After 4 trips to the gulf islands and two trips to desolation sound, Mary Jo and I have spent enough time in our C108S to give you good report. First, the C108 is a very well-designed boat that rides smoothly in any water, handles well docking in a breeze, and maneuvers tight quarters better than any other Aspen.

The upgrade with the S package has further refined the original great design – adding an increased cruising speed has allowed us to complete the 118-mile trip from Friday Harbor to Cortez Bay in one day, on less than a half of a tank of fuel. We don’t do that every day, but it is nice when you need it.

On our last trip, we returned from Nanaimo to Friday Harbor, including Dodd Narrows, in 2 hours and 5 minutes at our normal cruising speed of 25 mph at 3800 to 3900 rpm on 16.4 gallons per hour, or over 1.5 miles per gallon. At that speed, the engines are very quiet and the boat rides quite smoothly. The extra speed combined with a bit of up trim really allows us to fly the boat in choppy seas. The slow speed handling improvements are an extra bonus because of the larger diameter propellers that enhance slow speed performance. Maneuvering using differential engine thrust is even easier.

I am happy with overall performance of the C108S package. Mary jo said it is by far the nicest cruising boat for its size she has ever been on.

Thanks to Aspen and the crew and a special thanks to Larry for listening to the customer’s needs.

Chuck and Mary Jo