Big thanks to H&W Marine in Shreveport, La for their help in ordering and customizing the boat I wanted! After much research I had settled between an Xpress or G3. Having been a G3 owner before (10yrs ago) and knowing the salesman at H&W (he worked at a different dealership and sold me my Skeeter) I settled on the G3.
Was told 4-6 weeks from the time I ordered, got boat 1 day shy of 4 weeks!! That NEVER happens!
I have completed the 2 hr portion of the break-in and here are my observations.
Cons:
recessed trolling motor tray does not work with Ulterra
very tight and hard to access wiring channels
difficult to mount large sonar on console
Lowrance Hook 5x is very cheap and basic sonar unit
when removing plastic storage bins, I notices large areas of unused space
front bow panel is rather cheap
rod holder is small
Pros:
VMAX 115 SHO is AWESOME!!! runs great, quiet, very quick on plane.
console has lots of room to sit and tons more room underneath
seats are very comfortable
all weld and construction hidden under storage bins looks well done
3 good Interstate Batteries and a good 3-bank charger are standard
gauges are good quality and accurate
livewell is large
ran in whitecaps and handles rough water well (for an aluminum boat)
aluminum trailer seems well made
bunks are rubber
extra accessory wiring is run and terminated at the front under TM tray
nice fuse panel is easy to access under console
lots of usable space under seats
deck space is about the same as my Skeeter ZX200
top speed so far is 46 mph on a short run (me and 2 kids onboard), thats not bad for a 115!
I pulled the 8 gauge TM wiring and replaced with 6. all terminals soldered with a 60 amp breaker at batteries.
Ulterra installed. had no problems with it hitting bow roller when loading and unloading.
Ran separate 14gauge wiring for all electronics. Helix 7 up front, Helix 10 at console, both networked with TM.
NMEA 2000 backbone ran. Plugged right in to SHO.
Extra fuse bank and negative bus added for all electronics. Wiring for this is run to cranking battery on separate post, all connections soldered and shrink wrapped.
Ulterra installed
Beneath TM tray
6 gauge wire for TM
Co-pilot was happy to help during break-in.
Basic Lowrance unit.
rubber bunks on aluminum trailer
matching spare
Drilled hole in deck and used rubber folding chair foot to hold cables and seal out water.
More to come!!!