charlieannear

I'm sure by the first spring breezes you'll be straining to get out on the water. As many will know I'm no expert but with that profile, (like a WWII Gunboat or rescue launch) it looks like it'll do darn sight more than 14 knots? You need a bigger motor, or that turbo!

Ah, right that explains it- pictures never display in word docs on my home PC- anyone know what setting I need to amend? Sorry to hijack!

Question for web gurus- Why, when I try to open/download on my home PC, does the file call itself index.php and not specimen sizes.doc? The downloaded file tries to open in Word but is just a blank page. And what do I need to do to remedy this? Please! C.

Depending on your budget (and your level of perfectionism ) you might want to consider marine cable instead of automotive cable. The difference is that marine cable is fully tinned and therefore more resistant to corrosion, however, it is not as readily available and is more expensive. I have recently re-wired my boat and got mine from sea screw. Crimp connectors are expensive if you only by them by the half dozen from Halfords or similar, whereas the same money will get you a bumper bag-full from Screwfix. I found the larger size ones (which you probably only need a couple of) to be cheapest from B&Q, believe it or not. Waterproof crimp connectors are available, but I wasn't able to find an affordable source of those. Heat shrink sleeving is also good stuff for keeping moisture out of joints. C.

Yep, I concur, absolutely top notch. It should become a feature of meetings- members bring in a sample of their latest produce! My veggie yeild's been pretty low this season, but I'll bear it mind when laying out my plot next year

Andy, I found these people the other day: Outboard Spares C.

Good Luck mate, in my opinion getting married is one of the best day's work I have ever done. But then I am a daft, romantic, newlywed (6 years this month)!! And look what can happen!

I was hoping someone would take it on that basis, seems a shame to bin it just 'cos it's old! Like I said, I don't even know if it works, so if you take it away and if it turns out to be of any use to you, then a donation to the lifeboats or similar would be just fine. C.

If you're serious Terry, it's yours!

Anyone interested in this state of the art piece of kit? Is there a museum or retiremnt home out there somewhere? No idea if it works, but comes complete with through hull transducer.

Mate, pop over whenever you want and collect my multimeter. C.

Having learned that Rich misses his pet Snook so much that he has his holidays in the same place every year, I started wondering where the rest of you chaps like to return to? I have to agree with Rich, Clearwater is a very nice spot indeed- I once spent 6 weeks there! C.

After a few aborted attemps due to the unseasonable rain, Sam cam over this morning and took at look at Star Turn's outboard. After a thorough inspection we fired 'er up and she started instantly and ran sweet as a nut. Unfortunately the start-up self-diagnostic seems to run as and when it feels like it while the engine is running. Pesky electronics! So Sam has gone off to find some new parts so we can work out what's gone wonky. Getting there though, getting there...

Everyone's a critic! Tsk. I'm not that thick! It's nicely below the waterline and depth OK'd by at least 2 club members! That's just the camera angle, it doesn't potrude in reality... or the bracket. As with many things in lfe it's a compromise between too close to the trim tab or too close to the outboard... and again advice was sought in person from a club member I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating... or something like that!

Blimey, I seem to have gained a foreman! Yeah, I know, but I didn't want to knacker what I'd done whilst trying to hacksaw off the stainless bolts... The screw heads are all aligned though, does that make up for it?

Oh yeah, very droll !

And just to compare with the initial sketch:

In case anyone's interested, I got hold of a bit of stainless from a club member (excellent chap) and marked it up. The same excellent chap then had the steel bent form me. A bit of work with an angle grinder and a polishing mop on a drill and I now have what I pictured in my mind's eye. Oh, and the excellent chap is Crezz- thanks mate!

Thanks for your help with this little job everyone. It's now nicely fixed at the back of the boat- now to get it in the water!

Previous owners of Star Turn couldn't be bothered to do anything properly, and that includes the application of Antifoul. She's got about 7 coats of the stuff on there and its brittle and not keyed into the gel. The 'Craft Knife' Method is really quick- I scraped off all of the antifoul on the transom in about 15 minutes. Cheaper, quieter and cleaner then blasting, and requires no nasty chemicals, but only works when your Antifoul is as crap as mine!

Yep, I'm nearly there now, and it's only taken me as long as it's taken Charlie C to build a boat, 3 times the size of Star Turn, from scratch! The trouble is I start a little job on the boat to tidy it up a bit and then begin thinking "Hmmm, while that's off I might as well just..." Fatal isn't it. I am hoping to get her in the water on the Bank Holiday weekend (I'll blend in amongst all the other muppets) and would certainly appreciate a helping hand or two. If I can get the windows back in this week I might even make in time for the Family Day, although mine can't join me this time as we've got a visitor from the good ol' U.S of A turning up about lunch time. Fingers crossed!

It looks so nice that I started to wonder what my gel was like under my horrid antifoul... I discovered that a craft knife with a chisel-like blade makes short work of horrid antifoul and a quick rub of wet and dry had it looking pretty good. Thanks a lot guys, now I've got another job to do...

Smart-Tabs now fitted! And the transducer And even stripped off some antifoul while I was at it!

That looks really smart. Where did you get it done and how much did it set you back if you don't mind my asking?

BBC News C.