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Lotus

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Everything posted by Lotus

  1. Hi every one ! Yesterday Piranha made the second sea trial and it was super great . This time she had a 15" prop and smart tabs fitted. She performed completely different and its great fun to ride. Maximum speed was 30.1 knots (34.6 miles) with maximum engine revs reaching 6100revs. Now shes got a perfect matched propeller. The smart tabes worked realy well, getting her to plane in seconds and keeping her on plane with revs down to 2500. Best crusing speed is at about 4000 revs and doing 15 to 19 knots, depending on wind and current. A 2.5 hp out board only pushed her to 3.3 knots but think its OK as an auxiliary engine ! I think the boat is now perfectly balanced making no difference where to sit in cruising and higher speeds . She is a really joyride
  2. Mike I put the gas filler on the left hand side of the console ( its inside a special designed hatch ) You can notice the small hatch under the vhf antenna .The gas breather is on the right hand side , a small plastic fitting between the console air vent and the extinguisher
  3. Hi Mike , your boat is taking shape and the work looks great ! Keep it up . Ive got the same problem and my fuel tank cant be removed. This is because I placed the console about 1.5ft forward. If something goes wrong we have to cut part of the cockpit sole and then re glass it ! Luckily those type of fuel tanks doesnt give that much trouble
  4. Thanks every one for your nice comments !! Its been my pleasure to share this experience with all of you ! Tturtleboy , Yes I know that there's no need to go that speed infact I think that best speed to enjoy a ride is 12 to 18 kn, but youknow its nice that one can say " I built an 18ft boat that do 30 kn with just 60hp " Will update you with the new propeller but unfortunately I have to weight for 1 to 2 weeks because the importer is out of stock . When I settle the propeller issue will start thinking how to manufacture a canopy. Any ideas are more than welcome !!
  5. Hi every one , long time to post ! Thanks every one for the nice comments !! Yesterday Marissa ( PIRANHA ) had her first ride . It performed super great, a very stable and dry ride with speeds of up to 27 kn. I'm very satisfied with all the modifications done especially that the console mounted about 1.5 ft forward that gave plenty of space and a set of seats at the stern that are very useful especial with the type of fishing that we practise . The outboard's propeller (13 inch pitch ) is too small because the engine is going 6500 revs and hitting the rev limiter . Next time will test the 14 inch . Hope that this will increase a couple of knots too My goal was to hit the 30 knots , but my build is a bit heavy with 2 batterys , auxiliary motor and the extra modifications including a custom made cooler under the seat all contributed in extra weight ! I would like to thank every one for the help and suggestions that made this boat unique especial Designer Graham . Great thanks !!
  6. Thanks Graham , rely appreciate you feedback ! The upholstery is almost done ( not the perfect upholsterer but it will do , at least for now ! ) AND STILL WAITING FOR THE REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS . This is taking more time than the built itself !!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope that this week all be settled and will take her for a test drive .
  7. Thanks for the nice comments ! Still waiting for the upholstery . Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will go for a sea trial . Any suggestions about the outboard propeller size ?. The one I've got with the motor is a pitch 13 . The range that will fit my 60hp motor is from 11 to 17inch. From the shop they told me that they will give me the size that's best for the boat but I have to make a sea trial with each one of them to know the expect size needed , and that looks like a bit of a hassle for me !! Besides that the motor have 10 hours brake-in period so I don't think its a good idea to force it to full throttle to determine the propeller reves for several times !! I don't have any experience of choosing the best size propeller , perhaps that why I am making a fas !!! Any help will be greatly appreciated .
  8. Hi Mike, yes finally I've got the motor and it's installed and all the wireng, steering , cables ecc are all done. As soon I receive some documents from the authorises she will be swimming !! Initially I was going for a suzuki 50hp but then I found out that the suzuki df 40, 50, and 60hp are all the same engine , just tuned different, therefore they all have the same weight (104kg). Its not bad having a little extra hp !
  9. Sorry to disappoint you Mike but I'm not bionic and not even a superhuman but anyway thanks for the compliment !! By the way my hull number is 50, wonder whats the destiny of Marissa plans number 51 & 52 !?! Would be nice to hear about them too !! Last week I have registered mine . All's left is some little paper work, some upholstery and some decals, hope it will all be done by the 5 th of February and she will be my greatest birthday present !! I like the idea of making one bilge pump on level switch & buzzer and the other one manually . Mine are both manual but would like to have one automatic. I always got the idea that those level switches will give trouble and dose not find it whey you rely need it !
  10. Looks like you know what you're doing Mike ! A small suggestion is that its better to use two 45 deg. bent instead of a 90 deg. L bow. It may be difficult to pass the control cables through as their last 6 or 8 inches is not flexible !. I used one 45 deg at the aft and two 45 deg in front and still was not easy
  11. Hi Mike, nice and clean job !. I have 3 suggestions to make if you don't mind . Put an other separate 25 mm pipe for the fuel line. Make that console narrower, in my opinion its enormous for the boat width. I made mine 700mm (28inches)wide and got space for all the instruments needed and more floor area to manurer around The 3rd is to add a partition in the bilge area . This partition will attach from the middle of the transom to the next frame and from the keel to the floor. Than when the floor is in place continue this partition from the floor to the bottom of the motor well. This will take all the force generated by the motor. I dont have a closeup photo of this section but can be noticed in photos1and 2 The stuff I used for the pipe is Sikaflex-11FC+ Hope this will help you.
  12. Hi Mike , I don't know how to answer you about hard maple and sea water . I used it just because I love its grain and wanted a light colour grain too. If its prone to rot than they will be replaced as they are easily screwed out. Thanks for that info , to be honest I didn't made any research about maple and boats ! About the rub rail it is fitted with screws that hold the stainless steal trim it self. The screws are visible . I've have heard about the method you mentioned but I don't think its necessary for a small rub rail
  13. Thanks every one for the nice compliments , and yes MM it's very frustrating waiting for that motor seems like it's taking ages to be shipped !! Mike looks like you were reading my mind . I am still confused about what rub rail I will put. My first thought was a 40 mm white rubber but when I got a sample it didn't look elegant on it. Now that I have added a touch of wood grain ( the foot steps ) I am thinking of making the rub rail of maple wood. I'll make a sample tomorrow and see how it looks.
  14. Stainless steel railing custom made and fitted , some fishing rod holders and a touch of solid maple wood as foot steps !
  15. Hi Mike , the boat looks great !. My opinion regard flipping the boat is find 3 or 4 other persons and just roll it over her sides. This way you will have more control on some unexpected movements she may take. The boat is very lightweight at this stage but bulky to handle , so please DON'T TRY TO FLIP IT BY YOURSELF ask for some help !!
  16. Well come to the forum CJB. I think its difficult that any one can tell how many hours it would take to build because it can vary for many reasons . But I can assure you that part of the fun is building the boat itself so it doesn't matter how long dose it take , 4 months or 4 years . The important thing is having fun in whats your doing or building !! If you are an all rounder you will not find any difficulties in building the Marissa as the plans are very straight forward and helpful. All I can suggest you is get the plans and start this project Good lack CJB and obviously don't hesitate to ask for any help you need !!
  17. Finally the boat is on its trailer and on board is the latest technology most fuel efficient out board ever build, in fact it is built out of bricks !!!
  18. Good one CL. I have got a new laptop because the other one have died after 6 years of non stop ! I cant understand why when I upload photos taken with my mobile phone they all will show sideways !! Mast be some kind of setting that I havent noticed yet . Sory for that but you can always rotate your screen
  19. Fitting the main seat , the home made cooler box and some shock absorbers on to the hatches . Also changed the colour of the console instrument panel .
  20. Hi Miyot, you are right about the compass . When I moved the handpice of the radio , the compass needle slightly moves ! The problem is that there is some magnetic field all over the top of the console and I have no place else to put the compass ! Dont know what I gona do !
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