It's A Long Time Since I Used This Forum Category

[ellicat]

Well I've been pondering for the past 6 or so months about getting back into boating. The Bay is appealing to me and some of the more recent reports have had me keener and keener.

I first of all thought about re-powering The Force but that fell by the wayside as a bad idea pretty quickly. I set a budget and started looking around but couldn't find anything quite like I wanted (except for @Cobiaaddict 's rig but that well smashed the budget). All the boats I liked were double my budget. I kept a few Gumtree and Ebay tabs open and kept looking at them for the last 3 weeks. I dropped a couple of hints to the Trouble and Strife a few times.

Last Saturday I could stand it no longer. I told Michelle I needed to double the budget to get what I wanted and she was happy with that. I wanted to keep it to myself so I could surprise a couple of mates by turning up to West End for a 'pussy' session with the new rig. I  needed to lean on someone to whittle down my list, so in the end I gave @benno573 a call and we bumped it down to 2 then back to 4 then the top prospect was identified at Mermaid waters. 2 of the others were at Yamanto and Maryborough.

Benno and I went for a look on the weekend and I came to an agreement on price with the bloke.

We settled today and now I'm the proud owner of a Quintrex Escape 470 powered by a 60hp 4 stroke Merc. It has a step thru section to the anchor which will help my dodgy back pulling the thing in when on a loner trip. Alas when I'm with anyone else they will be MY deckie for a change so I won't have to pull anchor.

I owe a few friends from AFO a lot of trips from over the years and look forward to the payback.

I've named her Ellicatch.

Here she is.

 

 

 

 

[fishingnut]

Good stuff old mate, where is the ash tray ?

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey ellicat

That rig looks awesome, hopefully she will serve you very well.

It looks like a fantastic boat for the bay as well, and you've got a windshield for the chop (so hopefully you won't get soaked like I do on the kayak when it's rough ). 

I hope to hear some reports about it in the coming weeks and months.  Good luck! 

Cheers Hamish 

[ellicat]

Just now, fishingnut said:

Good stuff old mate, where is the ash tray ?

That's the other news...

I decided to make it a non smoking boat to aid me in giving away the filthy habit. I'll save $300 a week if I give it up, so would have paid back a large chunk of what she cost, in a year.

[ellicat]

2 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey ellicat

That rig looks awesome, hopefully she will serve you very well.

It looks like a fantastic boat for the bay as well, and you've got a windshield for the chop (so hopefully you won't get soaked like I do on the kayak when it's rough ). 

I hope to hear some reports about it in the coming weeks and months.  Good luck! 

Cheers Hamish 

Yep, hopefully I'll be contributing a few more worthy reports.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

3 minutes ago, ellicat said:

That's the other news...

I decided to make it a non smoking boat to aid me in giving away the filthy habit. I'll save $300 a week if I give it up, so would have paid back a large chunk of what she cost, in a year.

 

2 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Yep, hopefully I'll be contributing a few more worthy reports.

Hey ellicat

Good luck with quitting smoking, it will be good if it can pay off the boat by doing so.  

Hopefully we will hear some more reports too, I suppose you know some spots from going around in The Force  

Cheers Hamish

 

[Old Scaley]

Looks like a sweet ride @ellicat. Can’t wait to pull that anchor. Congratulations mate, it is a beauty.

[ellicat]

Thanks Steve. Looking forward to doing the occasional role reversal with you.... haha

[Hweebe]

Awesome, congrats mate. Looks a very clean boat. Lightly used by the last owner. Anything you would like to add before you hit the water for a fishing session or is it good to go?

[ellicat]

1 minute ago, Hweebe said:

Awesome, congrats mate. Looks a very clean boat. Lightly used by the last owner. Anything you would like to add before you hit the water for a fishing session or is it good to go?

It's pretty much ready to go. I just have to fill the water bottle and then the esky. 

It hasn't been serviced for 18 months so that's one of the first things to happen.

[GregOug]

Nice!

[Junky]

Congrats. 

Good donk on there too. 

Have you ever used an anchor retriever? Save your back the hard work, even though you have others now to do it but those things are worth every cent. 

 

If you read books then get a hold of Allen Carrs easy way to quit smoking. There's a free copy online. 

Worked for me. 22yrs and I gave up by the end of the book.

It's like a self hypnosis.

Worth a try if you want to stop. However that's the key, you gotta want to stop. 

I built my boat with what I saved.  

[ellicat]

I'd heard of and the wife borrowed a copy of Allen Carr's book years ago, but I forgot who it was. So thanks for the reminder.

The anchor retriever: is that the float and ring device ?

[kmcrosby78]

Wow, you are good at keeping a secret, I was at your place Friday arvo and no mention of it .........    On a serious note though, this news has made me VERY happy on both fronts. I had a feeling you were having thoughts about buying a boat and it looks like a beauty, nice and neat and plenty of room to fish out the back. If it doesn't already, order a chain sock off @aussie123 for your anchor chain - I put one on mine on the holidays and it is so much better on the hands, nice and quiet and will stop your nicely painted hull from getting banged up. I can swing by one arvo after school and give you a hand to put it onto the chain.

And great to hear you are kicking the smokes - between that and getting some salt air in the lungs you'll be like a teenager again (watch out wifey ..... ). And wow, that's alot of money to be saving!!!!

Is it easy to back into your driveway? Just need to rely on people being patient and not flying around the corner I suppose  Can't wait to see you out on the water mate - well done.

[ellicat]

Thanks Kelvin. Yeah, I used to back the Force up without too many issues. This one's a bit longer so will have to get used to that. Need to use the footpath to avoid the traffic at peak times though. I won't be acting like a teenager until I've re-saved the boat cost, according to my playmate. Haha

I just ordered the sock, so I'll let you know when it arrives.

[aussie123]

Awesome boat Brian and I think it may be the same model that my mum and dad had which was a fantastic rig.

What size chain do you have as the chain sock comes in 2 sizes to suit either 6 or 8mm chain.

Make sure you watch this video below on how to fit the sock properly as it can save you hours of frustration due to the gal on the chain.

 

[ellicat]

1 minute ago, aussie123 said:

Awesome boat Brian and I think it may be the same model that my mum and dad had which was a fantastic rig.

What size chain do you have as the chain sock comes in 2 sizes to suit either 6 or 8mm chain.

Make sure you watch this video below on how to fit the sock properly as it can save you hours of frustration due to the gal on the chain.

 

Thanks Lance. I just went and measured it in the dark and I'm pretty sure it's only 6mm, which is what I ordered.

[aussie123]

2 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Thanks Lance. I just went and measured it in the dark and I'm pretty sure it's only 6mm, which is what I ordered.

Too easy mate, I will get that out tomorrow for you.

[ellicat]

2 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Too easy mate, I will get that out tomorrow for you.

I'll remeasure it first thing tomorrow and let you know early if there's any change. Thanks again.

[aussie123]

6 minutes ago, ellicat said:

I'll remeasure it first thing tomorrow and let you know early if there's any change. Thanks again.

No worries.

[rayke1938]

Congrats. Now we know why the garage clean out. Are you donating the force to the maritime museum?

[ellicat]

3 hours ago, rayke1938 said:

Congrats. Now we know why the garage clean out. Are you donating the force to the maritime museum?

Thanks Ray.

I wish it would fit in the garage but there is still too much stuff in there and she is too long anyway, so it'll rest in the backyard under a tarp and under the watchful eyes of the 'ferocious' dogs.

Haha, the Force's future is still unknown. It's been living at a mate's place so I'll probably leave it with him. Might take a picture for posterity's sake.

[ellicat]

Had a sleep in this morning. When I got up I looked out the bedroom and saw this.

 

Then I went downstairs completely forgetting to say goodmorning to the wife....oh dear.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

1 minute ago, ellicat said:

Had a sleep in this morning. When I got up I looked out the bedroom and saw this.

Hi ellicat

That must be awesome, you'd be tempted to take her out every day. 

Cheers Hamish  

[ellicat]

3 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

That must be awesome, you'd be tempted to take her out every day

I know you're not talking about the wife.

[ellicat]

@aussie123 , A bit late, but yes it is the 6mm chain.

[kmcrosby78]

Better get a tarp over it before the rain comes, although looks life far, far less than they originally thought :(

[Angry51]

I thought you'd have slept in for the first night.

[ellicat]

23 minutes ago, Angry51 said:

I thought you'd have slept in for the first night.

Haha. It was on the table but the rain put me off as I couldn't be bothered getting a tarp out. I'll have to get storm covers.

[jon]

Nice rig there Brian u must be excited, I like the amount of clear deck space it has. Probably be pretty good on fuel to. Perfect for the bay but big enough  to get to boat rock on good days

[ellicat]

2 minutes ago, jon said:

Nice rig there Brian u must be excited, I like the amount of clear deck space it has. Probably be pretty good on fuel to. Perfect for the bay but big enough  to get to boat rock on good days

Thanks Sef.  I think I'll get a few more k's out the tank than the old Force. Going to Boat rock, the question is if I'm up to it. Haha

[GregOug]

48 minutes ago, jon said:

Nice rig there Brian u must be excited, I like the amount of clear deck space it has. Probably be pretty good on fuel to. Perfect for the bay but big enough  to get to boat rock on good days

Yeah. Nice size. Easily handled by one person or take a mate. Looks in bloody good nick too!

[ellicat]

Yes. It is probably at my limit sizewise. I was looking at a 5.2 but @benno573 reminreminded me of my restricted abilities.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

45 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Yes. It is probably at my limit sizewise. I was looking at a 5.2 but @benno573 reminreminded me of my restricted abilities.

Hey ellicat

Righto, I see the boat is 4.96M (According to Google). Does the extra size make a lot of difference in capabilities, where to park it, or like you said when it gets that size is it just to hard to handle? 

Cheers Hamish  

[ellicat]

Yes, a bigger boat usually comes with a bigger motor and greater ability to go into rougher waters. Parking is not an issue, the problem comes when handling it when retrieving from the water and winching it up onto the trailer etc. I run out of puff pretty quick when winching @Old Scaley's boat and this one is slightly larger. Anything more and I'd never get the thing up by myself. I'm going to buy an electric winch like the one someone posted from Anaconda a couple of weeks ago.

[ellicat]

@aussie123, Do you have electric winches for on the trailer ? Couldn't find it on your site.

What size would you recommend ?

[aussie123]

Currently I only have the more expensive Powerwinches on the website but there is 2 new winches that have just become available so they are not on the website yet.

Check out these 2 links on the importers website.

RELAXN® ELECTRIC WINCH - BOAT TRAILER - 2000LB (907KG) $155.00

https://www.samallen.com.au/index_inner.php?page=100003&searchType=&search=&itemID=17319&category=4

 

RELAXN® ELECTRIC WINCH - BOAT TRAILER - 3500LB (1588KG)  $190.00

 

https://www.samallen.com.au/index_inner.php?page=100003&searchType=&search=&category=4&itemID=17320&part=542822

[ellicat]

3 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Currently I only have the more expensive Powerwinches on the website but there is 2 new winches that have just become available so they are not on the website yet.

Check out these 2 links on the importers website.

RELAXN® ELECTRIC WINCH - BOAT TRAILER - 2000LB (907KG) $155.00

https://www.samallen.com.au/index_inner.php?page=100003&searchType=&search=&itemID=17319&category=4

 

RELAXN® ELECTRIC WINCH - BOAT TRAILER - 3500LB (1588KG)  $190.00

 

https://www.samallen.com.au/index_inner.php?page=100003&searchType=&search=&category=4&itemID=17320&part=542822

The 3500lb recommends boats to 14'. Do you reckon I'd get away with that ?

[aussie123]

It would depend on your trailer setp and how much weight you are pulling Brian.

Personally I would probably ask Ray what his winch is as I think it is a cheaper Ebay winch but it has performed brilliantly over a number of years now.

These ones are a new product so I have not even had a chance to look at one yet so I honestly could not recommend them yet.

[ellicat]

Thanks Lance.

Hey @rayke1938 , what's the go with your ebay one ?

Whitworths have one for $260 that looks decent and says is strong enough for an 18 footer.

https://www.whitworths.com.au/electric-trailer-winch-3500-wireless-remote-control

 

There's also this one from ebay-

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/I-MAX-12V-5000LBS-Portable-Electric-Synthetic-Rope-Boat-Winch-Trailer-ATV-4WD4x4/271625991166?hash=item3f3e2bb3fe:g:deIAAOSwfhlb8OV1&shqty=1&isGTR=1#shId

 

What are your thoughts ?