mr475

Last week a client of ours lost 2 boats to a fire in Middle Harbour. You may have seen this on the TV news. A barbecue mishap on his cruiser started the fire. It took hold of the cruiser (which was fibreglass) and then spread to another boat he used to conduct a waterborne coffee shop service. The disturbing thing that got me thinking was that he said when some burning material fell onto his second boat, it caught the marine carpet on fire and , to use his words, "It spread like it was kerosene over the carpet." My worry now is whether all marine carpet is so flammable. If there is a fire on my runabout at the stern where the engine is, will it spread too fast for me to get the fire extinguisher working? I know in my case I can just go over the side in an emergency, but I would rather be able to limit damage by using my extinguisher without having the fire licking at my ankles while doing it.

Went for a leisurely cruise from Rose Bay boat ramp on Sunday at about 9.30 am to cruise to Darling Harbour. About 300 metres from the ramp we saw something odd sticking up out of the water, so we went to investigate. It was a sea lion about 7 feet long floating with one flipper and one tail fin in the air. He (or she) had its head under water and would look up every so often to see what was going on then look down again. We got within 5 metres of it and took a photo and it didn't care about our presence at all. But at the same time I didn't want to spook it and have it jump into the boat with us so we just cruised off and left it alone. We didn't see it when we came back about 4 hours later. I have never seen a seal in the harbour before. There must be fish there, I guess.

Basically, unless you are driving a starship which can travel at warp speed, you won't need one. Beam me up,Scotty.

Our little Quintrex 475 Bayhunter Caprice. 2000 model. 70hp Yamaha 2 stroke.

I have read articles a couple of years old now that have indicated there may have been some problems with the build quality of alloy boats built by Telwater, which makes Quintrex, Stacer and now Savage boats. Does anyone know if there has been any improvement or resolution of this matter? Has the build quality improved in the last couple of years or are alloy boats from this manufacturer prone to cracking? Are they prone to cracking any more than any other alloy boat are were these stories caused by misuse and there are in fact no inherent strength issues with the boats. The trend today with nearly everything is to pare the specifications to the bare minimum in order to keep costs down. Has this trend spread to the boat industry such that now cheaper and lower quality materials are being used in construction which may result in a more "fragile" boat? Or was this whole issue just a beat-up and there was never a problem? Anybody got any inside knowledge?

We bought our Bayhunter Caprice just on a year ago. It is a 1999 hull sold early 2000 with a 70hp Yamaha 2-stroke. I had it checked by our local marine mechanic who pronounced it in excellent condition with all compulsory safety gear and good trailer. No work needed at all. It was like a new boat. Only the odd tiny scratch. I paid $16,000 and was very happy. I have seen them advertised by dealers for up to $20,000. So I think yours would be somewhere near the money for a boat in good condition. You can get them cheaper but you may have to factor in some extra fixing up costs. But I agree with you in that it is a good first boat. It is our first and we love it. My wife loves driving it too.

Have a look at the comprehensive discussion in another thread entitled "Phasing Out Fuel". In a word, YES there is an issue.

a few weeks ago I was fishing about 100 metres out from the rocks at the east end of Jibbon Beach and landed a nice 66cm flathead. Have also caught good bream there plus various other species. Good luck.

Ahhh, you know what they say about boats, BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand.

As a final note on this subject, I was filling my car at a suburban BP servo on Tuesday and noticed that there were notices on each bowser re what fuel to use in your boat. They stated that E10 was not suitable for marine application and that boats should use only 95 or 98 octane unleaded. Maybe all servos will have these little notices eventually.

Hi, Bleeding Green, I have a 475 Quintrex Bayhunter. It already had a canopy on it when I bought it which I think is a Quintrex accessory. It is a similar design to the one pictured on the twin hull boat in the first picture in this thread with a large square section that we usually keep rolled up because it allows us to stand up. When the weather closes in, we zip it closed and clip it to the windscreen and it keeps us dry because the boat faces into the wind at anchor. While we can't drive standing up when it is zipped shut, it is easy for fishing as we just have to unclip 2 straps and fold the whole thing forward so it sits on the windscreen out of the way. This takes about 5 seconds if you are slow. Very convenient but, like you , visibility in rain or heavy spray is an issue.

OK. I have followed this up with Yamha Motors. Their technical people say that older motors (anything earlier than 2008) should NOT use E10 at all. But they should be OK with 95 or 98 octane unleaded fuel. However, there may be problems such as the engines getting cranky and a bit hard to start but their research has not shown up any major issues. This applies to both 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines. Apparently E10 is not recommended for either marine or aviation applications. And it will dissolve your fuel lines if they are not E10 compliant and clean the inside of your fuel tank so that the gunk on the walls of the tank will come off and go into the fuel lines. They recommend changing filters often if you use E10 and also carry spares on board, the effect is so strong. Another interesting fact is that with the characteristic of absorbing water, if E10 sits there and absorbs water to any extent, the alcohol will actually separate from the unleaded petrol and sink to the bottom of the tank. I imagine THAT will cause some issues. Geoff is correct. It would be worse than running high octane. So the message (from Yamaha) seems to be that E10 should just not be used at all in boats. Just stick to 98 octane unleaded. The good old government screws us again. And I bet the price of 98 octane will go up even further. Let's just hope it will be some years away before 91 octane disappears. And just to mention that , once again, Huey is spot on with his advice. Just because an engine CAN use E10 doesn't mean you SHOULD use it.

Hello, guys and girls, I have heard that basic 91 octane unleaded petrol will be phased out in the near future, leaving only E10 or high octane (98) unleaded fuel. Apart from this being unfair to motorists, how will affect marine engines? My 70hp Yamaha handbook (2000 model) says it is built for 92 octane unleaded fuel. If a higher octane is used for some reason it may create problems and use of 92 octane should be resumed ASAP. It also shuns ethanol mixes. So how will I stand? Will I have to run 98 octane and risk engine problems? If so, what sort of engine problems could occur? (The expensive sort, no doubt!) Has anyone any knowledge of this? Don't tell me we will all have to buy new engines. Already the owners of older cars which took leaded fuel have to put additives in their fuel and can't use E10. Where do we stand?

I have a Quintrex 475 Bayhunter with a 70hp Yamaha and it came with a set of instruments which include a trim indicator. This shows you how the boat is riding, i.e. whethe in a bow up attitude or bow down. Adjusting the trim to put the needle on the neutral position works well but I have found that at speed I can go a little faster if I trim the bow up a little more in smooth water. Does your boat have one of these indicators? If so, it makes trimming a breeze. But I have a different problem. My boat cruises at 50kph (indicated) at 4,000rpm. When I go to WOT, the boat surges forward and tops out at about 60kph with 2 aboard and canopy up. But the tachometer only increases its reading by 500 rpm, going to a max of 4500rpm. The boat FEELS to surge and it SOUNDS like the revs increase by more than 500 rpm. Could it be possible that the tacho needle is sticking?

I also have a Bayhunter. It is a 2000 model with a 70hp Yamaha and I love it. It planes easily with 5 people aboard and will cruise happily at 50kph at 4,000rpm. We have over 200hrs on it now with no trouble and the extra power is great when you get that extra large following sea that wants to pick your boat up and turn it into a surfboard. I think you are just underpowered.

My wife and I bought our first boat 10 months ago. A 475 Quintrex with a 70hp 2 stroke Yamaha. We have done about 40 hours on the engine and spend most of our outings on the Bay or Sydney Harbour. Like they say, it is a matter of getting used to what the boat can do in various conditions and as you get more experience and confidence you can take the next step. Sometimes conditions change on you and force you to cope. A predicted 10knot breeze may turn into a 25knot wind and whip up the chop to a metre. You just have to take it easy. Some wakes you will encounter will be larger than any chop you are likely to come across. We have been through it and have gradually learned what to look for and what the boat will handle. We have learned that the boat will handle a lot more than we are comfortable with. We have been out the HEads with a choppy short 2metre swell but it was just too uncomfortable to try to sit there and fish while getting tossed around. So we came back in and learned that it is better to stay in front of the following big swells instead of surfing down them into the harbour because you have better control. We have been fishing off Point Perpendicular when the wind came up and the tide turned so we headed for home. It was a slower trip but we found out that the boat handled it fine and we got a little wet quartering into the wind. We are still new kids but we are a lot more confident in reading conditions than we used to be. And you can usually find a sheltered place to fish in the Bay somewhere. Just take a step at a time. You have a good boat with high freeboard so it should be able to handle most days on the Bay. Gee, for a new guy to this forum, I have run off at the mouth a bit. But we both love our boating and like fishing off Captain Cook's landing place and Bare Island fort. And dropping into a shelterd bay for a bite of lunch. That's the way to spend your time!

We did the same but hit the water at Rose Bay at 8.15am. Wind was up by then and we caught nothing until we stopped for lunch in the sheltered water of Taylor Bay. Then in the middle of lunch the rod in the holder bent over and a nice bream 30cm to the vee of his tail decided he would have lunch too. At least I got a feed. Why is it hard to catch fish when it is windy? Places that are normally active go bad when the wind comes up.

I am a little different. My grandfather taught me to fish when I was about 7 years old. He bought me a little 6ft bamboo rod with a bakelite Alvey sidecast reel and 12 lb line. Although I haven't been a super keen out-every-weekend fisher, I have always enjoyed it and I have used that rod and reel for 50 years. I always seemed to catch as many fish as my mates with more modern gear. I have even caught bigger things than they have some days when we were only fishing for bream and flatties. But when the guides finally gave out, my son bought me a new 7kg graphite rod and spinning reel and I love it. The drag is not the heel of my hand on the reel any more and the shock absorbing qualities and control are fantastic with larger fish on the end. But it is not an expensive setup either. I am just out there to have fun, but now that I have bought my own boat and the family are interested, I am getting a little more interested and may start doing serious stuff like berleying. I taught my boys to fish and they love it. I must now teach them to find the time to do it. Fun is the name of the game for me. As they say, a bad day's fishing is still better than a good day at work.

On Sunday 13/9 we hit the bay about 9.00am. Low tide. Went over near Captain Cook's landing place not expecting much because we were late. The wife hooked up 4 flatties of 40 to 55cm plus a little octopus that abandoned ship quickly. I got a nice flounder of 33cm (the little bugger even bit me!) a 40cm flattie and a Port Jackson of more than a metre. An interesting variety and the best we have done all winter. The water is up to 17 degrees. There were other things nibbling, probably trevally or bream, but they just didn't hook up. Anyway, a fun morning and it looks like the Bay is warming up with flathead.