Boat to suit tiller Mariner 40

[Pugwash60]

Hi All,
I'm new here but have some experience although mostly in other peoples RIBs and mostly from ships. I've bought a 90s Mariner 40HP two stroke, it's old but goes well. I think it's off a D class lifeboat, it's definitely from the RNLI. I'm not sure if it's long or short shaft, if anyone knows I'd appreciate the info.
I'd been thinking along the lines of a Sib, Quicksilver 420 or Bombard 470 but that's starting to get quite big, then was talking myself up market into the Quicksilver Alloy Rib also a 420 and looking (online) at Excel 420 alloy boat. Which seems a good bit bigger in the beam whilst being lighter.
I'm likely to use it for some skiing wakeboarding, (gently, I'm 60), blasting about, picnics and rescue at the local club - W Scotland. I'd like to leave it on a mooring sometimes so am supposing that a Sib isn't ideal from mooring point and anti fouling points of view. Can I paint the underside of a sib with antifouling or is that stupid?
I'm mainly a sailor and have a 10 m sloop moored locally.
I have a brilliant set up house wise with a slip to a stony beach about 100m from the gate of the house, so was also thinking about transom wheels to maybe wheelbarrow it around a bit. I'd like a trailer but possibly not immediately, because I'd like to go to other spots on the W Coast for setting off for picnics and currently the car is hookless.
Any other ideas for boats to look at gratefully received, I'm in the fortunate position of finding the boat a lot dearer than the engine and would prefer not to spend too much on the boat, equally I don't want to be underpowered and struggling to get up on the go. Prefer the tiller set up for room for wine, prawns, tents etc.
Thanks all.

[spartacus]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm tempted to ask why you bought the engine first? Don't get me wrong, these 90s Mariner and Yamaha engines are fairly bullet proof. RNLI may very well still be marked on the engine, that said that's potentially a 25+ year old engine, so goodness knows the life it's had in between? Ex-RNLI means nothing in the context of things so hopefully that wasn't a deciding factor!

To measure the engine, short shaft or standard shaft is 15" and is measured from the top of the saddle/outboard bracket to the top of the anti-cavitation plate. 20", then it's long shaft.

You sound like you have an idyllic set-up with a stony beach and the sea just 100m from the house.

A 40hp is a fairy substantial engine in terms of power and weight, so definately a trailer, whether on a launch and retrieve trolley for daily use, or a bunk trailer if you eventually get a towbar fitted. Leaving it on a swinging mooring is fine if you are confident with prevailing weather patterns and it's not exposed, but tends to be for summer months given our unpredictable weather. I'd avoid painting the boat underside. Just retrieve periodically, jet-wash and generally maintain marine growth.

Boat wise, I used to have a Zodiac GT (MKIIC) which had an inflatable keel and HD (aluminium) floor. I ran it with a Yamaha 25hp standard shaft 2-stroke. The transom was rated to take 40hp, but it was already a pocket-rocket, and ideally you want a 2-person set up, or at the very least a few bags of sand up front.

Now this is just me, but check out a Zodiac Grand Raid or GR. Old now, but tough as old boots, relatively rare, hypalon tubes, towing D rings, aluminium sectional floor, inter-connecting inflation points, and importantly the MKII or III would handle the 40hp easily with a tiller. If you already own a 10m sloop you'll be aware there's no such thing as a cheap boat.

You've to watch some of the newer Zodiacs such as the Futura, as they moved to oversized tubes but need a long shaft engine.mon the GR post 2009 boats are long shaft. Check out this thread, what an absolute steal and in Scotland too. https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/zodiac-gr-mk2-78324.html

Back to the engine. Run a compression test on it, drop the gear oil and replace (checking for emulsification) and fit new sparks. If it's a pull start, renew the starter rope.

[Pugwash60]

Thanks. I bought the engine because I know it, a derisory offer was made for it so I upped it a bit and ended up with it. It starts 3rd pull after the winter and runs nicely.
I'll look at old Zodiacs, that one looked a beaut for nothing almost. Can't seem to find a good place to look for older ribs, for yachts I've used Apollo Duck but don't see much on there that's not new or ridiculously expensive, on boats and outboards anything of interest is already sold which I find annoying, is there any hub for ribs, sibs of medium size, everything seems to be tiny or huge.

[spartacus]

Interesting regards the engine. Regards the Zodiac, just watch some of the older ones as they will be PVC. They are thermo-bonded, so can be repaired, but if the seams go under the lace cuff, it's an impossible task to repair unless you've got experience. The Zodiac GR is hypalon, and basically heavy duty. They are rare, but do come up from time to time. You need to be prepared to travel, so now is not the right time and generally the market will be flat for anything that has to be uplifted or stuck on a pallet. You can try Gumtree, DoneDeal, EBay. Goes without saying, do the usual checks and balances, as there's the usual scams and dodges to navigate. I like these sort of boat chandlers. https://www.andyseedhouse.co.uk

[beamishken]

For that engine unless you need to fold the boat occasionally then I'd forget sibs. A rib will outperform a sib in every way apart from storage. A 40hp isnt going to sit well on transom wheels so a trailer or launch trolley would be the thing.
Have you considered an sr4? Plenty about cheap especially if you want tiller steer as most people want steering so those without usually go cheap

[jeffstevens763@g]

didnt the RNLI have their own leg length between the short and long?

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

didnt the RNLI have their own leg length between the short and long?

The yam/mariner 40 was a bit of a long legged engine from factory short measured about 16 1/2" -17"from saddle to av plate and long about 21 1/2" - 22"the merc mariner came in a special order 18" shaft

[Allye]

Regards to launching/moving The 100m, depending on you ability I’d have absolutely no problem hand wheeling a trailer with a 200kg set up on. You can get ballon wheel trailer to make this even easier. With two of you it would be a doddle.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by beamishken

The yam/mariner 40 was a bit of a long legged engine from factory short measured about 16 1/2" -17"from saddle to av plate and long about 21 1/2" - 22"the merc mariner came in a special order 18" shaft

[beerbelly]

have you not thought about an ex rnli d class they come up for sale now and again and seam to be quite hardwearing Hypalon tubes ect . usually if they need tidying can be bought for £2k ish .have stayed in tighnabruaitch place called kyles bank lovely boating area was very nice

[Pugwash60]

Thanks all, I've looked at some SR 4s and wonder if 40 hp would be big enough to have fun with, they mostly seem to have 50 plus. A nice looking one on the Isle of Wight but is a package, now I'm wondering, like Spartacus, why I bought the engine first. Will see what's around when travelling is possible.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Pugwash60

Thanks all, I've looked at some SR 4s and wonder if 40 hp would be big enough to have fun with, they mostly seem to have 50 plus. A nice looking one on the Isle of Wight but is a package, now I'm wondering, like Spartacus, why I bought the engine first. Will see what's around when travelling is possible.

50hp is maximum rated hp for an sr4 but plenty have less 25 or 30 gets them planeing 40hp on a tiller will be more than enough not as light as some of the ally hull ribs on offer now but no heavyweight either. Substantially lighter than a D class & probably not far off some other larger sibs too.