Honwave showroom

[Fenlander]

That's all sounding good. Both your SIB and new OB are well regarded and will give great performance as a combo.

Is the OB brand new so needing running in?

[Highland Haggis]

Pictures please [emoji41][emoji41]

[toenee12345]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

That's all sounding good. Both your SIB and new OB are well regarded and will give great performance as a combo.

Is the OB brand new so needing running in?

Yes, brand new, I am waiting for it to be delivered to Palynch so they can PDI and then I can collect.

It looks like rain here this afternoon, so I am inflating it in the living room, that should be fun. It's a good gob I have a very tolerant wife..

[Fenlander]

Living room SIB inflation is a rite of passage you have to go through.

[toenee12345]

I had to move the furniture, but it did fit. I was able to test my new bravo bst800 pump, fit the launch wheels and cut some foam mats for the floor.
just need the outboard and take it for its maiden voyage

[Twickerboy]

Hi, I wanted to buy a second, easy to handle boat for exploring Chichester Harbour as I didn't fancy towing and launching my Oyster 16' inboard launch down there every weekend and I didn't want to invest in a semi permanent mooring. So, I looked at a few new and used boats, GRP, wood as well as solid and air floored inflatables and finally settled on the Honwave 3.2m inflatable air inflated V-floor model with a brand new 5hp Honda outboard (as newish used outboards seem to sell for up to 75% of the new price). It's about as heavy as you'd want to handle alone out of the water but in my view it's also the smallest you'd want to buy if you're planning on using it two up or occasional 3rd person on board. It planes comfortably on my own and just about planes on flat water two-up.

Launching and recovery tip, buy good quality transom wheels and frames and then use a folding outboard trolley hooked on to the bow handle which means you're just pulling the boat rather than lifting and pulling. It makes a huge difference.

Care when choosing a thwart seat bag, the velcro on my one isn't up to the job of supporting even a modest load of goodies in the bag pockets and just falls off.

I'd love to hear about others experiences and also ideas. Cheers !!

PS - I also treated myself to a small, galvanised box trailer to carry it all rather than stink the car out with petrol fumes, well worth the investment

[Fenlander]

Welcome to the forum Twickerboy. Sounds like you've made a very good choice for the area you'll be operating in... been about there as a kid and always remember getting in a bit shallow and breaking a Seagull prop blade off. Boy did it vibrate on the way back... and boy did I feel embarrassed when telling the dinghy owner who was a friend of my parents.

I've tried and given up on both bow and seat bags as they never seem waterproof and never hold a heavy load. It's all dry bags on the floor for me.

[toenee12345]

Well maiden voyage accomplished. I have taken the T38 and the new Suzuki 20hp up to loch Ken and I have just dragged it out if the water after her first two and a bit hours of engine break-in. All went well, I just need a better method of lifting the front of the boat to pull her on the transom wheels, I may consider purchasing a launch trolley to make things a little easier, it's quite a lump to pull over grass up a slight incline.
I even managed to test out a transom bracket for the fish finder transducer and even that went without a hitch.
More playing tomorrow, we are also going to be trying out our new dry suits, which with rain forecast all day, might be be an ideal time.
Tony..

[Fenlander]

Well done on getting some hours on the outfit Tony. Re pulling from the bow handle... have you moved all the kit to the transom while on the wheels? It makes a huge difference to the ease of moving if all the weight is on the wheels. David