Safe boating

[plummo]

Just cleaned up the old girl and got to thinking about the weight.

I put most of the stuff on the scales and got a big surprise.

2 X 25lt fuel...............38kg

Tackle box................18kg

Esky with ice............15kg

25lt live bait .............17kg

3 batteries..@16kg...48kg

Then add all the incidentals rods, reels, bait, food, drinks and safety equip say 10-15kg thats around 150kg.

I'v got and old pride 4.75m runabout that's licensed for 5 people and I would shudder to think I would put 5 people at risk with that load on board.

Looking for your thoughts

[oz_brett]

The only thing I see out of the ordinary is the 3rd battery,

But then again I carry 2 or 3 Thermos flasks & a box of tee & coffee supplies & a separate tackle box full of sinkers, portable toilet..... the list just goes on & on & on so your not doin too bad.

[Fab1]

From what I've seen alot of fisherman carry alot of unnecessary gear which doesn't get used leaving barely enough room for themselves in the boat.I follow the Kiss principle but that's just me.It,s no wonder it takes them an hour to prepare and 2 hrs to clean up on return.

[Dorado 2]

To be honest mate a boat that size if you want to fish in comfort you wouldn't want to take anymore than 3 onboard. If you are fishing in the bay you only need one 23 litre tank for fuel and like like Fab said you should have another tackle box smaller with the tackle you need to fish on the day be it offshore or inshore. I always leave my big tackle box at home and pack my secondary one for what I need on the day. Yes I have had 5 family members on the boat but only to go to a specific beach just to enjoy the day with family soaking up the sun no fishing.

Cheers

[plummo]

Yep I'd probably agree with a smaller tackle box, the third battery is just something that plays in my head as I mostly go out Sat morn till Sun lunch.

The two lots of fuel, We normally do the Hawkesbury and it's not uncommon to start at Bar Island down to Warahta Bay and back up to Lion island

There are only ever two of us in the boat as there's not a lot of room anyway.

Clive

[Testlab]

That 150kg counts as two people on board since a person was considered to be an average of 70 or 75kg for stability calculations (if memory serves me correctly). At least the weight is low down, but with a big rolling sea or wake it could get nasty if things start shifting around so make sure those tanks and batteries are secure.