Muzza

Another disadvantage of the outboard is that the propellor is not in front of the rudder, this can often mean steering issues at very low speed, having seen this with a number of boats with skeg hung rudders they are very slow to answer the helm in windy weather or a chop.

This is quite a common problem with staggered butt joints, this means that where each one of these joints is the cabin top is only as strong as a single layer of plywood. These butt joints actually create a stress riser making these cracks show. My solution would be to use a router with a batten as a guide to rout out about 50mm each side of the crack x 3mm deep and fill with epoxy and glass. Raking out the butt joint and filling with epoxy would make the job even stronger.

Because AIS channels are at the very top end of the Marine VHF band, dedicated AIS antennas are usually cut for the the top two or three frequencies in the band resulting in a considerably shorter antenna with a centre frequency of around 162 mhz where a normal VHF antenna will be centered around 159 mhz. On our commercial boats the AIS antennas are about 30cm shorter than the normal VHF communication antenna's. Two separate dedicated antenna's at similar height will always work better than one single antenna but on small boats compromises have to be made. Step 1 would be to disconnect th

They do it because they can, they don't answer to anyone.

Psyche, you beat me to it, these things get introduced with seemingly innocent intentions but later you suddenly find that the innocent $200 per annum that you initially paid has steadily climbed towards thousands, this has always happened with taxes in the past. I hate to see any kind of freedoms encroached on and this is where it will eventually lead. Proper registration does cost, keeping it updated like car rego is an expensive exercise and of course these government agencies have a mentality that says user pays. The perception of these people in Government and local Government departments

I would rather see the people who are causing the problems get crucified than see every innocent boatie saddled with the cost of registration. licencing I could probably go along with but even that doesn't seem to work on the roads and I fear won't make much difference on the harbour. Compulsory registration does enable the culprit to be quickly identified but at great cost to boat owners that know how to safely operate their vessel. There is no magic solution where everyone will be happy.

I think you mean most of the wooden boats were built by Phil Wilson, many of these were sold as kitset frame packs, he never built glass Trackers. Glass Hulls from 1975 to approx mid 80 were moulded by Sandglass productions and finished by Mike Bentley and Malcom Booth's company Pacific Line Yachts. Craddock didn't get involved until mid 1980's.

Because of my passion for sailing fast I didn't want to install a strainer on the outside of the hull so just installed flush skin fittings. My suggestion for a cooling through hull is immediately inside the sea cock is to install a female Tee connector and plug and have the cooling water to the engine branching off the side of the Tee and plug the opening that is directly opposite the sea cock. If you suspect that the flow is restricted it is just a simple matter of removing the plug and clearing the obstruction with a screw driver or appropriately sized piece of brass rod.

In the old days of three strand rope we used to use a long splice but with today's boats having braided line stitching and taping is probably the easiest method. An alternative to using tape is to use heat shrink tubing as it is strong and compresses the area where the ropes join.

Be pretty hard to get Paul back unless you can work miracles.

I went into Burnsco a few days ago and noticed Propspeed on the shelves for sale, No doubt Propspeed were getting worried by some of the generic equivalents that are soon to be entering the market. It would be nice if the price was half what they are asking but that may come in time too.

There was one years ago called the Dinghy Minder or some name like that, haven't seen one for about 40 years.

Chris, Briski is now quite a journey, they are no longer in Howick but based just east of Maramarua about midway between the village and Smythes Quarry or just before the Heavens Road passing lanes when east bound. Henley's are a lot closer to Auck's. Brent is the guy who runs Briski.

Chris The 30 horse power from Yanmar may be a bit misleading for instance the 1GM 10 is only 9hp and the twin 2ym15 is only 14hp the 3 cylinder 30 (forget the number is actually 29hp This horsepower rating will include the water pump and alternator but not the fridge commpressor. A typical fridge compressor can asily soak up 5 to 10 hp so best to have an electro magnetic clutch fitted to turn it off once the fridge has reached the required temp.

IT your comment about matching propeller size pitch, diameter and blade area to engine load is very relevant with all propellers and even in today's age of computers it is not unusual for the experts to get it wrong. Usually after launch optimizing propeller efficiency is just a work in progress. Sometimes the cheaper option is to collect data of several second hand props ensuring tapers and attachment are the same or in the case of folders use blades from the same manufacturer of various sizes. The more data collected the more chance of getting the final prop selection right.

I have one. The down side is they are extremely lightly built and there is movement and flex when the boat is on it (starling) I don't think they are really built to last. With hind sight I should have saved a few more $ and bought something more substantial.

One thing I have noticed is that marine growth on the prop will kill performance faster than growth on the hull. My dads launch taught me this at a young age. After a long period of inactivity the boat was quite heavily fouled with slime and weed and speed was down to 4.6 knots from the usual 7 knot cruising speed with the engine showing signs of overload. The boat was about to be bought home and I didn't envy the trip around to Halfmoon Bay at that speed so decided to clean the prop and see if it made a difference. Speed was increased to 6.7 knots which was a little more acceptable and no o

Harry, I used to change air filters at the beginning of each season regardless of if it really needed it or not. Another thing is people tend to under estimate the importance of good airflow to the air filter, too often engines are hidden away in a box with no thoughts given to having an adequate supply of clean air to the engine. Another possibility in your case might be fuel, check filters and maybe consider having the injectors looked at but good to here the speed is back up to a more realistic figure. it would be interesting to test the boat out in 25 knots with a lumpy sea to see how th

Took the Tracker (fin keel version) up to the ramp by the bridge about 25 years ago and made it ok without touching, don't know if it has shallowed much since then. Hardest job was getting the girls out of the shops ended up going out on a falling tide about 45 minutes later than expected shitting myself all the way but no dramas.The Tracker's draft was 4 ft 8 inches. Knowing what I know now I would have left the girls there and made them walk back to the wharf. Also took the Tracker through the narrow Wanganui Island passage about 45 mins before high water.

Some of the last of the parkercrafts had welds but i am sure they never moved to fully welded. Fyran under Trevor Fyfe was the first to fullyweld (very early 1970's or possibly 1969)

From memory dinghies such as the Parkercraft used a mastic tape in the lapped join. My first course of action would be to try hardening the rivets up using a hammer and dolly (appropriately shaped metal weight) on the opposite side of the rivet often you don't need much to reset the rivet.

One thing I should have mentioned in calculating propeller size is that prop shaft revs is one of the most important things to take into consideration. An engine developing 10hp at 3000 revs on a 3:1 reduction is virtually the same as a 10hp at 2000 rpm through a 2:1 box, all giving around 1000rpm on the prop shaft. Another thing that people often don't take into consideration when selecting props is the horsepower soaked up by other auxilary devices such as engine driven compressors for fridge/freezers or Aircon units, these can easily soak up 5 to 10 horsepower best to have a magnetic clutch

Harry. As has been stated already most auxilary installations are a compromise and often props are not that well matched to the engine your 14 x 8 does seem to be a little short on pitch for a 16 hp engine. The standard reduction on those Yanmar gear boxes (Kansaki I think was the maker, or some name like that) is 2.2:1. A mate has a Raven 26 with with an identical engine to yours Yanmar2GM using a Briski folder is getting top speed of 6.25 and comfortable cruising at just over 5 knots and that boat is probably at least 500kg heavier than your boat. A 21 ft static waterline would mean an ef

yep that's a Cav 26. Sail drive makes sense on that boat moving the prop at least 6 ft further forward than a shaft installation. Unfortunately sail drive manufacturers don't put low enough reductions on for engines running to 3,600 rpm Yanmar 2.64:1 Nanni and I think Beta 2.38:1 and Lombardini 2.18:1. a 3:1 would be better suited get max prop revs down to 1200 and cruising down to 1000 or just over.