Wot Now (WNS) (November !!)

[timbartlett]

Inspired (?) by another question on this forum, here's this month's WotNow.

Your prospective son-in-law has just bought a boat! It's pretty little seventeen foot weekender, about fifteen years old, on a trailer, with a nearly new 30hp outboard, and an astonishing inventory of bits and pieces. But he's disappointed with its performance and has asked for your advice. Everything seems to be working fine, but with three up (you, your daughter, and her fiance,) it struggled along with its nose in the air at about ten knots, flat out.

What do you suggest, skip?

Al the usual stuff applies -- your replies may be used in Motor Boat and Yachting, edited if necessary: short, sensible replies stand a better chance of being used than long ones or "in" jokes etc.etc.

But please have fun with it -- give your imaginations and expertise full rein

 

[Flying Penguin]

Fattest one taped onto the bow?

 

[jfm]

Are you serious Tim?
Throw away any uselss inventory but still you need to buy him/them a new outboard. 17 foot needs 90-100hp

 

[epervier]

Your prospective son-in-law has just bought a boat! It's pretty little seventeen foot weekender, about fifteen years old, on a trailer, with a nearly new 30hp outboard, and an astonishing inventory of bits and pieces. But he's disappointed with its performance and has asked for your advice. Everything seems to be working fine, but with three up (you, your daughter, and her fiance,) it struggled along with its nose in the air at about ten knots, flat out.

Well?

Tell me, what did you expect? I weigh 110kilos never mind the other two and all that tat on board

1978 I put 175 brand new horses on the back of a 17' without the weekender option and only got 50kts before playing with the set up.

The wife's the one on the right, btw.

 

[MapisM]

give your imaginations and expertise full rein

Since you asked... Talking the daughter out of that relationship might be worth a shot, to start with.

 

[timbartlett]

Thanks, guys, for the responses so far. Just to clarify, I'm thinking something like this Quayline 16 (below)
There are quite a few of them around, mostly with 40hp, some with more, some with less (the one in the pic was sold with a 25hp). Assume that its usual use will be weekends pottering in the Solent/Poole, Falmouth/Helford, Firth of Clyde, Essex Rivers etc..

Don't get too hung up on the numbers -- the point is that it's underpowered It's meant to be: that's the point of the question! . Maybe it's a planing hull that has been re-engined for use inland or something like that.

Buying a bigger OB is a very sensible suggestion ... but suppose our lad hasn't got an extra £5k+ to spare? (He's supposed to be saving for a wedding and a house, remember! Prospective F.I.L shouldn't be encouraging him to spend too much on the boat!)

 

[Spi D]

If boats are to perform as they are designed to, no less than 75-80% of the max recommended power should be fitted.

A too small engine that struggles all the time burns a lot of fuel without really givíng you any boating pleasure.

It is said that you can not have too much power, but manufacturers recommendations are there for a reason and some insurance companies won't cover if overpowered.

 

[oldgit]

What a load of tosh so far Millionaires wish lists are fine but !

Corse your big mistake Tim,is not making his first boat a brand new 42ft Phantom like we all started with.
What is it with you lot about POWER,its a first cheap boat and perfectly capable of giving him and your daughter a lot of safe fun,and as you are well aware your daughter is blooming high maintance,so he has got virtually NO DOUGH.
How do all those people with 17ft boats and a Seagull Silver Century fishing 3 miles offshore ever survive.
Also this may be your only chance to off load her on to some other male.

So...time to impress on him some stuff and pass on some of your vast marine knowledge by example.
First who gives **** about engine size,get the cover off and check it over,is it going to be reliable,is it all shiney and nice under the cover or a pile of bodged rust nightmare.
How do those plugs come out,are there any spares,can they be changed at sea IS THERE a plug spanner ?
Lay all the stuff on the lawn,where is the anchor,has it got a bit of rope on it likely to reach the bottom in his chosen boating area.
How many lifejackets.
Will they work,does he know how they work.Impress on the SIL that No1 daughter MUST wear one at ALL TIMES cos if anything happens and he does not drown,you will hunt him down and kill him anyway.
Radio does it work......Channel 16 or 67 might summon help any others may not.
Flares ?
Now this bit of paper is a chart the yellow bits are mud/rocks a bad thing,the pretty blue is good and the tiny numbers actually mean something.
Now about tides
and weather forecasts
and spare fuel
and warm/or waterproof clothing
and the really important law of the sea that states..........
No matter how big your boat some bugger will always have a bigger one.
and the second is
No one in their right mind ever buys any boat that has a zip aboard,longer than the one on a chaps trousers

 

[markcw]

Corse your big mistake Tim,is not making his first boat a brand new 42ft Phantom like we all started with.
What is it with you lot about POWER,its a first cheap boat and perfectly capable of giving him and your daughter a lot of safe fun,and as you are well aware your daughter is blooming high maintance,so he has got virtually NO DOUGH.
How do all those people with 17ft boats and a Seagull Silver Century fishing 3 miles offshore ever survive.
Also this may be your only chance to off load her on to some other male.

So...time to impress on him some stuff and pass on some of your vast marine knowledge by example.
First who gives **** about engine size,get the cover off and check it over,is it going to be reliable,is it all shiney and nice under the cover or a pile of bodged rust nightmare.
How do those plugs come out,are there any spares,can they be changed at sea IS THERE a plug spanner ?
Lay all the stuff on the lawn,where is the anchor,has it got a bit of rope on it likely to reach the bottom in his chosen boating area.
How many lifejackets.
Will they work,does he know how they work.Impress on the SIL that No1 daughter MUST wear one at ALL TIMES cos if anything happens and he does not drown,you will hunt him down and kill him anyway.
Radio does it work......Channel 16 or 67 might summon help any others may not.
Flares ?
Now this bit of paper is a chart the yellow bits are mud/rocks a bad thing,the pretty blue is good and the tiny numbers actually mean something.
Now about tides
and weather forecasts
and spare fuel
and warm/or waterproof clothing
and the really important law of the sea that states..........
No matter how big your boat some bugger will always have a bigger one.
and the second is
No one in their right mind ever buys any boat that has a zip aboard,longer than the one on a chaps trousers

Here Here Agree Totaly

Well said oldgit

 

[timbartlett]

Corse your big mistake Tim,is not making his first boat a brand new 42ft Phantom like we all started with.
What is it with you lot about POWER,its a first cheap boat and perfectly capable of giving him and your daughter a lot of safe fun,and as you are well aware your daughter is blooming high maintance,so he has got virtually NO DOUGH.
How do all those people with 17ft boats and a Seagull Silver Century fishing 3 miles offshore ever survive.
Also this may be your only chance to off load her on to some other male....

Spot on! And the rest is good stuff, too. But unfortunately, Wotnow as it appears in the magazine is limited to one page, so the topics need to be pretty tightly-focussed -- hence th implicit assumption that the prospective son-in-law is a sensible and reasonably competent lad, but his PB2 course didn't cover coaxing performance out of an under-engined boat!

 

[Rum_Pirate]

Thanks, guys, for the responses so far. Just to clarify, I'm thinking something like this Quayline 16 (below)

Don't get too hung up on the numbers -- the point is that it's underpowered It's meant to be: that's the point of the question! . Maybe it's a planing hull that has been re-engined for use inland or something like that.

You are not over powered until your boat looks something like this.

 

[oldgit]

H,mm,not sure that the single 5 litre can of petrol visible on that rib quite covers the spare fuel aspect

 

[jfm]

RTFQ

Corse your big mistake Tim,is not making his first boat a brand new 42ft Phantom like we all started with.
What is it with you lot about POWER,its a first cheap boat and perfectly capable of giving him and your daughter a lot of safe fun,and as you are well aware your daughter is blooming high maintance,so he has got virtually NO DOUGH.
How do all those people with 17ft boats and a Seagull Silver Century fishing 3 miles offshore ever survive.
Also this may be your only chance to off load her on to some other male.

So...time to impress on him some stuff and pass on some of your vast marine knowledge by example.
First who gives **** about engine size,get the cover off and check it over,is it going to be reliable,is it all shiney and nice under the cover or a pile of bodged rust nightmare.
How do those plugs come out,are there any spares,can they be changed at sea IS THERE a plug spanner ?
Lay all the stuff on the lawn,where is the anchor,has it got a bit of rope on it likely to reach the bottom in his chosen boating area.
How many lifejackets.
Will they work,does he know how they work.Impress on the SIL that No1 daughter MUST wear one at ALL TIMES cos if anything happens and he does not drown,you will hunt him down and kill him anyway.
Radio does it work......Channel 16 or 67 might summon help any others may not.
Flares ?
Now this bit of paper is a chart the yellow bits are mud/rocks a bad thing,the pretty blue is good and the tiny numbers actually mean something.
Now about tides
and weather forecasts
and spare fuel
and warm/or waterproof clothing
and the really important law of the sea that states..........
No matter how big your boat some bugger will always have a bigger one.
and the second is
No one in their right mind ever buys any boat that has a zip aboard,longer than the one on a chaps trousers

All good stuff Oldgit (though I think a Phantom 42 is perfectly good first boat, ahem ) but you are moving the goalposts.

The question was "But he's disappointed with its performance and has asked for your advice" and the answer has to be "remove weight" for a tiny improvement or "buy a bigger engine" to do it properly.

I fully agree that the lifejackets should work, there should be a plug spanner on board, and the anchor rode must reach the seabed, but those are answers to different questions.

 

[BartW]

if the engine is nearly new, perhaps it does not yet have the right prop,
can he reach max RPM ?

he could improve performance a tiny bit, with a pair of these cheap automatic trim taps,

agree that a trade in for a bigger engine would be the best option,
but if budget is a problem, I think he should get the boat on the plane with 30HP.
(first get rid of all stuff/overweight)


I have a fairly heavy 14ft Rib, with a 4stroke 30hp outboard,
and can pull a skier out the water with 4 pers. in the boat.

 

[Jegs]

Weight Loss

Displacement speed until 3nm offshore then shoot & jettison prospective father-in-law.


John G

 

[rbcoomer]

I'd consider Hydrofoils. Not everyone's choice I know, but they were already fitted to our Fletcher ArrowFlyte - also with a 30hp Evinrude and despite all our clobber, auxiliary outboard and 3 people, she rises effortlessly onto the plane whilst keeping level. There is little or no distinguishable 'bow up' as she climbs onto the plane - a friend who we went out with last year said she just rides higher in the water until she starts to plane around 12-15knots. Overall a cheap option to try too, along with perhaps some weight redistribution experiments - also low cost!

 

[henryf]

Swallow your pride, take the lad to one side, admit your daughter is something of a large old unit and he'd be better off with a slimmer model.

In the car on the way home comfort the now broken hearted daughter with the fact that he clearly wasn't the right guy for her. Suggest trying some more modern internet based matchmaking solutions then pop an advert in MBY and / or MBM along the lines of:

Gorgeous energetic and outgoing girl looking to meet Mr right with a passion for the outdoors particularly all things afloat preferably a boat owner. Must be fun with a good sense of humour, someone who takes care of himself and is good looking. Age unimportant within reason, being a lover of life's finer things, caring, thoughtful and kind to animals is essential. Please reply by email in the first instance including photographs of boat together with technical specifications of machinery fitted.

Henry

 

[epervier]

Good call,


bet you drink Fosters

 

[oldgit]

Swallow your pride, take the lad to one side, admit your daughter is something of a large old unit and he'd be better off with a slimmer model.

In the car on the way home comfort the now broken hearted daughter with the fact that he clearly wasn't the right guy for her. Suggest trying some more modern internet based matchmaking solutions then pop an advert in MBY and / or MBM along the lines of:

Gorgeous energetic and outgoing girl looking to meet Mr right with a passion for the outdoors particularly all things afloat preferably a boat owner. Must be fun with a good sense of humour, someone who takes care of himself and is good looking. Age unimportant within reason, being a lover of life's finer things, caring, thoughtful and kind to animals is essential. Please reply by email in the first instance including photographs of boat together with technical specifications of machinery fitted.

Henry

Ps. Owning a Phantom 42 my be to your advantage.
PPs.Details of the forum approved interior wood finish my help your case even further.

 

[henryf]

Photos of any prospective cruising companions to my email adress please. To save any embarrassment could I suggest swimwear shots so I know whether they will be front deck material or not

Take it as read that I am finely toned with rugged good looks

The boat pops straight up on the plane with 870hp on tap so no worries there.

Yours etc.

Henry