I'm well happy!

lightning · 16 August 2009, 11:42

Took my little 2.8m Zodiac SIB/Mercury 6hp out on Lake Windermere yesterday, was a bit worried as it did not seem to go much over 5mph when I tried it on the canal, but on the lake it achieved 10mph easily and a brief burst of full throttle saw 14.5mph on the GPS.
That was with 2 of us on board. I kept it at 10mph or less after that as the speed limit is 10mph there.

astra · 16 August 2009, 12:53

Fair play,sounds like your happy with it now or maybe some sea trials on the agenda soon.we took are sib to pentewan campsite witch is right on the beach with its own slipway,bloody wicked place to go as long as you dont launch your boat in 4ft high waves like we did it was a bit rough to say the least but it was fun and wet.

thornbackflound · 16 August 2009, 18:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightning

Took my little 2.8m Zodiac SIB/Mercury 6hp out on Lake Windermere yesterday, was a bit worried as it did not seem to go much over 5mph when I tried it on the canal, but on the lake it achieved 10mph easily and a brief burst of full throttle saw 14.5mph on the GPS.
That was with 2 of us on board. I kept it at 10mph or less after that as the speed limit is 10mph there.

Smashing ,nice speed there ,happy days,im after getting a 5 or 6 h/p for mine

thornbackflound · 16 August 2009, 18:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

Fair play,sounds like your happy with it now or maybe some sea trials on the agenda soon.we took are sib to pentewan campsite witch is right on the beach with its own slipway,bloody wicked place to go as long as you dont launch your boat in 4ft high waves like we did it was a bit rough to say the least but it was fun and wet.

Bloody hell 4 foot waves ,won t catch me out in them only flat seas for me ,bit choppy then ,did you stay close in? shallow water and big waves certainly would get you wet

astra · 16 August 2009, 19:53

had to take the boat back to shore to bail out the water 2 times and was the only people trying to launch, funny that

MikeP · 16 August 2009, 21:13

Astra - I love to hear tales of perseverance.... pictures, though, eh ??

Lightning - well done, nice one, make sure you stay at the speed limits where they exist - you've got a couple of HP on us, so I'm interested to hear your figures. I've had us up to 6mph, but running in our engine so not given it full throttle yet. However, if I had to regret one thing on our purchase, I wonder if something bigger than 4HP might have been better. In total fairness, we decided this was the maximum size the missus and I could tote between us, but I've been to the gym a few times since then .....

thornbackflound · 16 August 2009, 21:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeP

Astra - I love to hear tales of perseverance.... pictures, though, eh ??

Lightning - well done, nice one, make sure you stay at the speed limits where they exist - you've got a couple of HP on us, so I'm interested to hear your figures. I've had us up to 6mph, but running in our engine so not given it full throttle yet. However, if I had to regret one thing on our purchase, I wonder if something bigger than 4HP might have been better. In total fairness, we decided this was the maximum size the missus and I could tote between us, but I've been to the gym a few times since then .....

Got to say ,im curoius on the 6 h/p weight ratio ,my sib will take it ,its the max it can,i currently have a mariner 3.3,how much more weight will a 6,,,,or 5? give speed wise,,,,,,,,,2 people fishing ,2 people ,yes i need ther weight

lightning · 17 August 2009, 07:23

Well, the 6hp Mariner/Mercury engine weighs 25kg and it's identical in looks and weight to the 4hp and 5hp versions. (except that the 4hp has an integral fuel tank)
I'm not sure how much difference an extra 1 or 2hp would make. I've seen videos on YouTube with the 3.5hp engine on smaller boats and it seems to go well.
Part of me wished I'd bought the smaller Mariner 3.5hp as it only weighs 17kg, particularly after the first day out when I tried to lift it off the boat while still in the water and nearly fell in.
I do find the engine more managable now that I'm used to it, but it's a bit of a pain having to carry it upright (when there's a carrying handle below the choke/stop switch but no you mustn't use it to carry the engine with one hand)
Oddly on the canal the 6hp won't do more than about 5.5mph (not that you would want to), must be the fact that it's narrow/shallow? However it does 4mph on very low RPM with hardly any noise do it's ideal for the canal really.

thornbackflound · 17 August 2009, 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightning

Well, the 6hp Mariner/Mercury engine weighs 25kg and it's identical in looks and weight to the 4hp and 5hp versions. (except that the 4hp has an integral fuel tank)
I'm not sure how much difference an extra 1 or 2hp would make. I've seen videos on YouTube with the 3.5hp engine on smaller boats and it seems to go well.
Part of me wished I'd bought the smaller Mariner 3.5hp as it only weighs 17kg, particularly after the first day out when I tried to lift it off the boat while still in the water and nearly fell in.
I do find the engine more managable now that I'm used to it, but it's a bit of a pain having to carry it upright (when there's a carrying handle below the choke/stop switch but no you mustn't use it to carry the engine with one hand)
Oddly on the canal the 6hp won't do more than about 5.5mph (not that you would want to), must be the fact that it's narrow/shallow? However it does 4mph on very low RPM with hardly any noise do it's ideal for the canal really.

Cheers mate ,thanks for the info, i was quite lucky to get my marinar 3.3 for the price i did ,i was teaching up at a school for a while and the woodwork technician over heard me saying i had brought a seago 2.70 dinghy and was looking for an outboard,,,,he piped in i have one for sale i don t ues it anymore ,i said how much he said call it a hundred quid,its only 4 hours old ,,,,,,,,,,shook his had ,well nearly bit it off for that price,,,,,,very light and it does go quite well as it goes ,so might stick with it then ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,a mate is enquiring about some old outboards ,being sold off at bewlwater,he fly fishes there,and there updating them, they are 5hp ,don t know the make? or how much yet?