My new Brooker 410 Safari

[andoland]

Hi everyone,

Just took delivery of my new tinnie last week - a Brooker 410 Safari. Thanks to everyone who contributed to my Suzuki outboard 30hp vs 40hp thread from a couple of weeks ago. The package I ended up getting was with a 40hp Yamaha.

Took the boat out for its first run on Saturday. It was pretty windy up here in Gladstone so we were limited to a short run up the Calliope River and a quick fish. My 3 year old son christened the boat with its first fish - a small bream - and he was stoked. Got a few more small bream and some very small grunter, but we weren't really there to fish just to take the boat for a run.

I am happy with it so far. 40hp is more than enough, maybe I should have just gone with 30hp - Nah!;D Now I just have to go through the painful task of running the engine in.

Cheers
Chris

[Local_Guy]

holy smoke. 40hp on a 4.1m.... daym. i got a 40hp on my 4.6m..... that thing would be a rocket.

nice looking boat mate. i also own a brooker.. INterested to know where you bought it from... was it Cunninghams marine in Redcliffe, or is there a dealer up this way.

nice boat.

[andoland]

Yeah, from the short drive on Saturday I reckon it will get along pretty well with the 40 on it. I ummed and ahh-ed a lot about going for a 30 or a 40. My last tinny was slightly smaller than this and had a 30 on it. It was a basic, open 4m tinnie with a timber floor between the thwarts. With 2 people aboard it got along nicely, with 3 it was still good but with 4 adults it was a slug. This is a slightly larger boat and is about 30% heavier. I will almost always have my family aboard and although my two kids are only small now in 6 or 7 years they will be big enough to make a difference. Also, we will hopefully go camping occasionally, say down to Pancake Ck or Bustard Head. So from all of that I decided to get the 40hp rather than get the 30hp and then later on wish I had gone bigger.

I got the boat from Marine Tune on the Gold Coast. I don't know why but they were significantly cheaper than Cunninghams with (in my view) a better outboard in the Yamaha over the Mercury. I didn't mind buying from down there as I was able to get the boat freighted up to Gladdy for no cost through a contact I have.

[geoffmck]

Hey Andoland, how about an owners update, one year on? Are you happy with the boat? What extras have you added to the hull?

[andoland]

Okay, thanks for the prompt.

Firstly, the boat has not really done very many hours. I have young kids so we go out on weekends for an hour or two when the weather is good and for various reasons I have not really given the boat a good work out.

Some comments on the boat:

the layout is great with the pedestal seats rather than cross thwarts. It is much easier to move around the boat and waaay more comfortable than sitting on a hard aluminium bench. You definitely notice the room in a small boat like this over one with thwart seats.
the raised casting platform upfront has heaps of storage space underneath, and there is also a shelf in front of that underneath the anchor well. Add in the side pockets and I have more storage space than I know what to do with.
it rides very well (for a 4.1m tinny). It is quite a heavy boat for its size so I suspect this is mostly the reason for the good ride.
with 40hp is has heaps of grunt. There are always four of us in the boat when we go out (me, the wife and two young kids) plus food, drinks, crab pots, etc and the 40 does not even notice the weight. We tow a tube behind the boat for the kids occasionally and it goes great.
it is a bit bum heavy. One reason is having the 40hp yammy on the back. It is two stroke not four and is well within the max engine weight allowed (I think it weighs about 85kg with 120kg the max allowed) but it is a big motor. I don't reckon I would put a 4 stroke 40 on the back if it was much heavier. Sometimes I think that 30hp would have been more than enough and would have made the rear a bit lighter. At the end of the day I don't know that it really makes any difference other than sitting a little lower in the water at rest.
I also think that all of the seats could be moved further forward. with the standard bow section and then a casting platform the seats all end up further back than they otherwise could be and I think this contributes to extra weight at the back. One day I may build a new floor and move the seats 100mm or so further forward.
I have just had the motor raised up one hole from how it was when it left the dealer and it has made a difference to the nose-up attitude when taking off.
I ummed and ahhed about getting a painted or unpainted hull. I did not want painted because of the worried about scratches and how it will look in 5 or so years time but we ended up getting a painted hull. It really makes the boat a lot cooler to the touch than unpainted and I'm glad we did it now.As for modifications I have not done any. One thing I have struggled with is finding a good place to locate some horizontal rod storage racks for travelling. I have tried a couple of different sets of off the shelf racks but the side pockets really get in the way. I am still working on this one and would love to hear from someone else who has fitted them. One of the issues is that the sides are 3mm plate and therefore it has less bracing to fix the rod racks to.

I am also yet to properly mount the sounder. I made up a bodgy bracket that is bolted to the side rail just so I could get on the water and have never gotten around to mounting it properly.

Cheers
Chris

[wow]

Hey Chris
Ive just ordered a Stessco 425 from Marine Tune at Burleigh with the two pedestals and 4 possies. Stuck with the 30hp after having ridden in a friends and it seemed to get along ok. How did you find the boys at Marine Tune to deal with? How was delivery and handover? Just thought I'd query the process and get your thoughts.
Cheers WoW

[andoland]

Wow,

I live in Gladstone so all of my dealings with them were over the phone or by fax. Overall I found them to be good to deal with. There were lots of phone calls back and forth and they always had time to deal with me then and there when I called.

The only very minor issue I had was that they forgot to install the rod holders that I asked them to install. It was not really a big deal and they immediately refunded the money I had paid to have them installed.

Chris