A Testimonial from George.
Thought I would give you an update on Bridget. She is going well, I have had no trouble operating the boat at all, easy on and off the trailer, no trouble to manage by myself. No problems, everything is working well and Gail loves it, great for all the family.
Have done about 7 trips now, mainly on Hervey Bay and have caught my first 3 Schnapper.
About 30 hours, I’m glad we decided on the 200hp engine, I wouldn’t go smaller, it seems to be a good size for the hull.
Some information for you, on a flat ocean at 4000 rpm it is doing 21 knots and using about 1.1 litres per nautical mile (23 litres per hour), at 4500 rpm it is doing 26 knots and using about 1.3 litres per nautical mile (30 litres per hour). I think this is pretty good
The Lowrance HDS 10 is good, but you need a PhD in Electronics to get the sonar to work properly, particularly in a rough sea (and I’m not sure I have it worked out). The plotter is really good.
The HDS 10 gives you information from the engine including engine temperature, alternator, battery voltage, fuel useage (including the total amount used for the trip – really handy to know exactly how much fuel you have on board), engine trim and other info. All useful, note, when the NMEA 2000 is connected for the engine info it draws voltage continuously so needs an additional switch to turn it off and stop unnecessary battery drainage.
I spent a weekend up in Wathumba Creek with my daughter and her partner, it’s great to have a hull that just sits level on the sand when the tide goes out. Great for camping. Towed the boat up to 1770 for the weekend last month, tows well behind the Mazda BT 50 but I will buy some Hayman Reese ride levellers for the trailer to lift the back of the ute when the trailer is attached and correct the headlights and steering. (Like they do with the caravans.)
The trailer brakes work perfectly. You asked me to report back how the rust preventative is working on the trailer, so far the gal is still fairly shiny but it’s still fairly new so will let you know what it’s like in another 6 months.