kbrown409":1x6z8kf6 said:
I appreciate all the input...Frankly I'm still torn...Long Island sound is a pretty unique piece of water if anyone is familiar with the area I'd love to get your opinion. I understand the concept of the 2 different hull designs but I'd be curious to know what folks are running in this area and why... The sound is unique in that one min. its smooth as glass the next you have 3-4' chop... you never know what you are going to run into...I guess the majority of my time would be spent fishing and drifting on short runs but the 0ccasional 1.5-2.5 hour runs to Block or Montauk to fish deep water wouldn't be out of the question.
Also there is the issue of getting on plane....as the dealer advised the mod v will get on plane faster and at slower speeds. His argument was that if it gets rough and you want to slow down the Deep V likes to run at 22 mph to stay on plane vs the mod v running at 14 mph to stay on plane. His argument was that the mod v allows you to run slower when you need to slow down due to conditions....thoughts?
I have 10 seasons and 1200+ engine hours on my Parker 2520 Mod-V with 16 degree dead rise. All of it operating out of Mystic CT into Block and Rhode Island Sounds, occasionally deep water further South. Roughly 80% of my time is spent SCUBA Diving on shipwrecks, the rest fishing. The boat has been awesome and has stood up extremly well to some hard use and heavy loading of lots of dive gear.
Here are the facts coming straight from hands on experience. The Mod-V will run about 33KTS wide open with an F225 and will cruise about 22 at 4600RPM. I track my hours and fuel burn fairly closely and being a 30 year military and commercial aviator, things like time, distance, fuel burn etc are rather familiar to me. I run 40 minutes at idle every trip getting in and out of my slip, the rest of the time I am between 4200-4600 RPMs. I average a 7.75 gallon burn per hour and this has been consistent for the ten years I have run the boat.
The boat is GREAT on the drift, absolutely PERFECT and I have fished and dove in some really snotty weather.
Now the $64,000 Question.... THE RIDE??
OK now I did say I LOVE my boat. Occasionaly I get the upgrade bug looking at used Parker 28s or the 34 but the thought of selling my Parker would be like getting rid of a loved dog, the boat has been GREAT.......BUT.......I can not lie, when you are running into a head sea she POUNDS. There are some effective techniques to improving the ride such as trimming the nose down with both tab and engine trim but she is still gonna give you a rough ride and there are many times when anything over 12-14Kts is going to be very uncomfortable. It's just the facts, I like/love most things about my 2520 MOD-V, room, fuel economy,ruggedness/durability all EXCELLENT but she POUNDS into a head sea and there is simply NO denying it.
Fact is there are vastly more choppy days in Block, Rhode and Long Islamd Sounds then there are calm days. Your Parker equiped with a cozy pilot house will allow you to operate April-November (or longer if your marina stays open) and IMO there are more days the deeper V (aka 21 degree dead rise) will be worth the extra fuel burn and horsepower you will need to push it then what is gained in terms of cost/economy of operating the Mod-V.
I absolutely STOLE my boat when it was a year old and had 39 hours on it. It was just too good of a deal to pass up and as sated above, I have been very satisfied BUT if I was negotiating a deal on a new rig with the intent of operating in Block, Rhode and Long Island Sounds, knowing what I do now, there is no question in my mind I would go with the Deep-V with either a single 300 or twins with a closed transom and a bracket.
If your budget permits go with the DEEP V.
Best accessory you can buy is a Raymarine Evolution-200 Autopilot. I used my boat twice as much after installing the autopilot then I did before. Nothing makes a 2-3 hour voyage in a small boat more enjoyable then not having to constantly hold the boat on course.
Best of luck, Parkers really are GREAT boats and I love mine....