well, finally got her wet!
Here is video.

Turns out the cause of the drama was a loosened starboard strut.
she runs a little wet and I may have to alter the struts a little; its the 4 degree tilt of the transom that ate up all my up adjustment.
Other than an epic wipe out, all was good. Motor and ESC were under 90deg, but the transfer box got up to 160 at my last check about 2/3 of the way through.