zmk1962

I must say the only diesel powered craft I’ve been on recently have been larger yachts, cross channel ferries etc. lots of separation between passengers and engine room. way back in 70-80s we used to hire the wooden putputs which were powered by a single cyl diesel inboard. But they were full of bilge water diesel fish bits and pretty much on the nose so no modern experience with diesel in a trailer boat scenario. cheers z

Thanks Frank. He has settled in but we have not had a feed as yet. Just waiting for varnish to dry, then second coat tomorrow. I think first feed will most likely be Monday's dinner. So sorry to hear about your Jack Russell - they are a lively package - she would have kept you on your toes and in great company I'm sure. They have such individual personalities - just like people. Cheers Z

Oh dear ... sorry KC, was never meant to come across like that .... I was just picking up on someone's comment that we all felt we had to dress up to taste your fare !!! Actually I think we are all a bit wary of posting in the kitchen - think @mrsswordfisherman should be handing out some Michellin hats to separate you from us mere mortals ! Cheers Z

Hey Raiders, Totally unrelated to fishing - but very dear to me and my family - and it may help someone else. After many month$ of visits to the vet we finally have a diagnosis for our maltese shitzu pooch Archie - at 9yo he was happy and thriving, but then out of the blue started to throw, heave, chuck, regurgitate ..... hmmmm... Unlike a human's vertical oesophagus which gets help from gravity, a dogs oesophagus is horizontal so they totally rely on muscles to push food along to their stomach ... Well it turns out the little pooper has myasthenia gravis a condition where he has lost control of the oesophagus muscles in sections ... so as he loads up with food it sits in his oesophagus, which he then regurgitates. If left as is, the situation would worsen into another condition where bags/sacks form in the oesophagus which further traps food (megaesophagus) - most dogs with this conditions are diagnosed at this stage - we are fortunate to have got it early. Left untreated the pooch basically slowly fades as they cannot get enough essential nutrient - in the end the needle is the only humane solution. So we have tried holding him upright for 20min after food, which has had marginal improvement, but my thinking was he has loaded up and we are trying to get a gob of food down in one go, it would be easier if small doses of food made their way down as he ate - I googled it and others have thought the same - and its actually a "thing" - a bailey chair - lots of youtube clips. People had extended their pooches lives by years. So now after a day in the workshop I'm happy to report our pooch has his own "Archie Chair" . The front hinges open for easy loading ..... Trial fit - he's not sure about this - standing up - ... a minute later - all good - sitting and comfy - Looks like he's ready for some of @kingie chaser's special tucker .... well I think he certainly looks formal enough for it ! Cheers Zoran PS - varnishing and covering of foam with cloth is in progress.

I just found it interesting that this development is being pursued. I like the safety features of low flammable diesel, the torque and presumably economy but personally not sure I'd want to smell diesel on a boat all day. Has anyone ever been on a boat with a diesel outboard? Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, Just came across this in my youtube feed .... diesel Outboard 200HP, 400nm torque.... but 350kg ! Cheers Zoran

KC....You’re welcome to cook for me anytime! Cheers Zoran

...as long as every device has its own -ve and +ve path back to the battery (ie. no device uses the hull as a -ve path). Cheers Z

Fantastic feedback RAIDERS! .... thanks so much - you've helped confirm to me a switch to instant/LPG is the way to go. Cheers Z

@dmck has said it MOST succinctly. 100% agree. If you want further confirmation please look at the post by "kmorin" on the following link - he goes to great lengths to explain exactly what our Don has summarised in 3 lines... http://www.aluminumalloyboats.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2260&view=previous Do earth the -ve of the battery to the hull (similarly the motor will have a -ve attachment somewhere on the head and then to the hull through the mounting bolts). Do NOT use the hull as part of the electric circuit (run a separate -ve and +ve wire to every device). With this set up, if a stray current does appear, it would follow the path of least resistance (the dedicated -ve wire) back to the battery rather then use the hull. Cheers Zoran

Agree. We cook on gas stove now - love the instant heat and it is hotter than electric. We are set up with 2 bottles so there is no extra rent for them. So it’s just the additional consumption of gas that I had to factor in. I’m spending $600 per year on off peak electricity for hot water. That’s 6.6 x 45kg gas bottles. Looks like I’ll be in front. cheers Z

Thanks @Rob81 ! So I guess you're concluding he webber is more efficient than the stove inside ! I've read a lot of recent bad reviews on the current Bosch models and only praise on the Rinnai (42 bad reviews from all over the country https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/bosch-optiflow-professional). Which is a bit upsetting cause I liked what Green Hornet said about the HydroPower start that Bosch has on some of their units. So at present I'm leaning to a Rinnai even though it will mean cold water when there is a power failure (but because we have solar, it will be limited to power failure at night). I'd be very happy to get 3months out of a tank (house of 3 adults) ... only 4 gas bottles a year ! Cheers and Thanks Zoran

Thanks so much Noel.

Thanks Noel... yup aware of that. Just want to get a handle on how much gas they consume. What peoples experiences have been.

Hmmm ... that just tells me you're missing some in the collection ! Cheers Z

Thanks @Green Hornet, thats exactly the type of advice and experience I was after ! A new offpeak electric tank is about the same price as a 26L instant gas system. Annually I am spending about $600 on offpeak electricity service... at my current Sydney gas supplier rates that equates to about 6.6 x 45kg of gas. So based on your experience I'd be way in front. Hey @Rebel, unfortunately north and west roof space already has solar electricity panels. Current hot water is on offpeak - so solar generated electricity cannot heat the tank unless I move the hot water tank to prime electricity circuit all the time - which doesn't add up if the tank wants to heat up at night or rainy day as I'd be paying 28c/kwhr. Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, Our 315L offpeak hot water just started to leak - it's done its time. Anticipating this event I've been considering switching to a gas Instant Hot Water unit - the only problem is we do not have Natural Gas in the street, so I'd have to go LPG and hook it up to our 2 x 45kg cyls that are currently used for cooking, BBQ and some instant room heating. Is anyone currently running a gas Instant Hot Water unit on LPG cyls? I'd be keen to chat to understand your experience - how long do the cyls last etc. Just post here or PM me. Thanks so much. Cheers Zoran

Yup same with mine its the topside that gets burned. The sides on mine not so much. The underside good as. Your welcome. Least I can do to repay for all those snapper hints and tips. BTW, if you wait a bit, I sense Baz will be in possession of one of those Ryobi cordless buffers - it's will make your job that much easier again ! Cheers Z

Hey Scratchie .... I assume you are just trying to restore that new showroom fibreglass look. Owning a 28yr old FG hull here's what I considered and what I do to keep BARRYCUDA looking like this: 1. Respray with two pac marine paint : my friend has a 40ft yacht - moored - he has it resprayed about every 6yrs to keep that new look. Being on a mooring he is somewhat restricted in waxing / buffing etc. The painting process is essentially the same as respraying a car - cutting back and stripping all oils to ensure you get good adhesion. You have the option of spraying with a clear coat or adding colour. Ongoing maintenance is the same as looking after your car paint job. Can you do it as a handyman, probably - but without a spray booth it will be like you respraying your car in the open. Also, you'd need to shift the hull (rollers etc). I chose not to do this. 2. Vinyl Wrap : I have no experience with this - durability - ongoing maintenance etc. DIY ??? It just seemed to me, if I did this I'd always freak if I bumped up against the wharf? What happens with scratches? Does it start to peel ? Maybe others can give more advice here - but I chose not to do this. 3. Cut/Wax/Buff: Yes the elbow grease approach. Initially I was quite disappointed with this - I used to cut back with a cutting compound (looked great) then just whacked on any car polish and buffed - looked even BETTER ... but this lasted about 2-3 weeks then it faded and was chalky again and I was pi$$@#off and depressed wondering why I bothered. Happy to say that I've changed how and what I do and now I am getting much better results that last for 2-3months (even longer over winter out of the harsh summer sun). But first its helpful to understand what's actually gone on at the fibreglass surface. The first layer of glass that you see is the gelcoat - gelcoat is different to the glass thats underneath. Gelcoat is permeated with waxes and oils that give it that smooth finish and water proof property. Once these oils have evaporated and the waxes have dried out, the resin structure of the gelcoat is exposed and oxidises (chalks). So in addition to cutting back the oxidation, the restoration process has to some how replenish some of those lost oils /waxes and seal them in. I found that just cutting back and using car wax products didn't cut it - cutting back exposed a new layer of colour, but the car wax only provided a surface wax (designed to keep car paint protected) but didn't penetrate into the gelcoat. So pretty soon after application, it dried off , exposed the gelcoat and you were back to where you started. Long story short, the best products I have found to maintain the gelcoat in a marine environment are the following products most are from Meguires. Heavy cutting - badly oxidised - use a product such as the Septone below (or even an automotive brand like Kitten). You only have to use this the first time to cut back years worth of oxidation - these products have NO waxes/oils. Lighter cutting - touch up cutting Meg44.... Once you have cut back, Meg45 this is the stuff that actually penetrates waxes/oils into the gelcoat - I absolutely recommend the Meguires stuff. Then you need to seal it in - so final coat of wax - The above Meg50 Wax has provided longest protection to seal in the oils, but the Nulon below has delivered good results (at 1/2 the cost) as a fall back --- The process: wash boat with a car detergent and let it dry. 1. Cut back with a cutting compound - if this is the first time you are doing this - you have years of oxidation so use the Septone/Kitten for a deep cut - then the Meg44 to polish the gelcoat. Otherwise just use the Meg44. 2. Wipe over with a clean microfibre cloth. 3. Apply Meg45 High Gloss Polish - buff after 4. Apply Meg50 Cleaner Wax - buff after. Repeat every 2-3months as required with Meg50 or the Nulon stuff . Rarely do you need to go back to Meg45 - I have one side of the boat that cops all the sun - and I may have to hit that side with Meg45 once a year. Application/Buffing. I use pieces of old towels to apply the compounds and microfibre cloths for hand buffing around railings, bollards and fiddly areas. I have tried using a 9in 240V shop buffer but just found it way too heavy and bulky and the cord was a pain always catching when I least wanted it to. So I recommend you get yourself one of these - I can swing this around with one hand, climb all over the boat and one 5Ah battery will last longer than it takes me to do the whole boat. I use it for cutting and buffing. Buy replacement cutting/buffing pads on eBay (way cheaper). Once used, chuck them in the wash let dry and re-use - I still have my original set 4years into this. You can also use the buffer on the cars AND on the stainless steel fridge and other household appliances - you wife will love you. Anyway, thats how I do it. It's a bit of an investment to buy the marine products (about $30 for each of the Meguires, $18 for Nulon) and the buffer, but it's definitely a DIY type job. The initial cleanup cutting, wax and final wax will take you a good half day or more. But once done, the upkeep wax and buff is easy. I can wax and rebuff now in about 1-1.5hrs - depending on how many beer breaks I have. So it's not that much of a chore. Hope this is what you were after. Cheers Zoran PS - I have no relationship or financial interest with bunnings, ryobi or meguires products ... 🤪

Found my link to an earlier post o hairtail ... best of luck ! please report back cheers Zoran

Is this the start of a Fishraider Hairtail sesh social !!! Cheers Z

First Hairtail I ever caught ... back in the 80's with my first boat in the background. Good tucker for sure. Cheers Z

Wow! Great skill great catch. Congrats. Definitely a bucket list adventure cheers Zoran

Hairtail are very good on chew. Caught many. they have no scales so just wipe down with a rough cloth. The gut cavity is very short and easy to clean. Lop the head and the rest of the fish is one flat muscle fillet. I cut mine into 8” lengths, dust with flour or crumbs and shallow fry. Search FR lots of discussion re how to prepare and serve. cheers Zoran

Glad the boat and rig are all sorted Jon and you are back on the water. Just fabulous photos. Thanks for sharing. Cheers Zoran