So I'm happy with it, but also a little perplexed. Top speed was the same as before - 29kn - despite an extra inch of pitch and one blade less (later 27kn two-up with raised Bimini). I suppose not bad in a big sea and with a strong side wind but wish it were 16" pitch. I think the three blade ventilates slightly easier so had to trim down to prevent blow-out. I do have the engine set quite high, but the flip side being it didn't bog the motor either. All told, the £85 alloy prop was a bargain but not if you've already got a stainless Solas that's only one pitch less.
Visited River Arun/Littlehampton. Launching on 3.5m of water, I'd lost over an hour because I didn't really have any firm plans where to go, but it ended up being a trip up the river Arun which meets the sea at Littlehampton, a delightful seaside town between Bognor Regis and Worthing.
There was a strong westerly following sea on the journey out and I was jumping the big rollers with ease cruising at 22kn/5000rpm, so despite a late start, arrived so quickly at Bognor I decided to press on. Not much to see offshore and because of rocks and submerged obstructions (some unmarked) existing nearer the coast line, I couldn't even see much of that.
I've purchased Navionics to supplement the Garmin. Have the former zoomed out the get the overall bearing, and the latter zoomed in to get low level detail needed to stay safe. Relief shading is better in Navionics, maybe need to investigate putting it on a waterproofed tablet instead of smartphone. Touchscreen also difficult to use when bouncing around, more so than the Garmin.
At this point, reflected and had to sing the praises of no-feedback steering. It lived up to the hype and is fantastic. Makes steering so easy and the boat feels safer and more 'planted'. Previously could be difficult keeping straight line on big slams while holding on to wheel as a grab handle with left hand, right hand on throttle. No fear of hooking or a nasty wave changing the boat's direction, could even let go of the wheel if I wanted. I'll never be without it and could never go back to regular steering.
So I entered Littlehampton inlet at 13.20 just before high tide, the journey took 1.1/2 hours. Plenty of depth in the middle of the channel but a gravel bank hazard port side, I took some video and waved back at onlookers walking along the quay:
I wanted to get as far up the river as possible and as there were no anglers or people out walking I opened the throttle a little to make progress. No need to fear wake washing the banks as this was a tidal section and there were no moored boats. It started raining. How unwelcome.
Rounding one bend, I saw a big mooring and slipway associated with The Ship & Anchor pub at Arundel:
Google shows they also have a **9/10** campsite, so possibly a great place to stay with the option of a cooked evening meal or pub lunch.https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/deta ... revid=1526
I put up the bimini which wasn't much protection and set off again. The boat's own movement turned steady rain into a driving rain. I sat down behind the console screen but then it was more difficult to avoid floating debris, and there seemed to be plenty of it although no big bits of wood.
In no time at all I arrived at Arundel which has a very impressive castle and went under the A27 bypass road bridge:
A few hundred yards later there was a very low arch bridge, the bimini went under with just a few inches clearance:
Since it had stopped raining and was of little use anyway, I took it down around the corner, watched intently by a few diners at the Waterside Cafe and Boat Hire:
Pressing on, I made it another half mile just past The Black Rabbit, another pub restaurant, with short stay moorings for boating customers:
The tide this far inland was still rising but I was conscious of the need to return so reluctantly I turned around and headed back toward the castle. More rain. Duh. A little miserable to be honest.
After going under the low arch I was glad the bimini was down as this time it would have hit. I even felt like ducking my head. It was then the engine started to splutter, I had run put of fuel and used 25L. Bad timing as the current was flowing in at about 3 knots and taking me back toward the bridge. I made a decision not to deploy the anchor, but things were a little sketchy while I quickly lifted the foredeck locker to put the connector on the other tank, then pumping the bulb vigorously to re-prime the fuel line. The new longer line takes more pumps.
Past the Ship & Anchor, it seemed three times longer on the return. Had to go dead slow past some paddle boarders and the moored boats at Littlehampton marina, then as I exited the inlet at 14kn on-plane, experienced some BIG waves and I had to drop my speed to 8 knots and off-plane. There's a sand bar and at low tide you can't get in or out, and the wave size is heightened when it encounters the shallower water. It was tough going and I had no choice but to take it head-on. I couldn't cut the corner to starboard because of the spit and shallow water, and to port would have been in the opposite direction I wanted, toward Worthing.
I never worked the throttle, the cable's a little on the stiff side, not tried the oiler yet. Just tried to get the speed right and there was no point trying to pick a line to avoid the really big ones as very much a washing machine. I think swerving is what ultimately fetched the aux off. Disaster! I don't even know how long it was gone or what made me turn my head.
I try to plan for various scenarios, so fortunately I'd fitted a 4mm Dyneema safety line. But still a distressing sight seeing the motor dangling a foot below the water. Carefully I manoeuvred it back onto the aux bracket. I was surprised and pleased there was no metal fatigue and nothing was broken. It was safest back on the bracket as I couldn't have it bouncing around on deck. I tightened the clamps as tightly as I could and resumed taking a zig-zag course, tacking to reduce slamming but no swerving on the biggies.
The boat was taking a pounding and so was I. One wave sent the bow up with such force I got a thick lip from an impact on the steering wheel. Another came a little later, and as my knees bent to absorb the impact, my right knee smashed into the console and it HURT. I decided not to worry about getting back while there was enough water back at Hayling Yacht Co, and just tried to make the best progress for the conditions. But what would it be like around Selsey which is particularly notorious? I would soon find out. The conditions eased and I was able to vary my speed between 14 and 16 knots.
Have to praise the Ranieri for being a very dry boat. However conditions were such that the strong wind would boomerang any side spray from the bow back and directly into my face. The salt stung my eyes and reduced my vision. Experience quickly taught me to anticipate this happening so could tightly close them in the split second before taking the face full. The console shielded my body and I wasn't cold or soaked through, was glad I was waterproofed and had my coat zipped all the way up.
After a hour or so I approached the overfalls at Selsey Bill and the tidal flow would have been at it's fastest. Actually not as bad as feared, and by now I've a strong confidence in the boat and the conditions it can handle. Couldn't take any video of course, as needed to keep control. Maybe should invest in a mounted GoPro for the future?
Approaching Chichester, I cut the corner as much as I dared, making sure to turn toward deeper water when I'd only got 6.5ft of depth. By now I was in the lee of the Isle of Wight and the sea was far more friendly allowing 25 knots no bother.
So how had I done regarding the tide? Actually was ok but only just. Arrived back at 16.30, had at least 20 minutes before 2.5m of water at the slip, and the absolute minimum I've launched is 2.3m. Not ideal but I was ok going over the Mill Rythe sand bar and there was no wind back at the slip making it easy to tie up and reverse the car and trailer in for the recovery.
The aux motor was my priority now. Back at the campsite I drained any water from the carb bowl. Fortunately the fuel tank vent had been closed and there was no water in there. I gingerly pulled the starter cord to see if it had hydraulic lock. No! Excellent! I tried to drain off the oil and water in the sump, and bummer. Whoever last put the drain plug in had overtightened it and the hexagon head rounded off even though I used a ring spanner. I turned the motor upside down and drained it through the filler plug. It only holds a small amount of oil and I had some Mobil oil in the caravan locker so I refilled the motor and ran it up in a bucket of water. After a couple of minutes when it warmed up, I drained off the milky emulsion that had formed, using the same method as before. I refilled it and ran it to temperature again and the oil didn't re-emulsify. I liberally sprayed water displacing oil everywhere I could and the next day to generate as much heat as I could, ran it extensively under load while tied up at the dock. It seemed fine and I planned not to do anything more until back home and now I sorted the drain plug out, serviced it and ran it to temperature again.
Reflecting on the whole trip, I've no regrets. Gained good experience and saw some new sights. Shame about the aux motor, but it could have been worse had it been completely lost.
One lesson learned is that I should have gone out with more of a definite plan. Also it would have been useful to have tested the return going while still setting out. Maybe I would have spent less time up the river Arun or better, set out at the earliest opportunity on the tide. A difficult thing to judge though, I had several inconvenient options had I run out of water. Mooring at Sparkes marina or extract at Northney marina or Langstone or Chichester slips which are available at all states of tide. Here's where it pays to have onshore support with car and trailer, maybe more difficult if we were both out together.
Glad I'd had foresight and secured the aux with a safety rope. Also, I think the Tohatsu's flimsy tilt lock would have broken had I not used a short length of timber and a 50mm wide Velcro strap to fix it in the tilted position. My home-made aux bracket seems to be holding up nicely too, it's definitely been stress tested. The forward mounted fuel tanks worked well, the straps loosened slightly under extreme slamming, otherwise everything's looking good.
Stats? I covered 59Nm (68 miles) using 41.6 litres of fuel and it took 4 hours 40 mins, that's an average speed of 13 knots and fuel consumption of 0.7L/nm, 25% worse than my IoW trip which returned 0.53L/nm. Cost £75 thanks to the current fuel prices, actually not strictly true as was still using last year's fuel that I had stored with stabilizer (not sure how long it can last nowadays so I've switched to premium instead of regular).
Subsequent trips out highlighted what I already knew, that the boat is underpowered. I'm happy with it one-up, but it's still stern heavy and slow to plane when loaded, despite the top end being ok. The lower pitched four blade doesn't help much in this regard compared to the Hustler, and the Hustler had more mid range slip negating the point of buying it (I wanted lower revs at cruising speed not more). The hydrofoil's effective and helps a lot, but moving the fuel tanks to a lesser degree because this only compensates for the 18kg aux. Correct placement of lardy passengers is the best solution, but a less embarrassing one is to uprate the engine. Max rating is 77hp or 52kw/120kg but I'm not interested in buying a new motor as it makes no sense and there's never anything secondhand so let's see what happens.
What about the overheat alarm? Was it fixed? Well yes it seems fixed but I was disappointed initially until I found I'd left gaffer tape (used to assist engine flushing) blocking off the water intake under the AV plate. Duh! Stupid me and stupid design by Suzuki - they even specify the use of duct tape in the owners manual!
