Honwaver T38 or Elling 350? - Page 3

Fenlander · 20 July 2021, 09:58

Oh that's good news... the will he-won't he element of this was adding to my stress levels.

Re the Honwave QC... be realistic a tiny keel wobble here and there will not affect it in use.

>>> I should get some holiday days on the water with the kids

Yep and that's what it's all about really.

Gary S · 20 July 2021, 12:43

Well done and I’m sure the Honwave will be absolutely fine. Getting on the water in the immediate short term will be an issue due to business and personal commitments but early August (fingers crossed!) should start to become easier. I’ll PM you or call and hopefully we can meet up, compare ‘notes’ and do some fishing! Well done and as everyone says, getting out there is the target!

Gary S · 20 July 2021, 12:45

T32 or T38 btw?

Mattster · 20 July 2021, 16:38

Definitely keen for that Gary - just give me a shout when you are free.
T38 - will be interesting to see how well the 6hp does. Hopefully well enough - I'm not looking to break any speed records, clearly!

TmMorris · 20 July 2021, 19:16

My personal view is that of the purpose of the boat is to make a couple of young children happy then I don't think you need to be too particular. So long as it is safe and you can get on and off the water easily then the children will be overjoyed. From the posts I've read on here I get the feeling you choice will be perfect.

Mattster · 20 July 2021, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by TmMorris

My personal view is that of the purpose of the boat is to make a couple of young children happy then I don't think you need to be too particular. So long as it is safe and you can get on and off the water easily then the children will be overjoyed. From the posts I've read on here I get the feeling you choice will be perfect.

Thanks - I reckon so. But - full disclosure - the main purpose of the boat is for me to go fishing

. However, I really do hope that the kids enjoy it this summer, and it becomes an activity we can do together - we are lucky enough to live in the perfect location for it. They're already quite exicted at the prospect of a seal spotting trip in Chichester harbour.

TmMorris · 20 July 2021, 19:59

I was testing my new SIB from the sailing club on Hayling in the harbour on Sunday. What I noticed was that the beach along the mouth was rammed but the one just on the inside, opposite the club was empty and I've landed sailing boats there and a SIB would be easy. Great dunes for kids to play in.

Plus the harbour being 8 knots means you don't have to hang about.

Mattster · 20 July 2021, 20:08

Yes, lovely part of the world but it does get crazy busy on the Witterings main beach on a sunny Sunday! The emptier part you are talking about is probably East Head - a bit more of a walk from the car park, which might explain why it was relatively empty! Around the north of East Head is very protected, and quite deep close to shore - it's a popular anchorage. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore in the harbour, I've done a bit on the kayak but looking forward to doing more now. I'm lucky enough to live within 5 minutes of a reasonable launch site, so no excuses really!

TmMorris · 20 July 2021, 20:14

That's a great location. It took me an hour on Sunday just to leave the island the. Another hour to Winchester where I stopped for supper, then two hours home. Children are used to sleeping in the car and it was all worth the effort.

Mattster · 20 July 2021, 20:17

Worth it I'm sure, but Sunday was by some margin the busiest day of the year down here so far - a confluence of school hols (for some at least), baking hot weather and lots of people stuck in the UK I guess (although it could be worse on August bank holiday..). Both Hayling and my area have the problem of only having one road in or out to the A27.

Mattster · 22 July 2021, 19:15

Well, she's in the garden!

9 hours drive to Exeter and back from Chichester - traffic as you might expect on a thirty degree day! Also detoured to Poole to pick up the NRG rechargable pump which is an absolute weapon. Had the boat inflated for the first time inside 15 minutes, including snafus with not having valve in correct position (air out once hose removed etc). Bought from Bridger marine who were extremely helpful, boat was inflated on arrival for inspection, also ran the engine and talked me through it which is always useful with a new model.

First impression of the boat is very positive. Seems well built, lighter than I was even hoping and I had no trouble moving the rolled up boat from car to garden. Engine is so much lighter than I thought it would be, or perhaps just easier to carry than the 10hp that I have tried before - this new one has a soft and very comfortable carry handle. Carrying it is a breeze, even with my back - don't think I'll have any dramas launching solo if I need to.

So far, one happy camper, and glad I took the plunge - looking forward to getting wheels, and picking up the few bits and pieces I need before first launch. Dug out my old Icom handheld VHF which I haven't used in 15 years. Turned it on and it still has the full three bars of batteries - how is that possible??

Thanks for all the help on this thread, even if I ended up doing the opposite to some of it !

chipko · 22 July 2021, 19:28

Ooooh nice!…and the new 6hp Tohatsu’s look very smart too.

Good choice in the end, and the T38’s are a great piece of kit. Luckily both boats on your shortlist are good craft, so couldn’t really go wrong either way.

Enjoy your new rig. [emoji106]

Mattster · 22 July 2021, 19:32

Thanks!
Yeah, like the look of the new Tohatsus, bit of a "stealth" cowl going on, with minimal decals. Here's a crappy pic on our outside table:

Bit rattly at idle as you might expect with a single cylinder engine, but seemed to smooth out a bit with a few revs. Will be very interesting to see how well it performs on the water - that is perhaps the last big unknown, but I'm hopeful it will do the job. Kid's stuff is likely all going to in the harbour with an 8 knot speed limit anyway, and fishing out the front is all within a mile of shore and a mile or two up or down the coast, so as long as it gets me there (and back), I'm happy.

TmMorris · 22 July 2021, 20:34

That engine does look nice.

Fenlander · 22 July 2021, 21:13

Really looking forward to hearing how this goes for you. I have high hopes for the revamped T38 as a go-to easy to use from the back of the car daily set-up mid range SIB... together with the Elling KB350 and Excel SD360 depending on a user's balance of needs. Losing the daft (transom wheel wise) trim tabs from the T38 was the best thing Honwave have done.

At 26kg that Tohatsu is the same weight as my Tohatsu 2-stroke... so so manageable.

Mattster · 22 July 2021, 21:19

The trim tabs on the old model completely ruled it out for me, since I need to have a stable (not wobbly) transducer mounted, so that I can collect sonar data for the work I do, not to mention the ridiculous OEM wheels you have to buy etc. So glad they got rid of them. I wonder if they really made any difference anyway? Maybe a bit more support for bigger engines? The t38 has pretty long sponsons at the back anyway.

Gary S · 23 July 2021, 06:18

Brilliant news and all looking good! Fingers crossed we can meet up in the not too distant.

Mattster · 28 July 2021, 15:02

So wheels have arrived, and I spent yesterday and today measuring and fitting.
I've gone for the Suprod folding jobbies, which look like a very neat solution as far as storage whilst underway is concerned. My only real worry is that they might prove a bit small at 200mm, so I have fitted them with enough clearance in both up and down positions to be able to take a 260mm wheel at some point in the future - although whether a 260mm will succeed on e.g. softer shingle where a 200 won't I don't know. In any case, this meant mounting them about 3cm further inboard than I would otherwise have had to, but I think they are far enough apart. Did have to bring the HDPE spacers into action because of the lip at the bottom of the transom, but othewise the install didn't seem too painful. Bolts were cut to size, and I have some plastic domed hex nut caps on order to pop over them, just to keep it neat and protect the boat (although tbh the nuts have no sharp edges anyway).

Wheels up:

And down:

Inside view:

Full disclosure, there were a couple of QC type issues, in particular the bung had not been fitted very well at all IMO, so I took it out and redid both sides when I did the wheels.

Original fitted bung:

One other slightly weird issue is what looks like a small burn mark on the tube. I didn't notice this in the shop, so either it wasn't there or I was too focused on looking for other things, but then I really can't imagine how I could have done it since? It is smaller than this pic implies (this is a close up), and there is no change at all to the texture of the tube. Should I have any concerns? At worst, it is a simple patch job I guess if anything develops.

Now just waiting for the sealant to cure and for this wind to go away so that I can get the shakedown cruise done and dusted. Have sliding transducer mount on the way as well, and picking up anchor and other safety gear probably tomorrow.

chipko · 28 July 2021, 17:34

Nice job there Mattster. Like the Suprod folding solution…very neat…like Fenlander, personally hate the ‘Mickey Mouse’ ears image of trad. hinged wheels. So much so we always strive to remove ours and leave ashore, vain or what.

Honwave looks great, shame about small brown mark but only looks superficial, nowt to worry about methinks.

Enjoy your new rig. [emoji106]

Fenlander · 28 July 2021, 17:37

Matt... your images all seem to have gone... including the boat in the garden going back a few posts??

Anyway I did see the wheel images earlier. I love the neat clever mechanism and the fact they stay largely out of sight not like mickey mouse ears when flipped up.

Edit... oh dear Chipko and I seem to be morphing into the same person!

Edit 2... images back now.