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[trevbouy]

Well bit the bullet and moved on a bit.
Currently have a Seago 2.7 Sib bought new and 5hp 2t Mercury (now up for sale.) which had only one outing compared to my original older Zodiac.


I've now moved up to 25hp Yamaha 2t and jockey seat 340 Zodiac Rib on trailer.

This should shift a bit, so a bit of safety margin built in for the Dart in ebb.


Be in Salcombe harbour on Thursday for a test run (play) before it goes home. Hoping weather is fair one day for a trip on the Dart from Topsham.


Rob (trevbouy)
Trev was my salty seadog, sadly no longer with us. He loved boats.

[Fenlander]

That looks neat, I’m always attracted to a small Rib with decent motor. Look forward to hearing how it goes.

We hope to get out middle/late this week but the weather is throwing up some unpredictable periods of 26kt gusts. Salcombe is looking good for Thurs though.

[trevbouy]

Hoping it stays as forecast which is overcast with sunny spells.


It's just a trip for confirmation of performance and gear changes etc. before handover. Just sticking to Salcombe harbour confines.


Still want to do the River Dart trip but the yacht work is keeping us very busy at the moment.



Rob

[trevbouy]

[spartacus]

Yamaha 25hp is a keeper, great engines. Go easy, you don’t need to use all your horses at once. Not a fan of doel fins, by make you own mind up. Be interesting to see your prop, picture makes it look like you’re down to one blade!

[trevbouy]

Well watching the weather for tomorrow it's changed a bit. Sunny spells but instead of calm the wind forecasted is 12 to 14kts across the harbour. (Salcombe)
Really looking forward to getting it. It should be light years ahead of the Seago sib with its 5hp

Not planning anything really just a run around the harbour for 15 minutes or so to check things out. Can't really go out of harbour speed limit area to get WOT check as it will take too long.

On another side, won't be doing any kind of shopping there as it's notoriously expensive.

[Fenlander]

I hope your test goes well, it's always a bit frustrating when a harbour limit extends so far out.

We are off in the next few days to launch with a forecast of 10kts wind gusting to 17kts and knowing the area it's usually the gusting figure that's dominant. Only 17deg but thankfully dry so overall good enough for a last trip of the season. Then we can relax and fry other fish until April next year.

[trevbouy]

Well it was an interesting half hour out.



Motor did not like 6kts at all, strangely, ok slightly lower at 5kts. We tried to get out further than the bar but it was really quite uncomfortable. 1m waves, longish swell period, making it very bouncy. Wind was 12kts directly down harbour not across as predicted.



Did manage a short burst to 20kts at harbour mouth as we turned back, not even WOT, it picked up so fast from 5kts.


At 6kts it kept popping up on plane to 10kts and stayed there with no extra throttle input when a wave surge caught it on way back. I'm guessing if we shifted weight forward it would have done that. Seems it's right on a touchy balance spot.


RIB handled it well and spray didn't get over bow at all.


Few jobs to do. It has a speedo type GPS dial with antenna just under front cowl. It's not working. Getting back I checked and it is battery powered with a Gel battery under seat but no other cable connection from engine. It's dead flat and ruined.

Checked engine and it has rectifier fitted but cables not run through, so can easily be set up to power stuff.
Can't see much use for GPS dial though. I did have Navionics running on my phone on my lap, so speed, position etc readily available. 12v/5v socket etc would be useful to have.


Unfortunately theres a marker pen 3 digit on bow but I'm unable to get it off. I've tried everything. It was also on trailer bar but meths removed that.



As you can guess I bought it. Don't know if I'll get out again this year though unless we get a good day and sea conditions.


I think I might call it 'Dinky' as Lynn says it's my toy

[Fenlander]

That sounds good. Do you mean the boat felt unhappy at 6kts or the speed didn't suit the engine?

[trevbouy]

Dave.
Hard to pin down really.
The boat was just on tip of planing at 6kts but it was dragging a big wake at that speed. The engine didn't like it at all but was happy just a few revs lower when at 5kts. Just a few extra revs and boat would go up on plane and scoot to 10kts with no extra input.



Combo felt like it was saying 'come on let me go' all the time.


Rob

[trevbouy]

Just looked up the model of GPS. I thought it was a position GPS. Turns out it's a GPS speedometer

[chipko]

All sounds good. [emoji106]
There’s always that ‘no man’s land’ speed window where you’re just exceeding the hulls displacement speed and still below planing speed. Everything feels horrible and engine appears unhappy, all normal. Best to either stick to displacement speed or accelerate briskly out of the hole and back off to maintain a comfortable planing speed.
Looks like a nice little rig you have there.

[trevbouy]

I was quite surprised how much of a wake we dragged at 6kts compared to 5. As you say it shows up the 'no mans land' area of its performance.
When it was given a short 5 second blast it all felt very smooth, waves allowing.
Couldn't get WOT as HM was on bouy laying rig close by and they strictly enforce limits.

[Fenlander]

>>There’s always that ‘no man’s land’ speed window

Yes every outfit feels dreadful in that narrow speed range and it's amazing just dropping a kt can make it feel so much better... bow drops, revs drop, noise drops and most of all much of the wake goes.

[trevbouy]

Well that was easy


Found the battery in the front of the storage under the seat. Changed it for a spare 7Ah I had. Switch on and GPS speedo came to life.
Shows speed in knots, miles run and a compass. Pic was very hard to take because of reflections from all the white around, it's very sunny here today.

[smallribber]

Looks a nice tittle outfit. That will be a real pocket rocket