Elling KB350 setup and mods etc

[Tel1965]

The sea here was dead calm today so I felt a little more confident. Actually opened up the throttle to 5000 rpm for a minute or two. The missus loved the feeling of going faster than we normally do but I was still a bit unsure so soon throttled back down again. Also I don’t want to rev the engine too much at this stage. I’m sure she will post another video once she has done the editing.
Sorry I’ve had to do this write up in a number of posts but I spent half an hour typing it in on my phone and then lost the lot because I got logged out. Damn annoying.

[Fenlander]

Oh that's a shame the simple spacer didn't give you the same instant result. Be very interesting to see what the dealers say. Result though getting another nice day to be out and hitting the big 5000!

[Tel1965]

It’s been a gorgeous day here again. Slowly but surely building confidence. I really hope one day I’ll be good at this boating business. The missus tells me we might have some thunderstorms tomorrow so don’t know if I’ll get out in it again tomorrow.
Btw. Is there a way of letting water out of the Elling? I can see that there is some sort of grill in the transom but I couldn’t seem to open it in any way apart from what looked like a little slide above it. I tried to give it a little pull up but it didn’t move so thought id better just leave it as it is.

[Fenlander]

That slide just pulls up but it's really tight... you won't break it so just use more force and it pops up about 25mm.

[Tel1965]

Cheers David. There I was this afternoon with a towel and wringing it dry for ages. Lol.

[billows]

My 6hp Mariner needs to be forward gear in order to tilt it up.
It won't tilt in neutral or reverse gear. This is per manual as it specifies choosing forward gear before tilting. It always struck me as strange not being able to tilt it up in neutral gear as per my old Johnson 8hp two stroke

[Tel1965]

Our tohatsu 9.8 should tilt in neutral or forward according to the manual. A few people in Polperro have said the same as you though Billows.

[Tel1965]

Well I clocked up 14 hours on the tohatsu, so now it’s been taken for a service, a local friend of ours actually works for a tohatsu dealer so they are going to check out the tilt mechanism at the same time. Hopefully when I get it back I won’t have any more problems with it.

[Fenlander]

Different makers have taken different approaches on this and indeed Mariner/Mercury on their more recent 4 strokes have gone for tilt in forward only. This is a pain when going into shallow water mode. Our 2-stroke 9.8s should work as per the manual and how mine does with the cable tie so I’m sure the guys will sort yours at service Terry.

[Tel1965]

Maybe it was a good thing to have happen to me because I’ve learned a bit from the experience and also it may have done you a little favour in return by you checking yours over before it goes to sea.

[Fenlander]

Indeed Terry thanks. As I said I'd noticed pulling the OB into tilt took a couple of tries before it would go but just dismissed it as how it was. It would have been really annoying to have it go 100% impossible to tilt as I often drop into neutral and tilt up a notch or two with motor still running a little way out from a beach or slip to minimise any chance of catching the prop or skeg.

[Fenlander]

Well yesterday was the day finally. All ready to go at the coast.... report to follow when I've washed the salt out of a few more things.

[Steve509926]

Hope you had a good trip out Fen, really looking forward to your write up and review.

[Oldman2]

I did notice the hints on the mounts thread yesterday that you were out and about, looking forward now to a good read with pictures and maybe a video or two Cant wait!

[Sibfisher]

Fenlander
All the best with your trip out look forward to reading the what t was like and maybe some photos

[Fenlander]

Well shakedown completed... literally. Family situation, tides and weather aligned for once to get the first sea trial done. We were disappointed by a very mild forecast sea state which would have given little chance for a real test but as we arrived at the hard I helped a 70ish guy pull out a classic sailing dinghy and he commented it had kicked up a bit outside the estuary... and indeed it had. At its most lively with tide ebbing against wind white horses and 1m high waves. Perfect test conditions. I'm afraid assessing the Elling was uppermost in our minds so photography was well back in second place but the GoPro was on some of the time so a couple of screen grabs.

The trundle from setup location to slip was 325m and this was the first serious use of the Trem bow trolley I bought pre-Covid (very similar to the one Oldman DIY'd so well). What a difference from my previous lifting and pulling the whole way with the bow handle. It meant we were able to set the boat up in its on water layout rather than piling everything to the transom to make lifting the bow handle bearable.

I've never used a bow dodger on a SIB before and was most impressed with the Elling one. It kept so much of the spray and wind off. However soon into the trip my temp fixings proved inadequate against the lively motion and it started to come adrift so we took it down and stowed away. Not the canopy's fault but two of the important fixings are about 80mm dia patches that need to be glued on to stretch the lower half and keep the plastic hooks on the spray strip. Not wanting to glue anything to the tubes until after the trial I just hoped a couple of bungees pulling in roughly the right direction might do the trick... they didn't. But fixed as designed it would be a great bit of kit.

[Fenlander]

After a while going this way and that to assess different wave conditions we popped back to the West Mersea pontoon and Mrs F went to the Company Shed for two excellent prawn salad takeaways.

Both at sea and at lunch the thick Elling seat pads were much appreciated on out 65yr old backsides. Also I'd fitted both seats and it was a SIB first for me not to sit on starboard tube... with a decent pad on the seat I might just get used to that.

Next we headed to the sheltered de-restricted waterski area down the estuary to do some speed testing. At a max two way average we saw 17kts at 5500rpm so the 8.5" pitch prop is spot on. The comparison for the same outboard on the Aerotec was 15kts... in truth I'd expected more of a difference but I think the Elling would have appreciated a little less weight than we were carrying... us plus kit!

We then dropped our unneeded spare 5l fuel and the bow canopy back to the car heading back out to sea when the afternoon waves were a little lower/longer so easier to manage at speed.

*Sorry about sideways image, it's correct on the PC so don't know how to alter.

[Fenlander]

In all we covered just shy of 15Nm which with varied conditions plus a sheltered water speed test so plenty of opportunity to gather mental data.

It's 18 weeks since I first posted I'd ordered a KB350 and the anticipation, waiting, outboard sourcing, eventual arrival and setting up have been a very welcome distraction from lockdown as it eased and other family stresses. However the simple fact is I'll not be keeping it. I can see how it would be a great fishing platform, huge fun for Chipko's use charging about from the holiday location... but for us and our very particular need it doesn't give the feel of the Aerotec we're used to having liked that model from the very first moment we set off from Tayvallich some 6yrs ago.

So there you are... feel a bit disloyal to the Elling club after sharing so much enthusiasm and now walking away.

I'll give it a wash and then put it up for sale.

[Oldman2]

My my, that was unexpected David. I really thought bum on adjustable seat would have swayed you.
So anything you really didnt like about the boat or was it just the devil you know won out?
You wont have any trouble selling it, thats for sure, lets hope its someone on here so we get to keep it in the fold so to speak.


So you parked and set up by the scouts and I assume launched off the beach next to the sailing club?

[Fenlander]

That bit of grass by the scouts is a life saver when the coast car park is full... which is almost always. We walk slightly further past the sailing club to launch at the hard beside the RNLI shed.

Re the Elling's way of going and how it's not ideal for us. Can be summed up by... age, weight and knees! Keeping on the plane in more challenging conditions our weight was enough to bring the flat floor into contact with waves under the hull frequently giving us... and Mrs F in particular being further forward... a sharp jolt which wasn't ideal for 65yr old backs and knees.

With a lighter and/or younger crew this would be a non issue but when the whole point of this weight reduction plan in changing SIB and OB was to make things easier as we head towards our 70s getting a good jolting on the water negates efforts to save our joints with an easier to lift/move outfit.

To be fair to the Elling I should say we both agreed this was the second best SIB we've used of the ten we've owned so it ranks pretty highly.

I will ponder on the Elling sale for a few days. There are none available new now until around Sept delivery to customers and the bow canopy is shown just as out of stock. Mine unsurprisingly after just two outings is virtually as it came new except it's fitted with the superbly strong Zodiac transom wheels which come in around £200 and £48 of Borika mounts. Also a £20 pressure gauge which weirdly they don't come with. Then I have the £245 bow canopy which any buyer may or may not want.

Couple of other points come to mind... what a lovely clean splash free wake after the Aerotec. The Tohatsu 9.8 is proving to be everything I'd remembered from the one we had years ago. So easy to move, so easy to start and a reliable even beat at trolling speeds. It's fuel consumption at just under 5l for 15Nm interestingly was about the same as the Suzuki 20efi we ran a while back while making similar progress albeit a couple of kts slower with the Tohatsu.... which shows how good the Suzuki was.