Trying to choose my new boat

shanook · August 07, 2008, 12:03:10 CET

so make sure that the one u buy gives u as much a dry ride as possible and the only way to try that out is not by sales talk but by trial. Ask the supplier to test out a boat in at least force 3 that way u will know what to expect. No use trying out a boat after u ave bought it.

benri · August 08, 2008, 08:07:57 CET

Hi ppl... I seem to have made up my mind and went for the Marinello 19 powered by a 4 stroke Suzuki 140hp. Thanks for all your help and suggestions mates - they were of great help especially with the motor. i have an approx. 15 day wait for the motor and might be in time to try it for some lampuki this season. The people at Hi-Tec really gave me a fair deal which I couldn't refuse further and I liked the boat the minute I saw it. Will post some pictues when it eventually arrives.

skip · August 08, 2008, 08:29:51 CET

Bryan, I think you made a very very good choice with the engine. You will have plenty of power from the Suzuki-4 which will be of particular benefit when you want to load up your family and friends and go out for the day, the boat will run very happily.

With less people like 3-4 fishing you should have a very nice high cruise speed, I reckon of around at least 25 knots most likely depending how you set yourself up prop wise.

Did you end up going to see the Kaptan's or were you lured by the production boat and finish?

Not sure what extra equipment you already have/what you're planning to get, but dont' forget that auxiliary (you may as well get a Suzuki as well), and just to let you know the Lowrance 527 iGPS head unit that I have, which is a GPS, Chartplotter and Fishfinder all in one plus an intelligent display terminal can take a engine interface cable to your Suzuki engine, which will display many parameters on the screen like rpm, water temp, oil temp, and all sorts, not sure if it displays fuel consumption as well, but if not you can connect an EP-60R fuel flow meter like I have which is invaluable so you know the best rpm to run at for your load and exactly how much fuel you are using, have used, remaining etc. If you like I can show it to you on the boat.

Ask Danny if there's any chance of having a fixed fuel tank mounted where it would be normally fitted by the factory?? Otherwise I think you would be restricted to 2 x 50 litre tanks.

Shame you're not coming to the BBQ we could have had a chat. Prosit

benri · August 08, 2008, 08:48:34 CET

Yes I think I did choose the right engine and I was actually lured by the production boat and finish! You guessed right!
At the moment these sre the accessories that will be supplied with the boat
Bimini Top
Trailer
Boat cover
Fuel tank, gauge, deck filler & breather
Transom shower system
Auxiliary Engine Bracket (I have an aux. engine which I will try out but might have to buy a larger one if it's not enough - I have an Enduro 8HP)
12V Sockets
Extra battery, battery box and change over switch
Clarion Stereo, s/p fascia & speakers
Bilge pump
Navionics VHF base set (with DSC etc.), & Antenna

I left the GPS and fishfinder out for this season and will be using the handheld unit. I'll definately talk to you Skip for the Lowrance 527 as I wanted something like that. It could be that I can make it to the BBQ actually as we were supposed to have someone from abroad at the office but I was just informed that he's actually not coming now as he missed the flight :-)

skip · August 08, 2008, 10:52:25 CET

Thanks for the update Bryan.

Bimini Top (Make sure the supports are stainless steel or HEAVY DUTY alumiunium and that it's well supported and not flimsy like mine!)

What size fuel tank are you installing??

benri · August 08, 2008, 14:11:39 CET

Hi Skip. We're not yet sure of the size of the petrol tank as we're trying to get the biggest possible that fits in the space.
The bimini top is the original from marinello and to be honest I don't have a clue whether the aluminium is heavy duty but i'll check it out. I very much doubt it's stainless steel.

skip · August 08, 2008, 14:57:33 CET

Marinello have a really stainless steel radar arch that fits on their boat. Apparently the same canopy fits with this so it can be retrofitted at a later stage.

Are you putting the tank under the floor in the center?

benri · August 08, 2008, 15:24:12 CET

Should be putting the tank at the rear.

skip · August 08, 2008, 15:36:05 CET

How come you're putting it in the rear of the boat? Aside from taking up precious storage space you'll be adding a significant amount of weight to the back of the boat, especially as the 140hp 4 stroke isn't at all light!

I advise you to err on the side of caution Benri and not make the same mistake that I did. Some weight in the back is good but I reckon you're going to have far too much. Can you not just create a hatch in the floor where the built in factory tank would go, or do you not have the room anymore. I can understand if you don't as this is the case on my boat, it's either done during construction or you can't do it.

Personally I would much rather do something like:

Twin 25 litre tank in the bow, one on the port and one on the starboard side in those small storage areas you have.

And then a 50 litre tank in the rear or slightly bigger if you can get it. At least in this way you're balancing the boat out better still retaining the capacity.

Also as I mentioned on the phone, avoid locating the batteries near the fuel tanks. Center console is an excellent place unless you're planning on putting a fridge in there which some people do.

benri · August 08, 2008, 16:21:44 CET

i'll phone Danny and check if it the petrol tank can be fitted in the place where they fit the one from the factory. I'm going to put the batteries under the centre seat.

skip · August 08, 2008, 16:56:42 CET

Noticed on the Marinello that they have a feed pipe that comes from somewhere. Is that feed pipe coming from the center console or coming from the bilge area? Remember that where possible you want to avoid longer cables runs, bearing in mind that you will need a feed from the battery switch located near the battery up to a bus bar in the center console to feed those various switches and pieces of equipment.

benri · August 09, 2008, 09:27:50 CET

Hi Nick. this morning I woke up eager to confirm the weights of the Suzuki 140Hp and the 115. The 140 is actually 3kg lighter!

skip · August 09, 2008, 10:16:22 CET

Had a look too this morning! Tres bizarre! Wonder why a 115 is a few kgs heavier than a 140, doesnt make much sense but there you go!

fishfinder · August 09, 2008, 13:25:54 CET

I told you that they have everything the same exept for the Bore that's a little bit bigger and so the engine is lighter.

benri · September 05, 2008, 19:14:30 CET

Yesterday morning Shisha was finally launched! It's a Marinello Fisherman 19 powered by a Suzuki DF140. The ride of the boat is much better than I expected it to be and the balancing is very good too. I was very reluctant to have the fuel tank, shower tank at the rear as I was afraid it would be very heavy but after sending emails to Marinello they put my mind at rest and told me the hull was designed that way... and I must say they were right! With the tanks full of fuel and water and three people on the very rear seat and one at centre console, with the power of the Suzuki 140 the boat is planed without any extra effort... unbelievable! Thanks to all of you who suggested this engine as believe me - it's marvellous. And apart from the strength, compared to a 2 stroke it's damn economical! Yesterday I went from Kalkara to St. Paul's Bay, off to Gozo, round Comino and back to St Pauls Bay together with 7 hours trolling today and all I used was 35 Lts. The hull is also very dry due to the high freeboard and going from Kalkara to St Pauls Bay in Force 4 was no problem which was a great relief for me after being used to the fletcher!
there were unfortunately also the what I call "made in Malta" mishaps! During the test run, the throttle came off only to discover that they forgot to put the centre bolt in the remote! Thank God we were not close to shore and in time to pull the kill switch.. (The excuse was that I rushed them!). Dominic came down to Kalkara and did it in no time!
The other mishaps are that the canopy is really flimsy, the auxilliary bracket is not installed (they told me I don't need one!!!!), and the bloody boat cover is at least 8 inches short at beam! I'll phone up Daniel at Hi-tec on Monday morning and see what could be done!
But all in all, I'm really happy with the hull and engine configuration. Now during winter it's maybe up to Skip to help me getting it rigged! Now I have the equipment and all I need are the fish :-)