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View Full Version : Help with a 4.5m fiberglass hull



fishnNauru
14-04-2012, 09:29 PM
Hey all,
I'm needing some advice on a new 4.5 m fiberglass boat i recently got, made somewhere in Malaysia I think. It's replacing my 1st boat a rough and leaky 13ft tinny, that was well acquainted with JB weld :)
It had a crack in it from shipping to Nauru which I have fixed. The Tinny was tough as, but fiberglass is new to me...
I have a few questions about the boat and what I need to do...
1. It has no drain plug, and the seats i presume are for flotation(they sound hollow, and go all the way to the floor of the boat, so water will not get to the drain plug unless i drill a hole in each side of the seat and put pipe through, is that ok to do as long as i seal the pipe to the seat well?
2. On the bow it has no attach point to attach the hull to the tralier any ideas on this? I'm currently tying a rope around the handle in the bow and back to the tralier...but it's abit rough :(
3. the new boat is quite abit longer than the old it fits on the tralier that a friend welded together...any ideas or suggestions... is it worth extending the wood rails past the end of the tralier. does fiberglass require anything different as far as trailers go?
4.I want to attach some pipes to act as rod holders to the seats, as long as how the pipes are attached keeps the seat air tight it should be ok right?
5. I use an alvey winch to run a dive board/paravane/planer whatever you like to call it, i mounted it to the oar points on the tinny, any ideas how to attach it to this hull? the rail is quite solid, could i drill and mount it that way? I don't the stainless bracket/clamp type of winch.
6. I wasnt sure about recommended HP as is has not plate or specifications anywhere. We took it out on it's first run with our 15hp johnson and it ran well, and planed easily, so I don't think we need to go any bigger. Has anyone owned a hull of similar size and what did you power it with?
7. the hull is skinnier (1.3m at it's widest) than our tinny, any idea what the original intent of this kind of hull is, dingy/tender, river etc. it didn't feel quite as stable in the water as the shorter wider tinny, not dangerous, but it'll take some getting use to.

Any advice, suggestions would be greatly apprecaited.
Adam - FishnNauru