Pic of the new boat

[Swindells]

Hi all, thanks for the advice over the last few days ;D if you've read my other threads this is Mikes new 5.3 i was talking about, fairly wide beam on it and seemed to be quite stable in the test launch. nice 90 mercury pushing it... what do you think our chances are of going wide in something like this.

Sorry the picture's a bit dull, i took it on my phone.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh252/swindellz/53.jpg

[bushweek]

mate, ive seen people head out wide in less, youle be fine if you pick your days and know what the wind is going to do during the day and try and avoid bar crossings, heading out through pt cartwright mooloolaba gives boaties an easy run out to some good ground for spotties and reef fish, give me a pm if your heading up there in the future and i might be able to help you out with a few marks for a starting point.
atleast now i know which boat to keep an eye out for on the water on the weekend, good luck
troy.

[Swindells]

Thanks for the offer mate, will do.

yeah come over and say hello if you see us out there. :)

[JB]

I'd say if its in good nick, you have all the required saftey gear and VMR membership, you'll have no problem at all !

[Swindells]

Yeah its in good nick, i'm involved in boatbuilding in Loganholme and the hull appears sound, no soft spots, gelcoats intact and the transom is solid after the previous owner had it redone by a shipwright before sale.

Safety gear is another story, it has all of the required but only an analogue EPIRB. I'm not up to date on the requirements but i'm told it needs to be digital for offshore stuff.

Cheers mate

[bushweek]

Yeah its in good nick, i'm involved in boatbuilding in Loganholme and the hull appears sound, no soft spots, gelcoats intact and the transom is solid after the previous owner had it redone by a shipwright before sale.

Safety gear is another story, it has all of the required but only an analogue EPIRB. I'm not up to date on the requirements but i'm told it needs to be digital for offshore stuff.

Cheers mate

swindells, if you need a epirb i would suggest waiting and shopping around at the boat show in august, we saved about 90 dollars on our epirb last year, its worth wait.
cheers troy

[Jeremy]

You definitely need a 406 EPIRB rather than the old 121 before you can go further than 2nm offshore in open waters. Not worth risking the fine.

But once you have that sorted, the boat looks capable for sure. If the skipper is not experienced start off closer in, Gold Coast seaway and Mooloolaba are two safe options for going offshore without crossing a bar. Pick a day with less than 15 knots forecast, and less than 1m swell and have fun. Good idea to tell someone where you are going and log on/off with the VMR or CG if you have a marine radio.

Jeremy