Manie's Microcruiser

Ah well, as you guys have probably figured out by now, I have actually been working on my boat in my spare time. Haven't had time even to look for crew Fanie even phoned me the other night to see WTF am I up to, because I have been so quiet. So here is a bit of proof for a change

I sold my Mercury 5hp two stroke and got a new "Parson=Yamaha=China" 5hp Four Stroke long shaft. I must say i really checked this motor out against all the drawings on the Yamaha website and it is genuinly 100% Yamaha. At half price I am very happy. The motivation is fuel consumption and with the 2 tanks that I bought with it, I will carry 50 litres which should hopefully give me 60 hours of fuel at 5 knots. I also got a 30 lbs thrust Minn Kota 12v which is an emergency back up. But on those hot sunny windless days it will give me 2 to 3 knots easy. That is significant because when everybody is standing still and I am doing 2 knots it looks like i am flying

The building is going fine and as I go along I weigh everything accurately and my confidence grows daily that my goal weights are in sight. The bare boat should weigh around 160 kg - she displaces 750 kg and the bulb keel will be around 150 kg - which means I have around 400 kg available for rigging - water (150 liters) and food and fuel. Bottom line is that I very comfortable that the boat can stay out for 90 days easy no problem.

I also got solar panels at greatly reduced prices so I could have as much as 240w scatered all over the roof and arch at the back

The pics make it easier to see the selfdraining cockpit and the ease with which I can get to the motors to work on them if necessary inside the small cockpit. Under the cockpit floor is storage in plastic crates. Visible now is the 2 bunks which are a very generous 1.9 m x 0.78 m at the shoulders. This means I can always sleep in the lee bunk 4" foam mattress.

I am going with a small cabin so that I can have comfortable sitting headroom inside and that will give me a clear view all round - the idea is also to have some kind of steering from the inside. The build is very exciting at the moment because the time consuming glassing is well underway and at least I can now start "packing" all my crates and tanks and other **** where I want it, and to make sure that every thing fits properly.

The PU filled floatation chambers will become evident with the next lot of pics - there will be 2 x 200 litres at the stern under the bunks and 1 x 200 litre in the bow around the anchor locker = 600 litres in total = SAFE

I am using Aramid extensively as you can see, where I want parts to be really strong. I enjoy working with Aramid, I find it easier to wet out than carbon-fibre, however Aramid cloth is a ***** to cut and it most certainly doesn't like sanding. I will also build the mast in Aramid as I can get it cheaper than carbon and i am more comfortable with is "breaking" properties as it doesn't have that "catastrophic" breaking "snap" of carbon
All this means that as long as I have some epoxy on board and a bit of cloth I can fix anything on my boat anywhere :idea:

cheers guys
enjoy

 

Hi Manie, it looks really good ! I see you already have the vac cleaner to clean the boat with and a fan for when there's no wind.

You must keep in mind the current along our coast line is up to 6km/hr, just so you know there are places you may not go so fast as thought The trolling motor is excellent to fish with, so better get some basic stuff, the rod rack, tackle box, and remember the salt and enough gass for the cooker. Time to go eat at the Spur to score more salt sachets If you plan a solar panel, ask me, I know where you can get some at a better price.

On Friday there was someone here, I hear they want all boats to start wearing transponders so they can monitor your every move 24/7. It seems it is already compulsary on class A boats, they now want to do it with the other boats. All this crap is beginning to really make me sick. The stream of money you have to lay out for the nessesary stuff just gets longer and longer.

 

Thanks for the update, Manie. Looking good....

 

Looking good Manie.

However, I do not like that big hole in the transom for the motors. Easy to swamp boat with a following sea.
I would have the motors on a quick mount/release bracket on the stern to be taken off when not in use. Alternatively, if you have a back seat against the transom, I would have installed it in a well under the seat.

Just my thought and not to be taken seriously. Going to Pretoria in a couple weeks time and will visit you and Fanie. Will let you know when.

 

thanks guys - oh and btw I am now at 209 hours - thank goodness that i originally started with the centreboard and other shitty bits, it comes in handy now that a lot of stuff is "in stock"

Wynand are you coming up here for your knee op?

anyway I looked at the open transom versus closed plus brackets and after many sleepless nights I decided to go open transom = fast draining. Keep in mind that the boat will have inside steering - a simple rope and pulley system. Once the initial sea trails are over I will fit a windvane steering and i am going for the Raymarine ST1000 tiller pilot which I can operate from inside as well. Basically when the weather goes bananas and like Fanie says the Agulhas current wants to sweep me to the south pole at 4 knots I will "bottle-up" - hang on the Jordan series drogue astern and count my toes

I promised the missus and the kids that there will be no alcohol on board so believe me this boat has to go to windward or how else am I going to get to Mauritius or even Richards Bay for a couple of beers

anywaaaay the noise in my head is getting louder - it says go to sea
now what the **** am I supposed to do about that

I was invited to take "Ingrid" a 65 ft steel boat (38 tons) from Cape Town to Richards Bay but the weather means that it could be a painfully slow trip and I cant take off weeks and weeks

oh well such is life

 

Fanie the fan is for drying up the vinegar wash

for those that are unsure
I always use peelply everywhere
then i put waxpaper over that so that i can roll it all flat without the roller getting sticky
once the peelply comes off, I give it a light sanding to remove sharp edges
wash off with either soapy water or Acetone
AND FINALLY I wipe off thouroughly with 50/50 white vinegar/water and brillo scrubbing pad - now I am ready for another layer of epoxy and glass - or where the next layer overlaps the previous layer

100% excellent results gauranteed
perfect adhesion all the time

 

in pic 137 you can see the 750 gm bi-ax glass
two vertical strips 600 mm wide with a 60 mm overlap

 

Looks great.

 

You are quite right they are Chinese Yamaha copies. The problem with Chinese engines are the fact that they don't last...

"Sail" is another Chinese engine imported and I had yet to hear a good report of them - many are very secondhand after just 10 hours of use from reports going around, most cases the compression rings giving up. It does not take rocket science to make the calculation; low cost (cheap materials) sells cheap.
Some "quality" stainless steel items (claimed L316) from China shows rust within a week sitting outside in recent rains at my place.

Manie, I assume you bought the Parsons from Leon Odendaal at Marine King - why did you not get a Tohatsu 5hp four stroke instead since he is the importer of both these brands and would not cost much more really. Tohatsu's are great Japanese engines and in fact built all Mercury's small engines up to 50hp and if Im not mistaken the 4 stroke units as well.

 

yes, got the Parson from Leon
the Tohatsu is also pricy = 50% more than Parson
but I know 4strokes well - and this one is ok - fully interchangeable with yamaha
keep in mind I now do one maybe two complete overhauls a week of these small single fourstrokes - so the parson dont worry me
time will tell if it's the right buy for the general public - I cant tell yet

anyway it will rust thru before the rings are shot
frikken joke hey

 

he he polute the planet
disposable four stroke outboards
buy 2 get 1 free

only in china

 

Fanie: re solar panels - these guys prices are good give them a call

http://www.sinetech.co.za/solar.htm

SW60 under R 900 ea

they do big industrial installations

 

Fantastic work, well done Manie... See you on the briny soon eh...

 

Have you bought me a hideaway down there? The fridge already loaded?

Sounds promising...................

Regards
Richard

 

Wynand - I am told that the Parson motors are not chinese copies but built by the Yamaha factory in China run by Yamaha staff, your guess as good as mine as to what is sales ******** and what true. They like to quote that Hewlett Packard is made in China. Anyway so far so good - time will tell.