Followed all the advice gathered from trawling the site and happy to report our first outing went very well
Inflating the Prowave 380 air deck with the recommended Bravo pump was perfect.
With the BF 9.9 Honda (long shaft....more later) hung on the back, the heavy duty launch wheels attached, myself and my lad wheeled the lot 40m from the car park down to the launch site at Eastney Southsea without any problems.
With my lad aboard I pushed the rig the last 3-4m into the water, jumped on board with him rowing us out enough to drop the engine.
Fired the motor up to get us out a little to release and turn the launch wheels into their up position and then away experimenting we went.
It was soon discovered that the fat bloke (me) was best sited sat on the very front to get it up on the plane and when it achieved it went very well.
We went up and down the estuary with and against the tide and I'd estimate a top speed of around 20mph and the handling was good with very little water over the front and no water over the transom that I had read about.
Had a great time fooling around and the only difficulty I had was returning the launch wheels back to the down position as those pneumatic tyres do try to float while you're trying to get the locating pin back in to come ashore
Really enjoyed the new experience of the SIB over the solid fibreglass boat we previously owned but now need to think about replacing the unsuitable long shaft Honda for a short shaft motor the boat was designed for.
The Honda has been fantastic in every respect but funds are 'tightish' so what are your thoughts on a new Tohatsu 20hp?.......or should I start another thread for this with respect of reliability and speed expected over the current set up?
I should add that mostly it's just me and the lad out fishing but we're a family of 5 aged from 16-56 and like a trip out once in a while.
Thanks to all with all the info I've gathered and any comments gratefully received
