conditions were pretty favorable overall. Had a lot of great lessons learned from the first trip, the biggest was to pack less. With just my girlfriend and I on my boat, and two friends on their boat (19’ Glasspro) we both felt quite a bit safer.

Itinerary:
Depart Hawaii Kai at sunrise day 1. Transit across Kaiwi channel to Lanai Pinnacles (West Lanai). 55 mile transit, conditions were 3-4’ seas and about 10-15 knots of wind, which is great for that channel. My friends was committed to fishing for the whole transit so he went slower. I raced ahead a bit more to get better MPG’s on plane, and drifted for awhile while he caught up once in the Lee of Molokai (super glassy once there). We anchored just off the Pinnacles on Lanai, my first time there and had a pretty epic afternoon free diving and paddle boarding around the area before heading to bed.

Anchorage: nice sandy bottom, about 25’ deep. Sea cliffs block most of the wind.

Day 2 we departed the Pinnacles and trolled around South Lanai up to Manele Bay. Cruised around the inside of the Bay before rounding to East Lanai. Inside the Maui triangle that morning we had completely flat and glassy conditions, so I was able to run across to Lahaina rather quickly and on plane. My buddy on his boat caught some really small surf off East Lanai (he longboards). We anchored near the Lahaina moorings and waited for my friend, while waiting we used my external gas tanks to top off my main 82 gallon tank. We then picked up a group of friends at Mala Wharf and took them out to Black Rock where we anchored and spent the day. In trade for the fun day out, they let us use their truck to refuel my external tanks with ethanol free fuel in Lahaina.

Later that afternoon we transited up to Slaughterhouse Beach where we went free diving off some of the epic reefs there. Our escort boat took their time trolling, and arrived about an hour before sunset where we shifted anchorage to Honolua Bay (where that mega yacht ran aground this winter). Relaxing Anchorage overnight with very minimal winds.

Day 3: left at sunrise to cross the Pailolo Channel. With quartering seas the trip across wasn’t too bumpy despite choppier conditions. The entire next morning and day we took our time transiting across the entire North side of Molokai, home of the tallest sea cliffs in the world. We anchored in some really epic locations and even got a chance to motor through a massive sea cave. Overnight Anchorage was in the same spot as last year, slight swell was working it’s way into the bay, and we had some small squalls come through which had to have gusted up to 40-50 knots shifting onshore and offshore on a dime. I was worried about my little aluminum fortress anchor with the wind shifts, but it held fine. (My worries led me to my most recent upgrade to the boat in a later post).

Day 4: Trip back to Oahu was choppier in the Kaiwi channel than a few days earlier. We fished the whole way though and caught a good size Ono.

Overall, a completely epic trip again. Fuel was not an issue and we still had about 3/4 tank in main tank with some in our spare 5 gallons external tanks. Total trip was estimated to be about 250 miles. Packed lighter this time which made for more comfortability and room on the boat. We were much more strategic about opening the cooler as seldom as possible which kept the ice much longer. We only had to get a small bag of ice in Maui.

Photo bomb time:
 

Koakine88

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Day 1 photos, my co-Captain cleaning the glass before the trip across the channel. My friend got us an overnight permit to moor at his dock in Hawaii Kai overnight. Chart plotter as we head over penguin banks. Plus some good shots of the pinnacles on Lanai and my friends boat.

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Koakine88

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Day 2: Departing Lanai Pinnacles, heading around Manele Bay across the triangle to Lahaina. Fun at at black rock with friends, and our final destination at Honolua Bay overnight.
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Koakine88

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Day 3 photos: North Molokai madness and some pictures of my sea cave transit.FAAE8F94-C3F9-45C7-A975-91E438892744.jpeg514E8402-B8AD-405E-91D0-6952D497D3F2.jpegCAA804AC-8624-4C20-9926-D7DB8C0FD80D.jpegF13A81DC-4E54-4D0D-9318-1FF20961A3E2.jpeg39E21F58-33D8-4ECF-9911-65987826A903.jpeg7BC0C710-55B0-44ED-B4FA-42796032DD7D.jpeg1B36C82D-310C-4411-A68E-0C250062C698.jpeg5C45B756-F297-4B51-AAB1-E8F6BE32EF5B.jpeg
 

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