Mercury Ocean Runner 430 Build Thread

[ba_fisher]

Hi Guys, sorry for getting back late.

@Roadkill, when I was looking, the 460 wasn't available in the US, so 430 was as big as I could get from Mercury.

A leaning post would be a good thing. My console is a little too short for me to steer standing-up (I am 6'1"), but kind of OK if I put one hand on the rail over the console and the other hand on the steering wheel.

The current config is OK for my purpose. Only 2 people on the boat, fishing within 5 miles of Santa Cruz. I guess for other purposes, such as a dive boat that takes more people, it probably won't be ideal.

The most I have taken are 3 adults (kind of cramped), or 2 adults and 3 10-year old kids.

One other reason that I chose the 430 is for the small size and weight. I have a van and don't want to pull anything bigger.

[ba_fisher]

Originally Posted by Timch

Thanks for the detailed write-up and pictures. It's very helpful.

I'm planning to upgrade my SIB to a RIB for next season and trying to decide whether to buy a decked-out version or get empty platform(like you) and then build up on it.
Does going DIY route provided substantial saving?

I had a spreadsheet and was tracking every cent. Then I stopped when it hit $13K (incl tax & reg) and I got a little bit depressed. I probably spent about $14K.

I had considered an Inmar 470R + 60hp Suzuki. The cost would be about $18000~$19000 incl trailer, plus extra for fish finder, radio, ropes, etc. Plus I need to drive down to San Diego to pick it up as there are no local dealers in SF. But that boat is 1+ft longer and much faster.

You can probably get a decent new 14-ft Zodiac for about $20K.

So yeah, there's a little bit of saving, but not as much as I thought. You can save much more if you buy a used boat that's all set up.

For me, I really learned a lot from the DIY stuff, so I am quite happy about the outcome.

Originally Posted by Timch

My garage configuration restricts me to RIBs that cannot exceed 14ft and 800lb. However because it will need to be suspended, height is also important for me.

Do you know the weight of your rig?
What about height (when boat is on trailer) from the ground to the highest point (excluding antennae)?

It should give me a good idea what I should expect. Although I fear I may have to design my own console to keep the height within limits.

The hull is 261lb. The motor is about 140lb. I figure the console+seat+battery+6 gallons fuel is about 200lb. Plus anchor and other crap, it may get close to your 800lb limit.

On the trailer, the height to the top of the rail on the console is about 70 inches. I don't have a fixed antenna. I am using a hand-held now. If I install an antenna I will use a fold-down design so it won't add much height when stored.

The motor does not exceed the tip of the tubes in the rear, so you're good there. However, my trailer doesn't have a folding tongue, and it stretches about 45 inches beyond the tip of the boat (the bow lifting handle). So my total parking length is 13'9" + 45" = about 17'6".

The boat has 4 lifting eyes. However, I am not sure if they are designed to allow the boat to be lifted up all the time. You need to ask Mercury about that.

[ba_fisher]

My labor of love has finally borne fruit!

In the 5 months after I finished the boat, yesterday was only the fifth time I got her into the water, the second attempt to fish, and the first fishing success!

Before leaving the Santa Cruz harbor, I found that the boat was taking in water via the one-way drain hole at the stern. Luckily, there was a guy with a large (7m?) Zodiac docked next to me and he helped me find out the cause - some debris in the rubber flap. After fixing that, the leaking stopped, and my friend Andrew and I set out to fish.

There were a bit of chops and the boat pounded a lot. I had to slow down to about 10~12mph for a comfy ride. I guess the boat's V is not deep enough to cut through the waves.

When we stopped at the fish fishing point, on Andrew's first cast, he caught a 23-inch lingcod. That's the first lingcod he'd ever caught, and also the first fish caught on my boat.

At the end of the day, each of us caught one lingcod and 2 rock fish. It wasn't a particular productive day -- we went out on rental skiffs from the Santa Cruz before and caught about 10 rock fish each time, but we were accompanied by experienced guys who knew where the fish were. Hopefully with more practice we can improve our catch.

Anyway, here's what the lingcod looks like ... yummy blue meat!

[tworotorturbo]

Glad to see that your trip went well! So how do you like the Rib so far? Any changes or additions on the way after these few outings?

I recently got into fishing in the last few months. We went out to the Farallons again on Friday and this is from one hour of fishing for three rookies.

Attachment 108614

[tworotorturbo]

Attachment didnt want to work on my phone

[ba_fisher]

Wow, that's a lot of lingcods!

How did you find your fishing spots? Do you use a fish finder? Any good tips?

My boat probably can't go as far as the Farallons. I need a bigger boat :-)

As far as my boat goes, I'll probably want some more speed, but that's for the future. For now, on flat water, with 3/4 throttle, I can make about 18mph, and that's already too scary for me.

It has enough space for 2 to fish, but it would be too crowded for 3. Maybe I will get rid of the cooler in front of the console to free up some space up front. I'll also try to make a "shelf" over the fuel tank using PVC pipes and rubber mesh.

[ba_fisher]

This is my experiment with putting a cooler next to the console.

[tworotorturbo]

I do use my sonar to find decent structure down there, it seems like as long as there are huge rocks and cliffs, you will get action. We use 4-8 oz jigs. Are you ready to haul crab pots on your rib? The season is near.

[ba_fisher]

I'll probably get a couple of collapsible crab traps like those used by the kayakers. I am trying to think of my boat as a glorified kayak, rather than a miniaturized RIB :-)

[ba_fisher]

Went out again last Sunday for rockfishing around Santa Cruz. The day was beautiful and the sea was flat.

My motor was still under 10 hours, so I had to follow the break-in procedure and limit the RPM to about 4500. On flat water the boat could get to around 22 mph.

I got three huge bites, possibly from big lingcods, but I couldn't land them -- two of them failed to hook, and the third one broke my 7/0 hook into 2 pieces! I guess I need to buy better hooks. Still, it was exciting and I hope my luck would improve next week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_7hNqksvoo

[Bigtalljv]

That was a nice day!

[tworotorturbo]

Nice video! Looks like you guys are having fun. You tow over highway 17? I want to try fishing down there.

[ba_fisher]

Yes, towing over highway 17. The pavement on 17 is quite smooth and it's a nice ride (much better than 85 and 280, which are also part of my route).

[ba_fisher]

A couple of new videos. It's been a lot of fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdbar98vCMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAlvxjNOVJs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cnVCbrq4nM

[gpsguru]

This thread is great ... good to see another Ocean Runner build ...........

Here is my 420 (we dont have the 430 in the UK) .......... bought it new last season and its one of the best boats I have ever had ( I have had a good few over 40 years !).......... goes well (34knts) with a Merc EFI 40 on on the back ..........

[ba_fisher]

I think the 410, 420 and 430 are basically the same boat. Mercury/Quicksilver just "upgraded" the number part of it. My boat is listed as 13' 9", so it's just 419.1cm.

[ba_fisher]

My motor, a Suzuki DF30A, was having intermittent power cut off, and sometimes wouldn't start unless I gave it a gentle whack on the side, or turn the steering wheel. I spent an hour yesterday jiggling various wires and eventually found that the ground connection to the engine block was loose. It should have been factory torqued to 7Nm, but apparently someone forgot. Over 50 hours the vibration make the bolt very loose, and I had to made about 10 turns to tighten it!

It's a good time to get such little things fixed, as I am about to put the boat on the market :-)

[ba_fisher]

If there's something this boat lacks, the ability to catch fish isn't one of them ....

[ba_fisher]

[Bigtalljv]

Nice fish! On the market? Looking for something bigger?