Finally Home - The 2004 TBM 30 OUTLAW SST / SSE

[TeamBajaMarine]

What a weekend, I will elaborate more when time permits but first I must thank all the guys at Baja, Kustom Kolors, Channel Marine, The TBM NH Chapter, Al Grover's Marina and everyone else involved in making this boat a reality. Thank you all again for your support and best wishes.

I knew when I first laid eyes on it up at last years Poker Run at Lake Winnipesaukee I would eventually get one. As time went on and I saw the incredible refinements to this machine by Baja (at shows and in photos) and then started the custom factory process with Baja, words cannot express what it is like to have this boat finally home. This was a long 4 months putting everything together and there were times I thought my head was gonna explode because I wanted everything about MY boat perfect...Graphics, options, financing, insurance, delivery date, transport, selling of my 25 (that didnt happen) you can now understand my last sentence.

Basically, the worries are over and now its time to dial in the boat, critique it good and bad (the bad will be very hard to find on this ride) and let the fun begin. I have spent the last 2 days with the boat, ran it twice, put all the supplies on board for the summer and started adding the custom touches already...anodized cupholders, drive showers, thru hull exhaust tips and TBM Die Cuts.

I will post all my comments about the boat in the appropriate forums, but my first comment will be right here...The 30 Outlaw is the most incredible boat I have ever seen and ran. The design, finish, options and ride make this a true one of a kind vessel. Anyone considering stepping up or wanting to buy a 30 footer or better should definately take a good hard look at this boat.

[BDannecker]

Great critique Blake.... and congratulations again! ;)

Bruce...

[bottomless pit]

Blake:
I know that Nancy and I felt the same way on all 3 of the Baja's Boats we have owned. But especially when we got our .38!!!
Its the reason that they are among the top Boat mfg.. company in the Nation!!!

[GottaHaveIt]

Congrats on the new ride Blake!

It's only fitting that the TBM/BBOA webmaster have such an awesome boat!

:party

[jal4sas]

I'd like to congratulate you as well. Thanks for sharing the experience.:biggrin

[firehill19]

Blake, pics look awesome! You did an awesome job picking colors, graphics, and all the other trimmings. Looks great!

[eddie]

I drove a 30 this weekend ay LOTO after crawling around in one at several shows. I still amazed on how it handled and drove. I was running 75 on the speedo at 4,500 rpms - the boat has 496 HO MAGS, I brought the drives & tabs up and put the sticks to the stops and the motors started surging. Not sure what the deal was, but I was in for a high 70's run I'm sure.

I'll be saving my pennies.........your going to love your new ride I'm sure. Keep the pics and information coming.

[Seize n Ticket]

Eddie,
There's pictures of that boat doing 80mph...glad to hear you finally got to take her out. Is it now on your Christmas list?

[jal4sas]

Blake,
What model drive showers did you go with? Does it have Latham steering?

[TeamBajaMarine]

Jim,
I bought Simreks, but havent put them on yet. I do have Latham steering.

[eddie]

Is it now on your Christmas list?

We are pretty happy with our 25, they would have to make me a good deal for us to jump on it this year.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Guys,
Beautiful weather here in New York this weekend and I have been out enjoying the 30OL this Saturday and Sunday for the first time. Will report back in on Monday. Have a great weekend!

[hp500]

Blake
If you have Latham on your boat the top cap is taped for a drive shower. All you need to do is get the lines from Latham

[BrentR33]

HP, so you can order the hose and tip directly from Latham?? I was looking as a 342 that had this setup last week and could not find any info on where to get it without the top cap section...

[BrentR33]

Blake, where is the update on the 30... My dealer got one in several weeks ago, I was on travel and forgot to post their results. Boat has HOs with 28" pitch props. It ran 77 at 5000 on the Gaffrig GPS speedo...

[billsbaja25]

hey brent call latham and you should be able to get the drive showers. I have the same thing and I think they are 110 a piece call your dealer and they should be able to get them or latham
nice boat blake enjoy it:biggrin

[30Outlaw]

Blake:

Any chance of posting a couple of pictures of your white cuddy interior?

[TeamBajaMarine]

I will snap some photos in the next week after my DVD install, this way I kill two birds with one stone.

[30Outlaw]

Cool. Look forward to it. Once again thanks for your efforts.

[ckmansell]

Blake I cannot find the thread where we talked about your graffics. But I remember me asking why if you did "special" graffic templates on the hull why they did not do it on your deck as opposed to custom shop.

You answer was (i believe) it would ruin the mold since they only do graffics on one side. I have been pondering this for sometime now. That just dont make sense. I can order any boat without graffics at all if I want. (ie. All white) That said, then why doesn't say the SST, Wave, Outlaw, etc... graffics ruin the mold to where they cannot do all white? And you know they dont have more than one mold for each model, so that is not the answer. Does anybody know exactly how the graffic process works. I am curious.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Curt,
Gotta poke around to find an old thread, here is the link

p201.ezboard.com/fteambajamarinefrm7.showMessageRange?topicID=1250.topic&start=81&stop=100 (http://p201.ezboard.com/fteambajamarinefrm7.showMessageRange?topicID=1250.topic&start=81&stop=100)

The 30OL is in production and this is really a graphics update, I am still doing the SSE custom in-gel graphics on the sides, but since I wanted the top deck (in front of the hatches) to have the same design on both sides, I have to go with paint. The factory is not set up to do in-gel on both sides no matter how much you offer them, its a mold and production issue. So I am having Kustom Kolors paint the identical graphics from the sides on the top deck on both sides of the top deck in front of the hatches. The cool part about this is that it will look exactly like in-gel and I will have all 3 colors as in-gel on stock boats are only 2 of the 3 colors. I am also having a custom red Baja script in 3D painted under the windscreen. (the Baja script will look just like it does behind our logo) then the TBM will be done in white and purple vinyl.

Curt,
I cant explain the whys, I was just told no and Baja wouldnt do it. I personally think it is a time issue and that it would take time to get the graphic on the opposite side of the top deck aligned correctly as there is no guideline to do it, as it has not been done before. Doing a boat in all white is simple as its the only layer of gelcoat that has to be applied.

The graphic process works something like this as I witnessed it....They take the bare mold and apply the graphics decal reversed directly to the mold, keeping the other colors in the graphic covered, then they will spray the hull color gelcoat which is very thin but thicker than the colors so you dont see the overspray of the colors added later, after that they will peel each part of the graphic to spray each color over the top color. Understand? Its kind of hard to explain without actually seeing it.

I also know that there are more than one mold for each model, depending on model, I think its was 3 for the 30OL, as I saw them all at the factory in various stages. Also, after a few builds, I think the number is around 10, each mold is completely reprepped and cleaned for imperfections, pits and gouges before it goes back into the system. I hope this sheds some light on the process.

[ckmansell]

Thanks for finding this Blake. This is what I was referring too..

The factory is not set up to do the graphics on both sides, I begged them to do this. Apparantly in the mold process, since they are only set up to do one side of the top deck, anything done on the other side would ruin the mold for the next boat and leave many imperfections in the gel coat. So I had Baja make the templates for Kustom Kolors to use and paint both sides.

I believe your right though. It was probably more a time deal they did not want to screw with. I just dont buy it will harm the mold. If that was the case all graffics would.

WOW! I was surprised to learn they have 3 molds for the 30. It took them a month to build your boat. With 3 molds they ought to be able to build three a month. That is 36 a year. However, I dont think they are building that many. I believe they built about 10 or 12 last year.

[jb outlaw 25]

Blake,
Your boat is incredible!!!! The pictures on the site don't even come close to doing it justice. It is a beautiful machine!! I'm glad I was able to check it out in NH this weekend. Next time I'll hit you up for a ride. By the way....are you sure those are just 496's? Heading to Braun Bay that thing got up and went!!

[TeamBajaMarine]

Jason,
Thank you for your kind words. Yep, just 496 Mags. I was neck and neck with the H2X that has a 496HO, but in the long distance I started eeking ahead of him. That was one fun ride.

[saleen367]

Blake did you notice that Baja has changed the weight of the 30 Outlaw from 7700 lb. in 2004 to 6900 lb. in 2005?

That's what the downloaded brochures of Baja's site quote as a stated weight.

The actual web site specifications are 7000 and 6900 lb.

Found that interesting a while back.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Jeff,
Actually there is a thread somewhere out there on the advertised weights. Baja has confirmed that the 7700lbs. was wrong as posted in the beginning. The weight I was told while at the factory was 6900lbs.

Ps, Why did your post count go back to 1? Did you sign up again?

[saleen367]

Ps, Why did your post count go back to 1? Did you sign up again?

Had to ... no biggie :biggrin

[saleen367]

Did you swap out your cup holders for colored ones?

I'm thinking going to, but can't decide which color to go with.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Jeff,
I did swap out the cup holders, I went with RED in the cockpit and NATURAL BRUSHED SILVER in the cuddy.

[saleen367]

That would be nice look!

Do we have a sponsor that carries them or did you get them from Eddie Marine?

I tried measuring mine and came up with an I.D. of 3 5/8. That must means they must be the 3 3/4 ones from Eddies.

Also found them at Trickmarine.com

BTW ... put on the Latham Marine drive showers today. Pretty nice units.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Jeff,
Michael from Voodoo Marine (our sponsor) has a deal on them, have him check my invoice on the sizes as I forget and I am not home to reference my own invoice.

I honestly am not sure if they are Eddie Marine cupholders as the ones he sold me all have a nipple in the bottom for draining (which is a must for the one next to the driver as there is a hose and clamp on that one)

I say I am not sure if they are Eddie Marines, because I bought directly from them before Voodoo was a sponsor for my 25OL and they did not have drain nipples.

[Baja340SF]

I bought them from Eddie Marine and mine have nipples on them to attach a hose.

(didnt know that Voodoo had those items......next time i know better)

[TeamBajaMarine]

Maybe they were earlier versions, I bought them a few years ago.

[haulinvols]

Eddie Marine makes two sizes. I had to use both of them in my 20. The larger size made from Stainless has the nipple on the bottom. The smaller aluminum does not, just has a hole in the bottom.