Jesse's Sea Strike 16 (Australia)

G'day all, 

Its great to see yet another Sea Strike 16 launching this week, this time from Jesse who lives in Darwin Australia

He writes:

Hi Team,

Thanks for all the kind words. The boat touched water for the first time today. I wanted to do a sort of safety test before the launch this Sunday at the Darwin Beercan Regatta:

A few small things to work on (in addition to the things mentioned in previous videos):

- A yoke on the trailer is broken.

- The handle on the anchor locker likes to vibrate.

Other than that it went really well. Haven't properly set the trim on the motor, the prop is whatever was on when I brought the motor second hand, the controls have only been roughed in and it was a little choppy - but we still got 32 knots. It gets on the plane in what feels like under a second, but I'm really just concentrating on holding on so can't be sure.

My neighbours also dobbed me into the ABC and Mike of Tales from the Tinny came and interviewed my wife and myself this week. Sorry Mark, I did a solid plug for BMD and yourself but they edited it out (something about ABC and advertising).

Fingers crossed for the official launch this Sunday; hopefully I can get more and better media.

The boat launch was successful. Mark's tips to prevent porpoising worked a treat. My friend with the camera and drone was absent interstate so I didn't get much good media; it's hard to be both skipper and photojournalist.

There is this FB post that I made with GoPro footage, but it's mostly just drunkards doing flips:

The boat is now laid up in Darwin ahead of a relocation to the UK. I'll get her back in 12 months, but in the meantime, I find it very difficult to think about her without getting upset.

Still have a lot of work to do when I return:

- Tow her from Darwin to Melbourne

- Console and locker doors.

- Proper wiring (bilge, deckwash, lighting, radio, live baitwell and fusing etc).

- Motor service and new impeller.

- Choose and install a chartplotter/fishfinder

- Fit out for fishing (speargun holders etc)

- Build plate and registration (no registration or license required in the NT)

A super positive side note: the esky that I built into the floor is amazing. It keeps ice so well, 2-3 times longer than all normal eskies I've owned. I strongly recommend this method to anyone considering building an esky into the deck.

I plan to check into other builds over the next year, if not just to keep from missing my own boat too much.

Regards,

Jesse.

For more information about the Sea Strike 16, please click HERE