Bleeding Green

Most people who are into re-birthing are in it for the money, they aren't stealing boats or outboards so they can use it themselves. I would imagine without having any facts to back me up, the theives who would be dis couraged from stealing by having a yearly inspection are those who are going to knowingly fit a stolen outboard to their boat. Probably looking at maybe less then 10% of thefts. They are probably the oportunist thief too, who would see the boat sitting in someone's front yard and think 'gee, I really want that motor more then the current owner, plus my outboard is cactus'. In any case though, you must have been devasted to find your rig was not only targeted, but damaged as a result and has now cost you dollars to get it up and running again just becuase of someoe's dirty fingers. So I can certainly see where you are coming from.

Is it worth running it dry by installing a fuel tap and turning it off so there is no fuel left in the carbys? I do this with my lawn mower and the kids dirt bikes and have never had any issues. Would it cause any harm to an outboard?

Hi Hutch, When I asked a boat mechanic about installing a dual battery setup he said the most important thing was to install a VSR, which I think is a Voltage sensor/sensitive relay?. It has something to do with which bettery gets recharged by the alternator when the motor it running. The Magazine, TBF, has had articles over the last couple of issues which runs through the process. It is very helpful and I will be referencing back to them when I take it on. The author even threw in his email address and said he'd be happy to answer any questions which I took advantage of. The cost of the parts to do it properly will ad up. I'd suggest you work out exactly what your quote includes as it doesn't seem over the top to me. A decent 4 way switch I think is around $200, then you need decent cables which need to be made up, crimps etc etc. Hope this helps.

Just wondering what everyone does to get their outboard started quickly after it has been sitting unused for a couple of months? I have a carby 2 stroke oil injected yammie (key start). If it's only been sitting for a couple of weeks it starts first go every go. But if it's been a while, like over winter, I give the fuel line a pump or two, then try starting it up. I'll crank it for about 3 or 4 seconds, then stop for 5 seconds or so before having another go. It will start after about 5 or 6 goes. It's no big deal, but is there something in particular that causes it, such as stale fuel, and is there a sure fire (excuse the pun) to get it fired sooner?

I am probably in the minority, but I would be sceptical that it would be just another fee/license/rego/insurance/permit/inspection/tax eg: revenue raiser. It would be nothing more then an major hassle having to hook up the boat and run it down to an inspection station which would no doubt only operate during normal buisness hours. We have pink slips for cars and this doesn't deter theives. Maybe I would have a differant opinion if I was a victim.

I gave it a go the other night. Didn't have much success. Managed to push it back out a bit but I quit while I was ahead. It took a huge amount of knocking and I was reluctant to continue - didn't want to break any welds where the side sheet meets the gunwales. Alu is much harder then I imagined. The rubber mallet has too much bounce and a timber block and hammer didn't give me any advantage. I ended up using the ball hammer with continious light taps making sure I didn't put any dimples in it. If it really gets to me one day I might take it to a pro (would smash repairers work on this or would I need to take it to a boat specialist?) but till then I'd rather spend the cash on other parts of the boat. Thanks for your help.

I read on the net somewhere that aluminium doesn't get soft when heated. It will withstand heat to a point then starts to melt. Given that, I'm not going to try and heat it, plus I don't want to burn the paint. So I am going to take to it with a mallet and a block of wood. Fingers crossed. I'm not after a perfect result, but would be happy to push it back out to make it less noticable before I stick on the boat name.

Thanks mate. Which way does it fold down, towards the screen, or towards the back of the boat? and how is it secured in the open position? I'll need to make sure my can fold down flat to fit through my garage door.

Thanks for your reply GYM_. Sorry I didn't get the pictures up in time. Here they are if anyone else might have any ideas. Cheers.

Hi, Nice boat. Just looking at your bimini, did you have that installed or was it already on the boat. I am finaly getting around to replacing my old and impracticle canopy and I like the look of your bimini. Cheers.

Hi Raiders, My quintrex has a dent in the side which looks like it happened by banging into the side of a jetty. I have just taken off the old stickers and before I put the new ones on I was hopeing to be able to bang out abit. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do it? The boat is painted so I am not sure how that would react to heating if heating is necessary. I will take some pictures tonight and post them. Hopefully the dent will be clearly shown. Cheers.

Does anyone have anything else to add?

Well done mate. I have only been into boating for 6 months or so now and I have to say there is nothing better then getting up on the plane on a fresh sunday morning when the water is like glass. It's so good, I'm considering selling my GSXR which I thought would never happen. Every chance I get I choose to take the boat out. Getting out there for the first time is tough, but once you've done several times you start to get the hang of it. Let us know how you go.

Pink Slip? Just another cost and pain in the bum really. I think I might get the trailer and boat weighed so I really know what I am dealing with. Thanks for you help.

Is this possible? The trailer is 10 yrs old but condition is fine. Do you know how much bigger then wheels need to be? I wouldn;t want to raise the trailer which would make it harder to retreive the boat? But I guess I would have this problem with a new trailer too.

I don't want to seem stupid but this isn't obvious to me. Fishing is totally new to me. Just breifly, can you tell me in type of situation when bait fishing you would use swivels? Are soft plastic setups and metal lure setups similar? Thanks again.

Thanks for the help. So far I can ascertain I am not too far off and some articles make it seem more complex then it really is. I should be using braided line with a mono leader about 6 foot long? What is the reason that braided line is better for soft plastics? Where do swivels come into it?

All, Due to the back seat of my dual cab not being wide enough to comfortably fit 3 child restraints I am looking at the option of changing it for a sedan. This will mean that when we go camping I will have to store more gear in the boat. I am worried about the weight as my trailer is unbraked. Considering the boat (475mm alu boat) weighs 380kg + motor 80kg + trailer 150kg(do these figures sound right?) with fuel fishing gear batteries etc I am not much under the 750kg maximum unbraked towing capacity. So I am thinking of updating the trailer to enable to carry more gear in the boat. How much would I expect to pay for a good condition second hand braked trailer? How hard is it to setup a trailer to suit a specific hull shape? Where is the best place to look for trailers? Any other info/advice is greatly appreciated. I am just considering my options at this stage. Thanks for your help/input.

Hi all, I am a novice who is only now getting into fishing as a consequence of owning a boat. I am from Wollongong so most go out onto Lake Illawarra which I believe has plenty of Flathead, Tailer and Bream. I have been using a Rod which about 6 foot, and 4kg line which I put onto the rod myself. I have been trying using squidgy's (soft plastics?) but keep going back to bait as I seem to have slightly more sucess when I stick a prawn on my hook. I have a soft plastic hook. I really have N.F.I when it comes to fishing. What's confusing me most is leaders, traces etc. What are they? are they the same thing? Do I make them up myself? Do I need them? There is so much information out there that it's actually confusing because most of it assumes that you are at least knowledgable in some sort of fishing. Any help as a start would be great.

I booked the boat in with a local marine service shop which is the only company I have had any experience with. They quoted me $290 for labour Inc oils plus parts. Told me that the impeller for my boat was about $50. So it should end up under $400. Does this sound OK or excessive? The guy I spoke to said they would change impeller, change gear box oil, any filters (fuel filter is only 2 months old so I won't change that), grease engine, check spark, check compression and timing. Have they missed anything? Cheers.

Check that all is in working order including instruments / electronics etc. Check the trim operates properly while underway, check to see if the engine is cold before the owner puts it in the water to see how well it starts when cold. Run it both at slow speed and full throttle and listen / feel to see if the engines hesitates at all. Do some research before you go as to what revs and knots it should reach at full thottle if the the boat has the instruments check that these match up on the water. I'll leave it at that as there are many other guys here better qualified then me to help you out. Good luck.

I am still looking for a recommendation for some one local. If I had more time on my hands atm I'd consider taking it up to huetts on a saturday but I just don't have the luxury. Xtreme don't service the wollongong area unless I pay for the travel time. If I can't get a recommendation I am going to have to throw some darts to pick some one local. Cheers.

I would prefer nothing more then to take it to huey, but unfortunately I'd have to take a day off work which would make for a very expensive service. I've contacted xtreme to see what areas he services, as I can't see anything regarding this on his website. I'll await his reply. In the mean time if anyone knows someone else they recommend, or even someone they wouldn't go near, PM me. Cheers, BG

Finally had a chance to have a look at 'oil light ' issue and found that the earth wire had come loose. Reconnected it and all seems fine now. Drained the oil resoiver while I was at it thinking that the oil in the bottom might have turned to sludge because it's bee in there for a few years but found no such issue. It's great to be able to cross one thing off the 'to do' list. Cheers.

Hi Raiders, I need to get my boat in for a service but haven't decided on which mechanic to use. I would love to take it huey but seeing that I am in wollongong it's too far. So if you can recommend anyone in Wollongong PM me. I am obviously after someone I can trust who is not going to charge like a wounded bull. On another note, after taking the boat out today I flushed the motor with fresh water at home as always. But after not too long the audible warning sounded and I concluded that the engine was overheating. I can only suspect that the water is not getting through properly. It was flowing out the back though. Is there something I can check myself before mentioning it to the mechanic I chose when it gets serviced? Thanks in advance.