Engine (and 'bits') for 6.5M new toy?

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by brucehawsker

Now, can we perhaps focus on the major issues. Is the engine right? What should I do for electronics? What have I forgotten? What don't I need?

Engine's fine.

Assuming that you are going to be cruising in unfamiliar waters and you have the space and buget, get a big colour chart plotter. The bigger the better. Raymarine come highly recommended, Lowrance seems to be good and Garmin make an excellent range of smaller units. Alternativley it is quite possible to navigate effectively with nothing more than a hand held GPS. Or even no GPS!

Mount your GPS antennas flush on the console where they are least vulnerable. They do not need to be on the A frame.

Many people don't seem to bother with a decent compass, but I would fit a big Plastimo Offshore in front of the helmsman.

If you want a VHF that will last, get an Icom. Alternatively get a cheap one and be prepared to replace it each year.

A depth sounder is quite useful but not essential.

I would have the throttle on the right hand side. At speed it will be your primary control and should be in your dominant hand -- others may disagree, but I think they are wrong!

I hesitate to suggest anything else to change because I am worried that you may never reach a final specification

John

[Scary Des]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

A depth sounder is quite useful but not essential.


John

I agree that it is not essential but as a navigation aid they are very useful. In a list of navigation equipment a sounder would be number three (in my book) behind a current chart and good compass and arguable, on a day to day basis, more useful than a radio. Sure when things go wrong a radio is essential but I’m using my depth sounder all the time. With the right transducer you can also get battery volts, speed and temp, not sure that temp is useful but it does help to win the argument when the kids say it is too cold to swim.
Des

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

I would have the throttle on the right hand side. At speed it will be your primary control and should be in your dominant hand -- others may disagree, but I think they are wrong!

Funnily enough....

Having spent a year on other people's RIBs before buying my own, I've found that I'm ambidexterous when it comes to throttle control. Whilst I'm generally right-handed with most manual tasks, I find left-hand throttle control 100% natural. What I don't like, however, is the standard side-mount throttle boxes that seize up if not maintained over winter and don't give anything to rest the heel or side of hand against.

If you have the throttle mounted in the middle of the console, it's also fairly easy for the passenger to have 100% control of the RIB for changes of pullover and all those awkward fiddly moments.

One of Bruce's paramaters is maintaining resale value of the boat, and I would suggest that the standard layout of double console, helmsman on the right and central throttle gives a standard widely accepted layout.

[John Kennett]

Here are some previous discussions about throttles and trim controls, which cover some of the same ground but might be useful:

http://www.rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=612
http://www.rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4679

John

[tue]

Originally Posted by brucehawsker

What is the Customer Helm Interface? Sounds scary

Bruce

Its a new all in one guage which will allow all the features of the smartcraft guages plus allows control of other boat systems like water etc. Some features may not apply to a RIB but they do look cool on the console