We now have our new '08 Dancer with AXIUS

[ANYTIME]

We took Moondancer (our "old" '06 290 Amberjack) to Prince William Marine where they had our new 310 waiting for us. They had a space at the dock, right across from our new 310) for us. After docking, we, with the help of our salesman, offloaded ALL of our stuff to the new boat, then went into the office to sign the papers.

An hour later, we returned to the dock to begin the systems checkout which went well, except for the TVs (see my other post for this) and proceeded to the on-the-water orientation. The technician who prepared our boat for delivery told us that the Mercury Technicians were out this past weekend to ensure the AXIUS system had the latest software updates and to verify its operation.:smt038

The marina had a couple of open slips for us to practice docking (backing into vs. along side the dock) with the AXIUS system. I made a couple successful practice runs and then Brenda made a couple of successful runs, too. The AXIUS system really simplifies the close quarters maneuvering.

We then went out into the Occoquan River to proceed into Belmont Bay to check out normal handling. Brenda took control to get used to the DTS controls. The 290AJ had twin V-drives and handles much differently than the new 310 with twin stern drives. Brenda loved the difference in the "feel" and response of the 310. We then decided we would take our salesman back to the dealer's marina and complete the delivery of our new boat.

After dropping the saleman off, I took the controls and we were off to Quantico. After clearing the NO WAKE ZONE in Belmont Bay, I got her up on plane and she handled like a dream, much easier to maintain track and much more responsive steering.

When we got to Quantico, we would take the final test....docking where the fairway and slip would be much narrower than the ones we practiced on earlier. My docking was a little clumsy but uneventful.

We spent the next few hours just getting things put away and as it was getting late (after 4:00PM) we had to get back home and attend to our three hungry dogs.

This was a major event for us, $$ wise, and we honestly feel that is was worth it. Not only the features of the AXIUS control system, but the additional comfort and amenities the new 310 offers.

If any of the CSR members have any questions about AXIUS system, please ask, I will be pleased to share what I have learned with you.

 

[billandamy]

Congrats! Wishing you many good years aboard and about.

I read your other post about the tv's and I agree, they should at LEAST have been digital.:huh:

 

[vanburen]

Congrats! That sounds like a great day.

 

[Presentation]

If any of the CSR members have any questions about AXIUS system, please ask, I will be pleased to share what I have learned with you.

Congratulations on the boat.

I do have questions.

Does each drive have its own power steering pump?

What happens if you turn off one engine? (at slow speed)

What does Axius do if one engine is not working?

Can you operate the boat like a single drive boat with the wheel with one engine?

 

[quality time]

Come on Pres, you know you want to ask where the "pivot point" is on an Axius boat...:grin:

 

[ANYTIME]

Congratulations on the boat.

I do have questions.

Does each drive have its own power steering pump?

What happens if you turn off one engine? (at slow speed)

What does Axius do if one engine is not working?

Can you operate the boat like a single drive boat with the wheel with one engine?

Each drive does have it's own steering pump.

If you turn off one engine at slow speed, the boat handles just as any other twin engine I/O boat with similar engines and boat dimensions.

If one engine is not working, AXIUS is not operational, however, once the AUTO TRACK is implemented, it does work as it should

You can operate the boat with a single engine (like a single drive boat), but you must be aware of the fact that with only one engine running, due to the operating engine not being in the exact center of the stern, it will be more effort to control the boat in some circumstances.

The AXIUS boats are driven just like any other twin engine stern drive boat with DTS (two transmission/throttle controls vs. four) except for AUTO TRACK, if the AXIUS system isn't being used by the boat driver.

 

[Skip]

Sam,
Congratulations. Saw you take Moondancer out of Quantico on Friday as I was prepping the 420 for a run to Port Kinsale this past weekend. Saw your new one at the PWM sales dock the weekend of the Patriot Cruise and Salute. Beautiful boat. Enjoy.

Skip

 

[Presentation]

Sam,

Again, congratulations.

I heard or read that the Axius system adds something like $30K. Is this about right?

I’d love to have a 310, or, gulp….., a 330 with Axuis.

This memorial weekend we slept on the boat all 3 nights. Monday, returning to the marina it was windy as all get out. The wind was pushing us away from our dock.

Fortunately a couple that also slips at our marina helped us. They got a line connected and I was able to throttle to pull the boat over. Then I helped 4 other boaters get into their slips.

I assume with a bit of practice even with a bad cross wind the Axius system would allow me to move sideways and then back, sideways then back as I would back into the slip with a strong cross wind.

If there are members out there with cruisers that would not have been welcoming help with the very strong winds we were having they would be much better at boat handling then me.

 

[ANYTIME]

Sam,

Again, congratulations.

I heard or read that the Axius system adds something like $30K. Is this about right?....

Doug,

The Axius System added a little less than $20k to the price which I derived from the Spec Sheet from ANYTIME and it's sister new 310 with the same engines but with V-Drives. There were differences in the installed options, too. I used the Sea Ray Design it-Build it webpage (which doens't yet price Axius) to arrive at the difference.

Prince William Marine has only had two Axius systems so far, and they said they had to agree to let the one I purchased be used for demos over the 15-16 May weekend. We test drove it and signed our contract on the 13th of May. If it weren't for the demos they had to do, we would have taken delivery a week earlier.

I believe the Axius system would have enabled you to dock in the high winds without any problems at all. With the joystick, just move it slightly in the direction you want to go and it goes there. Add a little more pressure and it increases the speed in which it moves. You can use Axius in the "Dock Mode" or "Normal Mode"; where the Dock Mode reduces the available power by 50%.

We love our boat !!! Here is Brenda admiring the transom yesterday afternoon just before we went home.

 

[ANYTIME]

Hi y'all...here is the latest we are discovering/learning about our new toy.

We took our longest trip so far on this boat today. We went from Quantico down to the 301 bridge, 35 to 40 miles. We started out at 1200 RPMs, making 7mph while burning 4gph. That was where I got my best gas mileage. Stepped her up in 1000RPM steps until I got to 3800 RPMs, making 30 mph while burning 25 mpg.
When we got to the 301 bridge, we turned around to return to Quantico. About 3/4s of the way back, still running at 3800 RPMs, using the DTS "One Lever" configuration, the boat suddenly decelerated and the engines were now down to about 1000 RPMs and I got the Port Engine Guardian message on VesselView. All the time, all gauges were normal, as it was a new boat with 20 hours on her, I kept a constant lookout for anomolies with the gauges during the whole trip. I reset the DTS levers back to neutral and continued the trip back to Quantico.



I will call the dealer technician on Tuesday when they get back to work. They have to reinstall one of the sound shields on the inside of the powered engine hatch, it was laying in the bilge when we checked the engines prior to getting underway today.
I also had a chat with the dealer technician yesterday with a couple of Axius questions. He told me that the SKY HOOK will not be ready for the July upgrade. He said it is still problematic and they have more serious issues to work out with it.


This coming Tuesday, I will schedule my 25 hour service for next week and see it I can't get some answers on the Engine Guardian problem.

 

[KeithD]

Test drove a 310 w/ Axius yesterday at SS3 / MM in Lindenhurst. What a blast! It feels like you're cheating, moving the boat like that.
I'm sure it's not foolproof - especially with me at the wheel. But it seemed like a really cool system. Good luck with it!

 

[Hampton]

Regarding your engines pulling back to 1000 RPM, I would imagine that one of them perceived an alarm condition (overtemp, low oil press...) and the engine protection system idled it down, and since they were linked, they both idled down. My guess is that it's not Axius related, except for the matching power settings. It's not too uncommon to get stray warning signals, but it can be frustrating.

We used to get transmission over-temp warnings. I finally found one of the leads loose on top of one of the transmissions. I believe increased temp causes increased resistance in the circuit. Less current = higher temp. Loose lead = no current = perceived high temp. Hopefully, you too just have a loose lead somewhere. The good news is that it's under warranty.

 

[tawcat]

Congrats on the boat!!

 

[ANYTIME]

Regarding your engines pulling back to 1000 RPM, I would imagine that one of them perceived an alarm condition (overtemp, low oil press...) and the engine protection system idled it down, and since they were linked, they both idled down. My guess is that it's not Axius related, except for the matching power settings. It's not too uncommon to get stray warning signals, but it can be frustrating.

We used to get transmission over-temp warnings. I finally found one of the leads loose on top of one of the transmissions. I believe increased temp causes increased resistance in the circuit. Less current = higher temp. Loose lead = no current = perceived high temp. Hopefully, you too just have a loose lead somewhere. The good news is that it's under warranty.

John,
Thank you for the response. I think you are right, but not sure which sensor it would be. I was monitoring the temp (pressure/volt/etc.) gauges during the entire 3 hour round-trip and they stayed at their normal settings, not varying a bit.

The Engine Guardian monitors Lube Oil Pressure, High Coolant Temp, Low Drive Lube, Low Sea Water Pressure, Low Voltage, Over-Revs and Knock Control. I checked fluid levels before departing, but not after I got back. With on 22.7 hours on the boat, I would hope that there hasn't been any failures (yet).

So far, we absolutely LOVE this boat:grin: !!

The admiral is hoping to win the lottery so we can be happy owners of its big sister, the Sea Ray 44 Sun Dancer with ZEUS drives. In the meantime, we both smile alot and enjoy what we now have.:thumbsup: