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Any advise on what kind of bottom paint to use on the Armstrong bracket? We store in the water for the season and the bottom is painted with an ablative paint. But the anti fouling paint on the bottom of the bracket is pretty well shot. Same for the trim tabs. What say the group?

I have a suction cup RAM mount on the trawler. It's rock solid for days on end. I should bring it up next spring to try it on the Parker. If you get one, make sure you get an aluminum connector (universal joint?) that fits between the holder and the suction cup. The plastic ones are too tender...

I don't have radar on my Parker...yet. But I have it on my trawler. In a dozen or so trips up and down the ICW we have found many days when we have needed it. First rule is to slow down. Best accessory for radar running is an autopilot. It's very disorienting to steer by hand with no external...

Cross the Gulf Stream from to the Bahamas at night and you will see cruise ships lit up so brightly that you can't find the running lights. It looks like a small city floating by!

At first blush I'm wondering if you have a bad cell in one of your batteries. I'm not sure I understand your wiring or switching layout. Do you have a battery combiner? Not the selector switch, but a device called a Combiner. Think of it as a check valve for electrons. It allows charging...

I wouldn't even consider leaving my boat in the water for a month with no bottom paint. No way, no how!!

I have been using an iPad as a backup plotter for years on my trawler. We always carry it on the Parker, just in case. The trawler has a Raymarine C-120 plotter and the Parker has a Lowrance. Both use Navionics. The iPad has the Garmin Blue Chart app as well as the Navionics app but the Garmin...

Tape residue is a PIA to remove. Instead, buy some pipe insulation. These are foam tubes which are slit so you can open them and snap around the railing. They are available in different diameters so measure your rails. Pick em up at Home Cheapo or any big box or hardware. You might to use a zip...

Where in ME do you live? We have a 2520XL and boat out of Rockland.

I added a PermaTrimto my F250 this spring. I almost never use my trim tabs now. That darn thing will really push the bow down in the chop. We had six aboard two Sunday's ago and busted home through the Penobscot Bay sea breeze chop. Set the fore and aft trim with the PermaTrim and balanced the...

I have a 2520XL with a 250 so my numbers won't help you much. But it sounds slow to me. I get 25kts. at 4500-4600.

I'm surprised that the darn thing won't self launch. Those Bruce-types are so front heavy. I think that rather than raising the windlass, raise the shank of the anchor near where the swivel is lashed on. My Delta is on the cusp of being self-launching. Sometimes yes and other times no. I'm...

In Florida, that's very common. High & dry or rack storage marinas do this a hundred times a day. Predictably some drivers have more skills than others but, if you think about it, most of the weight of the boat is located low and near the stern so although the boat seems to bounce around on the...

Hi Shawnee! Check with the manufacturer about using a soft-start capacitor. Might mitigate the heavy "shock load" on startup. Also, if you are dockside, run the A/C on shore power to pre-cool the boat and start the A/C when there is plenty of power. The transfer switch should make the changeover...

Remember that you should never discharge a battery below 50%. That means you have 100 amps usable. If I'm doing the math correctly, at 12 volts that's 1200 watts. The start loads on the compressor are momentary so you may be able to overcome that but I think you are going to start running out of...

Wow Shawnee! How big is your battery bank? I can't imagine being able to run a marine air unit for that long without a huge bank of battery power!

There is a product called Marine Strip by a company named Restoration Technology. I don't know if it will work on your coaming pads or not but it's pretty amazing stuff. We use it on our trawler for cleaning fenders, power cords, etc. we clean with it and then treat with 303 Protectant. Looks...

I think the big question is what kind of bottom paint is on the boat? Ablative paint is multi-season. You can haul the boat for the winter and splash it again in the spring without reprinting. But a conventional hard paint must be repainted. If it is left out of the water for the winter the...

Yep. I bought my 2520XL in Florida and shipped it to Maine. Shipping cost was about $3600. But I would expect a west coast boat to cost more anyway because somebody had to pay to ship it there. So it would likely even out.

Welcome aboard! Are those cans mounted on the back of the top? Searchlights? Speakers?