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Recently upgraded my boat and the new one is too big to store in the garage. I had to get an all over cover to protect my Whittley SL22 from the elements. Found a awesome marine trimmer that did a great job. If anyone wants his name send me a PM and I'll pass it on. He was a pleasure to deal with.

Loco, I recently was on the market to upgrade to something bigger and had the green light from the minister of finance to buy new (roughly the same budget you have). For six months I religiously scrolled through boatsales.com at both new and second hand boats. I ended up purchasing a Whittley Sea Legend 6.5 with F200hp Yamaha. The boat was three years old and had 14hrs on the clock so it is virtually brand new in immaculate condition. These boats retail for $78k out of the show room. I jumped on it and saved myself $25k. The moral of the story is know your product and market price, a boat is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. There are plenty of second hand late model boats on the market in very good condition. You will save big $$$$ by being something a couple of years old. They reckon a boat deprecates up to 20% in its first year. Either way you decided to go, just make sure you use it and get your value out of it. Nothing worse then seeing boats on trailers (and in marinas) not being used rotting away with neglect. Good luck with it.

I agree with Testlab. A lot of keen boat owners are watching your thread. Will be interested to see what response you get from Tournament boats. This has already damaged their brand considerably. I know I would never buy one of their boats now.

I recently just went from a 130HP saltwater series (2007) Yamaha to a 200HP Yamaha 4 stroke. In the time I ran the Yamaha 2 stroke it performed faultlessly. However, it blew smoke when trolling at low speeds using the Yamaha genuine oil and if you had a 10-15 knot tail wind the fumes were over bearing in the cockpit. It was also very thirsty $$$$$$ to run. My new engine which I have had since August this year is bloody awesome in everyway. No exhaust smoke at all, super quiet that occasionally when fishing you actually forget its running. It also uses significantly less fuel then the 130hp 2 stroke. Recently I have been getting 70kms for just 40 litres of fuel and that's pushing a 6.5mtr fibreglass boat. In my old 5.5mtr glass boat with the 130hp 2 stroke a 80km return trip out to Browns mountain I was burning about 100 litres. So the fuel saving for me has been a huge benefit. My old 2 stroke engine had heaps of torque and was very responsive compared to my new 4 stroke. So if you are towing skiers or kids on tubes go for the 2 stroke Etec. If you are just cruising and fishing go with a 4 stroke Yamaha. Both good motors just my opinion.

Recently upgraded from a 5.4m Seafarer Vega 130hp to this weapon. Whittley Sea Legend 6.5mtr Yamaha F200hp 210lts fuel (approx 290km range) fitted with Lowrance HDS8 sounder/plotter

Thanks for your replies guys. After doing plenty of homework and speaking to people within the industry it looks like the Revival boat is not for me. I am now looking at the HH Profish 6m but will have to wait a bit longer to save some more $$$. In the mean time I will be trying to sell my Seafarer.

The Revival's side pockets have structural cleats across them preventing things like fishing rods, gaffs and the like being put in them which is a big negative when looking for a fishing boat. The front hatch and bait tank lid felt very thin which concerned me too. Huey has pointed me in the direction of the new Savage 645C f/glass boat which is around the same dollars as the Revival. However the 645C again does not have very good side pockets and no factory live bait tank. I looks like Savage have designed it purely as a family cruiser and not given much thought if they intended to market it to recreational fisherman. This will be my 5th boat and hopefully my last one for many years and my first brand new one so I am not willing rush in buy anything without being 100% happy with it. I just wish I could stretch the budget for a Cruisecraft but I would have to convince the and do some major sucking up!

I went to the Rosehill boat show on Saturday as I am looking to upgrade to something slightly bigger. I stumbled across Revival Boats and saw the 640 Fisherman. It looked pretty good for what I am after as I have to balance the fishing boat with family boating too. I have googled the brand and found that the fella building these boats, Sam Catanese has 50 odd yrs in the boat industry and 30 of those yrs at Stejcarft Boats. The boat ticked alot of boxes for what I want and it seems reasonably priced. Having owned a Seafarer for 20 yrs I know it is not a Haines or a Cruisecraft and you pay for what you get but this boat looked pretty good and are manufacture in Melbourne. My budget is about $65K and I want a boat with a hull weight of around 1000kgs (for ride purposes) and with a cabin big enough that my son and I could do overnight fishing trips. Has any one got any thoughts of other boats that may tick these boxes. Has anyone owned one or knows anything about Revival Boats? Good or bad I'd love to hear some feedback. Nathan

From the symptoms you have described I would imagine it is well and truely blocked. No product will clear the build up and I would assume it needs to be pulled down and overhauled unfortunately. Saltaway and the other similar products are preventative measure to stop this occuring in the first place.

Mate sounds like a salt build up in the top of the head. I had the same problem in one of my motors years ago and the symptoms were identical. Unfortunately to fix mine they had to pull the whole head apart and send it away to be sand blasted. Was very costly....and that was 8yrs ago. I used to flush my engine thoroughly after every use to. Now I use 'Saltaway' when flushing as a preventative measure in my new engine. The other way to fix it is next time your on the water....there are four nuts that hold the engine on the boat. Just unscrew the bolts and problem fixed! Good luck.

The hull looks like a Brooker to me.

PM sent.

Great stuff boys, well done.

Mate I cant image to think about how pissed off you must be! 30yrs ago a mate of mine had a big Haines with a Volvo Penta inboard and I must of towed him back to the ramp a dozen times that I care to remember. Obviously not much has changed in 30yrs......they were unreliable back then and from your story the same today. I'm with Carnivore.... name and shame the dealer! At the end of the day thats why there are forums on the internet to inform your fellow mate with similar minded interests. I would hate to see another Fishraider member get stung by this money hungry dealer giving you the palm off once your warranty had expired when you were obviously supplied a lemon by Volvo and the delaer obviously couldn't give two shits about how hard you worked to save up $25K. I'd be documenting the whole thing and send a email to Ray Hadley @ 2GB or Tracey Grimshaw @ ACA, and CC the email to the dealer and Volvo Australia. Good luck with it champ!

Geoff I agree that this a marketing scam. I paid $650 for mine when they were first released trying to do the right thing and put safety first.

I have a GME MT400 EPIRB and according to the sticker on the side the battery is due for replacement in May 2013. Does anybody know how I do this...is it something you can do yourself? I have had a quick look on the internet and if I have to ship it back to GME to do I might as well just purchase a new unit as they want over $200 to change the battery....what a joke! Any help would be appreciated. Nathan

My boat trailer is due for rego next week. It is fitted with mechanical brakes and has a 2.5t GVM so it needs to be inspected (pink slip) annually just like a car. Today I rang a local mechanic and asked him when would be a suitable time to bring my boat down so he could inspect the trailer. He said, "Don't woory about bringing the boat down just bring the rego papers and I'll sort the rest out". I clarified, "So you don't want to physically see the trailer?" He replied, "Nah I'll just take your word for it. Its only a trailer at the end of the day". Yes a trailer that carries 2.5tonnes and my $50000 assest you moron! If I am involved in a collision whether I be at fault or not and the insurance company investigates it and discovers that the trailer was dishonestly registered then any claim for damages would be immediately denied. It is legislated that all trailers fitted with brakes and over a certain GVM be inspected annually to ensure compliance and safety on our roads for all road users. This mechanic has no regard for road safety and what he is doing is nothing short of professional negligence. I would love to see him called before the Coroner to explain his business practices. Everytime a visit a busy boat ramp I am amazed at the large volume of decrepit boat trailers getting around. I am not talking about the little ones that tow alloy boats I am talking the medium and large ones that carry quite substantial glass boats. These large boats can become missles in the event that the trailer fails. Now I know how these decrepit boat trailers pass for rego each year. I agree that is a pain in the back side to get the pink slip for the boat trailer each year but hey that is the joy of owning such trailer boats. I encourage all responsible boat owners that come across such behaviour to report it to either the police or RTA. These mechanic's are about making a quick buck and not doing their job as authorised inspection stations (AIS), which they all love to flog on their business cards/signs. This authorisation can be quickly removed from these rotten mechanics. Hence I will be finding another trust worthy mechanic. I am sure if their are any mechanics out there they would solely agree with my rant to rid these dodgey mechanics from the industry.

Reflector is sufficient as long as the rear of the trailer has correctly illuminating RED tail lights on either side. The lights/reflectors on the wheel arches are only supplementary to the tail lights which are required to comply with the Australian Design Rules (ADR's). Rearward facing reflectors on wheel arch must be RED. Forward facing reflectors on wheel arch must be ORANGE. It is clearly specified in the Australian Road Rules 2008 Rule 216. Take it from me 11yrs in the HWP!

Mobile marine mechanic came today and it is all sorted. Fuel gone and motor serviced, back to running like a dream without any permanent damage done to the engine. First time I used this mobile marine mechanic but I was very impressed. He was on time, very knowledgable and did not charge the earth for his services. If you live in south western Sydney and after a good mobile marine mechanic, message me and I will pass on his details.

Huey, I know the damage that water can cause in outboard engines so the marine mechanic is booked and coming tomorrow morning to service and clean the engine. Hopefully it has not caused any big problems $$$$$$. I'll keep ya posted.

I'm no sure if the administrator would want me slagging off businesses on this forum...... however it is not hard to work out when there is only one service station in Sussex Inlet!

Went down to Sussex Inlet for the long weekend. Prior to going I filled up with fuel (95) from my local Shell Servo in Sydney. Fished succesfully on Friday and Saturday without any issues. Went to the local service station in Sussex Inlet and put in 60litres of premium (98) at $1.62/litre on Sunday afternoon ready for Monday morning. Launched the boat on Monday morning and went good for about 5 minutes and then the engine started to play up, cough and splutter, no power etc. Did not want to risk it so returned to the ramp and pulled it out to be on the safe side (kids most disappointed). Arrived back home in Sydney this afternoon and pulled the fuel seperator off.......surprise full of water. The fuel tank is a 130lt s/steel underfloor tank so it was a huge job to pull it out. Drained it and found it to have a surprising amount of water in it. For 20years I have always purcahsed my fuel off either BP or Shell and never once had a problem with bad fuel. The one time I risk it it bit me in the arse! I went back to the dodgy little servo in Sussex Inlet and spoke to the Indian gentlemen behind the counter and asked him for the proprieters details and trading name so I could follow this up. The console operator was useless to say the least. Finally I saw a tax invoice for the service station with the company name on it, laying on the counter. This is not the end my friend. Beware of this servo selling dodgey fuel.

Mate I also have a 130hp yamaha and used various 2 stroke oils with it. I have found that the Yamalube Oil (by Yamaha) is the best. You do pay a little more fore it but all the other oils I have used make the motor very smokey and when trawling for any length of time the exhaust fumes give you a headache. I dont seem to have this problem when I run it on Yamalube oil. The Yamaha handbook does also suggest that Yamaha oils are the best and should be used, which is no surprise. In saying this I have never used Gulf Western oil. Nathan

Mate Bunnings have tape measures on special this week. That Kingfish looks well short of the 65cm size limit!