Tim's Mushulu 14 - Fun in the Sun (Australia)

 

Been a great summer of boating/fishing adventures with the M14 and family.

Yesterday out from Mordialloc Creek did some tubing with the kids. Esky strapped to front bulkhead with kmart $5 rod holder works well when in fishing mode.

The Mushulu 14 rows as good as can be expected for a 14ft planing hull. I have been enjoying rowing out across shallows and happy with the distance I can go without breaking a sweat. I made some 9 ft oars which seem to me to be about the right length. (You couldn't go less than 8ft).

A removable casting/lounging platform insert also for additional storage and maybe a custom cooler box forward of the middle seat would be a good idea and is something I may consider for a future project.

I don't really have experience with casting platforms, so couldn't tell you if forward stability is good enough for that purpose. It's a pretty stable boat and doing lots of different things like standing up fishing and pulling in anchor etc, I have never got the wobbles and never felt like I need to grab on to rebalance when at rest even in a reasonable swell.

For more information about this design, please click HERE

Glenn and his Broadwater 5.2 Flathead. Not a bad catch (Australia)

Had the folks over from NZ for the past week. Headed out fishing on Western Port a couple of times with Dad for not much return, although counting around 80 boats on the water (that we could see) on Sunday was interesting.

Western Port was glassed out for most of the day.

Went out Wednesday afternoon hunting for snapper, nothing at the first mark, moved to the second one I had lined up and it was on for the next couple of hours.

About half or more of what we hauled up was too small to keep, we ended up with 27 flathead between 27 and around 35 cm.

Had to head in around 5:00 pm, not because they had gone off the bite (cos they hadn't) but because we had dinner in the kill tank!

At one point we were sitting there with lines down, rocking gently on the deep blue with a light breeze keeping the heat down,

and I thought to myself,

"This is exactly the reason why I built this boat!"

When we got home, no one complained that we hadn't caught a snapper.

Cooked about half of the flathead fillets as dinner for the six of us, will have some more tonight then the rest can go in the freezer for another night.

Might have roe patties for lunch tomorrow as well. (LOL)

For more information about this design, please click HERE

Will's Latest Fishing Adventure in his Cruise Control 5.2 (Australia)

 G’day everyone,

Finally we got some favorable wind conditions to go out for a fish, north of Perth Western Australia. My good mate JD and I made plans to meet at Ocean Reef boat ramp 4:00 am on Saturday morning and after setting up the boat, we were on our way offshore to a couple of new lumps we liked the look of. With the course set on the Simrad and after logging on to the coast guard to let them know of our intentions for the day, we were off.

Heading out wide and now 40km off the coast of WA, we arrive at the first lump just as the sun came up and set up our first drift. We had plenty of pickers at our baits, but it wasn’t long before JD scored a monster Bald chin groper ! She measured 56cm.! Then JD picked up a nice gummy shark. After fishing this spot for a few hours, we then decided to go try the other spot we had marked, only 4km north. Then it was my turn.

I picked up a nice bald chin that went 43cm and a Breaksea Cod. Then JD picked up a nice harlequin fish, but the highlight for me was getting my first ever WA DHU fish!!! It was undersized, but my first (LOL). By 11:30am our bait was running low so we decided to head in, talking all the way in about the day.

What a top day. Can’t wait to get back out there again in the Cruise Control and see what else I can get.

Regards
Will

For more information about this design, please click HERE

Andrews Sea Strike16 – Binalong Bay, on the East Coast of Tasmania! (Australia)

 Hi Mark,

Hope you have enjoyed a fantastic xmas and new years break. We have been down at Binalong Bay on Tassies east coast. I have had the Sea Strike out  at least 2 times a day on most days, racked up 45 hours in the last three weeks. I bloody love this boat !!!!

Every time I take it out I am just amazed at how it goes, had it in all kids of conditions, from dead flat glassy to 1.5 to 2 metre swells with a bit of chop. It just feels like I could take it anywhere, its so solid and safe.

I have had so may questions from people at the ramp and at the petrol station about it. They love it!! I have even had the local Eco tours charter operator come over and chat about it, which was nice.

We have enjoyed many days of fishing, cray potting, sight seeing and wild life watching. There have been heaps of dolphins around the coast over the last three weeks, and I’ve had pods play with the boat every two or three days. I beginning to think that they like the grey and white paint job and think the SS16 is some kind of ‘mother dolphin’ as they find it irresistible not to come play with it. We even found a hump back whale the other day, which was a first for me!!

We also had some friends come and stay at the shack for a night the other day who has a drone and, was super keen to get some footage of the area and our Sea Strike 16.

Please see below for his little youtube video that he put together.  

For more information about this design, please click HERE

Adam and his Sea Strike 16 is at it again ! (Australia)

Got a couple of photo's the other day from Adam and his Sea Strike 16 out Tuna fishing off Sydney.

He Writes:

A few months ago I upgraded to the new Yamaha 90 from the 70.

I was at almost 1300hrs on the 70 and while It was doing a great job and no issues I took the opportunity of a boat show special.

It was pretty much a straight swap. Not to much mucking around. I haven't bothered with getting speeds per rpm..

All I can say is I now have a shite load of grunt!

Top speed with factory alloy prop 13 1/4" x 17" is 35kts with 1 up,  fully loaded 33-34 kts with 2 up.. The torque is insane there is no slurring or getting stuck in swell and its instant. At 30kts I have reserve power and it kicks when you go full throttle.

The boat ride has changed a bit. She is more stable at rest and grips even more with a bow down nothing can stop me attitude lol. Has taken a bit of getting used to as she just gets up and rips and there's not much trimming to do.

I'm saving travel time now which is a game changer chasing tide changes etc. I can ride hard between the bigger swell and control the throttle with instant power response. The only down side is I'm using more fuel...That's because 35kts is so much fun! :lol:

Both the F70 and F90 is perfectly suited to the SS16. 

If I can get around to it ill put up some rpm numbers... but really there's no point. 

Just floor it,  fish hard and have fun 

"Until the Next Bite"

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

Darryl and his Sea Strike 16 in the Adriatic Sea (Croatia)

 Finally back from holiday and my school holiday duties have come to an end and time to get back to some boat building this week.

Here are a few pics from our holiday. Note the first 2 pics, my boat holding all of us on my 6 kg Bruce anchor. Looking aft you can see we have the smallest engine, but the fastest boat of the lot. It was a fantastic holiday, travelling to various islands, lunching swimming and lots of water sports and the boat behaved perfectly.

Started getting brave and taking on swells 1 to 2 meters and hitting them at 40 knots, boat went airborne a number of times and lands so soft and flat, wife didn't even realize it sitting at the back.

Overall, it was great fun and.... it’s a great boat. My boat has now clocked over a 1000 hours with us holidaying and my mate using it. He has a Barracuda 485 with a 140 Suzuki, but he prefers my boat and can't wait for me to build his Sea Strike 16.

Here's a quick vid, of boats taking off before the last island on the left. See in the beginning my mates boat way ahead, but the Sea strike 16 just hauls it in. (see end of video – LOL)

Andrew (Tasmania) and his Sea Strike 16 (Australia)

Well... its official.... She's is well and truly splashed!!! And she goes absolutely fantastic!!!

Marine dealer was very impressed with test run, threw it into some high speed tight turns. Did it super easy and did not even think about cavitating... just powered through the turns so easily. I couldn't believe it. A bit of wind chop today but you don't even notice it cruising along. We'd be drenched with sore backs in the rubber ducky under the same conditions. If the wife can sit on the front seat without telling me to slow down cause her back hurts, or because I'm about to bounce one of the kids overboard in the chop, then its a massive tick of approval.

Can I say a very, very big thankyou to Mark and Deb for the help and support throughout the four years it has taken me to build this boat. Mark always seems to have a solution to what ever problem you may have (or think you may have), and after a phone call to the master he always makes your drama seem not such a big deal.

So a big heart felt thankyou to both of you, I'm sure it’s a team effort!!  

I have learnt so much about boat building, and about boats in general over the past four years (I will always remember the 'monkey' story...) I can safely say it has been one of my biggest achievements making this boat, and even though its a long process, and certain parts of the build can be a bit testing at times, I am so pumped I didn't go out and just buy a tinny from a boat shop. The ride quality at the end of it is quite incredible.

Everyone says how well Marks boats ride, and now I can see why people rave about them. I was blown away and I'm still grinning about it hours after. I can't wait to fill up with a bit more petrol tomorrow and go again. Weather is meant to turn to crap over the weekend, so looks good for a few more sea trials.

So I have a few minor adjustments to do, my transducer is a bit low, and just need to lift it a fraction to stop a bit of spray its throwing, but I'll get to that at some point soon.

One other big thankyou... to all the builders on the forum who posted answers, offered help and advice, take measurements etc, etc, thankyou so much. It’s such a great platform for like minded people to come together and learn new skills and stuff about boats, and the whole time I've been on here everyone has been so positive and helpful. It’s so refreshing ... and as a novice builder, I spent ours and hours trawling other peoples threads seeing the different ways people went about things. There are some many clever people out there who came up with great ideas who placed them online for the benefit and learning of others. I couldn't have done it without the forum, and all the photos other builders posted up, so appreciative of that.

Cheers

Andrew

Tight lines – Wills fishing adventure (Australia)

 This time from William in Western Australia and his beautiful Cruise Control 5.2.

He writes:

Hi all,

With the demersal ban on in WA, I decided to go out with a mate on Sunday morning and target some whiting. Leaving the ramp at sunrise, we headed out to find some sandy bottom. First location wasn’t really productive, so we made a move and hit the honey pot.

For an hour we were on, the baits hit the bottom and the fish were smashing us. Doubles, triples, we were filling the kill tank with tasty feeds. Then as soon as they came, they were off again, so we headed in.

Forty two whiting between us and back at the ramp by 9:30am.

Top One Will !!

For more information regarding the Cruise Control 5.2, Please click HERE

Steve’s Tropic 14 (Australia)

Its great to see yet another Tropic 14 launched.  This time from from Steve from Bundaberg (Qld).

He writes:

SPLASHED at last.

Launched at the ramp only 5 mins from home. It was a bit windy but not too bad and as the motor is running in I couldn't open the throttle anyway.

All went well, everything worked as they should( bait tank, sounder ,bilge pump). Got up on the plane in no time, but was a little bow up with only one on board ( as to be expected with all the weight aft).

Travelled along nicely with my fishing mate on board and we could both stand on on side with very little tipping of the boat.

Experienced a bit of cavitation on a tight turn but otherwise motor and boat were well behaved.

Sorry for the quality of some of the photos, but my mate had limited time and forgot his glasses.

Top job Steve. She looks awesome mate !!!

Cheers to Mark and all the forum members, who have helped my along the way and to all those builds I trolled through getting answers and ideas

Regards

Steve

Michael, His Tropic 14 and His Cape York Adventure (Australia)

WOW, The last few months have been very hectic busy finishing the boat, prepping for the big trip to the Cape, working, studying... the list goes on, but I have returned alive (ha ha).

I named the tropic HOLDFAST, .as a tribute to my old army engineer Corp, holdfast is their radio codeword. I also read that this term was used in old maritime days to warn people to take a firm grip if a rogue wave was about to hit.

The trip was absolutely awesome. The very first fish caught in the boat was a barramundi just a few minutes and casts into its maiden fishing voyage. My mates first fish on a lure and first ever barramundi! He was wrapped with the 59cm model, only just legal, so we returned the fish to the water as a little sacrifice to the fishing and boating gods.

The trip was full of fish and fun times with mates, some laughable incidents, including not having a working camera at the time of me catching my best salt water Barra at 71cm and the moment I washed one of the fillets off it over the side of the boat and watching it sink straight to the bottom of the deep blue.

I hit (yes hit) not one, but TWO BIG CROCODILES while in less than a meter of muddy water, without even knoing they were there. The boat took it like a champ. I'm just grateful the big bastards didnt have a go at us, as the bigger model was easily bigger than my 4.3m boat and over a meter wide.  Scary to see the raw power of one of those push a wall of water in a huge bow wave as it took off in a hurry.

Such a great trip. HOLDFAST'S first of many!!!

CAPE YORK - PRINCESS CHARLOTTE BAY

CAPE MELVILLE AND SURROUNDING ISLANDS

I've got heaps of good stories to tell you both good and funny kind of bad.

The boat handled exceptionally.

Made it across 1000 kilometres of corrugations and hard 4wding tracks without any dramas. 

Also, the little trailer ate it up with no problems as well. !!

The pics dont really do the poor weather justice.

It was absolutely howling winds up there. We initially went to Cape Melville, but 4 days straight of 50k/hr winds made us relocate to Bathurst heads. It's only about 100k drive, but a lot of 4wding involved, so took us a full day to get there.

We did do a small trip across to Blackwood Island, but the close range choppy metre swell, 3 guys and another 200kg of gear put me off going further to the main islands. Even with all that gear and blokes aboard, we did'nt have any waves crash over the bow, thank God, but we literally had to just idle across. I thought the wind alone was going to flip us over, it was pretty nasty.

For that reason we spent most of our time up the rivers and small creeks which is exactly what I built it for.

Man, this boat is a weapon. It's so stable.

I walked the plank the whole time I was up there fishing from the side decks a lot of the time, just to get the best position for that pin point cast. The boat barely moves !!

For more information about the Tropic 14,please click HERE