Here's The true Sea Sled Story, circa1985

Thanks DogCavalry,

I'll have a look at those plans you suggest - I don't want to build another one (at least until I see how well the one I have performs) but I'm thinking they would look good framed on my wall.

I've read about the whole two prop thing and, as yet, have nothing meaningful to add cause I haven't got the boat in the water yet. A couple of things I have considered though, this boat came with a 1980 inline 6 two stroke with a long leg and it's only 16 feet. It seems to have been well loved at some stage in its life so I'm thinking maybe, with such a small length (comparatively), the issues around the foam may not be so significant. Additionally, I note our plan salesman spec's 40+mph with a 90 hp motor. Next year this lovely "Tower of Power" Mercury will be 40 years old and despite the mere 400 hours (according to the gauge) and, despite Mr Miyagi's magic, is potentially considering retirement soon. I'd have to make some significant changes to the transom to fit (say) twin 40s and it seems excessive on such a little boat (not that I know anything really)...

I'll get her registered, get a licence, gain some confidence and then give her a run as she is now and we can have some empirical data to work with

 

Very scientific. Very objective. Okay, seems like the long leg should get the prop down into good water, and the foam above shouldn't cause too much drag on the leg. But I'm guessing. Engineering from first principals.

Damn, I wish I was there. I'd love to give you a hand. Maybe do some speed/ load research. I'm going to do that with my sled, but that's most of a year away, and I'm impatient.

 

Good for you guys to get an old Sea Sled thread going again!
The moderator may be able and willing to merge this thread
and yours, John, if that interests you two. Maybe not...

 

I think a Sled thread as a subcategory is reasonable. Although at the moment it wouldbe limited to links to old articles, and guys saying:
"I heard they were great."
Other guy:
"I heard that too."

 

So once there are at least 2 sleds active, we can get some concrete data. I'll extend an open invitation to forum members to check mine out. Do some speed/load/seakeeping tests.

And I have offsets for mine. Once I know if it's any good, I'll know if they are worth sharing.

Then it will time for a Sea Sled forum category.

 

Not only do I know almost nothing about boating, but I have no clues on what any of what you just said, BlueBell, means so I'm no help there.

I wish you were here too DogCalvary as I've allotted time on the 27th to try to cut, polish a buff the hull so that it might look a bit more reasonable next to it's shiny new transom and save me having to spend the $$ on re-coating it right away which then allows me to move forward with fibre glass patching all the accumulated legacy holes in the dash etc. So it's a bunch of elbow grease going on in a couple of days.

 

Elbow grease is good on toast.

 

We are getting super close to sea trials! Here's an update:

 

That's okay, I have no idea what I'm talking about most of the time anyway.
So, you are certainly not alone.

 

OK guys....tomorrow is the day...0930 Brisbane time (GMT+10) the Hickman will be relaunched for the first time for sea trials. I'll try to get some videos for you.

 

Excellent! Good luck, I hope that all goes well - and we shall look forward to seeing a video or two.

 

Do you have any old veterans on hand?

 

Hi, when you say "old veterans" do you mean salty old boaties or actually returned military men? We launched today with a very experienced "boatie" helping. Seems like we haven't got it right yet and any input would be welcome...here's what it looks like in the water:

 

You don't muck around, you have got the thing on the water and running pretty quickly. I got the sense that the boat is pretty heavy, and maybe trimming the engine down might have helped. Was there any cavitation/ventilation ? Engine racing ? Love the sound of the old straight six ! Is the prop stainless or alloy ? I would think stainless would be just about mandatory on a boat like that, where the prop is not working in the "cleanest" water. The best prop would probably be a five blade stainless.

 

I don't really know what to look for (listen to?) to identify cavitation or ventilation. When there was 4 adults in the boat, there were times where the prop sounded like it wasn't in the water - this wasn't the case with just 2 adults and 1 kid. The motor was not up (trim/tilt wise) at all...it was a low as it could go the whole time. As you may have heard, the guys filming reckon we need to add weight to the bow as they say it won't plane without it. The boat did "slap" the water a few times pretty hard when we had it at speed.