# new member, 1986 southern skimmer 16ft



## charles85 (Apr 13, 2014)

Hey, new member here, been lurking around for some time now. I used to own a skiff a few years back. I ended up selling it so i could buy a bay boat, which i ended up selling for something i could mount a cobia tower on. I still own my 2004 sea hunt trition 202 with a folding tower. I kept wanting another small skiff for chasing reds and specks in. something that was easy to tow and didnt cost 200 dollars in fuel to tow to the coast. looking on cl, I ran across this 86' southern skimmer. the guy wanted 2k for it with a 87 suzuki 40hp. called the guy and went to check it out. i ended up buying it for 1700. 
i am trying to outfit the boat as cheaply as i can. so I am buying the transducer and power supply for my HDS7 from my sea hunt so i can just swap the unit from boat to boat. im looking for a cheaper bow mount trolling motor as well currently. well here are some pics i just got it friday, i have not done anything to it yet. but she fires right up, it needs the carb cleaned out i think as it has been sitting for 2 yrs.

anyone have a idea on what kind of speed i should see out of this motor and boat? i am going to order the bennet auto tabs, and a manual jack plate. and reprop it as well. but i the current stock form do you think i will get 30 mph out of it? how fast after trim tabs and a jack plate? 

it has a very old sea horse 5.5 hp motor on it as well, the guy said it was for trolling. i have not tried to start it. but its not locked up.


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## Stormchaser (Feb 10, 2013)

I remember those boats in South LA back in the 90s. I believe Blue Dot Marine in Chalmette sold them. 

I wouldn't think you'd see more than 32-34 from it, and that would be properly propped and finely tuned. I'm not a set up expert by any means, but tabs, to my knowledge, aren't going to give you MORE speed. It's just going to help with hole shot and porpoising. Something creating drag in the water isn't going to increase speed. 

Are you going to put a platform on it?


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## charles85 (Apr 13, 2014)

im not going to put a poling platform on it. I was thinking about removing the seat post on the boat and replacing it with a yeti cooler with the mounts to secure it to the floor. add the padded (sea deck?)thing on the lid. then possibly taking the cooler to a upholstery shop to have them make a padded seat top that snaps on to the lid so i can remove it and use it as a casting deck on the front of it.


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