okcracoke 20 in nz

[Gordy Hill]

You're gonna LOVE the trim tabs! The trim tabs plus the tilt/trim of the motor really make a difference. Very impressive how you let them in the hull. What motor are you planning to use?

[nzlance]

Hey thanks Gordy. Very much looking farward to seeing how they work. I purchased an engine for the boat , a 2006 yamaha 115 salt water series. It definitly wasnt what I originally planned, It was surposed to be a 4 stroke or a DI 2 stroke such as an etec or optimax. But the cost!! One thing you gotta know about nz. We get utterly ripped off when it comes to outboard engines. Like for example a new 4 stroke from any of the big manufactures ie, Honda etc over $23 000.00 nzd yet our currenceys value is nearly equal with US dollar.

I spent ages trying to decide what to purchase but in the end money talked. Yes the fuel enconemy isnt as good and yes the resale of the entire boat wont be as good either should I decide to sell. But, This engine is nearly new ....... less than 100 hours, they are very relible, tonnes of grunt, easy and cheap for parts and service and was way less than half the price of a four stroke.

[hokeyhydro]

I have a 1986 Yamaha 115 with a gazillion hours. The Nikki carbs (one of two choices on th `86 Yami) need a clean out every other year or whenever the idle circuits choke on trash, and I've replaced two oil sender units in the under cowl tank, one black box, lots of plugs, and a few water pumps. All easy fixes with a service manual like Sealoc. Engine has been hammered hard and long and still pumps over 130 psi/cyl. Great engine!

Also have a 2006 F-250 Yamaha. It cost more that the most expensive vehicle I have ever purchased = a 2005 Dodge Dakota 4WD crew cab.

Fuel consumption:

115 pushing an 18" aluminum V hull that weighs less than 1,000 lbs = about 12-14 gallons per hour = speed above 50 MPH.

F-250 pushing a fiberglass Parker 23' walk around that weighs close to 5,000 lbs = around 19 gallons an hour, best speed 42 MPH.

Yep, four stroke is less hassle, quiet, and burns less fule, but good-gotta-mighty - the price tag! A winning lotto ticket would be nice . . .

[nzlance]

Thankyou hokey. Its good to get some feed back from other outboard owners. My last motor was a yamaha f60 high thrust 4 stroke pushing a 15 ft wood/glass run about deep v. Top speed was only around 30 mph. But the fuel enconomy!!! You could go all day on a couple of tote tanks. It was wisper quiet, started first turn of the key, even if it hadnt been touched in months. Anyone that hopped aboard the boat was simply amazed, the loudest noise was the tell tale stream hitting the water! It was a fantastic piece of engineering.

So going back to a dirty ol carbed 2 stroke was a hard call for me, but I have herd nothing but praise for yamaha sws engines. They still sell alot of them new now, I guess there are alot of guys around like me who have to weigh up fuel economy against asking price. Saving over $10 000 buys alot of fuel!!

The interesting part will be the performance of 115 on this hull. According to Graham it will do 42 mph with a 90.... which is quite frankly bloody fast considering it was a Honda 90 on the back....they arnt exactly known for there rocketship performance.

[boardmian]

Hi Lance,"

The greens are going to love you guys. According to Hokeyhydro's figures he is doing somewhere in the region of 4 to 5 miles to the "GALLON" with a similar engine to yours, (!.762 km per litre by my maths but I'm happy to be corrected.) Ever thought of a sail for this thing?

Seriously though that is a very crafty and neat solution for mounting trim tabs to your hull. Your ingenuity never fails to amaze me. Well done.

Cheers

Kaimai6

[nzlance]

Ha ha cheers mate. After reading Hokeys fuel stats I was reaching for the calculator as well.

Trawling through loads of sites that have anything to do with yamaha 115 salt water engines, the general fuel consumption seems to be around 1km per litre for average boat at reasonable speed (4500 rpm) Drop the hammer though and prepared to be horrified apparently. I can live with that. Around here you dont have to steam far to get to the fish. I have also measured the gap between the floor girders and worked out that the fuel tank should hold around 150 ltrs. @ $206.00 per litre=$309.00 to fill up.....Yes it would be way cheaper to go to supermarket and buy some fish... but nowhere as much fun.

As for mast and sail.....capsizing miles out to sea because of freak wind gusts isnt an issue with power boats!

[hokeyhydro]

115 is on a light boat = aluminum. Has a 20 gallon tank and at WOT you better be within paddling distance of a fuel pump at an hour and a half. At brisk planing speed (3200 rpm) that sucker will run for many hours.

You might get a thrill on the Okracoke 20 - Yami 115s of my vintage (1986) would dyno out at around 130 - 135 HP. She is one strong 115 :-)

[nzlance]

Getting 130 bhp out of a 1986 115 is pretty impressive indeed. At the end of the day im not expecting massive performance figures. The boat is still 20 ft long and the engine is only a 115. Most production 6m boats here are powered with a 150-200. Most have min 20 degree v sucks alot of horsepower. One thing the Ocracoke doesnt have. It will be interesting to see how the hull copes with New Zealand conditions with a 13 degree deadrise. Does make the hull cheap to power though.

Here are some pics of trim tab pockets. You can make out the rebate that was made around the outline of the pocket to take the glass fibre. From here its just a case of sanding down the sufaces and rounding the fillets. Will probaly leave the corners/edges reasonably sharp to reduce drag.

[hokeyhydro]

Your trim tab pockets are a work of art! At first I hated the trim tabs on my Parker because early on I fat fingered the control buttons and dropped one down but not both. I quickly discovered they work like ailerons on an airplane = instant bank into a turn!. But now I use them quite often to make incremental adjustments in ride attitude.

Production boats with those large engines are probably fiberglass and heavy. The Okracoke is wood and lighter, so do not be surprised if the 115 cranks it faster than 40 MPH. I'm not sure about the newer 115 Yamis but my vintage series was underrated by Yamaha which is where the extra horsepower came from. Now that she's old with a gazzillion hours on her she's probably close to the 115 number.

[Mkf350]

Looking Great!

Man I would love to try and build one of these...

Would you recommend it for a first time builder?

[nzlance]

The plans for the boat are fairly straight forward. Frames... both permernant and tempory are cut from full sized plans. No lofting etc. Very easy.

The stringers and planking was simple enough.... a bit tricky around the chine area real care has to be taken to keep things held in place accuratly but nothing over the top.

Glassing... experience is real handy here.... so is a friend or two. Get as much info as possible. Its a messy job that if not done properly will be hard to fix.

As for the fairing process. Its a matter of how fussy you wanna get. There is no shortcuts at this stage if you want a top notch job. It is alot of hours long boarding, filling etc......

Make no mistake, building a boat, any boat takes alot of time and hard work. This would be a pretty full on build for a first timer. I guess its the old saying "you will get out of it what you put into it"

There is absolutly no reason why you couldnt build this boat. Decent tools are recomended, but an understanding of how to use them properly is more important.

Some building experience would deffinatly go along way aswell. She is a pretty big hull.... just dont bite off more than you can chew first time round. But if you back yourself and have the will to see it through then go for it.

Good luck mate.

[nzlance]

Trim tab pockets are now complete. Hopefully will get a couple of coats of primer on this comming weekend. Fairing process has been quite a long ol grind but hull is looking real good. I rolled on a coat of Altex high build surfacer. Over 5 litres went on and im pretty sure about 4.8 litres ended up as dust on the shed floor and neighbours car. But it has done its job. Once dry it easily sanded back to a beautiful smooth suface. A few spots needed a couple of re-coats for build up. But with the long board and a few hours of hard graft all is complete. The race is on to get the hull flipped before christmas as everyone that will be getting roped in to help roll this thing over will be away on holiday.

[bfeller]

Thanks for posting up all of the information and pictures. They are such a beauty of boat. I have been interested in seeing one go together.

[nzlance]

Hey no problem bfeller. She is starting to look like a boat now thankfully. Im pretty over sanding and long boarding. Its been 2 months of it!

Was able to get on a coat of undercoat yesterday, was gonna do another one today but went fishing instead.

The product I used was International perfection undercoat. This stuff is designed to go on with roller or brush. It goes on and flattens out beautifuly. An amazing product. It has quite a nice sheen to it which helps spot any areas that need attention. Thankfully all is looking really good, will just block sand the hull down with some 400 wet and dry and roll on another coat during the week to build up a good base for the final coats.

The perfection undercoat needs to be re-coated within a few days as it hardens dramatically over time making it difficult for the finish coats to adhere to. All in all a great product, really easy to apply with a small foam roller (went through 4 of them though) and has a great finish which is easy to sand back if necessary.

[dmnolan]

It is always great when i come back to this forum and most pics of your project are here! Looks great, really enjoy following your project. Cant wait to see her upright!

Thanks again,

David

[nzlance]

Hey thanks David, you are not the only one wanting to see this thing sunny side up- trust me!

Put on another coat during the week, this time I added around 300mls of the finish high gloss. It was a fatal mistake to roll on a coat of paint in the early summer evening as every bug, moth ,midget- you name it turned up to enjoy the spectical. Just as well the hull will recieve another complete sanding with 280 before the final coats go on.... during the day this time.

[nzlance]

Finally managed to get a finish coat on the hull, probaly picked the worse day of the year to do it too. Driving rain, wind etc. Im on a bit of a deadline aswell, like I said earlier you have a maximum recoat time with this paint, which when you have a day job doesnt leave much time to squeeze in wet and dry sanding and re-coating. I masked at the chine lines as will paint the rest of the hull at later date right way up. Although its alot easier to do it now I could almost garentee that the hull will get bumped ,knocked, scratched or epoxy drips on it before the build is complete. So just finish coating the underside as is quite tricky to do once flipped. Have not made up mind on final colour yet, tempted to go black on the sides.....I love dark hulls. Yes Im very awear of the problems arising from dark colours, print through etc. My last boat was painted a gunmetal grey gloss and in the right light it showed every fixing! So will probaly just play it safe and stick with snow white. At least it helps mask any slight imperfections in the fairing. I applied 9 coats on last boat in an attempt to sort out "issues" then gave up , only to have every fixing exposed in low sunlight a few months down the track once the boat was removed from cosy garage and put in the sea.

It is quite amazing what you can pick up with a coat of gloss paint, even after 2 months of sanding and fairing I can now pick out minor depressions - mainly under the shear band about a 1/3 boat lenght from the bow, that were impossible to spot before. They only show up when the light is on at a certain angle. Hard to even feel by hand.

Funnily enough the bottom of the boat- the part where no one ever sees came out fantastic.

[nzlance]

Here is a couple of pics of last boat...I rolled on 9 coats thinking I had it sorted and looking good only for alot of fixings to show through several months later. They were not easy to spot..... when the sun was low in the late afternoon revealed alot....should probaly stick with white this time.

[nzlance]

Front.

[boardmian]

Hi Lance,

If you had to wait till the sun was low late in the afternoon to spot the imperfections in the finish on your last boat I think you might be getting a bit pernickity.Always looked pretty dam good to me and I suspect this one will be just as good or better.

Cheers

Kaimai6