New props water test figures

[bugman]

Hello gents,

I've been trying to improve the fuel economy of the big cat. I contacted Steve Evans at Solas and we decided on new blades - actually he felt there was only one alternative to what I was running and that was it.

Anyway ran her up and down the river yesterday - taking an average for up and down considering the strong current and wind.

Old props were Solas 3 blade 14 3/4x16 and the new are Solas 3 blade 15x14. The boat is a Grady White Tigercat f26 which is quite heavy.

With the old props the two 150hp Yamaha four strokes would only rev out to 5200 with the new props I hit 6000 down current and 5900 up current.

I've been searching for fuel economy which gives me 1 litre =1 kilometre. I didn't get it but I did get 10-12% increase in effeciency in my optimum cruising range which I guess makes it worth while.

Figures are attached:

Brett

[OPTI]

good improvement,have you tried a set of 4 blades on her?

[Chimo]

Hi Brett

So 18 kn seems like about the cruise eh?

Hows the river bank works coming along or are they still thinking about the optimum blah blah etc ?

Cheers
Chimo

PS So your keeping the old props for spares or do Solas trade in?

[bugman]

Opti,
I suggested 4 blade props to Steve at Solas but he felt those 150hp motors (2009 models) wouldn't swing the four blades - not enough torque.
Chimo
Yeah I've always felt that 3900 rev range was the most fuel effecient - even with the old props. The thing about her is she'll do that 18knots on a flat river or in 1.5m seas - no difference.
The river bank is sinking further - he's having a second crack at the insurance company who said no the first time. It's getting a bit complicated now because we're renegotiating bringing forward the purchase. Our new shop has had another delay so we're thinking about buying the house and getting it out of the way. So - now the discussion begins as to whether he fixes it - or we fix it and it comes off the price. There's always something going on.
Brett

[Chimo]

Brett

When you say the bank is sinking I hope you mean slumping.

Either way even without seeing it experience suggests some work needs to be done on the toe of the moving mass sooner rather than later, ie before your working from the "centre" of the river back to the house.

Being extreme but I guess you know what i mean. By the way when you had the boat in the river did you sound around and along the toe of the slump?

Cheers
Chimo

[bugman]

Mate I've too scared to take the big boat near the edge in case the wash does any damage. It's definitely moving - but slowly - probably a bit faster than the Eifel tower but not much more.
They've re-piped all the drainage so it runs into the river and not into the soil but it's definitely "settling" further out into the river. Anyway they look at it it's going to require some backfilling from an outside soil source now.
The fix as I understand it is - Rock Wall with a horizontal 4m wide grass section to another rock retaining wall mid lawn then a final sloping lawn section to the back pool fence.
He's had quotes from $76k to early $100's
The question is would I do that fix if i owned it or would I do something different. I really like the vertical retaining wall straight into the river but it has more headaches and costs associated with it.
Brett

[Chimo]

Brett

Whatever rock etc goes into the river has to tie to a solid bit of strata or the toe of the embankment will more than likely keep creeping / slumping. Are they considering any sheet piling / piles to establish a toe to work off. Your vertical retaining wall straight into the river would need a sound toe too and if you come up too high in one bite the lot can go whereas the multi step concept you reckon they are looking at has a little more pf a safety factor built in. Not surprised at the $ estimates

Still reckon if it was mine I'd be drifting along the edge to have a look at the underwater word! Especially looking for gradient out from your boundry.

Cheers
Chimo