New guy here with a question

[RamAirZ]

Hey guys, I just picked up an '82 Ventura and was wondering if anyone here has experience with them in the gulf? I live in Panama City and trips to Shell Island and the bay are awesome adventures, just wondering how this little speed demon would handle it.

[alaskastreamin]

I'll throw in my .02 worth of insight. I live on the coast and boat in the open ocean.
Hydrostreams aren't built for open ocean running. They are lightweight lake boats. Most Hydrostreams have roten core in the hull Not to be confused with the floor.
Read Fat Tonys post:
http://www.hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1835

I hate to see newbies buy a 'Stream THEN find out the core is shot.
The core is holding the outer and inner hull skin together. If it fails, the boat WILL come apart.
I'm not familiar with the Venture as far as rough water BUT my little 15' Viper isn't pleasant in the rough. It's just too light and short.
Hopefully someone with a Ventura will chime in and give more info.

[idvette]

My 16.5 foot Vision is a small water boat too. The lake I'm on is (apparently, not confirmed by me) 8mi wide and 30mi long. I can only get out on those rare perfect days, and even then there's rollers that make me nervous. Good thing there's plenty of smaller lakes around here!

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[RamAirZ]

I'll check that thread out,thanks! I've pulled the carpet out to look around and everything looks perfect so how do I check (guessing it's in that thread lol) . I took her out tonight in the bay and went to this little "drive" up restaurant and messed around and she did great, got a lot of compliment. The water wasn't horribly choppy but wasn't smooth as glass either but she floated along at 35-40 with ease and ran her 55-60 across the bay and she did great, surprised me honestly. Of course there were times I had to back it down and drive smart with larger boats kicking up some mighty large wakes but that's just common sense. I was keeping it trimmed down a bit. I'm really happy with this thing, trad an old car and bike I had sitting around for it and couldn't be happier