First trip to 1770

[redfox]

About 6 week ago went to 1770 with my son and a couple of friends from GC. My son fishes 1770 regularly so he got me all envious.
Finally the boat was ready - got it from US 4 months ago. Went thursday night, arrived 5am at the ramp. out to Fitzroy got a bit wet in fact soaking wet :-) Stayed 2 nights in the lagoon. Fished around Fitzroy - did not go far in around 45-50 m of water. Weather improved to glassed-out conditions but fishing slowed down, may be this the reason? Drifts were not covering wide-enough areas. Nothing to brag about, no reds, few coral trout, red-throat, sweeplips, tusks - got in total about 150kg of fish. Spent abour 300lt of fuel, which I though a bit too much for 4-stroke. Boat handled well. attaching couple of pix.765657656676567

[lethal098]

Not bad for a Quick weekend effort,

How much distance did you cover over that time,

[roz]

Well done!! 1770/Agnes is my hunting ground, although I don't have the fuel capacity for wide reef fishing, so I just chase mackeral off the headlands. Must mention I do get to reef fish on the M&Gs, so I can appreciate your effort..tad jealous as well.
Cheers Roz :)

[chop duster]

you got any fuel flow gauges on the boat? the 225 yammy should be good on fuel. How many mile did you travel etc..

[fishfeeder]

Those conditions look fantastic, Maybe that's why you used so much fuel "Flat out" uses more fuel then a steady cruising speed...
and by the looks you scored well for your first time up there....

Cheers
Brett

[redfox]

not sure about the distance, from what I was reading I should be getting 1.2-1.5 km per litre on F250 on this rig. don't think we travelled more than 300 km so it was a bit high, but we were fully loaded and most of the time I did not stick to cruising speed ~40kh - time was more precious than money :-) the boat has 415lt fuel tank and very hard to judge but the gauge reading. Top speed of flat water is 42mph = ~ 65kh and it has bottom paint.

[lightsout76]

Nice work on your capture..... at least it's got the right colour in it! Can't wait to get back up there.

Thanks for the report and pics.

Cheers,
Leon.

[Long Shot]

Redfox,

I think you will be closer to 1.2km/ltr than 1.5km/ltr. Happy to stand corrected though.

[redfox]

quite difficult to estimate how much fuel was used, unless I top it up to full 415 ltr (~$550) capacity :-)

[Muddy Toes]

My old two stroke did 490L Musgrave and back last year and still had to put a jerry can in at the ramp as it stalled getting up the trailer.....I think your doing well on the fuel.

[outta line]

fitzroy its self is something to brag about :P...ive been trying to get up there for the first time fish for awhile..... was hoping for aus day long weekend :'(....o well next time...
nice fish and gr8 conditions .......when you say you got wet.... was that the sea conditions on the way out or rain? if you wern't on the plane on the way out you would use twice as much fuel... thanks for the report and if you want another boat to tag along next time pm me and iam there
cheers mick

[Spaniard_King]

Redfox, I wouldn't be too concerned. I think you have average fuel consumption for that rig. The old 200-250 yammies were never known for good fuel economy. The new model is conciderably better.

we do trips out of 1770 for 2 nights and we use roughly 300 a trip.

[Lucky 1]

Hey Mick

How about we put some tentative dates down for a longish weekend trip, give me another PM if you like. I just had my trailer bearings checked and I am ready to go.

Regards

Lucky

[cuzzamundi]

That's a great looking rig, mate. Roughly how much did she cost importing from the US? Also, how was the current out there?
Great session, btw.

Cuzza

[XtremeBoony]

Still a pretty good haul of reefies there, thanks for the report and pics

Cheers from boony

[Bull]

Thanks for the report and pics. You got a good feed of fish there.Fitzroy Lagoon sure is 1 nice spot. I love it when it glasses out like that.
I'm pretty sure when I was out there we used about 300l of fuel as well.

Very nice looking rig btw.

Cheers Bull

[redfox]

Mick
On the way out it was blowing good 25knots, 2.5 m waves, whitecaps etc.
In these conditions this boat seems to create a lot of spray which is thrown back at you... Maybe it is normal - I used to have Quintrex before and don't recall being so wet in any conditions though this boat is much heavier.
Basically we were literally soaking wet, tried to put on clears but they were shrunk and did not fit any more :-(

Cuzza
The total cost was about 55k may be even more.
But that is with all new electronics - 7k and accessories for the boat and new braking system for the trailer. the engine is 2007 F250 with just 350hours.
I think it still well worth it, but what you should be aware of - it will require A LOT OF YOUR TIME! I was busy all week-ends for nearly 2 months.
I looked at what I could get around 50k mark, but did not see much worth looking at.
I did wanted walkabout, huge cockpit on this rig BTW with motor being on the bracket.
Cheers
Michael

[clevelandv8]

150kgs of fish at $10 per kg (i doubt you could buy it for that) is $1500 worth of fish.... freezer full of tasty dinners!!!!!!!!!!!!!
forget the fuel bill in my opinion.
great looking trip, and good post!
thanks for the pm.
mick

[FisHard]

My old two stroke did 490L Musgrave and back last year and still had to put a jerry can in at the ramp as it stalled getting up the trailer.....I think your doing well on the fuel.

490L? OMG! My old 115s (2 strokes x 2 on my 21' Seafarer) used about 200 to Musgrave and back on a nightmare trip couple of years ago. We had waaaay too much camping gear (to stay on LM) and came home in a shocking 25kt SE'er. I'm not doubting what you are saying :) but damn, 500l! Hope you got some fish!

[Muddy Toes]

490L? OMG! My old 115s (2 strokes x 2 on my 21' Seafarer) used about 200 to Musgrave and back on a nightmare trip couple of years ago. We had waaaay too much camping gear (to stay on LM) and came home in a shocking 25kt SE'er. I'm not doubting what you are saying :) but damn, 500l! Hope you got some fish!

That motor was unbelievably shocking on fuel but to it's credit it was pushing quite a bit boat and the trip back was in about 20-25 kts.The thing then died in the a$$ a couple of days later during the M&G.Oh the shame.

[longone]

Nice work Redfox! Im waying up importing something similar at the moment. It seems anything around 21 feet meets the max trailerable width regulations (QLD) but if you go any bigger its over. What model Hydra Sports is that? Would love to hear more about your experiences. Who did you use to bring it in etc?

Cheers,

Longone

[redfox]

Longone

The is 2003 Hyrda-Sports 230WA, 2007 F250, apparently hull-quality wise is quite good, wood-free, hand-laid kevlar construction, according to boston whaler sales rep at Brisbane boatshow, it is solid mid-tier boat, you can find few review on thehulltruth.com and check hydra-sports web site. Was not 100% happy with the shipper, so I won't give his details. I have another one, which one of my friends was very happy with, can provide his details so drop me PM. A lot of horror stories are exaggerated but there are 3 things to watch 1. trailer width (should be < 2.5m), boat width (should be < 2.8m) and total weight of boat + engine + fuel + gear + trailer. All this should be < 3.5T - otherwise you will have trouble finding the car to tow it all. Some boats like 23Ft Robalo, which I have nearly bought, are so heavy that will blow 3.5T limit.
I bought 10 y.o Landcruiser just for this - but was stupid enough to buy 6 cyl pertol, it was a shocker!!! so underpowered and on that trip to 1770, with boat at the back, it was eating somewhere around 35lt/100km - from GC to 1770 ~ 1200km, we had to fill up 3 times and used all of it. Lately swapped it for V8 petrol and loving it, feels like completely different car.
cheers

[lethal]

Awesome boat and awsome pics
thanks for the report

[MyWay]

very nice stack of red fish
and excellent going for 1st time :2thumbsup:

pity for bit more fuel but good times and good things don't came cheap

[Moonlighter]

Redfox, I wouldn't be too concerned. I think you have average fuel consumption for that rig. The old 200-250 yammies were never known for good fuel economy. The new model is conciderably better.

we do trips out of 1770 for 2 nights and we use roughly 300 a trip.

Especially with bottom paint/antifouling on the bottom, that's not too bad for a big heavy boat like that.

Mates Seaswirl 2301 with 300 Zuke gets 1.3 to 1.4 km/litre with an unpainted bottom, as a comparison.

Cheers

ML

[gofishin]

Nice conditions & some nice trout too! I wouldn’t be too concerned about fuel consumption, but if you are get rid of the antifoul – it will help a little bit. I have what looks to be a similar sized boat with an F250A (your donk is either an A or B), so performance wise they are the same. Don’t you have a yammy fuel flow gauge? With that donk you should have 2 or 3 ~100mm yammy square gauges, depending on if one is a combo or not. Anyway if you reset the trip meters before each trip (distance, fuel& hrs can be reset etc) you should know how many k’s you did & litres used. The consumption gauge is fairly accurate, have calibrated mine & it is within 3 or 4%.

Some 1770 fuel consumption figures from my Log:

Social boating…
Best consumption; 1.4km/L return leg from Musgrave, day trip, 2+2 on board lightly loaded, calm conditions. Same trip going out 1.25km/L, 15kn NE.

Worst was 3 wks ago; overnighter situation, heavily loaded, 30kgice, 2 eskies + fridge, 130L water, ducky & outboard, kitchen sink etc, rough seas on the nose, to Musgrave = 1km/L. Return– seas a bit better but on the stern, boat obviously lighter, 1.2km/L.

Fishing mode…
Day trips, average fish haul, good conditions, 2 POB – 1.2to 1.3km/L(max), average 1.2
Rough conditions, more fish, 2 to 3 POB, 1.05 km/L to 1.15km/Ltops

What is your WOT & what prop have you got? Strange about getting wet. Did it feel like the nose was down a lot? Engine trim OK? Do you have trim tabs? If the nose was down for some reason it would chew more fuel.

As Garry said, the new Yams have much lower fuel consumption. Have done a few trips & a lot of prop testing on a mates 685 with Yam V6 300 – phenomenal consumption in comparison…except at full noise...100L/hr it sucks fuel :-[

Cheers
Brendon


[Hey Lucky, still itching to get up hey? Hope you do soon mate.]

[Lucky 1]

Hi Brendon

Its gone beyond an Itch, its now more like a shingles rash. :-? I hope to get up there in the next month or so. Best thing is that I also have negotiated 2 weeks from the missus for the family trip next year :) :) Hope to catch up with you at the PBA meeting tomorrow night if you are going.

Regards

Lucky


[Hey Lucky, still itching to get up hey? Hope you do soon mate.][/QUOTE]

[gofishin]

Good to hear Lucky. See you tomorrow night.
Cheers
Brendon

[redfox]

Brendon Hi
Thanks for expanded message and sorry for late response.
A bit busy with everything.
Gauges - 2 square, need to learn how to reset the counters.
The boat has got trim tabs, but still a bit low on the bow.
WOT is 5600, prop don't remember. but WOT seems normal
so there can't something terribly wrong the prop.

[gofishin]

No probs redfox. To reset the desired trip on whatever gauge, cycle through the displays until it is showing, then press both buttons simultaneously


...The boat has got trim tabs, but still a bit low on the bow... Could they have been all the way down? Or possibly motor trimmed all the way in?...or, could a sub-floor compartment, bilge area or water-tight compartment up the bow be full of water? Don't laugh, it has happened many a time, and I have seen it first hand.


...WOT is 5600, prop don't remember. but WOT seems normal
so there can't something terribly wrong the prop. Actually, this is a bit low, you want to be fairly close to 6000. However, first find out why was the nose trimmed in, then remove the antifoul if you are going to, then worry about WOT.
cheers
Brendon