Newbie Advice

[rough_shag]

I have recently purchased a used boat after 3yrs looking/asking etc.I bought a Seafarer Viking 5.5mtr with Johnson 115 hp v4 'ocean runner' 2 stroke motor(223hrs),both are 1996 models.I have a couple of questions I hope some of you fishos can answer for me. 1/..Should I disable the vro system and mix manually?has anyone had a good long run without problems with the vro system?How do you disable it?
2/..The dealer advertised the boat as coming with a full safety pack but failed to include a fire extinguisher which the DOT says is mandatory on all boats 5mtrs and over, should I demand one from the dealer or is that unreasonable?
3/..The Viking was by far the most stable/soft riding boat I water tested when looking to buy and seemed to 'outclass' the others(haines,savage etc etc) does this model have any issues which could cause probs at sea?Are their any areas on the boat and motor which I should pay more attention to?
Thanks for any advice-CHEERS!!.

[smerl]

G'day mate

Welcome to the site. Is your username some sort of advertisement ;D?

With regard to the vro. I have a Johnson 150 HP Ocean Runner 1996 vintage with vro and I previously had a 50 HP 1996 with vro. Neither have given my any problems. I have done arount 300 hours with the 150 since I bought it. Disabling it is probably best done by a marine mechanic becuase you have to disable all of the alarms as well as remove the oil supply system.

With regard to point 2 - I would definately hit the dealer up for the fire extinguisher.

Cheers

Smerl

[2iar]

It's your call on the Fire Extinguisher, but you're quite right in that the boat needs it (or at least an interpretation of "firefighting equipment".

However they start at only $20, and this is most probably what they'd provide if you pushed them. In the hopefully unlikely event that you'd need it, like most safety gear, a better quality unit might be more suitable than one that just meets DOT standards.

Good luck,
Mike

[rough_shag]

Thanks for the advice smerl and 2iar much appreciated-and maybe I'll ditch the $16 pfds the dealer so generously threw in the $30k deal too!! oh and thanks for the welcome-this site is just what the doctor ordered for a newbie like me.CHEERS!!.