New Guts - Part 7....at last!

[Mike Garside]

OK, I must apologise for the delay in starting this new thread. I lorst the dead cheap digi box-camera - it's so small I am always putting it down and losing the pesky thing.

Anyway it's back and the pics down-loaded so here goes.

The new Bravo 2X leg finally turned up after a trip halfway round Britain in the ever elusive E P Barrus delivery truck and we eagerly unpacked it. Frustratingly it was not the 1.81:1 gear ratio version that Barrus had recommended but a 1.65:1 version, instead. But this was no time to quibble....

[Mike Garside]

The next thing to do was to fill the leg's gear box reservoir with a dollop of liquid Quicksilver...

[Mike Garside]

....before bleeding this right though to the bit that connects the reservoir to the leg...

[Mike Garside]

Then, after thoroughly greasing the spined shaft, the leg was manhandled into position and fitted to the stern drive assembly....

[Mike Garside]

Then it was time to fit the prop. Interestingly, all props specified for the Bravo 1X and Bravo 3X legs are steel but all those for the Bravo 2X are aluminium. I haven't found out why thi is yet but it's on the to-do list.

Again, another surprise was to find that the 23" prop that the Barrus techie had recommended had been replaced with a 17.75 X 21" version. Again, this was no time to quibble....

[Mike Garside]

Then, with a water hose fed into the strainer in the engine box and the leg intakes blocked with a pair of cuffs the engine was fired up and the on-shore tests were carried out...

[Mike Garside]

All seemed to be working smoothly and so it was into the briney for the all-important sea trials....

[Mike Garside]

And in no time at all we were bombing along faster by far than ever before....

[Mike Garside]

Well, I'm afraid from the size of this pic of the GPS screen you'll just have to take my word for it that the Speed Over Ground reads 35.1 knots. Ahhhhh!

[Mike Garside]

Well, there you are, folks. We hit 35 knots in both directions on flat water at high tide in the Carrick Roads. Since then we have put about 39 hours on the engine and it does seem that the boat - even with 600 litres of fuel on board continues to run at a speed that satisfies me.

It's been an expensive operation to retro fit a new lump but, with the deal to sell the 4-cylinder Yamaha to Stuart WAVEHUMPER Hopkins, it's been worth it. I now have a RIB that, to me, flies instead of lumbering, and if we can get 1.5 litres to a mile, we have a range of 400 miles.

At the moment I have no idea how much fuel we are using, nor the optimum revs for a balance between speed and economy. That's the next job. The Floscan fuel guage is on the shopping list.

Cheers for now...