Fitting Out My New Boat - Advice Sought

[selous]

G'day Raiders

I finally found myself in a position to buy my first boat after years of being either landlocked or relying on mates who own boats. My main fishing mate is ..ahem... a bit quirky to say the least and while not one to be ungrateful, I have found myself frustrated with being totally reliant on others or spending more time trying to fix a boat and engine whose best days were probably around the mid 1970's.

Anyway after much research I had decided on a Makocraft Frenzy, either a 470 or 500 but ended up getting a 530. To cut a long story short, I found a brand new/ secondhand Frenzy 530 being sold privately for a substantial saving on the retail price. The seller had bought the boat without clearing it with wifey first. She went Ballistic and gave him a week for the boat to be gone or she would be.

He opted to sell the boat!!!! You gotta wonder about some people's priorities.

Everything checked out, the original dealer confirmed the story so I jumped on it like a seagull on a chip. I saved $4K on the seller's original purchase price, plus he had had a custom alloy bait board & live bait tank made up to fit on the transom and some tackle lockers which he had not yet fitted and were included which sweetened the deal further. I have also been advised by the original dealer that since the boat had never been in the water and had never been registered, the factory warranty would transfer to me. Even better - but I need to confirm that with Makocraft.

The boat has dual consoles (the second is easily removable), 100 lt live well fully plumbed, rod locker, and the bait board, bait tank, tackle lockers I mentioned earlier.

Now I want to set this boat up right the first time - this is my dream boat and I intend to have it for many years. While I do not have unlimited funds, I can afford to outfit it properly if I go about it carefully.

I have the trailer and motor covered - I should be able to get a new 115 Merc optimax with gauges & fitting at a very good price.

I am going to check out the boat show at Rosehill next week for ideas and bargains (if there are any) but as I am going to the USA in April, I will probably pick up some stuff while I am there such as sounders, downrigger etc and post the heavier stuff back to Aust. I just found out there is a big arse BassPro shop in Vegas, where we'll be for a week.

Now, the boat will be used for fishing about 90% of the time, but I have 2 girls 7 & 10 and will use it for general family boating, towing a kneeboard etc on holidays.

I have been mainly estuary fishing up to now (My mate with the boat older than my wife gets seasick in any sort of swell) but I went for this style of boat so I could fish the harbour and outside (in suitable conditions). I would like to get into chasing Kingies, and fish such as snapper (which up until now has been impossible. Most of my fishing will be around Sydney, Port Stephens (my in-laws live at Hawks Nest) with a annual trip up to Tweed Heads where I have friends we visit during the Xmas holidays)

The setup I am thinking of is along the lines of:

MinnKota Terrova RT80 leccy on the bow. How should I set up the batteries regarding charging?

Sounder mounted on the front casting deck networked to GPS/Sounder on the console.

I was thinking along the lines of a Lowrance HDS-8 or a Humminbird 997 c2 SI for the main sounder. What do you guys think, especially those who have them. I guess whatever I choose for the GPS/Sounder will determine what I mount on the casting deck.

Downriggers: I haven't used them yet, but from everything I've read, they seem to be the way to go, especially for Kingies. Manual or Electric? Is the setup with a Cannon Electric Downrigger controlled by a Humminbird as good as it sounds or a waste of $$$.

There are probably a million things I haven't thought of, but I thought I'd start with the big ticket items before getting down to the nitty gritty.

Will post more piccies later, but my missus has taken the camera with her for the weekend.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to catching up with other Raiders when it's up and running.

Cheers

Rob

[chrisg]

Nice boat..good purchase. If you do lots of reading across all the forums you will start getting the idea of what is the way to go. Before you start though is that the trailer you intend to use? If so I'll think you'll find it is way to under-rated for the that size boat.

Otherwise good luck with it..they are a top boat.

Cheers

C.

[selous]

Nice boat..good purchase. If you do lots of reading across all the forums you will start getting the idea of what is the way to go. Before you start though is that the trailer you intend to use? If so I'll think you'll find it is way to under-rated for the that size boat.

Otherwise good luck with it..they are a top boat.

Cheers

C.

No, the trailer was only under it for the photo . I am in the process of sourcing a suitable trailer. I have had a firm called Trailer City at Rydalmere recommended to me - they do custom trailers and I have been told their stuff is better than Dunbier etc. I had not heard of them before. Will check out their trailers and compare it to the better known brands before I decide, though I have heard some concerning stories about some of the smaller brands available such as Felk using cheap Chinese components and failing while towing.

Anyone heard of Trailer City or know anything about the quality of their work?

[jewgaffer]

Hi selous You can never have too many good solid metal rod holders in a well set up boat. A well placed live bait tank and twin starter batteries for accessories and work area side lighting etc and a separate deep cycle for an electric to go with your ready made casting deck would be essentials for a top boat like yours, I'd say.

A high mounted bimini designed to cover the twin console area and cover your legs when the chairs swivel around, and having worked out the most suitable design and the locations for the straps carefully in advance, would add another good asset to your Mako.

As to sounders, I think you'll find that if you did a poll to get a general consensus, the Furono 565 at around $2300 is the one to buy for sounding the deeper offshore fathoms and the Furono 6100 at around $1200 would do the same job and the 6100 would be the way to go for fishing estuaries and offshore areas that are suitable for the Mako.

Hope this helps

Cheers

jewgaffer

[selous]

Hi selous You can never have too many good solid metal rod holders in a well set up boat. A well placed live bait tank and twin starter batteries for accessories and work area side lighting etc and a separate deep cycle for an electric to go with your ready made casting deck would be essentials for a top boat like yours, I'd say.

A high mounted bimini designed to cover the twin console area and cover your legs when the chairs swivel around, and having worked out the most suitable design and the locations for the straps carefully in advance, would add another good asset to your Mako.

As to sounders, I think you'll find that if you did a poll to get a general consensus, the Furono 565 at around $2300 is the one to buy for sounding the deeper offshore fathoms and the Furono 6100 at around $1200 would do the same job and the 6100 would be the way to go for fishing estuaries and offshore areas that are suitable for the Mako.

Hope this helps

Cheers

jewgaffer

Thanks Jewgaffer

All good points. Regarding the twin batteries, a boat I was looking at before this one had a switching charger that cycled between the batteries at 1 min intervals I think this is what I'm talking about:

http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...3ca9d20cfd4693f

Is this sort of thing necessary or something that's nice to have, but not essential?

Bimini Top is a definite. I don't really like the things, BUT my missus made it a condition before she would let me buy a boat. I find a hat, long sleeves, sunscreen etc is sufficient, but I guess I don't have to put it up if she's not around.

I haven't looked at the Furonos in detail, but I'll check out the models you mentioned.

Live Tank is under the front casting deck - it's fully plumbed 100lt with a removeable divider - The bait tank is probably 40lt and plumbed as well.

Cheers

Rob

[chrisg]

Good about the trailer.

With regard to batteries you will need two identical deep cycles for the Minn Kota which will be a 24V motor. So ideally you would have four...two for the leccy, one for staring and one for accessories. Potentially you could have one of the leccy batteries wired for accessories when bait soaking and fishing outside but you get in to a complicated wiring and charging setup. Its doable but I would be looking at involving a marine sparky to set it up properly.

I would be looking at mains charging for the Minn Kota batteries rather than the device you have a link for...keeping the 24v and 12v charging systems separate. It would work but your starting to load the outboards alternator up..just me though.

As for sounders you need to decide on what will be your main use. I'm a Furuno fan and for outside the 585 is the way to go but in shallow water I fish a lot with the Lowrance and Humminbirds and the detail you see on the new units is superb.

Cheers

C.

Edited March 7, 2009 by chrisg

[selous]

Good about the trailer.

With regard to batteries you will need two identical deep cycles for the Minn Kota which will be a 24V motor. So ideally you would have four...two for the leccy, one for staring and one for accessories. Potentially you could have one of the leccy batteries wired for accessories when bait soaking and fishing outside but you get in to a complicated wiring and charging setup. Its doable but I would be looking at involving a marine sparky to set it up properly.

I would be looking at mains charging for the Minn Kota batteries rather than the device you have a link for...keeping the 24v and 12v charging systems separate. It would work but your starting to load the outboards alternator up..just me though.

As for sounders you need to decide on what will be your main use. I'm a Furuno fan and for outside the 585 is the way to go but in shallow water I fish a lot with the Lowrance and Humminbirds and the detail you see on the new units is superb.

Cheers

C.

Thanks Chrisg

I'm starting to understand why people describe boats as money pits!!!

So let me see where I'm up to now, not counting hull, nav lights, motor & trailer

Things to get:

4 x batteries

Leccy

Bimini

Rod Holders a plenty

Downrigger/s

27 mhz radio

Safety gear - PFDs, flares etc

EPIRB

GPS/Sounder

Anchor/s

I haven't even thought about things like interior lighting and stuff which is not essential but nice to have.

I'm guessing I'll need a decent battery charger for the batteries.

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming.

Cheers

Rob

[chrisg]

Seeing as money is no object -

Look at a 24v on-board mains charger for the two leccy 100aH deep cycle batteries. Minn Kota do one and I think C-tek do one. This stays in and you just run a power lead to the boat when you want to charge.

For the standard starting and accessories batteries these will be setup to charge off the outboard with a 2-way isolator switch.

Start with the fundamentals first...its not such a big job to add the niceties like bow sounder etc later.

Cheers

C.

ps remember the 100L fuel tank!

Edited March 8, 2009 by chrisg

[selous]

Seeing as money is no object -

Look at a 24v on-board mains charger for the two leccy 100aH deep cycle batteries. Minn Kota do one and I think C-tek do one. This stays in and you just run a power lead to the boat when you want to charge.

For the standard starting and accessories batteries these will be setup to charge off the outboard with a 2-way isolator switch.

Start with the fundamentals first...its not such a big job to add the niceties like bow sounder etc later.

Cheers

C.

ps remember the 100L fuel tank!

Thanks Chrisg

I wish money were no object! Seriously, I have enough set aside to do this properly as long as I don't go overboard e.g. spending 5k on the top of the line electric downrigger or more than that on a sounder. I plan to hit BassPro while I'm in Vegas in April, pick up the more expensive items there and post them back via UPS. I figure the savings can go towards better quality gear than I could otherwise afford.

Not sure what you meant by the last comment. The Max Frenzy 530 has an underfloor 120lt tank standard.

I forgot to say in the the original post it is a Max Frenzy as opposed to the standard Frenzy. The Max Frenzy has a 4mm High Tensile Plate Bottom compared to 3mm standard plate on the standard Mako Frenzy

Cheers Rob

Edited March 8, 2009 by selous

[chrisg]

Thanks Chrisg

Not sure what you meant by the last comment. The Max Frenzy 530 has an underfloor 120lt tank standard.

Cheers Rob

Just checking you had one!

C.

[wrxhoon1]

Just checking you had one!

C.

Rob,

I bought a trailer for a friend from boat city last year, a heavy duty single axle with a GVM of 1500 or 1600 kg , can't remember .

As with all trailers, I like to set them up my way to suit me and i like to replace all bolts and U bolts with S/S items as they rust, I also like to use S/S calipers and S/S rotors but they are very expensive , in your case she will only have cable overide brakes.

Nothing wrong with the trailer and he saved about $1500 as he was looking at Dunbier, trailer city did it for $2400. These days I would think they all use Chinese made steel RHS .

Make sure you don't go for a lightweight even if you think you will be under the GVM, if you are on the limit they don't tow as well.

With alloy boats you need skids with keel rollers not multi roller, rollers will dint the alloy .

115 Opti is a good choice, I have a 200 Opti and I'm very happy, no oil smoke at all and very economical .

I use manual Scotty long arm downriggers , mainly because of the cables running to them and battery issues. I only run a twin battery set up with a 1-2 off and both switch ( I use sealed batteries) and I leave the charging to the Opti as she has a 60amp alt, the 115 has the same .

If you can afford go for a hydraulic steering but cable works well for your boat if its already on .

Even with our $ so low stuff in USA is cheaper than here so buuy as much as you can there but EMS is not cheap..

[selous]

Rob,

I bought a trailer for a friend from boat city last year, a heavy duty single axle with a GVM of 1500 or 1600 kg , can't remember .

As with all trailers, I like to set them up my way to suit me and i like to replace all bolts and U bolts with S/S items as they rust, I also like to use S/S calipers and S/S rotors but they are very expensive , in your case she will only have cable overide brakes.

Nothing wrong with the trailer and he saved about $1500 as he was looking at Dunbier, trailer city did it for $2400. These days I would think they all use Chinese made steel RHS .

Make sure you don't go for a lightweight even if you think you will be under the GVM, if you are on the limit they don't tow as well.

With alloy boats you need skids with keel rollers not multi roller, rollers will dint the alloy .

115 Opti is a good choice, I have a 200 Opti and I'm very happy, no oil smoke at all and very economical .

I use manual Scotty long arm downriggers , mainly because of the cables running to them and battery issues. I only run a twin battery set up with a 1-2 off and both switch ( I use sealed batteries) and I leave the charging to the Opti as she has a 60amp alt, the 115 has the same .

If you can afford go for a hydraulic steering but cable works well for your boat if its already on .

Even with our $ so low stuff in USA is cheaper than here so buuy as much as you can there but EMS is not cheap..

Thanks for the feedback on Trailer City. always good to hear from someone with first hand experience of a product. I'm checking out their trailers this afternoon.

Regarding your comment about skids, that's what I understood, but the seller of the hull told me that due to the hull shape (The Max Frenzy has the "outer edge" hull) that I would need actually need a multi-rollered trailer as opposed to a skid trailer. I will double check that with a Makocraft dealer before I head down to Trailer City.

While I can't wait to get this set up and on the water, realistically, I doubt I will have it set up before I go to the states next month, so that means May before I'll get to start using it. On the plus side, it give me time to shop around and make considered choices regarding fit out.

I was thinking about hydraulic steering, I have heard it is way better than mechanical steering. What are the benefits and are they outweighed by the extra cost?

Cheers

Rob

[pelican]

Be careful mailing stuff back and customs are trained to look for stuff tryng to avoid duty even on business accounts etc.

As a note to WRX an dtrailers and using stainless bolts you need to be cautious as stainless is rarely the same tensile strength as steel and can work and shear at very low weight and age. If you want something get spec it out and get the trailer guys to do it originally. If there is an accident and a incorrect bolt sheared you may end up with no cover.

Ask the manufacture of the hull who they use to make the trailer as often if there is a hull warranty claim they may try and blame the trailer. Worth seeing if they have a supplier who wants the business in a quiet time like now but only if they do a good trailer. Set it up properly from the start with decent axel , hubs and bearings and bearing lube system since you say you are keeping for a few years and that way it will be little maintainance required. Wondering if the rubber torque suspension is an option since the boat has a thick hull and would make launch even easier. Price an ally rail trailer as well as they do hold their value and there would be a very ally fabricaters wanting work now as well.

Nice hull by the way

Edited October 14, 2009 by pelican

[selous]

Be careful mailing stuff back and customs are trained to look for stuff tring to avoid duty even on business accounts etc.

Thanks Pelican

I've ordered plenty of stuff from overseas over the years and only had to take a trip to customs once. If I remember correctly, if the total cost of the goods (price + postage +insurance + any handling charges) is over AUD $1000 then there is no import duty, just GST payable. If the value is under $1000 then no charges are payable.

Wrxhoon - Regarding trailers, I just checked with Makocraft and because it is a plate boat and not pressed alloy, it will require a multi roller trailer, not a skid trailer. The skid trailers are only for the pressed alloy hulls so you're quite correct on that point.

Cheers

Rob

Edited March 9, 2009 by selous

[tuffy]

The guy at Rydalmere is a good bloke ( when you can get him off the phone) and does good work at a realistic price. However, remember you will have to register this trailer and I'm not sure he does Blue Slips for that down there. Better check first.

Cheers, Tuffy.

[jewgaffer]

Hi selous About the trailer set up for the Mako it would be a good idea to think hard and tell the manufacturer the best way you think you want the trailer to be set up as a drive on trailer with a gal walkway incorporated along side the mudguards and then see what they say about your ideas and see what they can add to improve on that, rather than relying on them to make the best trailor for your own Mako............. You also have to find out whether multi rollers will suit the Mako better than h/d skids with angled yokes and well placed single rollers and a retriever mate rather than multis for smooth, quick and easy drive on walk off purposes.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited March 10, 2009 by jewgaffer

[selous]

The guy at Rydalmere is a good bloke ( when you can get him off the phone) and does good work at a realistic price. However, remember you will have to register this trailer and I'm not sure he does Blue Slips for that down there. Better check first.

Cheers, Tuffy.

Hi Tuffy

Yes he is a good bloke I found. They register the trailers for you on the spot (They have a supply of plates on hand)

Cheers

Rob

[selous]

Hi selous About the trailer set up for the Mako it would be a good idea to think hard and tell the manufacturer the best way you think you want the trailer to be set up as a drive on trailer with a gal walkway incorporated along side the mudguards and then see what they say about your ideas and see what they can add to improve on that, rather than relying on them to make the best trailor for your own Mako............. You also have to find out whether multi rollers will suit the Mako better than h/d skids with angled yokes and well placed single rollers and a retriever mate rather than multis for smooth, quick and easy drive on walk off purposes.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Hi Jewgaffer

Good advice and that's exactly what I've done. They customise the trailer according to the client's instructions. I've upgraded the axle to a 1.5 tonne rating (instead of 1 tonne), changed the lights for submersible LEDs, added a trailer rescue and spare wheel with disc assembly. The trailer is drive on but while I could have added a retriever mate, Elvy (the boss) reckoned that it actually makes it harder to drive on, though it will line up straight. His advice, which I chose to take was to give the retriever mate a miss and I could always add it on later if I chose. They also offer a different keel roller configuration with more rollers, but Elvy reckoned the drawback was that it made it more difficult to drive the boat on as far as the standard keel roller configuration allowed. Again I can add the extra rollers if I want to later. I didn't think about the gal walkway, might be able to add that on.

I checked with Makocraft - I need the Multi rollers and not skids because it is a 5mm hi tensile plate hull, not pressed alloy.

I was pretty impressed with the quality of the work and their willingness to make what the customer wanted, so I ordered the trailer from them. They also threw in the axle upgrade and a set of bearing buddies at no cost. Total cost for a 17' braked multi roller trailer fitted with 14" wheels, with the extra wheel, hub, disc and trailer rescue, submersible LEDs, 1.5 tonne axle, bearing buddies and registration came to just under 3 grand.

Cheers

Rob

[selous]

Nice rig.

Dont forget a tow vehicle as well. Something like a new Porsche Cayenne Turbo or Range Rover should do the trick...if u beat the salesman down a few thousand u might be able to get a cpl of those electric winch reels for deep water work . Fish a few times off it first b4 putting any additional rod holders in to get the placement right.

I did have to upgrade vehicles but the Porsche was just a wee bit expensive. (I wish I had the dough to even consider something like that) No, I got a super deal on an 08 plated Mitsubishi V6 Outlander. Never had a Mitsu before, but I've got say I'm pretty impressed with it. Now and over the coming year is a particularly good time to wheel and deal to buy a new or second hand car. Dealers are suffering badly and will slash their margins to get the sale. I searched the internet and found the cheapest price in Melbourne for the car I wanted. Contacted the dealer and got him to agree to pay my airfare to come to Melbourne to collect the vehicle, then went back to the local Mitsu dealer and told him he needed to better than that. I ended up getting the vehicle with all the options for well over $10000 off RRP - which was $4400 below cost. However, the while the dealer took a hit on this particular vehicle, they make up money in some bonus arrangement with Mitsubishi.

I have a friend who is a very well known motor dealer with decades in the industry. He told me that locally, Ford in particular are bleeding and you can get massive savings if you bargain hard because their sales have really plummented. I don't really like Fords and I guess most people are the same from the sound of it.

Electric reels - hmmm I saw those on Ifish the other day. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I reckon it kinda defeats the purpose of fishing. I imagine they would cost an absolute packet to boot.

Good advice about the rod holders - thanks.

Cheers

Rob

[bassman 1]

HI GREAT RIG

WE ARE LOOKING AT GETTING A MAKO CRAFT 530 MAX FRENZY NEXT YEAR WITH TWIN CONSOLES ASWELL BUT A SLIGHTLY DIFF DECK LAY OUT

JUST WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE PIC'S YOU COULD SEND ON IT NOW WITH YOUR MOTOR AND TRAILER NOW ON PLEASE

AS YOUR MAX 530 IS THE ONLY PHOTO I HAVE SEEN OF THIS BOAT ALL THE MAKO CATALOGS ONLY FEATURE AND SHOW THE 440 MAX FRENZY

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A SECOND HAND ONE ALL OVER AUSTRALIA FOR THE LAST 14 MONTHS

BUT ARE RARE AS ROCKING HORSE DOO DOO

THE OTHER QUESTION IS HOW DOES IT HANDLE ABIT OF ROUGH SWELL ???

DOES IT KEEP THE SPRAY DOWN WELL ??

THANKS . :