Hello 👋

[Si108]

Morning all! I live on a 58ft narrowboat on the Great Ouse, bought a friends wetline 260 eco and 34lbs electric motor to play around on and am now considering getting a 2.9m rib with a 9.8 hp Tohatsu 4t to really explore the river network and do some wild camping, possibly even visit some Scottish lochs in the future. Looking forward to soaking up some knowledge on here.
Si

[Dry Run]

Welcome

[Voodoo]

Welcome to a fellow boat dweller.. :-)

[Fenlander]

Hi and welcome. If it turned out your use was just river then you could save weight and cash by keeping to a 4/6hp which would be more than enough for the river on a 3m craft.

[Si108]

Wise words ��

[Si108]

Thanks for the welcome and advice ��. I've ended up(for now) with a Talamex comfortline 3m air deck and a 6hp mariner.

[Fenlander]

That's good and it would be fine for dipping a toe in the Scottish Lochs idea if you plan the weather/tides.

[Si108]

Cool, I thought I'd better start small and develop some ability first. Already had an odd thing happen when decelerating too quickly. I'd like to end up with a 9.8 - the sib is rated up to a 15hp but if it really is 2.5 times what I've got now that seems a lot.

[Fenlander]

>>Already had an odd thing happen when decelerating too quickly.

???

Usually the buoyancy from the tubes extending rearwards beyond the transom on a SIB stops any issues even under the heaviest braking.

[Si108]

Felt like I was nose diving straight to the bottom of the Ouse. Had my friend in the front and he's a big lump so perhaps that played a part.

[Fenlander]

Ahh just the feeling not reality!

SIBs have a massive lift reaction to a wave compared to say a grp dinghy which is very reassuring. I'd happily be out in difficult sea conditions (have been) in a 3m SIB where a 3m open grp dinghy would be a little scary (done that too).

So you're just experiencing that lift from your self-generated wake wave.

Are you Cambs or Beds Ouse?

[Si108]

Ah ok, good to know, thanks. I'm in Cambs near Ely, so got easy access to the Old West, Ouse, Cam etc. Sofar all I've done is go to the 5 miles from anywhere for a full English a few times.

[Fenlander]

Ahh understood. Know those stretches as late dad kept a boat at Huntingdon and we ranged all over right to almost Cambridge, Kings Lynn and over the Middle Level. Uncle kept a boat at Ely too. So yep been knocking about the Ouse for 55yrs or so. We use the Ouse near Huntingdon as it's minutes away from us and useful for trying out new setups or first stage running in outboards.

[Si108]

Thats interesting to hear, im new to all of this butthink its a great opportunity living here... also really impressed with the beauty of it all, must have been even better back when everything was better. I'm now back to researching 9.8s is the 4 stroke tohatsu any good in your opinion or is thev2 stroke the only one worth having?

[Fenlander]

I've owned the Mariner 9.8 4-stroke which is near identical to the Tohatsu and now have the Tohatsu 9.8 2-stroke. As an older guy who needs to look after his ability to lift for the future the 10kg saving of the 2-stroke is a huge benefit.

[Si108]

I understand, I'm not as young as I used to be, hoping I'll be OK with the 4t for a few years though. Appreciate all your replies, thanks.