duncan

struggling to retain an understanding as to what's humerous and or a wind up on this forum at times! Back to basics - and the grannies in here can cook their eggs as they see fit 1. Both engines will benefit from clear water ie. the cavitation plate should be at or below the bottom of the transom. However this is much more critical for the main than the auxialliary because the latter is not expected to be running when the boat is planning! 2. Most hulls, and therefore transoms, tend to rise towards the sides of the boat. This could mean that there is no water running next to the hull away from the centre at planning speed - but your issue is not at that speed. Mark, or note the water line, and make sure that the cavitation plate of the aux will be below that when it's mounted and 'lowered'. btw don't sit on the transom to do this or you will obvioulsy be influencing this measurement. Whne in actual use you can of course move weight back a bit if you feel you need a little assistance to keep the prop in the water! 3. As already said you really do not want the aux to be able to contact the water when planning - the drag/strain on it's mounting would be significant. I mounted, and ran, a Merc 4 hp std shaft next to a Merc 175 on the same level on my Dell Quay 660. Raised up it got nowhere near the water when planning but down it ran in reasonably clear water giving 3-4knots (I steered using the main engine as a rudder). However I never had to rely on it to berth or in poor conditions - it's a well know fact that you rengine is less likely to breakdown if you have an aux rigged! Best of luck.

then you will need to mount it on a suitable bracket..............

Adam - either 3 strand or Octoplait are reasonably easy to splice together. Time wise 3 strand takes about a small bottle of beer and Octoplait a large can! Done properly you will get nearly full strength from the join and, if faired properly, the joint will be fine for passing through Alderney rings, hands etc - basically you will end up with a small stiff section the length of the splice. If you want detailed instuctions there are a number of web facilities and books articles etc around

Bob, Sorry to hear the tale, and I can only say that it reads very well. I would copy Susuke GB in on your note and maybe draw out the salient points - 1. There product specifications are getting good press but surely an OB is about ease of maintainace and servicability - what's going wrong here? 2. Their product is only as good as their service agents - are they happy that what is happening here reflects appropriately on their investments? Overall you just want the engine back in one piece and the knowledge that you are not going to facce problems and bills in the near future - what do they propose to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion? As I think was said above it is important to hear their side of this. Interestingly Mercury's new OB technology had primary design parameters around servicing and reliability - power to weight (for example) came down at number 5 if I remember correctly. All the best and, if you don't get it sorted for the 18th, and I get out on Phaeton, you are welcome aboard.

If I had an attractive boat on a newish trailer that I kept on an area by my house I would - 1. Get a length of serious chain (links measured in inches not mm!) - sort of stuff lying around everywhere in Poole - about 5 metres long and paint 3 meters a nice bright colour 2. Concerete a good length of the chain into the ground under the trailers main axle with around 3 meters clear 3. Chubb battleship or equivalent padlock 4. Park boat over chain and lock around main axle It won't cost a fortune and will deter anyone that can be deterred. Also spec it, photo it and check in with your insurers - they should be happy if the lock is serious enough. I have never been allowed to keep a boat at home for more than a couple of weeks - and we are a long way from water.

now now Charlie - they are not toys............ however you can of course play and play and play with them - whilst the boys haul in the fish!

ever wish you hadn't asked?

hehehe have this wonderfull image of AdamF sitting in Blue Warrior on his drive and a line in his neighbourghs koi pond.......what's the specimin weight for saltwater Koi? That aside it seems to make sense - daft having to drop the anchor and let loose the mooring lines when the mullet are swiming round the boat on a summer evening. Don't get the big ones up near the boat though - they are all in the expensive marinas!

the observation re mulllet prompts me to raise the following - If you are fishing from your boat, but attached to your mooring/pontoon, are you boat fishing or shore fishing?

very smart and, from what can be seen, looks well set up by previous owner(s) look forward to sharing a wreck (mark) some time!

Can recommend allgadgets - just give him a ring and ask for more info if in doubt - he will be absolutlely straight. Lot of people on the mby.com forums use him.

I can wait if others are desperate...........going to be a couple of weeks before I can put the boat back together!

Thanks Cod - I was aware of these (and you can get them in this country for not much more) but by the time I have replaced the cables (and one of them has the transducer attached!) I am in the realms of a new unit price wise. I am hanging on in the hope that someone has a unit failure and we can do a deal (on way or the other) on either the lead/'ducer or unit. Thanks again

round or square; I don't care. prefer the alderney ring round though

Lowrance LCX 15MT (Sounder and plotter) Lowrance X55 - but needs leads 'cos someone cut them off Garmin 215 and 225 Differential Units with around 15 charts covering Brest to the Baltic (in case I get lost one day) Only use one on baord at a time - interchangable. Simrad RT164 - does the job Icom Euro 1-v - brilliant HH also related - a wonderfull padded carry case that takes all the units home with me. Aquired from West marine in Florida as an impulse buy but invaluable.

hmmm - nothing like the mention of a 26lb turbo to get one thinking! I am currently due to take Phaeton over to Weymouth Easter Sat night for a small meet of boaters. Me thinks I might well have a rod and some bait on board with a view to stopping off on the way in - and probably back out again Sunday morning. One thing - if the weather is nice would I be right in thinking it will be a little crowded out there on the Shambles? Oh well back to working out how I am going to get everything built, back together and in the water over the next couple of weekends...............

re Lobster rock - are these really 'pots' or do you mean the 4 small buoys that bug the hell out of me but are actually attached to the ground permenantly. have ended up with the anchor caught in their chains twice now........ anyone know their history? I guess they are someones 'markers'.

Do log it as Charlie says. I spole to Rockly this morning and they had not been advised of 'activity' although they usually are - ie it's worth logging it.

Sorry to hear this Mark Unfortunately people do drive into boatyards and hitch up boats - no one will think twice. I was pleased to see the barrier in use over the weekend - I had to drop some spanners back late Saturday and parked outside to avoid the hassle. However if there was a camera anywhere it should be recording pasage through this point - and I don't think it does. Glad you still have her

the absolutely critical first thing to do is check your watch and note the time whilst shouting to the guy overbord to 'go with the flow and don't fight it - you will now be able to work out where he should be at any time in the future. Knowing how long he has been in combined with the mob position of where he went in and the established tidal drift (from GPS after you cut anchor line) will let you work out where you expect him to be as you proceed down the drift line (once established). Equally providing that info to the coastguard will enable them to do the maths and tell you where to find him if you don't connect first time - remember to tell them what your watch reads now when you call to provide a reference point. At night you should have a handheld searchlight in the cockpit ready (for the eels!) lifejackets on and whistles on the jackets. Anything else is a bonus and shouldn't be planned around in my opinion.

don't think there are an awful lot of electronics outlets on Alderney...?

Wonder away! You will find that we can get Penn here cheaper than the US but Lowrance are the opposite despite being apparantly similar in brand values! Both companies have both high value (Lowrance & Penn) brands and good value (Eagle & Jarvis Walker). Penn seem to have taken the view that low prices secure distribution whilst Lowrance have select high margins to maintain theirs. Whilst you can't blame them for the failure of Simpson Lawrance (?) it realy does look as if Penn got it right over the last 10 years. Can I suggest you look at the opportunities the Lowrance pricing gives you - I flew all the way to Miami to buy my LCX - 15mt and my equation looked like this: 2 flights to Miami with BA (a deal) 400 1 Lowrance lcx15mt 400 5 star hotel on water(4 nights) 0 (marriott points - they actually take them over there) food etc - as at home total 800 uk price (fixed) 860 net profit = millions of brownie points (she spent the 60 but what the hell!) how's that for win win

yep Paul that's the one that attracted my attention - one of us will have a sample for Friday then! Do we get a discount on the published prices? and earn the club a percentage? I must have missed something........again!

heres a good site for braid specs - 30lb Whiplash looks to be a real good allrounder to me.....I might not be able to even see any of the lighter strengths! leslies braids

tacklebargains (who have a link on the ftont page of this site) have some bulk braid that they aren't naming but reckon is good. They weren't able to give line dia but have offered to send me samples of the 17 adn 25lb which I should have in time to bring down for Friday evening. Being a floating braid I suspect it was designed for the carp market but worth a look. It's priced at 46 for 1000yds (28 for 600) and some smaller sizes.