Information on 63' Ocean Sportfish

I managed a 63' Ocean for about a decade. They're a good boat for the money. Be careful when you have the boat lifted, use blocks to keep too much pressure from the fwd slings on the rubrail. Cut an access hole in the rear engine room bulkhead stbd side so you can change the generator impellor. Overall they're a good boat for their price point, but fall a little short compared to the big 3.

The 63 Ocean Owner's Club is fairly exclusive as they only built thirty two of these.

Yes the boat raises fish. Is the boat located in the harbor beach area of Ft. Laud with a tuna tower? If so, I know the boat. It's the brother's of the owner of the one I managed. On the one I was on, they cut a 1ftx 2ft hatch behind the generator with a lot of screws that came off, and you could then access the back side of the generator.

Hi BJG, Did you end up buying the Ocean 63? I'm looking at one now and am curious how your experience has been.

Thanks,
Mike

Is the boat still in Harbourtowne? Did you name it Coho or something along those lines. I think I spoke to your son a few times on the dock on the various occassions I was at Harbourtowne Marina.

You have gotten the boat to look really nice. Have a safe trip. The boat handles well at hull speeds, for when you cross from Key West to Cancun.

BJK, I recently purchased an 1988 63 Ocean. Would you be interested in sharing any performance data on your experience with your vessel so far? Best cruising speed and gph? Much Appreciated.

Yes sir indeed it does. We are just finishing a complete in frame rebuild On starboard motor. Had very little run time on her before the motor let go so I have no real frame of reference for performance. Rebuilding Detroit's is getting more and more difficult due to the lack of quality mechanics and quality parts. Thank you for your incites.

The one 63' I was involved with, the same owner had owned since 1988 and was a 1987. It initially cruised at 30 knots the first year he owned it (1950rpms). I was involved with the boat from 1993- 2009 when he sold it and it went to Guatamala. The next year and subsequent many years it cruised at 26 knots (without the Marlago), and the majority of the time towed a 35' Marlago c.c. behind it. From around 1999 on it only cruised at 24 knots. HOWEVER the owner had a TON of personal gear on the boat. We ended up getting over 5500 hours on the origional 12v92s which is considered remarkable. They were majored around 2002, exhaust temp gauges were added, and the boat was overpropped and we cut 3" pitch out of the wheels. The boat never got any speed back after being majored, or even after we removed a 10'x20' warehouse full of his stuff prior to it being sold. This boat had just a hardtop (and factory installed 15' whaler on the bow), his brother had an identical boat but with a tuna tower.

It is ESSENTIAL 92 series DD's are propped to reach their rated 2350rpm's WOT, if you want to get any longevity out of them. If you're not reaching that, first check turbo's and make sure the engines are properly tuned. Then cut pitch in the props, it is very common to have to cut props somewhere along the line on a boat of that age.

Have you tried this company:
http://dieselpro.com/
I have used them for a lot of parts, both for the Allison gearbox and the 12v71n's in my boat. They carry many ancillary parts as well such as Hydreco pumps.

As for experienced mechanics, I have found this a problem too. Especially when the mechanics with the most experience on these older engines are now the guys running their own shops and send out their staff who have had very little exposure to the older technology. It's worthwhile to ask that the mechanic on site has had experience and not just taking calls from the boss on what to do.
Anyone in Queensland, I can highly recommend a company working out of Brisbane run by Steve Shale. They stand by their work. PM me if you need contact details.

I also use RPM Diesel in Ft Lauderdale, especialy if you want to have your injectors done, go nowhere else and contact Todd Barnes!
http://www.rpmdiesel.com/