Quicksilver 420 Alu Hull inflatable

[The Gurnard]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Looking forward to this new boat adventure more than most Donny.

Hi Fenlander ..yes it will be interesting finding out first hand how the boat goes.

Like Hugie Green used to say ... Im desperate to “Open The Box” and I mean that most sincerely folks.

This is it . its paid for ...and all I need to do is get it ..but hopefully a courier will wing it on its way to me.



From the few folks I know who have been in these kinds of lightweight Alu Hull inflatables .. they have told me they are excellent boats ..so im very optimistic about my new purchase. I also appreciate that in any boat in rough conditions... you go at the speed that suits. The wee F rib rattles my teeth out because its small light and flat bottomed ..but it doesn’t stop me making the most of that boat..Im out nearly every day in the boating season in it ..so if this one is similar..its still big enough to get me round Jura ..and I don’t mind taking a bit longer if I cant keep up a cruising speed of 25knots due to having bought a bouncy boat

[Fenlander]

Never mind the boat... what will you make the box into... halfway to a pram dinghy already I reckon.

[Highland Haggis]

Fire wood for his evening storytelling [emoji23][emoji23] hot chocolate and marshmallow already and waiting [emoji23][emoji23]

[kaman]

Knowing Donny and his love of getting his money's worth, that shipping box is likely to end up as firewood. However if he develops the coff before he chops it up he'll tart it up into a coffin

[The Gurnard]

I decided that the drive to Exeter and back to collect the coffin case would possibly kill me quicker than the coff that could carry me off and as England has rising cases again.. the supplier who is Bridger Marine is bringing it to me on Sunday... Yeah !!!

I must say that I have had a very pleasant buying experience from them, as did Matt H who also got his Quicksilver 380 Alu Hull there and recommended them to me.

So Im afraid they wont be bringing the case ..just the boat on a trailer ... I thought the case would be great under my bed for keeping my hard earned in.

Kaman and Highland ..when I go..I hope you will carry me off in this fashion..so please .. get practicing the fancy footwork for the next campfire tale..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P64zQ0dCMo

There will not be much of the old boat going in the dump. I have now used every inch of the Safety rope. As well as having kept some to glue onto the new boat.. the remainder made a nice new rope ladder which will clip onto the new safety rope and allow me to get back into the boat if/when I fall out.

The bottom rung is a piece of recycled galvanised launch trolley tube ..so it sinks in the water. The two remaining pieces were tied to make a couple of rope fenders which will also clip onto the new boats safety rope.



Yup..I like a bit of boat bling too ..but refuse to buy it when I can recycle it.

[Maximus]

I like you're style Donny!...
.... That's two good laughs from Ribnet (already) this morning!
I think you made the right call Mate...even with a stop-over its a fair Slaap!
Not only that....But with your "English fraternisation" ...the Wee Crankey may not have let you back in!!
Looking forward to seeing the finished article!....and some more great Vids!!

[jeffstevens763@g]

box would have made a good gravy boat

[The Gurnard]

A lazy day today.. all I did was start cutting up the old floorboards from the scrapped Gurnard, after removing all the aluminium edging strips.

This is the layout of my “console” area. I cant decide whether to keep the bench seat hanging on the tubes of the new boat ..which may give it some air suspension.

Or fix the bench seat to the floorboards (The plastic stool its sitting on in the photos is temporary) If fixed to the floor..I could have a detachable back rest with matching red pvc tube pad to rest my weary back on when Im fishing for lunch or gently cruising. I will decide before the boat comes.





I cant do much more now until the boat arrives and I can cut the floorboards to the correct width. I intend adding the aluminium trim strips back on the edges of the boards..just so it looks a clean job.

So far my custom "console" has not cost me a penny as its all recycled stuff ..so Im happy

Best Regards
Grey Gurnard

[jeffstevens763@g]

Donny from experience i had a frame fixed to the floor on the mercury to start with not good mate best with the air suspention on the tubes trust me

[smallribber]

Hello all I am very interested to see this thread as although I am new here I have followed the Gurnards Exploits on You Tube so am interested to see how this new boat goes.

Love the way you reuse stuff by the way

[The Gurnard]

Six wheels on my trailer ...and I’m still rolling along. While waiting the boat ..which Im told will arrive tomorrow morning (Sunday)

I turned my attention to the trailer that I had set up for The Gurnard. I will be back to shoving a hardshell across the easier beachs as well as using slipways, so reverting back to tactics I used years ago with my last hardshell boat.

Most important is the drawbar wheels ..which means Im only shoving the boat and not trying to lift it. I also have an electric winch (not shown) , a sand screw and a climbing jammer which slides one way up a rope which will allow winching on beaches I cant get the 4x4 car onto.

I have replaced the trailers wide carpet bunks for the old SIB with narrower plastic bunks which should make launching etc easier too



Jeff ..I agree with you and will follow your advice of your own experience and the bench seat will be air spring ..mounted on the tubes in the standard fashion.

The complete cockpit from the old boat ,...including its rubber matting ..is all ready to be transplanted into the Grey Gurnards empty shell as soon as it arrives.





I want to maiden her next week, and the forecast is for strong gusts almost every day so want the console to keep the camera gear dry. I wont manage speed trials in the winds ..but it should allow me to see how she handles a bit of chop .. fingers crossed the winds don’t get any stronger than forecast at present..

Hi smallribber .. Im glad you enjoy the videos and you can be certain I will have a video very soon of the Grey Gurnard’s complete build and sea trials ..
I have all the photos from this thread plus more ..so keep an eye out for it possibly end of next week


Best regards
Grey Gurnard

[The Gurnard]

Yeah ..I have now seen first hand ..the Quicksilver 420 Alu hull RIB. Yup..I bought it on impulse , having never seen one for real..never mind sea trial one. Feedback I got from others so far has been spot on. Its now sitting in my driveway

First.. a shout out for Bridger Marine who delivered the goods for me. They kept me informed from first order to delivery at my door. Friday they told me they would arrive for 10am and at ten they phone to say they were an hour away .. delayed because the bad weather. So no complaints from me.

Now down to first impressions.

Its immediately noticeable that although approx same length as my old Quicksilver SIB, it is very much sleeker. Its width is 170cm compared to 190cm of the SIB. Its tubes are 45cm diameter compared to the 50cm diameter of the SIB.

I doubt this difference will affect its seaworthiness but it will certainly make it very much faster ..as will its hard hull compared to the SIBs soft bottom. Time will tell if its a harder ride in chop though as the SIB soft bottom absorbs a lot of shock. I suspect the 25HP will easily do 25+ knots where as the SIB struggled to do 20 knots.



The hull has a shallow V similar in shape to the Quicksilver SIB hull, and also most other small lightweight Aluminium RIBs ..so no surprises there. It certainly wont handle chop like a deep V RIB but all boats are compromises and I compromised on this aspect of the boat.



The transom has a nice touch of deadrise and well defined chines which will assist keeping it “on rails” in tight turns and speed manoeuvres. The Quicksilver SIB ..like all SIBs steered like a soggy mattress





All the weldings are very neat and well done as are the PVC to hull interfaces

[The Gurnard]

The bow box complete with two hatches (into the one box ?) makes a nice touch ..it will easily take a 25ltr tank or anchors etc..but I have other plans for them so it can hold bits and bobs like spare prop..tools.. inflatable rollers etc.



It has the standard four air compartments complete with covers marked with the pressure..just in case I ever forget ..I am getting older after all. No PRVs but I don’t class them as must have in the Scottish climate.



Last but certainly not least..the structural Aluminium parts like the floor and transom supports are approx 4mm thick and the hull is approx 3mm thick..so it should be very robust. I drilled a couple of holes in the transom support and its an easy enough job to do assuming the drill bits are sharp and the drill at a slowish speed.



Tomorrow I hope to start fitting her out to my liking ..so far Im delighted with what I have seen

Best Regards
Grey Gurnard

[Gazzago]

Looks great Donny!

I especially like that one fo the first things you do is drill holes in your new boat

Looking forward to seeing how you fit it out and how it handles your trips.

[Highland Haggis]

Hi grey gurnard nice wee rib you have there congratulations on your choice don't think you'll be disappointed with her look forward to the sea trials the weather looks good for most of the week so knowing you I suppose you be out and about with her take care and enjoy HH

[smallribber]

Donny
Looks lovely and very well made. I think you will love that new boat

[The Gurnard]

Hi Gazzago .. I guess I can understand why many folks get a bit OCD with their boats and refuse even to drill a wooden transom to fit a transducer. However that is not my way. I guess its in how we were brought up with boats. As a toddler, I watched both my father and an uncle building various sailing dinghies ..a GP14 and a Shearwater Cat ..among others ..so its second nature for me to make changes ..assuming I consider they will make life easier when using the boat.

The key to installing the Gurnards guts into the new boat is in securing two wooden batons to the Aluminium floor ..then I can screw the other fixings to the batons. I created two custom shaped batons ..which are well painted (except for the surface that will be bonded to the boat with sikaflex. I only sealed that surface with primer. The reason being.. sikaflex forms a strong bond..but layers of paint are not.) Once the batons are set solid to the floor.., I will carefully seal all edges with more sikaflex so water cant get under the batons.



The rear floor section..shaped from the wooden floors of the old boat are cut to fit like a jigsaw and will be screwed to the batons. The rear of the batons are bolted to the transom strength member with stainless bolts..but the drill hole in the Ali strength member is much bigger than the bolt so there is no metal to metal contact anywhere. Everything will be sikaflexed when Im happy. Its all just a dry fit at the moment. I will secure the front of the baton to the floor in a different way when Im at that stage..but again..it wont involve metal to metal contacts like rivets etc.

Im pretty OCD my new aluminium boat will dissolve like an asprin if I bolt dissimilar metals together.



HH ..it will be a day or so before I get her trails done..I want time for the sikaflex to set ..but Im pretty confident it will be some time this week.

Yup smallrib.. I have a great feeling about this boat already..and for me..one of the best parts is making it into my boat..not just a bog standard one.

[jeffstevens763@g]

looking good Donny i like the rail idea keeps hull fixings to a minimum

[The Gurnard]

Thanks Jeff..and Im tickled pink the way she is shaping up..here is a wee dry run preview

The front floorboard is also cut so it slots together with the rear floorboard when pushed together. This helps strengthen joints etc.



And here is a preview of how she will look once assembled. At present its all dry run as I have to fix the outboard and check tiller adjustments and that the OB can be lifted etc..before final assembly.



The red cover at the bow of the boat is my tarpaulin for keeping the boats under when stored..however it gives an idea of the final colour scheme. I intend making a nice red bow dodger out of the Gurnards recycled PVC tubes.



Best regards
Grey Gurnard

[Moorsman]

A very interesting read your new aluminium hull rib . I am after a 2.9 quick silver but it would seem there are none in the country ,it looks like I’ll be waiting till next year ! Give me chance to see how you come on .