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Honwave T38-IE3 & Tohatsu 18 2t
Hello all,
Introduction:
Having been a member for a few months, just trying to consume as much content as possible in order to aid me in my buying decision, I have finally made the purchase and decided to embark on our maiden voyage today, along with the family.
Outboard:
I opted for a Tohatsu 18 2 stroke, short shaft, tiller, which has a total weight of 41kg. I always had this outboard at the top of my list, it was just a case of waiting for one to come up for sale. A few months ago, one did come up with a five-hour round trip from me, on Gumtree. It is a 2006 model and appears to have been used very little, spending most of its life in a shed as a backup motor. So far, I am loving the outboard, providing what I would consider being, the best power to weight ratio in its class. It really is a lot of fun on the water and I can lift and carry by myself, taking breaks if it needs to move more than about 25 meters, which is rare.
Boat:
I have recently purchased the new Honwave T38-IE3 - finally no transom tabs! The need for Honda-specific wheels, which were only capable of holding 120kg worth of weight always put me off the idea of getting the previous-gen model. I managed to get one from my local boat dealer. At the same time, I also had a set of heavy-duty (200kg weight rated) wheels fitted. The boat weighs 48kg and I can set this up and wheel it around by myself with no problems, it does feel very light to manoeuver. On the water, it is far more spacious than my old setup, as expected. Big tubes give an additional level of security and I like the small changes in general over the IE2, which a family member owned. The boat folds down to a manageable size when in its bag and can be moved by two people easily or by one person once you've got it in a comfortable position. Are there any recommendations for rod holders? Best ones to use, the best place to have them, etc? We usually carry a couple of rods and would love to have them secure and out of the way instead of bouncing around.
Pump:
With my previous setup (Zodiac CFR310 and Mercury 9.9 2t), I bought an Itiwit 12V electric pump from Decathalon. This proved to be a great little pump and certainly better than inflating by foot. Now that I have purchased the T38 I notice that the pump is actually quite slow. It took roughly 25 minutes to get the boat inflated. Would I be correct in thinking that the Bravo BST12 would be its successor, due to its higher flow rate and two-stage inflation method, or, is there a better alternative?
Conclusion:
The outboard and SIB pairing so far seems to be working well - giving a great compromise between power, price, practicality, and portability. With any luck, this will be the set-up that I keep for many years to come, hence spending more now than I thought I ever would on the total rig. If anyone is interested in costs for their research then feel free to ask, I know it was a factor in my due diligence that sometimes proved difficult to acquire. I have attached some photos as I struggled to find many online.
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