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Ocracoke 256 #3


Guest Chris Beebe

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Hi gbt,

 

Can you please post photo's of how you have setup the steering on the engine bracket. In particular how you have installed the hydraulic steering cables as I am trying to work out the best option for this part of the build.

 

Thanks

 

Tim 

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Here aare a few pictures, we run the hoses between the compartments on the narrow chase. we did a build up where the hoses are coming through so when water flushes over that area the water will shed quickly also we changed all the fittings to standard hydraulic so we can get the hoses easilly made locally.

Hope that helps.

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It wasn't hard to fish the steering lines in the chase, the only thing I would have done differently and that is because I used the electronic controls for my motors I would have run the chases for the engine controls (plug in harness, fuel line power feed) in  the bracket compartments that we made and then I would have connected the right side to the left side internally and then I would have come through the top of the bracket to be able to connect the motors. The reason is that the main harness that comes with the controls plugs in to the helm and in to a shorter harness that connects the two motors to each other and the harness that comes with each  motor is barely long enough to reach in the bilge (that is how I have right now) plus I would have had the connection in possibly a dryer place. The way it is done now is fine just aggravating to get too.

 

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There is no bilge pump inside the bracket, it drains in the main bilge through the center chase. The bracket is filled with foam except the compartments we created for accessing the motors mounting bolts.

Here is the latest picture as of last week, we are in the finishing stages of the wiring we are hoping to have it in the water by the end of the week and there is a small chance we might make it to the Messabout. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

IT floats...!!!

Today we lunched the boat after 1.5 years, most everything went good.  We have a few issues to work on but nothing serious. We run the boat for 1.5 hours on a 1-2 ft chop we are a little bow high and we are working on that. Overall the boat runs good ,dry, and smooth. The engines are awesome, quiet and very strong. At 3800 rpm's we cruised at 28 knots the trim tabs are really effective.

The next few weeks we are going to get things finished up, we are trying different props and engine heights so we can get it dialed in.

Will try to give a few more updates. Time to get the decks bloody and catch some dinner.

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Geprge, Awesome! Great to see some pictures of her in the water and blasting along. She is looking really really sharp. Graham and I were a bit concerned about how she would trim with those 175s on the back but not bad! Easiest way to bring back into trim would just be to put some ballast up forward, it probably wouldn't take much. Never ideal to add weight to a boat especially in the ends but it is a light boat to begin with so I suspect the boat won't notice too much. 

 

Keep up the updates with getting her dialed in and congratulations, looking very nice indeed. 

 

I've started compiling data on the 256 (so far only have some numbers from John and Katrina's boat. When you get her running good we keep filling in the blanks.

Here is a link to the data we have on John's boat. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1afMiFxMmMkux7dc-uoHq0Ft1F9FYGIA8oyeSPkWqd0c/edit?usp=sharing

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Congratulations George,

This build has been a journey that has taken a few turns but the result is simply spectacular. Wishing you lots of great times aboard. I wouldn't want to be the first one to get those beautiful teak decks bloody but you can't catch fish without it happening. She looks wonderful in the water and is a credit to you and all those that worked on her.

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Thank you guys, it has been an interesting journey.

We are going to have to add some weight on the bow, I don't think it is because the engines weight. The Suzuki AP150's and the AP175's are exactly the same weight the 25" shafts are 531 lbs (according to Suzuki specs). All 3 of the batteries are under the center console so that is some weight forward and that I am sure makes a difference. If both fuel tanks were forward I think it would help, we are going to start with 200 -300 lbs of lead shot ballast on the very front bow compartment and see how it does. We really cannot say yet how it performs on certain RPM's because we don't have the correct attitude also we need to raise the engines a little bit more, we are getting some spray around the engines.

Overall I will have to say the boat rides well and it takes the sea very well, smooth ride, and pretty dry considering we were on a 2' chop and 25-30 mph winds at the time.

We really tried to get it ready for the Messabout  but we had small things keep coming up and we just could not catch a break.

I think we are going to use lead shot bags so we can add or remove them easier, does anyone have a source preferably in Eastern NC but or otherwise?

 

Thanks again for everyone's comments, will be in touch.

 

George

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[-For an initial sea trial and a temporary check, those white landscaping stones are clean and about forty or so pounds a piece, purchased at the big box stores,  works well. Just put an old blanket or sleeping bag down on the deck or in some lockers  forward for the test runs. You can add them to five gallon pails and move them around if you choose with ease. Enjoy

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Agreed, though I usually use regular concrete blocks (35 - 37 pounds each) as the movable ballast. You don't want  a bunch of weight in the bow, so consider moving this mass aft of the bow to some degree. You'll need more weight, but it'll be in a better location and likely easier to hide. I realize there's just not many places you can place this trimming ballast, but what's under the casting deck seats?

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Here is a better picture of the boat with out my ugly mug in it. This will also give you a better idea as far as the riding height, we only need to come up about 2-3 inches I think...!!

We can add weight between the bench seats since we have a compartment with an access hatch to the bilge, and that is an option it's just that we can get the weight further forward by going past the anchor locker so we might split it and go both places.  

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One thing that you can do before adding weight is to add more angle to your engine by adding wedges between the engine bracket and then run it. Of course this does nothing as it relates to the angle that the boat sits in the water. But it may change your running angle to a more bow down. You can always trim the engine up if you get too bow down. But if you have to raise your engines up a bolt hole, then this can assist you in trimming the nose down naturally because you are reducing drag while also raising up the cavitation plate. This removes some reverse trim angle as the water comes off of the bottom. Factory type add on wedges are available at West Marine for a quick access, or normally they do.

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Adding buoyancy under the platform is a much better option but more complicated as you may have to relocate the trim tabs and other ports . Or maybe change the angle of the bottom of that flotation tank and become almost parallel to the bottom. This will eliminate the need of raising up the motors.

 

On the other hand, I dont know what type of anchorage system you use over there , but if you change the anchor rope to chain , that will add some ( usable ) weight at the bow .  

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Looking at how John's boat floats with a single engine (about 600 lbs) versus ours twin (about 1100 lbs) they are close, about 2-3" difference. When we run the boat we had 3 on board and we moved people around to see how the weight distribution effected the ride and attitude. When we put 2 people as far forward as possible  (about 400 lbs) it really made a big difference. Most boat manufacturers add weight on their boat during construction in some form or another to get the correct attitude and then they glass it in. We think 250-350 lbs should do it. 

Adding buoyancy to the rear at this point it is not really an option that I would consider, unless nothing else works.

For some one that is building and considering a twin setup I would recommend looking at the option to have the fuel tanks (both or one large one ) under or forward of the center console, but that should be a change that needs to be explored by the designers. The Suzuki specs for the AP150 and the AP175 (what we are using) are exactly the same, both versions are 531 lbs each. So I don't think using the 175's makes any difference and that is why we used them.But I will say that the 150's are plenty for a boat that is lighter than most of the same length. We think that when everything is setup we are going to be in the mid to high 50's wide open.

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