Holmesie

Nice work snap-er. Are these the hatches with a storage box attached underneath, or just straight into the bottom of the boat? Cheers

Have you tried talking to the manufacturer themselves? The owners, Kelly & Daniel, are quite approachable and very helpful. It would definitely be with a try, as they might have some ideas. Cheers

Hi Leo, I will send you a PM. It's possible I might have something that will suit you. Cheers

Where possible I always put a few pumps of grease into the bearing buddies prior to dunking the trailer - I figure having positive pressure inside will help prevent water sucking in if the bearings & hub are hot, or if the seal face is a little dodgy. Also, I make it an annual thing to completely strip, inspect and repack the bearings no matter how many k's they have done - good piece of mind for me, especially when I travel 400km to the coast for a decent fishing session! Cheers

Just got back from a week at Narooma, and I'm very envious Dave - been looking for a sea-change myself! Good luck!

Can't believe I missed this post - what a classic.. I'll be keeping a close eye out when I pass through your neck of the woods errr... inlet Boofhead, see if I can't spot you anchored on one of your marks... they look to be pretty reliable

Still looks to be plenty of water in Ben Chifley - good to see!

Congrats roosterman - I love the Haines hulls

Yeah, unfortunately I think the water temps were a little on the low side for the fishing to be hot

Great fish Mik - you've done well mate, I'm very jealous!!

We are just back from 2 weeks of family holiday at Narooma, with some mixed fishing results. Unfortunately the first week was quite windy with some big swells, meaning the bar was too rough for my conservative liking (at least the kids got a lot of biscuiting & skiing done on Corunna Lake). Several short sessions out around Montague yielded little in the way of keepers, and reports from other fishos were that the Kingies were hot one day, and cold the next but mostly undersized whatever the day provided. Fortunately a reliable flatty drift off the end of the bar generally gave us enough in the esky so we didn't return to the camp red-faced. The inlet was fishing quite poorly with only a few flatties between 35-40cm falling prey to our charm although one good sized snapper was also landed from the inlet (as well as scores of the world tiniest pinkies). Spent a day outside at Bermagui, now forever to be known as flatty country because that was the bulk of our haul that day out - lucky we like eating them!! We were fortunate to come into the harbour not long after the Earthracer docked there, so got a nice close look at this amazing vessel! With the holiday due to finish, and the weather and seas looking good, we put in a last ditch effort, had the boat on the water and across the bar before dawn and out to Montague and Auginish Rock fishing a combination of livies and bait. Well, the Kingies were certainly on, but sadly mostly undersized, and the pesky seals were in attendance - it's frustrating to throw a 63cm Kingy back and have it instantly nabbed by a seal. After returning 12 or so to the water we were able to land a nice 71cm Kingy in one piece from a live bait, but then lost several others and a nice snapper to the seals before even getting them near the boat. A slight change in location saw some nice Trevally and Mowong in the esky, so we returned to camp happy and with the Kingy drought broken Mmmm, fish for tea tonight

G'day paul, I asked a similar question not long ago for my Evinrude, so it could be worth having a look through this thread while you're waiting for the other people's comments (ignore the VRO stuff if you're not interested) For what it's worth, my Evinrude Intruder 150 shows fuel use up to 30-litres per hour under load on the Navman fuel computer. BTW I learnt its important to know what revs you see at WOT. hope that helps!

Thanks for the clarification Huey, much appreciated. She's going to get a workout soon enough, I'm off soon for two weeks on the blue water at Narooma

Thanks Huey, how about the speed at that RPM? A bit of overkill? or indicative that the prop is a good match? Cheers

Hi again, Finally got the boat wet again, and was able to record speed at WOT. With the motor trimmed correctly I saw 71.5km/hr on the GPS, at about 5,300rpm. How does this sound (apart from bl**dy fast ) ? Cheers

I did buy a Retrievamate, but could not see how to fit it as my boat sits with the transom basically level with the back of the trailer... Mariner, those rear upright guides might help me

Hi Raiders, I'm seeking some suggestions as to how to modify my trailer for easier loading. I have a 5.4m Quintrex aluminium half-cab, which goes on the trailer as pictured below. Basically it's a PITA to load straight, particularly in a cross-wind or current. I bought some plastic skids to replace the carpeted ones, but then thought since I've gone to the trouble to take the boat off the trailer, should I be thinking bigger and going multi or wobble rollers and maybe convert to a drive-on setup? Since I live in the sticks I tow the boat fairly long distances (on average roads!) to get to water, so don't want to risk hull damage if that's a possibility with a multi-rollered setup. Anyone's opinions or ideas would be very welcomed. Cheers Holmesie

Thanks for the replies guys, Huey and Pelican, especially for the offer of props if you have them. That article makes interesting reading and has put my mind at ease somewhat. I recently checked and cleaned my oil tank and pickup and checked the fittings when I changed to XD50 oil (was using BP HiTide). Yesterday while towing the kids around Wyangala Dam, my fuel transducer was advising fuel use of 28-30litres per hour - does that sound especially high at all? On the next run I will have to test WOT and report back here for further advice if required. Once again thanks fellas, your knowledge & experience is invaluable and it's kind of you to share it. Cheers Andrew PS: gotta agree you Pel that Blayney is a cold part of NSW!!

Hi guys, I have a 5.3m Quintrex Searaider with an Evinrude Intruder 150 outboard. We use this boat for offshore fishing, and water-sports. Both hull and motor are ~10 years, but with less than 200hrs of use. Motor runs perfectly, but wherever I go, the old "you're still running the VRO? you're a game man" comment comes up. So my VRO question is, on an engine of this age, should I be considering removing the VRO and mixing my own fuel? If so, the next hassle is adding the correct amount of fuel and oil to a 90litre underfloor tank every time it's filled or topped up My second question relates to the prop. I believe this boat was originally set up purely for water-skiing, and has a 3-blade SS prop with the markings 14-1/4 X 21+ It's also got a HUGE Permatrim plate fitted, and seems thirsty when it comes to fuel. I have recorded the following loaded revs vs. speed by GPS. I do not know what the recommended WOT is for this motor. 2,500rpm - 29.5km/hr 3,000rpm - 40km/hr 3,500rpm - 50km/hr Is there any other information required to make an educated guess on the prop selection? Unfortunately my location makes it difficult to try out different props. Any comments on either of the above would be much appreciated! Cheers Andrew

yep ya got me mate, was wondering what your name was on here, I shoulda known

Good stuff arman, first stop would be a vessel REV's check mate Good luck, hope it's all OK Cheers BTW I saw pics of Rob's boat, I like it lots

I hope the fishing was worth it

Now that IS a boat!! Would love to see a pic or two of the engineroom

Gday arman, in a car you would use a relay to avoid running the compressor off the car-horn wiring (which would not normally handle the high amps a compressor would draw). On your boat I presume you would use a press button, in which case the relay should not be required! hope that helps!