zmk1962

Nice rig Jon, with a good solid hull underfoot its hard to go wrong .... I like the choice of motor as well - its what I have been reconsidering if I repower .... The only thing that does not appeal to me on most of the cuddy/half cabs today is that sharply raked front screen - it looks great aesthetically, it makes the boat look "fast" ..... but in reality for me as I mostly stand when steering, I always found the sharp angled screen to be threatening to re-arrange my face or teeth in a chop. Mine had a similar raked design as per the picture below, and I can honestly say it was a massive improvement when I had the screen re-angled. Just about everything improved, more room in the cabin, better visibility, water drops didn't hang on the screen etc etc. It completely changed the way the boat felt.

A big thanks and wishing the best of the festive season and for the new year, to you Donna and the rest of the fishraider crew. You guys and gals are awesome. Cheers Zoran

Sure is. And on a freezing night that’s set in stone not clay !!! 😂 Cheers Z

Top fish and report. Don't think you'd ever get tired of those Xmas presents.... Merry Christmas ! Cheers Zoran

Hey @Admis thank you. I purchased the boat 2nd hand in 1996 so not sure if any of the original pricing details have any relevance today but PM if you are still interested. I have looked after it ever since and it's had numerous upgrades and additions over time, some small some big (like the hardtop). But I started with a solid, sound and reputable built hull so even today its insured for around 40k and replacement with a similar offshore rig would set me back in the 60-100k range depending on age and hours. Cheers Zoran

Sometimes it's good to revise and old topic with updated information ... helps us all catch up ! Cheers Zoran

Best wishes mate ... Castle Hill at 4pm ... we had lights on in the house Cheers Zoran

Awesome post. Great read and nice that you released. If it helps, I usually upload the vid to YouTube then post the link here. Please post more often! cheers Zoran

Hey Sam... hope reno's are nearly done ... the weekend is not looking flash mate... I've got my eyes on Monday. Cheers Zoran

Hey Jason, agree 100%, if you remove them, you have to stow them... which can be a PITA ! I have a length of conduit with press stud bases fitted to match the press studs on the clears. It's simple to clip the clears to the conduit and then roll them up. There are two lengths of clear strap permanently fitted at the top that loop over the rolled up clears and then are held in place by toggles. Its simple and works. Re: Overnighting: if your set up it's just like camping on water. In the early days of owning the Haines the family (wife and two daughters) would spend many a weekend on the Hawkesbury. Launch late Friday evening and be out of the water late Sunday arvo. Boating, fishing, cruising around. Kids would bring their homework on board ! Nowadays the daughters aren't so keen (understandable given they are 26 and 30). My wife and I still go overnight occasionally but it's more me and a mate or two usually chasing hairtail or such. I'm sure we would all be more comfortable on a 40' with separate bedrooms and hot and cold water ... but hey we make do with our own "reality". Bottle of red and 1/2 bottle of black label bundaberg aside. 😇 Here's a recent trip of what it's like: Cheers Zoran

Hard top was around $3K. I went for full plate-glass front and side windscreens, alloy two pac roof, and pantographic wipers with washers. We did re-purpose the existing stainless rocket launchers and bimini frame so that saved some cost. But then I also had to add a new set of clears and storm cover to suit the new configuration which was another $1.2k (these were due to be done anyway). The side clears are made to be rolled up out of the way to allow fresh air on those hot days, and rolled down to keep us dry in chop or rain. Cheers Zoran

If you are looking for comparison and advice between these two rigs I can't specifically comment between the HS650F or the HH625O. I have not heard anything bad about either of them. Best bet would be to find someone that has one and go crew for a day. Lots of guys on this site run 6m plate boats as well. Personally I have an older model Haines Hunter 635L, which I converted to a hard top and I couldn't be happier - offshore, in bays, overnight. It has a full cabin and two 7foot bunks, marine toilet, 100L fresh water, gas BBQ etc. You can search the forum for my posts and adventures. I often fish with my wife. With a full half cabin (sleeping), you lose fishing space and mobility as you a restricted to fishing from the back half of the boat, but you gain protection from the elements and lots of dry storage. If you plan to anchor often, you also need to sort out how you will do that most easily/efficiently with the restricted access to the front. Most of my boating is offshore - fishing close trolling the head lands, hitting the reefs or out wide deep dropping, trolling, jigging - so I am happy with a big heavy rig and all the complications that come with that. As JonD alluded - large SUV, electric hydraulic breakaway brakes (which requires tow vehicle modification as well), extra maintenance, annual HVIS inspections etc But judging something "best" is very subjective.... and very dependent on how you plan to use the boat most often. I recently had a friend who was determined to upgrade his 5.3m bow rider to an offshore 6m+ hull and go wide - he went out with me, and quickly realised he was not suited to offshore conditions and is now VERY happy to stay in the bays and estuaries on his bow rider. Cheers Zoran

+1 for Standard Horizon. Have had my GX1600 since 2012 ... has not skipped a beat. Crystal clear to Marine Rescue Sydney from 40km out. Cheers Zoran

Thanks for the very timely reminder Donna - the Sydney weather is looking good this weekend and I suspect many will be out there boating - so everyone keep in mind we are in Level 2 restrictions. On the other side of the coin, my daughter brought this article to my attention ... : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7780983/Foreign-company-sells-89-billion-litres-Australian-water-rights-490m-drought.html?ito=facebook_share_article-top Apologies if this detracts from your post Donna (move it if required) but it's something that made my blood boil ! Makes you wonder why it's not featured in ANY Australian news feed ??? Our governments have spent around 60bn of tax money on Murray Darling water crisis .... and we wonder why it has not worked......and we could have bought the contract ourselves for $460m as at least part of the solution.... but no that didn't happen either. I am speechless. Cheers Zoran

This is how my trailer rollers are set up .... They don't span past the first chine .... as per view below: The hull is positioned to sit back - with rollers almost directly under the stern (this would be the strongest so minimizing any flex to the underside of the hull). Based on where you are seeing the cracking - in the rear corners - it suggests to me that either: a) the stern is flexing. Tilt the motor, then try and lift or push down on the skeg and have someone sight along the stern to see if there is any flex. or b) the sides of the hull are flexing. Where and how tight are you fitting the trailer strap? When you tighten the strap can you see any inward flex on the sides of the hull? or c) the hull is flexing - probably longitudinally along the keel - like a torsion flex. It could be due to stringer failure or as its being winched up on the trailer. Someone else commented that there is nothing to catch the bow, so does it come up leaning on one side and then eventually straighten up? Cheers Zoran PS - if its the weight of the motor causing stern flex, then as Jon advised a motor bracket can help. Just make sure to get the one with the shock absorbing spring to provide some separation from direct shocks on trailer being transmitted to the motor/stern mounts.

I'll just give you my own experiences. I purchased my big heavy, deep V Haines 635L back in 1996 - at that time it had a pod mounted Yamaha 225 XL with aluminium hydrofoil wings bolted to the cavitation plate, and across the stern there was one battery and a 10L oil reservoir. The previous owner used the boat for pulling skiers and tubes and overall I can confirm it popped up to plane pretty quick in a river or estuary scenario. I was new to offshore boating and never took it offshore in that configuration - so can't comment on any offshore behaviour or following sea issues with the foil. But it was pretty evident there were cracks on the cavitation plate ..... and so I took the foil off. There was negligible difference to hole shot in my opinion without the foil. I then replaced the Yamaha with a Merc EFI XL, dropped HP down to a 200, added a 15HP aux, installed 3 batteries across the back and still retained the 10L oil reservoir. I also carry a 35L live bait tank on the marlin board. That's a LOT more weight across the back then when I was running with the 225. Also I'm running the standard Vengeance 19P (14in) 3 blade S/S prop. This is my Haine's performance with the 200HP: 2000-2100rpm 15-18km/h planing speed 3400rpm 40km/h, 4000rpm, 55km/h, 4200rpm, 58km/h, 4900rpm 75km/h 5800rpm ??? red line .... no comment I have no hydrofoil fitted. After the initial few sea trials, I had the motor raised until I could see the cavitation plate just below the surface at plane. I spent a fair bit of time on balance of the hull (100L water bladder up front under the port bunk, to offset the starboard mounted Aux and the bait tank), all the gear is shoved upfront and I also installed an anchor winch (about 50kg) right at the bow. The below video should start at 4:18 which will show you hole shot (without gunning the motor). My wife was even standing at the stern so an extra 50kg or so there .... I do trim the motor in on take off (so the upward thrust helps lift the stern) and then level it out once the boat is underway.... not sure if that is visible in this video though. In my view there is a lot be gained with correctly balancing your hull and playing with tilt/trim. Personally given what I saw on the Yamaha I would not be drilling the cavitation plate. If a large cavitation plate was the answer you'd think the manufacturers would be releasing outboard with this feature standard just to get a competitive advantage. Cheers Zoran

As others have already said this has been discussed previously .... here's the link: Cheers Zoran

DPI have not imposed a minimum size limit for deep water species just for that reason - the chance of survival is pretty close to zero. It’s a quantity limit (bag and boat and it’s also a combined limit across all species) with the caveat of only 2 gemfish per person and 10 per boat. So most fishos bag out on deep water fish by hitting their gemmies limit first. On my boat we then move onto trolling and other fishing endeavors- but I see some boats hanging around repeating drifts - makes me wonder if they have some special non-gemfish attracting bait ! 🧐🤨 cheers Zoran

Awesome report and well done 👍 on the fish and the release. The start of many boat adventures I bet. cheers Zoran

I managed to find my way down there yesterday to drop of several packs of expired flares. A bit of an expedition due to the intersection closure - fighting the congestion then working the maze of side streets. I was the only one there at the booth around 11am. Well worth it though. Had a good chat to Ray - he sparked up when I said hey you’re the guy from the flare video on fishraider!! Fishraider rocks! Cheers Zoran

Just in a friend’s antiques shop and found this Alvey it’s a side cast about 6.5in PM me for details of shop if interested cheers Zoran

Out of curiosity, and only if you don't mind sharing your top secrets, could you describe the rig and technique you used to land that bewdy? Cheers Z

In my experience promptly bled and properly looked after (iced down) kingfish freeze well. Agree with @noelm keep bag limit where it’s at. cheers Zoran

Well written Jon. The crew has often topped this capt’n. cheers Z

I think the choice of length and stiffness comes down to what you feel most confident with, however one thing that’s critical is to have the knife as sharp as possible. I will always reach for the sharper knife regardless of stiffness. Has been discussed before: Cheers Z