Ranieri

[Limecc]

And.. Another 15' Revolution, 2004 with 50hp 2T Tohatsu for sale in Bristol. Looks a tidy example, wonder what the reserve is? Starting bid £6.5K, currently £7.9K with three days to run, not yet met the reserve.

Somebody added newer graphics, shame they are positioned wrong and will mostly be submerged when on the water.

[Limecc]

A bidding war took it to £8200 for several days but the reserve was not met. 11th hour, a third bidder came along taking it to £8300 and it was now going to sell, however they were sadly disappointed. A fourth bidder and sniper came along, snatching it for £8400 in the final moments of the auction. Bidnapper is king!

[Limecc]

Love that it was £8401. Looks like someone missed out by a quid!
I have to confess, I usually make my bids a weird number slightly over the obvious - like £643.75

[Limecc]

Took Bambini out for the day to test everything.
Happy with 10% slip on the prop, slightly under-propped as I had expected. Will take my time this season deciding whether to use my one free adjustment to make it a 14p.

The aux engine needs lowering. Excessive slip. I will try some tilt adjustment next time out and see if it helps.

Garmin worked great. Had to buy a replacement cover (£18). Stupid me didn't remove it before towing.

The new axle carried the boat wonderfully and it towed like a dream. Gone are the rattles and clattering over bumpy roads. Very kind on the hull and transom.

The EVA got dirty! Not being too precious about cleaning it though.

Bimini worked well to provide shade. Will fold completely down next time when towing.

[Limecc]

Realised it's been some time since the last posting so thought I'd put up some more pics and info.

Weather while at Salcombe in May was absolutely dreadful for nearly the entire two weeks. Only fit to get out three times, one time forgot to tighten the bung (more on this later) and another time had a trip to Dartmouth averaging 20 knots which was good going because of the sea conditions and jumping the big waves.

A jockey seat would have been most welcome but in the absence of the aforementioned just had to take the shocks with slightly bended knees and hang on using the steering wheel with one hand and the other hand for the throttle lever. I quickly realised with one person the boat was hopelessly under-propped pulling 27 knots/31 mph at 6500rpm and I backed off and kept the revs under 6K which was hard because I really needed to make good progress as it was getting late in the day.

The aux bracket and engine were taking such a pounding I was seriously concerned that something was going to fracture. I tied a rope to it as insurance but in the event everything was ok for the entire trip. I determined to fashion a robust tilt lock for it, but seeing as I've not been able to do that yet I'm just going to leave it off for the upcoming round the IoW trip I've planned.

I was a little apprehensive about the notorious overfalls at Start Point. It was impossible to get any photos because I needed full control and the camera probably wouldn't have done them justice anyway. The overfalls were breaking around me and the sea was like a washing machine making it hard to choose a best path so I optimised my speed and chose a straight line through to get it out the way as soon as I could. Boat handled it well, I was glad not to be in a SIB or anything smaller. They were worse again on my return, it was good seafaring experience. I'm sure the coastal watch station had me in their binoculars (we were invited in there one year when sightseeing by land).

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The journey took about 45 minutes for the approx 15 miles, I did 35 miles that day and didn't need any of the reserve fuel despite the fact I'd done a few miles with friends in and around the estuary earlier in the day. I had another 25 litre tank and two 5 litre green jerry cans. Was down to a couple of litres in the main (25l) tank.

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Back to the tale of the bung mentioned at the outset. When fully laden with four the previous day and Doel fin removed I'd been very disappointed with the planing speed and difficulty to do so. I've 50hp for goodness sake, who would have thought it could be so poor? The 4.7m length with huge forward deck area is a huge design compromise not unique to Ranieri. I've followed a 4.2m/40hp Brig RIB up the estuary at sub planing speed and was struck how low it was at the stern. Like mine all the weight was at the rear and this is great for style and social function, but it's at the cost of good balance and handling. This is easily solved by getting a 17 or 19' model, but then you need a bigger engine, perhaps 140hp for the 19, and licensing/launching and fuel costs rise considerably. Also you now need a braked trailer, more storage space and two people are needed for manoeuvring on anything less than perfect flat ground. Anyway I decided the fin was going to stay and refitted it since it works for the boat.

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So the next weather window arrived and we launched on a rising tide with the aim of a steady 30 minute displacement cruise to Kingsbridge. All went well, I even tested out the aux some more, all good. Noticed some water leaked back through the elephant trunk flaps, this seemed normal and I thought no more of it, nor noticed we were a little TOO low on the stern. Decided to open it up on the way back and astonishment! Like the previous day very reluctant to plane, in fact it was worse. Should have been better! I was flummoxed. Fin was refitted, two adults less weight, was the engine making it's full power? Actually yes, I felt it was. What a mystery, it wouldn't plane even moving weight forward. Carried on at displacement speed to Batson Creek and tied up at a pontoon. More water than ever on the deck now and it suddenly dawned we were sinking! PANIC!


First rule of an emergency, stay calm. No. Actually that's the second rule. First rule is always listen to the voice of your wife, especially when she says to check the bilge and turn the bilge pump on. Will never live it down. Finally at her insistence I removed the rear seat and saw maybe 1/2 ton of water, sloshing around over the battery terminals, petrol tank floating fortunately or it might have contaminated the fuel through the air bleed. Some serious electrolysis going on. The copper power wires to the tracker had dissolved and the main terminals were green.

I hastily stripped off a few layers and fortunately due to my desperate agility moves was able to hang upside down over the back and tighten the plug without having to dip my head in the cold murky creek. The bilge pump wires were still intact and it took 30 minutes to pump out. Lessons 3 and 4, get a checklist and only ever remove (or don't modify the boat) the bung when at home and not on holiday.

Too add insult Mrs Limecc grassed me up to the boatyard attendant, who's seen it all before of course, and from his elevated distant vantage he discreetly took a picture on his mobile phone. No doubt to share with the previous owner of the boat who he knows well. Duh!

I'm slightly comforted that some well seasoned and respected Ribbers have done the same bung boob, also been honest enough to relate the tale to others on the other forum.

Another unfortunate event was not my fault. I lost a grease cap from the nearside trailer hub. Difficult without a vernier to determine if it was 50mm or 2", and although cheap virtually impossible to source locally. Not happy dipping it in salt to retrieve the boat and was worried about road grit washing or blowing into the bearings. I think it popped due to grease expansion, another life lesson. Don't pump grease in without a visual check first.

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So I've currently got a few jobs in hand and I'll update The Darkside build thread with those soon.

[sonny1]

this post strikes a couple of chords with me , firstly the bung being undone. on my second outing in my rib , on return to lymington after recovering the boat ,water was streaming from the bung , oops ,i thought, but what was more suprising was the length of time it went on . it didnt stop for about 30 minutes . even more suprising was the fact that i didnt notice anything wrong with the boats perfomance . the other point is overfalls. the worst ive come across were out by old harrys , and as @Limecc said ,just like a washing machine ,which path to take , look for shortest route to calmer water. i think in all honesty frightened is too strong a word ,,, very concerned is nearer the truth. we were only in the rough for between 5 and 10 minutes but it seemed longer . once clear of the turbulance i can honestly say my first thought was how impressed i was with how the boat handled its self . all that said, a very good write up from @Limecc thanks for that , its been a bit quiet on here of late

[Limecc]

Tried Bambini on her first outing with the higher pitched prop today. 17miles, 2 hours.

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Seems the 14" pitch is absolutely perfect, it pulling 6200rpm and 28.5kn working out to have 9.4% slip. I've optimised it for just me solo in the boat, our shaking Manchester is so old he's no longer a salty sea dog and can't take the bumps. Mrs Limecc is all to happy to stay ashore doggy minding.

As mentioned in the build thread I'd also raised the engine a hole so now the AV plate is 1.1/2" above the bottom of the keel. For the first time ever I'm able to trim the engine up to the point of ventilation and then I trim it down slightly. Previously, water flow over the hydrofoil had prevented the hydraulics from trimming up past a certain point.

The transducer is now working great and just in time! The shallow waters around Chichester really require a sonar and it works up to full speed and never blipped out once.

I launched from Hayling Yacht Co after carefully studying the tides visually and using Imray Tide Planner app. Using Northney as the reference port I was able to launch and get out to sea with a tide of just 2.5m LAT which gives a very useable window even during the current neap tides. Love this slipway! Doesn't have the big expense of Northney, nor the overcrowding and tidal flow of Langstone.
4.2m:

3.3m:

2.0m:

1.7m:

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Itchenor would have been another option, cheap to use but a longer drive to get there and more like a shallow beach launch at higher tide states.
Itchenor 2.7m:

[Limecc]

Merlin, an older 17' Ranieri was spotted a few times on eBay, never selling. No trailer or engine, circa 2001, look closely at the transom! Why on earth would someone fit that horrible stainless plate? Plywood core must have been rotten and the seller playing dumb and not declaring it. I'd still be in the market for it as a project boat though, but at the right price.

[Limecc]

From a horrible 17' to a desirable 19' named Dash with a practically new 140hp Suzuki. Age wasn't stated but I guess the vintage is around 2005. Great idea having rollers that can handle the stepped hull. I'll leave the description in the screenshots.

[Limecc]

Thought I'd write up my around-the-IoW experience.

It's always been my desire to see the southerly coastline and complete an IoW circumnavigation. So many things to plan! Of course I could have just picked any convenient day and just gone for it, but that's kind of reckless from a safety aspect.

The first thing I had to assess was how far I would have to go, hence how much fuel? I measured the approx distance using Google Maps measure function and adding waypoints. The distance was 70 miles, I guessed I'd need at least 50L so I took both 25L tanks and 10L in two green cans. Going clockwise would ensure I could get fuel at Lymington or Yarmouth if needed, in the other direction options are limited on the southerly side of the island. The other advantage of clockwise was I always had the sun at my back making it easier to see rogue lobster pots, and there were indeed quite a number.

I looked on https://marine.meteoconsult.co.uk to see if I had good conditions for the trip duration and confirmed everything was perfect. The earliest I could launch was 8.45 but despite best intentions set off at 9.45 on a perfectly flat mill pond. Nothing except shipping wake and no swell, no wind, 21°C. Fantastic!

An incredible feeling of freedom. Almost surreal. I'd built up to this for months.

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After reading reports of accidents from the Bembridge ledge, I gave it a wide berth, but here I had a go at some sign writing in the sea. I knew my other half was following my progress via the tracker and I wanted to send her a message but that would have been too long so I settled for my name instead. After this brief hiatus I resumed the journey keeping it over 20 knots to make good progress. I recognised all the places we visited often by land, memories good and bad flooded back. Fun with the Sevylor and our dogs on the beach at Yaverland, sewage smell at Ventnor, etc etc.

I reached St Catherine's point at precisely 11am with 4.2m of water (high tide was 4.5m at 12.10). Almost disappointed there were no overfalls. Lighthouse not often seen I guess.

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The remote part of the island after Blackgang has high red cliffs and the scenery was absolutely stunning. I was the only one around for miles.

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As I neared Freshwater bay and Tennyson Down I saw in the distance a couple of noisy jet skis travelling near the shore in the same direction as me. I encountered wierd becalmed patches of water marked on the chart plotter, I'd been here before with the RIB. Fishermen often use these spots since tidal flows create a calm area when the sea around can be competitively rough. But not much difference today.

Conditions were great to see what difference the reworked prop and engine lift had made on the top speed. Answer? A two knot increase, 29kn at 6.5K rpm.

Still underpropped. I noticed for the first time torque steer, I was constantly having to apply turning to starboard or else the boat would have steered to port.

I arrived at Scratchell's Bay and The Needles at 11.34am after covering 36knm at an average speed of 20kn. Saw the old big yellow diesel RIB was still giving trips out of Alum bay, took some photographs and swopped the fuel tanks over. Had a bite to eat, no need to anchor. No dolphins sadly. Was with a pod for about 30 minutes last time I was here a year ago and it was magical. My hopes were high since they'd been spotted earlier in the week.

I realised I had an abundance of fuel. I decided to go and see Old Harry at Swanage and encountered an old iron Steamship. Forgot it's name, was packed with people watching me zoom by but then I had an overheat alarm and had to stop and restart to clear the bleeping. Slightly unnerved about a bigger problem I'm glad it didn't happen again. Definitely not caused by seaweed, I wondered if going back to the 60° thermostat would be a better option or if it's The same trouble Chris had, faulty sensor? The alarm didn't return for the rest of the trip or indeed the holiday.

I checked the time and diverted to Mudeford Quay instead. I didn't want to cut it fine getting back, I had to be recovered and out for 15.10 with minimum 2.5m LAT. I arrived at Mudeford at 12.20 just after the tide turned. Followed the marked channel, very shallow and even though high water my low water alarm went off a couple of times (at 1.8ft). I must have been out of channel.

Mudeford was quite busy, but not heaving like we've always known. Now I'd seen the place again I hung around for the ferry to leave and then departed.

I made a straight course for The Needles and re-encountered the steamer vessel I crossed earlier and ran into the swirling tidal eddies adjacent to some washing machine water which I enjoyed blasting through, the Ranieri is extremely dry and handled it so well.

In a short while I was at the The Needles Lighthouse entering Alum bay.

Many folk don't know about the fourth Needle 'Lot's Wife' which was by a third the tallest at 120ft and toppled in a storm in 1764. A casual observer would not notice the ww2 defenses dug into the rock face (actually the Old Battery defences date back to 1863). Rectangular gun openings belying the tunnels hidden deep within. There used to be a steam operated lift and access shaft, long disused now and sealed off to the public.