flooding hull on a drying mooring ?

viking61 · 26 October 2011, 20:20

Hi , new to the forum and looking for help. Done loads of reading on the forum but unable to find an answer to this one. I've just kissed goodbye to my wooden classic motorboat and have 8K burning a hole in my pocket

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Looking for a Rib , been using a friends Valiant 5.2 with 90's Mariner 2 stroke and quite like it , although not the fuel usage.
I'm looking at the 5.4 Avon SR , mainly for the robustness of the hull and gen build quality. Does anyone have experience of a flooding hull on a drying mooring , the ground is not muddy or sandy.
Also , what is the consumption like for a new optimax type 2 stroke compared to the old type.
If anyone knows of a boat that fits my bill please let me know , I'm looking in all the usual places already. Any help greatfully received.

chewy · 27 October 2011, 05:37

I had an SR4 with flooding hull on a drying mooring.
It faired ok apart from getting covered in gul sh!t.
It was sandy/muddy and I did end up with a trail of mud and sticks flowing out of the hull when I give it some revs..... ask Bam Bam.

I antifouled mine too, my mate didn't and said it would wash off easily, a year later and he still hasn't washed it!

viking61 · 27 October 2011, 09:51

Thanks very much Chewy, the forward inlets look pretty small , how big is the drain hole at the back ? re seagulls , they are a total pain where i am but i still think they look awesome when they're following the boat. Had an overall cover for my last boat which was great to keep poo off the woodwork but i had to tow it for a mile or so to get it clean ! I've seen lots of ribs with covers that just seem to blow off or fill with water , any tips there ?

alystra · 27 October 2011, 10:09

I think that the flooding hull may provide a nice safe place for things marine to flourish. Does that happen, I wonder? Likely to weigh a lot and be the devil to remove.

Well made covers seem to stay on around here - though the boats are used fairly frequently. Rain water flooding can be controlled by a pump and float switch.

chewy · 27 October 2011, 14:16

Never had any marine growth inside the hull, prob because theys no light?
I did have a cover on and it did come off, you'd need to run bungee cord under the hull to make sure it stayed put.

Drain hole was about 2.5" I think with the two smaller vents in the bow. I've sold mine now but blocked the flooding hull off so in theory it sat higher in the water so the tubes would be clear as I did get some growth on these.

Ruari 29 · 03 November 2011, 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Never had any marine growth inside the hull, prob because theys no light?
I did have a cover on and it did come off, you'd need to run bungee cord under the hull to make sure it stayed put.

Drain hole was about 2.5" I think with the two smaller vents in the bow. I've sold mine now but blocked the flooding hull off so in theory it sat higher in the water so the tubes would be clear as I did get some growth on these.

Chewy, im thinking about blocking mine off, im worried about stability etc etc. was she still solid as a rock?

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wolfie · 03 November 2011, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruari 29

Chewy, im thinking about blocking mine off, im worried about stability etc etc. was she still solid as a rock?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S using Rib.net

I can answer the flooding hull bit, had a couple of SR4 both with a "open" and "shut" hull, the open one great when "sitting" down at rest, while the "shut" one did wobble a bit at rest, admittidly the "shut" one was quicker to plane, but the surge when the "open" one drained was like a turbo kicking in.

Now back to the OP question, one of the SR4 with the "open" hull had been kept on a drying mooring, when i got it, it was about twice the weight it should have been, as over time sand / silt had crept into it and blocked it up, it took me two days with a toilet jet wash attachment to get it all out, and yes there were signs of marine growth / worms etc inside. And as for anti foul, well shall we say that i have been working on and off for the past 6 weeks getting it off the bottom of the 5.4 i recently got, PITA, i would NOT paint the hull, just once a month get down at low water and scrub it off with a broom / brush, or even pull it out and jet wash off, having said that depends on your mooring, i know that in Brixham weed growth is lighting fast, yet over the bay in Torquay it is slower, why ? not sure, so have a good look round your prospective mooring and talk to others on rate of growth etc.

Ruari 29 · 03 November 2011, 18:20

Wolfie, is your current 5.4 open or closed?

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wolfie · 03 November 2011, 19:18

hi Ruari, the 5.4 is "open" hull, and i will try it like that to start with, easy enough to temporarily shut it off at a later date to try it out closed.

viking61 · 08 November 2011, 15:38

Thank you to all for the posts and advice , the mooring is in the river on shingle bottom , the tide is about 6kts. So i think i'm ok with the flooding hull and like some posters said , i can always block it if not. Seems a good 5.4 SR bare hull is 3k ish (late 90's ) and 4k ish ( early 00's) , the seating on available 2nd hand boats seems to be 1 or 2 man jockey with either tank rack or tank rack converted to 2 man jockey behind. This would suit me well , as for elecs , seems once you fit em they become worthless and you never get the cost back on sale. engine wise I'm looking at 90hp but i guess a step doen to 70 would just about do , i'll start another thread on that issue !

thomas · 08 November 2011, 16:43

This is a marvellous invention, not sure how effective it would be with really wet weather though...

Drainman on Vimeo

EnglishLes · 08 November 2011, 17:47

I saw Drainman (or similar) at the Southampton boat show in September. They had a working demo. It cost about £50.