best day out in ages!

NWC100 · 01 April 2012, 19:11

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all those that have offered me some guidance in my first forays in sibbing! After owning the boat for bang on four months it was time, and what a blast, I had all the gear I needed, lifejackets, radio etc etc....and felt safe as houses, the only bit of advice I didn't listen to very well .........everyday in a sib is a wet day!

Next time will certainly take out my wet gear...but all was fine the sun was out so we dried out pretty quick.

The boat is a zodiac 3.4 fastroller with a mercury 9.9, its fine 2 up but on my own virtually impossible to get any speed up as I just can't get far enough forward for it too not look like a cartoon speed boat....nose up 2 feet in the air! When there was 2 of us onboard got a nice bit of speed up, it felt like it popped onto the plane as it definitely smoothed out a bit then.

Had a couple of problems with the trim, mostly due to my own incompetence, however all in a largely successful day.

Most important lesson learnt though, get within 5 metres of any water for setting up as its just too much for me and swmbo to move over sand, the plastic wheels no good for sand. We launched from jaywick on the Essex coast...really nice and a nice run into the tide in the afternoon for my final soaking!

Next weekends trip will be off into Harwich harbour, going to pit my little zodiac against the biggest container ships about!

Once again thanks for dome great help and advice, all my reading here made for such a pleasurable day.

Nick

willk · 01 April 2012, 19:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWC100

but on my own virtually impossible to get any speed up as I just can't get far enough forward for it too not look like a cartoon speed boat....nose up 2 feet in the air!

600mm Telescopic Tiller Extension. Problem solved.

Sounds fun, BTW.

lockieboi · 01 April 2012, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

600mm Telescopic Tiller Extension. Problem solved.

Sounds fun, BTW.

I use one of these, does the job.

bingosucks · 01 April 2012, 19:56

you`ll know when your `on the plane

` a great days activity for not a lot of dough...tiller extension is a must along with rib wheels , look at my album to see how handy they are ,i can manage the boat by myself with those

Sharkbyte · 02 April 2012, 08:33

Whereabouts in Jaywick did you launch?

Often thought about sticking our Fastroller in there - there's some pretty good fishing along that stretch of coast, and not too far out.

Coincidentally, we usually fish out from Harwich / Felixstowe in our Futura.

NWC100 · 02 April 2012, 18:44

We went off the beach at jaywick, from the ramp thats on boatlaunch, it was in honesty too far with our boat across the beach with the small plastic launch wheels, its just too hard for the two lf us to move along!

On saturday we are going to go off the ramp at harwich next to the sailing club there, its got parking right next to it and is cheap/free! I had there on sunday and most of the ramp only has 1cm or so of sand over it so will be easier to move it over that than the deep sand on a beach!

looking forward to checking out the giant ships down there, hopefully at some stage will get some fishing in, do you reckon there could be good fishing off jaywick then? Would maybe launch from brightlingsea next time and pop round the corner to jaywick as that seems much less grief than that drag over the beach!

Nick

NWC100 · 07 April 2012, 15:33

So we went from Harwich today from the little slip next to the sailing club down there, it was much easier than the previous jaywick fiasco! I can drive the car and trailer right onto the ramp there unhitch it and get set up nicely, I just need to master reversing the trailer now! Had a little dink

in a petrol station earlier!

It was too cold for swmbo really so she got out and went for coffee whilst I carried on, I'm wondering now quite what a boat this size can take, it was a little choppy even within the harbour area so we didn't venture out, but I know also I don't want to push too hard and get into trouble.

So if anyone else has a sib and fancies a jolly from Harwich some time I would love to meet up and learn a few things!

BBC weather described the sea state as wavelets becoming slight, I would say that's how it was, is that about the limit of what I should take the sib out in? Next time ill know if it says worse than that stay home and watch the tv!

Nick

Sharkbyte · 12 April 2012, 22:30

I may be interested in a meet-up, mate.

The Fastroller is ready to go for some singlehanded fishing trips, but I only run it with a 4hp Yamaha - so possibly a bit pedestrian if you fancy a proper jaunt / tide's fishing upriver (loads of bass on the right tides & conditions).

If you fancy spreading your wings a little I'll take the Futura along, instead, but will require a hand launching & retrieving.

PS. Nearly headed to Jaywick with the Fastroller on Sunday night. Decided to shore fish the River Crouch instead.

Boatozzy · 07 July 2018, 14:23

Hi, I can see that this thread was started 6 years ago. Just wondering if anyone has launched from Jaywick recently? Is it still suitable for a SIB to launch from here?

Thanks

Boatozzy · 08 July 2018, 21:59

Thought I would share my experiences from today just in case someone else has a similar question in the future.

Firstly, regarding Jaywick beach, there is now a closed gate across the entry point which is shown on Boat Launch. There is a gap next to the gate to allow people through onto the beach. There were no signs stating that launching was prohibited. We just parked our car up next to the gate and I rigged up on the other side of it. Although there is a car park which charges £1 per hour, I just parked my car on the main road which was free.

From the gate, it is approximately 50 metres to the sea along a sandy track. It took 3 of us to push SIB boat to the sea front along the sandy track. I have the large Aerotec wheels therefore anything smaller would be very difficult fully rigged.

The beach is fairly steep down to the sea at the end to the sandy track. The sea was calm due to the rocky wave breakers. The beach was very quiet with few people around and we launched at low tide with no issue at all.

Coming back in was also easy. There were no hazards. However pushing the boat back up the beach took 3 of us again.

All in all it was a great spot for a friends/family day out. I would only recommend this spot if there are at least 3 people and you intend to have a beach day. If I could have done anything differently today I would have taken my outboard trolley to lighten the SIB load down to the sea front. Would we go back? Yes we intend to.

Fenlander · 08 July 2018, 22:04

Good to hear you had a decent outing... yes that third person really helps.

In fact the way things are going with my lot it's nice to see the second person now and again... a third would be total luxury.

Boatozzy · 08 July 2018, 22:16

Ha Ha! One thing I noticed today Fenlander (you have a similar outboard as me), I noticed a slight flat spot on the throttle. As I went through a certain throttle point, the outboard very slightly decelerated, then as I pulled the throttle more and it kicked in again. This only happens at one point on the throttle and is only minor. Just wondering if this is normal?

Fenlander · 08 July 2018, 22:22

No never had what I'd call a flat spot. In fact the EFI control of fuel 100% correct for any throttle opening hot or cold is one of its most impressive aspects.

However do you mean when it leans off at cruising speed? It's mapped to cut the fuel back loads for an economical cruise and I guess if you were super sensitive that could seem like a flat spot??

Boatozzy · 09 July 2018, 07:34

I guess the best way to explain it is this. I start with throttle idle and I slowly and continuously increase the throttle to full speed. Up to 1/3 throttle the revs continually climb. Then as I am increasing throttle just past 1/3 the revs drop slightly. At this point I continue to increase throttle a little more before revs start climbing again. (I am jut using 1/3 as an example, it could be a little less than this point)

I only noticed this yesterday with 4 up (heaviest load I have carried so far). And this happened as I was going from stationary/slow and getting up on the plane. Perhaps you could be correct, the lean off wouldn't be so noticeable with lighter loads. Something I'll keep an eye on.

Mikefule · 09 July 2018, 14:01

It is possible that the drop in revs is something to do with what the hull is doing at that particular speed. If the engine is suddenly subjected to a higher load, it will lose revs a little bit. Is it just as the boat is climbing out of the hole onto the plane or something like that?

Boatozzy · 09 July 2018, 23:34

Yes, that's it. It's as I'm gently accelerating to get onto the plane.

Mikefule · 10 July 2018, 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatozzy

Yes, that's it. It's as I'm gently accelerating to get onto the plane.

Either go at displacement speed or go on the plane. The in between bit is the least efficient: there's a tiny gain in speed over displacement and a big increase in fuel consumption noise and wake.

If you're going to get onto the plane, accelerate firmly, not gently. That doesn't mean cracking the throttle wide open and doing a "wheelie" but it does mean being firm and decisive. Get your weight (or the crew's weight) forward and get over that hump straight away.

Boatozzy · 13 July 2018, 21:46

Thanks Mike.

Fenlander · 14 July 2018, 08:42

Boatozzy as well as Mike's useful stuff on the behaviour of a SIB during getting on the plane I happened to find a comment I made over two years ago after first getting the Suzuki 20. Using it had become second nature so I'd completely forgotten that in the first couple of trips I'd found a slightly non-linear nature to the throttle more noticeable than I'd led you to believe above. I posted back in March 2016...

>>>The "lean burn" ECU controlled mixture operates by giving loads of fuel to accelerate then leaning off as much as possible while maintaining revs for any given throttle opening. In some tests they've commented you can feel this happening and there is an impression having levelled off the throttle that you might be about to slow down so you give it a bit more where it responds with gusto then you have to back off again. I'm being super critical here... not an issue... but after the gutsy through the range 2-stroke it just feels less linear in its power delivery.

Boatozzy · 14 July 2018, 08:52

That sounds exactly like the issue. Thinking about our trip last weekend, I was constantly making minor tweaks to the power when on the plane also. This must be caused by the engine adjusting the fuel flow. Don’t get me wrong, the engine is brilliant. I have been out on 4 half day trips this season so far and only used half a 25L fuel tank.

BTW I adjusted trim last weekend and didn’t get any splash back. This could be one of three things I can think of.

1. Trim has fixed the problem
2. I had more weight in the SIB and therefore the hull sat deeper in the water
3. The top speed i achieved with 4 up was not fast enough to cause splash back that I achieved with 2 up.

I’m back out tomorrow so will post an update on the other thread with 2 up and new trim settings. Heading over to Mersey again if anyone is around?

Thanks Mike and Fenlander!