A Testimonial from John C. Townsville, Queensland.

Following are the fuel figures for a trip to Arab Reef which is some 57 Nm off Townsville. The boat was loaded with 400 litres of fuel, which was a full tank together with three guys, ice and gear for a 2 day trip. Weather conditions were 10 to 15 knots, with 1.5 metre seas from the NE.

Leaving Townsville we headed straight into the wind and swell at 24 knots which proved to be a bit too bumpy for my old back, so I went and sat in the back seat and let Stephen drive, he came back in speed to twenty knots which provided a very comfy ride.

The seas stayed pretty lumpy for the whole trip but apart from heading straight into the seas, the boat handled it with ease. In fact, on the way home I placed a self-inflating mattress on the cockpit floor and went to sleep whilst we were travelling at 24 knots with a following sea.

The GPS logged 132.4 Nm for the trip with an economy rate of 1.54 Ltr/knots for the whole trip which I was over the moon with considering that we were starting & stopping & moving between reefs and the lumpy seas use extra fuel.

We are thrilled with the whole combination: boat, motor & trailer.

We towed the boat home to Townsville from [Lifestyle Boats’ factory at] Caloundra at 90-95K/hr with my 3.0Ltr Nissan diesel Patrol, sure I used a lot more fuel but it towed beautifully.

The Honda 225Hp Motor is ideal for this boat with a top speed of close to 36 Kn/hr and a great cruising speed of 27Kn/hr @ 4700 rpm and 36 Lt/hr. I might add that I lost my bet with Stephen (it cost me a new rod & reel ). I didn’t think it would do better than 40 Lt/hr @ 25 Knts, however a couple of reef trips and I will have saved the money I lost.

I would have no hesitation in recommending this combination to any prospective buyers.

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A Testimonial from George. July 2012.

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.

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