New 303 owner intro & first project update

[Alumin8]

Greetings to all from Hudson, Wisconsin and the beautiful St Croix River!

We've previously owned a F-W Horizon 230, which was replaced with a 2009 Monterey 260 SCR. That was a beautiful boat but woefully underpowered with a 300hp 5.7 Merc/B3. Fine with up to 6 or so people, but a real dog beyond that. I ended up installing a 3x4 Hill Marine propset (19P I think) which really helped. But at the end of the day, an 8'6 beam and 300hp was just not the right recipe.

I'm new to the Cobalt family, having searched long to find the right 303 for our family & friends boating adventures. My wife and I actually flew to Houston May 25th, rented an F250 diesel with Enterprise (1-way to MSP) and proceeded to the marina where the 303 was kept. After an inspection (with thorough pro inspection & sea trial already completed) and test ride, we transfered the title and loaded it up for the 1100 mile trip home.

I do not really have any great pics of her in the water as of yet, so I've included one en route from TX to home and another upon our return home.

No real surprises since - we've alread taken the engines (2x 5.7gXi with DP) from 340hrs up to 375 hrs since our first official outing on Memorial Day. One significant feature of this 303 is that a former owner ponied up the $9K for a bow thruster - and it is as fantastic as you can imagine for a boat this size. Highly recommended!

The St Croix joins the Mississippi around 20 miles south of us, which means extended boating trips of 100+ miles at times, often staying at a B&B or just on board the boat.

One of my first projects was to remove the rather lousy (small) flip-out table in the cockpit. I replaced it with a piece of Corian I purchased from a seller on CL and cut it to size to fit the space behind the seat. It's really easy to cut/shape with normal woodworking tools and weighs less than twice the original fiberglass table. I can send exact dimensions to anyone who would like them.

My next project is to mount a proper Garmin 93SV-UHD - probably on the dash upper binnacle. I have the old (working well) Garming 640 in the dash. If anyone has NO GPS in the dash - just the storage bin instead - I would happily send you the 640 in exchange for the original bin!

Regards from Wisconsin,

Scott

[AsLan7]

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So glad you found us Scott. Great pics too.

Man that’s impressive you got a Cobalt with an aftermarket bow thruster installed. May be a first for the site. Maybe post a pic of the controls too. What brand is it?

Great job on the table too.

And welcome aboard mate!

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[ajaVT]

Welcome and congrats on the new 303! We have a '12 303 model and they are not very common so it is great to hear from another owner! We like the flip out table design but agree the OEM top is a bit small so would be interested to learn more about the details of your project.
Regarding replacing your GPS, our dash came with a compass in the center and an older unit mounted above the dash which I replaced with a phone mount and run Navionics which has worked well so far. We have taken on a number of other projects in the 2+ seasons we have owned her and would be interested to learn about your boat as well. Please keep in touch!

[kas232ca]

Welcome...

Great looking boat. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

One question off topic...How did you rent a F-250 from Enterprise one way. I thought their truck division was only local rental? We recently got a new Loadmaster trailer in Ohio and brought it back to Arizona. We ended up in a Tacoma as their full size gas pickups that I had reserved don't have receiver hitches. At least the ones in Detroit.

[Alumin8]

Sorry for the delay.. Just back from a 180+ mile round trip with 3 other couples down the St Croix River, into the Mississippi and back.

This was a real test of the "new to us" 303 with the twin 5.7GXi drives. Fully loaded with 8 adults, luggage, coolers, dry bags, ice, food, 75% fuel, 100% water = one massive load! Our previous Monterey 265 with single 5.7 300hp would NOT get on plane with this identical load - meaning a 50+ mile plowing trip day by day. Extreme frustration! Fast forward to this past week with the 303 and it was GAME ON! Once we cleared the marina no-wake, she planed out without trying hard at all. Slight down on the trim tabs until planed out, slilght trim adjustment and a steady cruise of 30 mph @ 3600rpm. VERY happy with this performance to say the least!

Prior to our trip, I took a few days to remove the olld 540s Garming and replaced it with a proper 93SV UHD. I also installed a ship to shore radio (we use this regularly to communicate with lock/dam for transit). I've posted photos of both of these. I installed a temporary blanking plate in place of the old GPS unit. I just ordered an engine synch gauge to install there. At one point I realized we were doing 28mph, with the port engine down by 100rpm. I picked it up to match the starboard and gained 2mph!

To the question on the Enterprises truck rental - I rented from Enterprise TRUCK, not just the ordinary car agency. Not sure if that makes a difference. I actually called and reserved a 3/4 ton at two different ET agencies in the Houston area - both of them were on board with the 1-way rental. Not sure if that's a regional thing or not. A friend of mine recently tried the same 1-way with ET from MSP or ATL and no dice - RT only with those locations.

[jwill323]

I'd like to see the pics of how you mounted the Garmin. Im looking at adding a 73SV UHD to mine and have been thinking about how to mount it. Love the boat BTW!

[Alumin8]

Here are the pics of a few of the projects I just wrapped up on the 303.

1. Access the back of the dash: accomplished by removing the qty 10x or so screws from around the perimeter of the storge wall unit on the stern side of the head. You will want to photo the wiring loom connections of the vacuflush & tank level indicators prior to disconnection and then removal of that entire storage wall unit. Huge access to the back of the panel, underside of the dash, cleaning the door track area, etc. Best feature I've ever seen in a boat yet..

20230724_125332.jpg

2. SWAPPED SPEEDO & PORT TACH LOCATIONS + Mounting of Garmin 93sv
- I hated how the two tachs were NOT on parity - it was annoying to have to sweep past the speedo to observe the port tach when comparing to the starboard tach. This was very easy to do - simply access the back of the dash from the access panel in the head, take a number of photos of the wiring routings to each, remove the brackets & swap.

NOTES on the Garmin:
1. the factory transducer cable ended up 30" too short on my 303! I needed an extension cable to make the connection in the upper dash location.
2. I drilled through the top of the dash (4) mounting holes for SS bolts/screws/washers and a 3/4" or maybe tad larger for the cables to pass through to the head unit. Once installed, the 73 / 93 SV is quickly detached for removal for security. These are fully hidden under the mounting bracket.
3. there is a solid bulkhead at the helm. Drill through this to feed the radio & UHD cables through to feed them to the upper dash area. I do have a sub installed under the helm seat - I removed this to facilitate easier cable feed to/through the bulkhead..

20230729_170617.jpg

3. Installation of Uniden ship to shore radio & mic + location of Vetus bow thruster joystick

NOTE on the Uniden radio installation: I mounted the antennae at the top of the radar arch - there was a threaded SS stud already in place, so I used that, routed the cable down through the starboard rear arch rail and then forward to the helm location. Fishtape required through the arch! Access is on top of the arch via access plate - qty 8x screws

Unbelievably, the Vetus joystick crapped out the day before I pulled the 303 out for a few projects and preparation for out annual river trip. It was a plug & play swap with a new joystick. Also easily accessed from the dash access wall.

20230729_170633.jpg

4. Closer pic of the bow thruster: I will make a separate post with more details/pics for future reference. Sorry for the mess, I was in the middle of river stain cleanup. This bow thruster was installed by "Florida Bow Thusters" and is a Vetus unit. I do not know what they charge these days, but it is something I HIGHLY recommend! While the twin outdrives allow amazing maneuvering, the bow thruster allows for extremely good control while backing into slips with cross winds, etc.

Vetus Bow Thruster.jpg

[CobaltDeadHead]

What were the dimensions of the new Corian table? Looks larger than the factory table.

[Alumin8]

Sorry - meant to include that! 25-1/2" x 30-1/2" is a perfect fit to clear the storage tub, the lift up seat back, etc. I just used the old one for a template for the mounting bolts..

[AsLan7]

Thanks for the pics Scott!