Refitting a 26ft Scarab

[EdBerg]

Hi Guys (and gals), I am planning a 6 week trip up to North Queensland around September. A bit of my history leading up to this event. This will be a long post so will split into two posts

Part 1

It will be my wifes and mine 25th anniversary , so we decided to get an old '88 26ft Scarab (it's a fixer upperer) with a 2005 motor and Bravo 3 leg and do it up, which I have been doing for the past 8-9 months.

Apart from the cabin upholstery and cabin liner, it was a complete regut. I have built most of the s/s pieces, aluminium tanks and bits and done all the fibreglassing myself.

So far the additions are:

Alum. Duckboard.
Side hand rails
Built two GRP base seats with live bait tanks and plumbing built in to them,
Reglassed the cockpit floors, fuel tank compartment, the cabin floor foot well compartment and the anchor rope compartment, very messy job, I hate grinding fibreglass.
Fitted LED lighting throughout, strip lighting in the cabin and also cockpit strips along the sides, nav lights. ect
Fitted 2 x 10w LED lights under the duckboard for night fishing (to attract fish, squid ect.)
Added a Simrad NSS8 and TM260
Lowrance 880 VHF
Hand held Compass
2.5kg extinguisher and a blower for the engine compartment
New Sony stereo system put in
Electric winch
New safety gear
Added an Insta trim trim tab setup
S/S anchor rope roller and post
2 x S/S Anchors (12Kg and a 15kg) reef anchor to come
A 2.3m inflatable as a tender
Added a 3700 Gallon Bilge pump
Made 6 alum rod holders and four 200mm s/s cleats to tie down the boat to the trailer
Rewired the boat,
Ripped out the old S/S 200lt fuel tank and built a 330lt 4mm alum one to replace it.
Built a 30lt alum water tank/foot rest with electric pump (washing purposes/emergency supply)
Just had the rear lounge couch and side combings reupholstered.
Repaired and repainted the transom also renamed the boat.
Built a 3400Kg tandem trailer (electric over hydraulic brakes) for it. Building that took 4.5 months, and about to change my earlier manual winch that I put on with a 4000lb electric winch on the trailer.
Fixed all the leaks into the cabin and patched up the bottom hull chips etc.
Probably did a heap of other suff which I have forgotten about but you should get the idea. It's been a lot of work but still more to come.

Ed.

[EdBerg]

Part 2.
Once I do all the bits that I can do, I then will take it to the mechanics who will install the 2 smartcraft gauges and install the VSR for the two battery system.

I can then put in the new carpet and hull liner in the cockpit and also have to put in a new electric toilet and weld up a PVC holding tank for it with appropriate plumbing.

At least at that stage I can put it in the water, after that I have about 4-5 months to built either a Targa top or a rod holder tower with coverings for it, including making a new windscreen as I cracked mine in two places getting it in under the carport, and maybe a couple of extra fuel side tanks if I need them and make the floor self draining. The reef is not a place to run out of fuel.

I have no idea how much fuel it will use as it has a 425HP 496 MAG HO (8.1 lt.) donk in it, but I don't expect it wil be cheap to run and will chew a fair bit of fuel. Planning on taking it out quite a few times before we go, just to see if we will need the extra fuel tanks or not.

I would like to change the duo props to larger less piched ones but at over a thousand bucks for them I will just have to put up with the ones on it. (26 inch pitched) they look almost new!

So far it seems to have taken forever and I am about 6 months behind schedule, but I will be glad when it is finished as it should then be safe enough for my liking to take it out to the reef. Will be towing it behind the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2.7lt diesel that I got for it. The Ford AU just wouldn't cut it! ;D

I have reached that point many times where I thought to myself "What was I thinking starting this project", but once you have committed to it, it is then too late to change your mind. It's been a challenge but will be worth it soon.
It's not the ideal fishing platform but it will do me and my wife on our holiday

I can post pics of the progress if anyone is interested.

Cheers

Ed.

[danryan75]

Sounds the goods mate. I think you will find most on this site will love the progress pics, or boat porn as it is also referred to. Post em up!

[FisHard]

Yeah, would love to see it!
What were they thinking originally with only 200l fuel??? that would be barely enough for a day trip in the bay!
look forward to further updates.

[johncar]

Hi Ed, About time you gave us an update on the project;).
Yes photos are always great to share the joy of rejuvenating your Scarab. Not going to try and race you to Moreton though. She should get along nicely once back on the water, hope it's all going well.

[Jarrah Jack]

Wow You're a sucker for punishment Ed ;D Bit of work there. You must love climbing in and out of the boat. Can't wait for the pics. Should be a good holiday in that machine, I pity the 2.7 towing it though.

[EdBerg]

Thanks guys, I am assembling the photos so I can post them up here in the next couple of days, most of the photo's I have, are mainly more orientated to the welding side of things when I made the trailer and other metal bits, I am a member of several welding forums and they really like the ins and outs of how to make and weld up items such as tanks, anchors etc, so will try to post up more in the way of boating oriented pics, if that makes sense, that is unless you guys are also interested in those sort of thing as well, didn't want to turn this into a welding fabrication sort of forum post if you know what I mean.

Anyway the weather hasn't been all that good here so haven't gone outside to work on it lately, just chasing up the parts for things I still need to get. I am hoping to go out shopping tomorrow, need to get a 150 amp AGM deep cycle battery, a TMC electric toilet ect., but if I get back in time will take some more photos, this is assuming it isn't bucketing rain like it has for the past week.

Jarrah Jack you're right about towing the boat with the 2.3mt inflatable, I am going to the Tinnie and Tackle show in a few weeks to see if they have any specials on 3-5hp outboards. which although very small, will still work much better than a pair of oars which are required by law on a boat of this size, yeah right .. like rowing this boat will work! ;D. Not that that size motor will do much either but might be better than nothing, as for getting in and out of the boat, I get the impression that you also have been there and done that perhaps... yes??

Hopefully I will get some pics up tomorrow.

Cheers

Ed.

[EdBerg]

O'k, here are the pics, doing some of them tonight as tomorrow might be a bit busy. So these are pics of when I got it home on the rusty trailer and the rear lounge is out of the boat.

[EdBerg]

Building the two anchors and the bow roller out of 316 stainless, used a home made press to bend the flute on one anchor and used the lathe to make the anchor roller and also the bush for the danforth type sand anchor.

[EdBerg]

Made the four cleats for tying down the boat to the trailer, it had 2 cleats at the back only but they were in the wrong spot for connecting to the trailer, you will see what I mean when I post up some pics with the straps attached later, two side handrails and I originally made the cross bollard for the front, but when I installed the electric winch, the post got in the way of the chains, so made the open eared cleat so that the chain could go through the center of it, and then just figure 8 the chain around it so the anchor strain is removed from the winch itself.

[EdBerg]

Made a trailer for it, 3.4T rating, , 2 x 1800Kg axles on LT245/75R17 tyres, 12" discs and powered by a electric over hydraulic 1600 PSI Hydrastar, could have used a 1200 PSI instead though, would have worked just as well. Should have also used 4" drop down axles but ordered lay down ones instead. Too late to change so will have to live with it.
The Hydrastar is connected to a Prodogy P3 controller in the Jeep.

I have modified the trailer a few times from when I first started it so it might look a bit different in some of the pics.

Still have to do one more modification to it, bought a 4000lb electric winch so will be removing the hand winch setup, the electric winch is wider than the manual one so have to make a new base plate for it.

[EdBerg]

The boat is now on the trailer, made 3 sets of double keel rollers and added them to it so it would take more weight off the wobbly rollers. Roughly sanded off as much antifouling off the leg as I could and sprayed it black, also removed the antifouling of the sides just above the chines and gave the bottom a good sand as well, to get off the excess antifouling paint, touched up and repaired the small dings on the bottom. Might have to paint the bottom of the boat with a coat of black antifouling, not that it will need it but the bottom looks a bit of a mess with the patches and repairs showing through. Also added the spare wheel to the front post.

[EdBerg]

Built the duckboard for it, I added a 16mm bar on each of the two corners for added support but not shown here, but will turn up in later pics. Forgot to mention that because of the large rear lounge, which is going to restrict my fishing a bit but that duckboard is now going to be my fishing platform, with the two bent pipes not only giving support but also handy as a grab rail. should I need it, I will just sit down on the transom gunwhalel, it will have stainless cable connected to the gunwhale and my harness/rod belt just in case, to stop me going over, reminds me I still need to make a footrest on the duckboard for that area, and I have also added a rod gimbal just next to that air intake. Hmmmm, I wonder if I could make a removable game chair to fit on the transom... Nuh , that would be too pretentious. ;D

[softplasticsdude79]

wow,looks good,your handywork looks first class,wish i had those skills.Look forward to seeing more pics.

[EdBerg]

Seat bases with live bait tanks and under seat storage compartment built, I am still thinking about whether or not to cover the live bait tank with insulation as it could double as a cooler when not fishing, but as I have a 120lt cooler box for the boat I am not sure if I would ever use it as such and may not be worth the effort or cost in doing so, so that idea is on hold up to the stage that I fit the seats inside.

I made the base mould over 14 years ago when I did up a 23ft Scarab and didn't throw it out, been using it to wash the dog in and keep potting mix in my greenhouse and had also been left out in the weather for about 10 years, so the mould surface has osmosis in it and heaps of scratches, but managed to get two bases out of it, the gelcoat surface needed sanding and a polish but didn't come out too bad. The live bait tank lids I had made as spares at the same time and left them outside in their moulds as well, they are a bit faded but again don't look too bad.

[EdBerg]

Made the bigger fuel tank out of 4 and 5mm aluminium sheet, the reason for the 2 sizes is I grabbed the two sheets from the same pile without checking the thickness of both sheets, so the bottom and one side is 5mm and the top and one side is 4mm and both ends are 5mm with the two baffles inside of 4mm. Aluminium is a structural type with good corrosion resistance with a high temper, was a bug..r to bend, even on a large computerised folding machine, had to do the radius in small sections as this ally would crack if you tried to do a 90 bend. (we did a test first, that's how we found out) The tank standing on its end shows the 10mm fuel sender hole, and inspection hole with the fuel pickup and a fuel inlet on that end and the end on the floor has a 16mm breather in it.

The lip in the first pic is on both ends and had 5 screws put through later in each one when I installed it, holding the tank down to the floor in the tank compartment.

I will add some more pics in the next day or so to this thread as it's after midnight now, hope this is what you wanted and haven't bored you too much.

Cheers

Ed.

[Jarrah Jack]

Gee I wish you lived next door Ed. I'm working on a boat atm so I know all about the up down up down. If I had a boat your size the first thing I would do would be to build a good stairway with a landing for it.

Thanks for the pics, love your work. Looks like you used a rubbish bin for the bait tank mold.

PS What does your wife think of all this activity?

[EdBerg]

Thanks Jarrah Jack, your right, I used the base of a small 60lt wheelie bin, took the wheels off and placed a MDF board across the bottom to cover the plastic webbing on the base of the bin, added a flange 3/4 of the way up, a milk bottle cap for the drain recess, some modeling plasticine to fill the joins, followed by some wax and PVA, then good to go to gelcoat and laminate.

I originally had a mold which I built for the live bait tank but after building the the two bases for my first 23ft Scarab, the live bait tank mold was just sitting out in the weather and I could not think of any use for it so I dumped it at the tip in a clean out I did. I would have done the same with the seat base mold but it was coming in handy for washing the dog in and storing potting mix for my greenhouse so luckily I kept it.

As for climbing in and out, I just use a ladder 10-20 times a day sometimes, at least it helps to keep me fit and the chiropractor and masseuse in business. ;D

My wife (Audrey) is looking forward to getting out in the boat and also to me cleaning up the yard, plus all the other jobs she has lined up for me that I have neglected since starting this project, fortunately for me she is very tollerant ;D

What are you doing to yours?

I misunderstood what you wrote about the 2.7 towing it in your earlier post, I thought you were refering to the inflatable :-[ and not the Jeep. I haven't towed it yet with the Jeep but from what I read it should do it OK, it is a turbo diesel and puts out 120KW with a 5 speed Auto. I am not sure what the all up weight is. I am taking it down to a weighbridge in the next week or so to make sure I am not over the limit. The jeep is rated for towing 3.5T and I am estimating that the boat without fuel should be around the 3T weight so with fuel it will come close.

The next issue is just 'cause the Jeep is rated at that doesn't mean that it can tow it well, but I will know soon enough. Might have to put a mod chip in it to give it some more grunt if it is a bit slow, the mod chips apparently give up to 30% more HP and better economy.

Cheers

Ed.

[Chimo]

Hi Ed

Love your work. That said may I ask if you are planning to sit your fuel tank up on some teflon spacers when you fit it? The flange, that if I understand your post correctly, was to be used to screw the tank into position looks like its designed to sit flat on the tank base.

Based on the need to replace a ss fuel tank in my boat that was fitted directly onto a frp base (because they forgot the teflon!) and that developed pin holes and then filled the bilge with fuel it might be worth considering teflon; if you hadn't planned on it.

Looking forward to your ongoing pics and text as the job progresses...........

Cheers
Chimo

[EdBerg]

Hi Chimo, thanks, as to the floor, sort of taken care of that aspect, when I reglassed the floor under the tank I put a series of semi circular 8mm x 25mm timber slats about 200mm long on either side and a few in the middle and angled them towards the back of the boat, then glassed them in as well, so the tank actually sits on top of them and is raised about 10mm above the floor, this way, if water ever does get in there, it will drain out the back and it also lets the air circulate so that the aluminium won't get chewed away as it will be kept dry.

Cheers

Ed.

[Jarrah Jack]

Hi Ed This is what I'm doing, nearly finished.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?182530-Abba-Gets-a-Button

[EdBerg]

G'day Guys, got some more pics on the progress.

The first 3 pics are of the spare water tank, TIG welded it up, it also doubles as a foot rest for the passenger seat and the inspection port is so that I can throw in some chunks of ice, a small 10mm outlet for the electric pressure pump which connects to a tap and a larger 16mm outlet for draining the tank when we decide to trailer somewhere else just to keep the weight down, it holds about 30lt. As the inspection port is made from plastic, I added a pad of 7mm plate on either side to stop the middle flexing and possibly leaking when someone stands or presses on it with their feet. It will all be covered in carpet when it gets installed.

The second 2 pics are of a toolbox I whipped up for the front of the trailer to hold ropes and the ratchet type tiedown straps when not required. Has a s/s latch with padlock. The aluminium top is made from 5mm check plate so it's also can be stood or walked on.

The rear lounge has just come back a few days ago from the upholsterer, that is something I couldn't do myself, in light grey with a red and 2 black stripes, there was supposed to also be a dark grey stripe in that group to tone it down a bit but that colour was not available anywhere for over a month so did without. The side pads which I don't have a pic of yet also have a set of stripes to match. The carpet that I bought is a dark charcoal colour and the liner is a light grey, so hopefully it will colour co-ordinate OK. The speakers for the front of it only arrived today so haven't fitted them in yet.

I was looking for a darker liner but that also wasn't available anywhere so settled on the light grey one, at least when the LED strips under the gunwales are on at night the light grey will reflect a lot more light into the cockpit.

Went out today and bought a replacement battery for use as a house battery, it's a 40kg 150amp deep cycle AGM and weighs double what the original battery on the right in the pic does. Wont have any dramas about draining this one in a hurry. ;D There were 2 starter type batteries in this boat so left one to start the motor and this second one will go into the back of the Jeep to power the electric winch on the trailer via a set of leads.

Cheers

Ed.

[EdBerg]

More pics:

Fitted the Insta-trim Trim tabs, the 1Kw TM260 transducer and the corner support, that transducer is a whopper, about the size of a house brick, reason I got such a big one is that it has about 26 times the sensitivity of the standard ones, also will help when we are fishing in 200m plus of water along the coral reef edges. ;D

You might be able to make out the rod gimbal on the top next to the air intake port, that is where I will be sitting to fish so will use that to hold the bottom of the rod

Put some red striping on it, not exactly straight in a few spots but makes it look significantly better than the tattered black stripe that was on before, also it will match the red strips in the upholstery, besides, doesn't red make something go faster? ::)

Last pic is the anchor winch setup on the front of the boat, I added a 7mm ally plate under the cleat and the winch to spread the load a bit better, underneath there is a 13mm piece of ply sandwiching the GRP of the deck.

Changed the earlier 150mm rego numbers to 200mm size letters to comply with QLD regs.

Also renamed the boat to "THUMPA" which is the sound it will make after it becomes airborn and lands back on the water, actually to tell the truth it is named after the rabbit in the Walt Disney movies which my girls loved when they were young, but I like my version of the story better.


Cheers

Ed.

[johncar]

She's looking great Ed, I take my hat off to ya. Not long now for the water tests :)

[EdBerg]

Thanks Guys, Two more pics and that will be up to date on the progress for the moment.

The first is the 10W LED lights underneath the duckboard, one on each side, this is to attract fish and squid at night when anchored somewhere, and the other is the live bait pickup setup I have.

Made up a pickup which goes just under the hull and bolted a 500 gallon/hr bilge pump to it, the pump has a float switch mounted slightly higher.

What happens is that when the boat is planing or moving reasonably fast, the water pressure forces the seawater to go through the pickup and the bilge pump and then through the hoses to the live bait tanks. When the boat is planing, the water goes past the float so the float just sits in the off position. When it drops off the plane the boat sinks into the hole and the float is forced up and activates the pump and seawater goes to the tanks, this way it becomes automatic and I don't have to remember to switch it on or off.

I had this setup on the previous Scarab I owned and it worked well, however this Scarab goes considerable faster than the last one and I don't now how the pump will handle the pressure of the higher speed, there is a 6mm gap from the pickup end to the pump impellor intake so I am hoping that the excess water will just shoot out the pump base slots. Just in case I am wrong I put a bit of ally angle to hold down the pump in case the plastic lugs on the pump break off due to excess pressure.

To drain the tanks:
I put in a silicone bung at the base of the tank, it is connected via PVC pipe which has a T piece, the main tube goes to the top of the tank from where the water fills the tank and the other goes to the base. As the bung is forced in and there is no pressure at the top hole, the water just fills through the top. To drain the live bait tanks I just turn the pump off, pull out the bottom bungs and gravity just drains them, then shut each tanks tap off, and then good to go.

Hope I explained it OK, and that this makes sense! it really is a simple system.

I will put a main tap just inside the boat next to the tansom wall so I can block the main hose off if I want to and then there is a T piece to provide water to both bait tanks, each tank has another tap just before it so I dont have to use them both at the same time and one more tap and T piece on one side only so I can divert the flow and use it to wash down the deck if necessary or myself as a shower rinse off on the duckboard.

Once the boat gets a sea trial, I will look at how high the water level goes up the transom and if there is enough clearance, then I will make a flapped hole in the transom and the floor will be self draining.

Cheers

Ed.

[EdBerg]

Hi Guys, So finally took it for a spin on the road to a petrol station and just loaded it up with 100lts just for starters as I estimate that will be the average of fuel left from a trip when we go out, the Jeep towed it reasonably well considering, but might look at getting a mod chip for the Jeep to give it more grunt. It was a bit wobbly on the trailer getting there so checked the tyres and they were down so boosted them up from 30 to 40PSI might go to 45PSI next time.

Took it over the scales so that I would have an idea of the weight of it as up till now it has all been guesswork and I think the reason for the wobbles above 80Km is there is only 180kg on the ball, all up weight is 3.12T, so the 180Kg has to be increased, there is still more weight to be added to the boat, The rear lounge which will actually make it worse as it is on the back side of the axle, the two front seat bases with live bait tanks, (the seats should negate the weight of the lounge), carpet and liner, electric toilet and holding tank and a couple of more anchors and chain, chartplotter and the footrest/spare water tank, electric trailer winch,inflateable plus personal effects. So all up it should come close to the trailer 3.4T capacity. Will get another weigh bridge test when I am done to make sure I am legal.

I should be able to move the boat up a bit forward. I have to modify the winch post anyway to put the electric winch on and so that will just leave moving the last set of wobble rollers forward the same amount and it should be good. Have it booked in to the marine yard on Thursday so they can do their bit on installing the new instruments, so getting closer.:).

[johncar]

Great to see her back on the road Ed. Yeah with that big donk in the back you will need a little extra on the ball and you will be sailing pretty close to 3500KG all up with some more fuel and those extras to go in. Are you surprised at the weight?
Anyway you need to get up in the high 200's KG Min on the ball for stability or low 300's better as you no doubt know. You may need to consider a levelling kit like I have fitted for longer hauls once you have the correct weight on the ball but see how it feels and check you still have enough weight on the cars steering etc. They do make a big difference with mine and steady everything up nicely.
How long till the water test???

[EdBerg]

Hi Johncar, I wasn't surprised at the weight as I had estimated about the 3000 to 3100Kg so very close, but it is one thing guessing and another knowing, at least now I know, so I will just move the boat forward a bit further up on the trailer and with the rest of the additional weight it should come to about the 320 to 340kg on the ball and it should be spot on. Today it steered OK up to 80km but higher than that it got a bit of the wobbles, especially on the crappy road as its full of bumps and small holes due to all the rain we've had here, with the extra weight on it shouldn't cause any further steering problems. I might also have a look to see if it is possible to add some shockers easily to the axles just to dampen it down a bit.

As to the water test I would say in the next 2 weeks. I pulled the old toilet out and whilst removing the old corroded taps the actual though hull pickup and outlet moved a bit, so have to reseal those. I will get the mechanics to pull those out and I will reseal them and add new taps myself, depending on the weather that will all be done on Thursday, I hope, and by the weekend I should have the new capets and seatbases/live bait tanks installed and plumbed. The actual toilet installation and me making the holding tank can wait for a fews weeks or so. So at this stage I am looking at sometime after next Monday, and I think I will be then good to go for a sea trial (depending on my wife having a day off). This is of cause depending on it if all goes according to plan.

Looking at your avatar, you seem to also have a decent size boat, what is the size, weight and what are you using to tow it, fuel consumption ect. and any issues you came across?

Cheers

Ed.

[johncar]

Ed you have seen my tinnie, I am just around the corner from you. Thought you would have recognised the name, but yeah it is similar weight to yours although I need to get to the weigh bridge shortly to see how it all balances up after a few little changes to the trailer. That is excellent that you are close to the water tests, always a nail biting time, not sure whether I want to be there or not always get a bit nervous on those first launches but i am sure all will be great.

[EdBerg]

Hey John, I didn't realise it was you, it's a small world isn't it. I saw the name but no location so didn't put it together as I didn't know you were a member on this forum and the missing digits from your name also threw me.

Cheers

Ed.

[johncar]

Yeah Mate you never know who is lookin in..

[EdBerg]

Bit of an update on the Scarab refit. Well today was the day I decided we should take the Scarab for a spin and sort out any issues, so launched at Spinniker and I hope I didn't stuff up too much at the ramp, had a few teething dramas at first, as had to submerge the trailer wheels before I could get it off, the boat sits up fairly high on the trailer. So think I might need a few more rollers on the keel.

Then beached about 50mts away to make sure there were no leaks and do checks etc. Had a bit of trouble contacting the VMR on 16 as they had their radio turned down too low, anyway 20 minutes by the time I did all the checks the tide had gone out a bit too far, and yep, stuck with the nose on the shore, so did the usual, tried rocking from side to side and the missus reversing a bit whilst I jumped off and tried to push off from the front but no go.

So waited till another boat pulled up and asked the guys for a push, just needed a bit more muscle on the shore and we were off. Found 3 problems.

First could be a major problem with the leg, it wouldn't track the boat straight at low speed, found out after I pulled it out at the end of the day that the leg swings about 100mm from side to side with hardly any effort, so looks like it's back to the workshop again. I just had the leg serviced. :'(

Second problem, the motor has a momentary loss at power at above 3200-3500 RPM, I suspect something along the lines of either a loss of fuel suction or a bad spark plug or electrical lead breaking down.
Spoke to Johncar who suggested that I check the fuel tank breather, I know my breather mesh is a bit gunged up so will replace that breather first as that is the cheapest option.
At that RPM I was doing about 30-34 knots.

And the last problem was with the anchor winch, no problem with the chain but it does not want to force the rope down on it's own, it bunches up at the top of the winch, had to put tension on the rope in the anchor well whilst the missus used the switch, will ring the manufacturer tomorrow.

So all up I don't think it went too bad, I hope I didn't make myself look like too much of a goose at the ramp, forgot to mention that I also needed help loading it up back on the trailer as the missus isn't strong enough to pull that winch. So two guys who who watching my missus struggle came to assist and once they got it up about a 1/3 of the way they also were struggling, so I killed the motor and hopped off and did the rest myself. But I am already working on fitting a 4000Lb electric remote controlled winch to the trailer so that won't be a problem next time around. Just didn't get it fitted in time for this boat test. It frightening how much I have forgotten as I haven't had a large boat for a long while, but I did remember to put the bungs in though! ;D

So, to sum it up it is noisy, very fast and doesn't leak. (which is always a good thing). Just needs more work to get those problems sorted.

Cheers

Ed.

[mal555]

Good luck with the fine tuning Ed, you are bound to find a few gremlins after such an extensive rebuild project.
Don't be frightened to put max. psi's into all the tyres, both trailer and tow vehicle to gain towing stability at highway speeds, especially with the Jeep which will have fairly soft suspension.
I tow a 3 tonne plus rig with a dmax which is pretty soft (in more ways than one) compared to other utes, and she needs the full 50 psi in all four tyres to maintain stability over 90 kph, she gets the wobbles even if the front tyres are at 40 and the rear at 50, it's that critical.
The trailer runs at 50 as well.

[EdBerg]

Good luck with the fine tuning Ed, you are bound to find a few gremlins after such an extensive rebuild project.
Don't be frightened to put max. psi's into all the tyres, both trailer and tow vehicle to gain towing stability at highway speeds, especially with the Jeep which will have fairly soft suspension.
I tow a 3 tonne plus rig with a dmax which is pretty soft (in more ways than one) compared to other utes, and she needs the full 50 psi in all four tyres to maintain stability over 90 kph, she gets the wobbles even if the front tyres are at 40 and the rear at 50, it's that critical.
The trailer runs at 50 as well.

Thanks Mal555, I spoke to a Mickey Thompson dealer at the 4WD and Tinnie and Tackle show about what tyre pressure I should run on mine and he suggested 35PSI, due to the low weight of the Jeep compared to the larger 4WD's out there, and the 10 ply LT rating of the tyres, I had been running them prior at 40PSI and took his advice but didn't notice any difference, but on advice of another Ausfish member who suggested fitting an aftermarket rear sway bar, he did it to his vehicles and it improved his ride a lot. I have ordered one, but it will arive in a few weeks time from the USA. But at the end of the day I need to put another 120Kg on the drawbar which I will do shortly by moving the boat forward a bit more, plus adding the electric winch and battery box to the front.

The trailer tyres are at 50PSI already but may increase them another 5psi as well.
I did a small run with the Jeep towing the 3.2T over a short distance (36km) about 2 weeks ago and whilst it's not a real good distance to test fuel milage but I think I got about 16-17lt/100Km at about 80-85Km/hr.

Cheers

Ed.

[mal555]

An analogy used about running trailer and vehicle tyres with lower air pressure is likening pushing a wheel barrow full of wet cement with a half flat tyre, and the amount of wasted energy used.

[Jarrah Jack]

Good to see you got it in the water Ed. With a boat that size I'd be driving her on and off but I noticed that you switched the motor off to help with the winching. Did you try gunning it? I use an L&R latch and I'll never have a big boat without one again. Seems like you need the correct rope for the winch seeing its not grabbing in the gypsy.

[EdBerg]

I did try a bit at first but was a bit hesitant to apply a lot of power as this was the first time it had been on the water and wasn't sure if all the rollers would line up properly or if the wobble rollers would catch under the chines and cause damage. I will do a few more off and ons to see how it goes before I will risk gunning it.

Cheers

Ed.

[outta line]

I to have had the same problem with my winch rope bunching up .The softer the rope the easer it falls into the anchor well. you also have to have enough space from winch to the bottom of well as it will want to spring back on itself causing it to bunch up if there isnt enough room for it to lay and coil in well. will be interested to hear what the manufacturer has to say.What brand and style winch have you got ed?
cheers mick

[mal555]

I did try a bit at first but was a bit hesitant to apply a lot of power as this was the first time it had been on the water and wasn't sure if all the rollers would line up properly or if the wobble rollers would catch under the chines and cause damage. I will do a few more off and ons to see how it goes before I will risk gunning it.

Cheers

Ed.


The cheap and cheerful method of protecting keel/planing strakes/chines is to measure and cut lengths of 50mm poly (agricultural) pipe to fit over the exposed transverse wobble roller brackets.

Then cut length ways leaving a 15mm gap to spread open (needs to be a tight fit) then jam fit over the transverse bracket, finish off with a couple of large cable ties.
The whole job will owe you about $2.50 in materials (the whole trailer) take about an hour in labour and you can leave the boat on the trailer while fitting.

[EdBerg]

I to have had the same problem with my winch rope bunching up .The softer the rope the easer it falls into the anchor well. you also have to have enough space from winch to the bottom of well as it will want to spring back on itself causing it to bunch up if there isnt enough room for it to lay and coil in well. will be interested to hear what the manufacturer has to say.What brand and style winch have you got ed?
cheers mick

Hi Mick , it's a South Pacific VS1000, I still haven't got around to ring the manufacturer but I suspect that my rope may a bit too twisted when I unwound it off the coil, I will wait till I am able to take the boat for a spin out to deeper water (120mt plus west of Cape Morton ) where I will unclip the anchor and just let out the rope and chain straight down and then wind it back up, might have to do it a couple of times and see if it improves. There should be enough drop in the anchor well itself.

[peterbo3]

Hi Ed,
Looks great. Your welding & fabrication skills are top notch. Your TM260 may be subject to a recall depending on date of manufacture.
Go here:
http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/429787-tm260-recall.html

[EdBerg]

Hi Ed,
Looks great. Your welding & fabrication skills are top notch. Your TM260 may be subject to a recall depending on date of manufacture.
Go here:
http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/429787-tm260-recall.html


Thanks, and also for the heads up, I bought mine about 6 months ago, so will email Airmar and see if mine is affected.

Cheers

Ed.

[EdBerg]

Well after a very long time my missus and I took the boat out for a spin out side the passage. I had it 3 times in the water over the past couple of months before this, just running it up and down the passage to make sure all the gremlins were out after the refit, (they weren't) had to spend another 2 grand the other day getting the motor to reach the required RPM's (new pumps and hoses), as it wouldn't go past 4200 rpm, this is on top of the 3 grand already spent on wiring and connecting new electronics to the motor plus servicing the leg.

Anyway we were hoping to go out on Fri. and stay overnight and come back on Sat afternoon, but this was not meant to be, due to the weather forecast not looking too good for the rest of the week, we decided today was the day.

So took off about from Spinniker marina at about 11:00am and scooted over to the top end of Morton Island, fairly good run over but got a little bit bumpy once we were on the Northern end. A little bit of swell mixed with a few small waves near the shallow parts but pretty good none the less, averaged about 24-27 knots. for 37-44lt/hour fuel burn. ie: 1.14km/lt which is about what I expected.

Dropped some lines and pick, pick, pick. Heaps of leather jackets, clouds of them everywhere, so headed out past the point and on to the 100m line and not much there, chased some patches of birds working several areas on the way out but couldn't entice anything in the water to grab the lures, as the wind was picking up by that stage we didn't stay for long and headed back around and anchored off Bulwer for some late lunch, came back in at about 4:45pm. About halfway back the water sudenly became 1m deep, I had forgotten how many shallow sand bars there are in the bay. ;D so changed course instantly and headed to deeper water.

No fish to speak of, (Leather Jackets don't count) but a nice day out, worked out what else we need to do still, ie; baitboard, deck washdown connection, cup holders, higher windscreen is a must. (really bad hair day) ;D still had fun though. So getting closer to finishing, but due to the extra repair costs I won't be doing the Lucinda 6 week trip next month that we had planned and will just go as far as the Keppels for two weeks.

Ed.

[johncar]

Nice update Ed, glad to hear that she is finally back seriously in the water. You had some challenging times no doubt getting her back to the task. Should be some great days ahead and 2 weeks at Keppels sounds great to me. Yeah the weather turning to cr*p this week, I hope to get out Monday but will not get my hopes up too much just yet.