Don't know how he does it (probably tinder) but he's finally found a couple of live ones to enhance the boat !😉😂, problem is, he's now got double the instructions !🙉 (why 'most' women and boats don't mix) LOL, (even ancient mariners recognised this)😁 ( wears anti-kitchenware helmet while typing)😀 Ready for summer at last ! Eviva l'estate☀️⛵🚤👍

Small update (no pun intended😉) Brownie looked like she was going to be a bit of a wriggler, and might fall OB, so now has a magnet in an unmentionable area😎

Having bought the trolley, it was on with the job of adapting it for boats. Very simple, just made a frame which sits on the bottom pad and is secured with 2 - 50x 6mm bolts with plastic wing nuts. Bolts are held from turning by nuts on the top side, which are let into the underside of the center rail. Stainless bolts and wing nuts are from a German Kholer toilet seat 'stern' bracket system I had to replace (thoroughly sanitized of course😀)- Knew they'd come in handy one day.!😊

The frame just bolts off and the base can fold up as usual. The white foam pads (saved them from, work years ago -Aust bull bar packers) - are just removed and sipped over the handle. Also knew they'd come in handy one day!😊 The rear bolt just misses the cross bar, so the wing nut can be screwed on to stop the base unfolding. Waiting for some 50mm sponge tube to be ready for pick-up at the hardware store, which will fit around the frame. Timber is coated with timber resin preservative.

Finally got a nice day to take some outside pics of the boat finished, and new all boat launching trolley. Don't think I've forgotten anything, all tested and working, ready to launch. Can't make a display stand at the moment, as I can't go into the hardware store to look for suitable material, due to current restrictions.

Added a piece of black cloth to the removable poly foam rear pads on the trolley as they are a bit coarse textured, and might possibly cause scratches.

Did say finished 'I think'😁 - forgot the flag and rear rubbing strakes/flashes. Laminated 2 strips of basswood with .5mm mahogany veneer each side. Will sand to shape once dry, dowel, apply and varnish. I thought I'd have a go at printing a flag on some 44yr old silk I bought to cover plane wings back then. Ironed the silk flat and sellotaped it lightly stretched to a piece of pre printed (with the flags- L + R sides to locate it) on A4 paper .

Put it through the printer the first time, but horrible scrunching sounds emanated from same as it jammed up. Managed to remove it and gave it a severe ironing, with a slight curve on the lead edge to encourage it to follow the feed roller, (my new HP printer has a bottom feed tray, so has to do a tight turn around the feed roller (previous Epson with a rear tray was much better for decals) Went through this time but moved slightly in the process. Not too bad for a first go though. Perhaps using a mild photo fixative to keep the silk flat and still (plus sellotape) might work better.? Back to work on the 'stand' now,- raining/windy today so no going out.😴

Flag on boat is just a paper trial. UPDATE- last 3 pics are the printed silk effort. Not particularly sharp, but slightly more realistic than paper.
UPDATE on the side flashes/rubbing strakes:- Tapers and compound curves sanded on the inside edges, and 3mm dowels fitted, (pics 9 and 10). Varnish now done and in the sun drying.

UPDATE- rear rubbing strakes varnished, ready to attach when dry.

Thought I'd just do this small update separately,- these are the side rear rubbing strips from the previous post, - making and finishing. Laminated basswood and mahogany veneer, dowelled with 3mm dowels and varnished ready to fit tomorrow when the varnish is dry. Holes will be drilled in the hull and dowels will be secured on the inside with small plates drilled to 3mm

Charged all the batteries up last night (just in case) and this morning was fine and sunny with not much wind, so packed everything in the car and did the 15km trip to the pond (extra bits to go on had to wait). As luck would have it, an asphalt milling machine was working just along the road at about 80db, which sort of ruined any thoughts of a nice quiet video. Launching trolley worked well, although surprisingly it floated and took a bit to push it down from under the boat, (bonus) . Boat floated perfectly and everything worked!

Never got much over half throttle as the silicone couplings would squeal from the torque, but it's way over powered anyhow, so you'd never need full throttle- just nice at 1/3. I'll de-power it a bit I think, as these HV motors are a bit hungry (have a possible fix for the coupling problem I'm working on). Had the battery alarm on the 2200mAh 25c 3s LiPo ( port motor)set at 3.8v, but that only went off after about 20 mins, so still another15 mins at least of cruising around left on that (still at 4v after running) the other 3s battery is a 3000mAh (runs sound, water pump, RX and stbd motor) was still at 4.1, so heaps left on that. Probably enough time to start getting sick of it, without a break. Boat stays dry too, (water drops are from the launching trolley )😐

Did another vid with the stereo going which worked well (despite the road works noise), but found that IR remotes don't like bright sunlight, so the range was down to about 3ft, (probably be better on dull days) Won't post that as YT will start giving copyright warnings. You can use their free 'music' in your vids, but it's all just beatbox junk you can do yourself, which gets round their algorithm. Seems like anything with actual singing gets pinged, no matter what. You can't even sit in your car videoing something to put on YT, with music going in a car next to you, and that will get a warning! Who's running this world, seems like Google ?? Almost any form of internet communication on their platform needs their censorship these days (THEIR standards govern almost everything)! Never mind, have to make my own music to put a vid up. Spoils the fun a bit😐, something else we can't do.

Printer ink on the flag, didn't seem to like the glycerine smoke, went sorta patchy😁 Video here as they don't show on the daily topics list, (I think a lot of peoples vids get missed due to this)

I've fitted the rear rubbing strips tonight, so that's another small addition done. Holes were measured and drilled in the hull for the pre dowelled and varnished strips, and thick cyano was added round the dowels to lock and seal them, as well as spots along the inside edge. They don't need to be completely glued, as they fit reasonably well, and are completely varnished and waterproof. I might run a bead of thick cyano on the top and bottom, once I can get into the Korean $2 shop which has the type I need (thick, but slow setting- good for small gaps).

Next small job will be a few cleats for the rear fairleads (thanks to Martins' eagle eye,) I thought I had almost finished LOL, - thanks Martin😁 (remind me to buy you some dark glasses😂)

Found a good way to make any sound you like for a boat. I recorded the sound of a set of air horns I have, with my camera, and transferred it to my small RUIZU BT player. The sound was then played via BT to the small BT/stereo card in the boat. Worked pretty well, and also managed to demo a bit of music with the system (Cuban,- YT doesn't seem to mind,- probably don't like Cubans). I'll add the horn to the micro SD card in the boat, which should then be able to be played via IR remote, using a track selection. Need to find some musical horns for better effect, (and find or make some air horns for the deck)

Martin noticed that there were no cleats on the stern to go with the fairleads😁, now it has some so he'll be happy (till he spots something else😂) - I know I haven't painted them yet Martin😁LOL. Excuse the pond scum I missed, who knows what's in that lake,- can't be too bad though as the eels are thriving. Just sticks to your boats whatever it is😐.

JB

Getting on with making the stand (trailer) and the new lathe came in handy for making the spacers for the wheels. Turned down some ally rod and drilled a 4mm hole through the center. Don't have a parting tool yet, so the trusty hacksaw was the next best thing. Marked the lengths, and while the lathe was running, carefully nibbled them off. Turned each piece round and tidied up the hacksawn end. New toy's paying for its' board and lodgings already.😁!

The spacers go behind the wheel hex drives which I'm using as axle bushings (backs of wheels have a 12mm hex moulding) Frame is ally angle which is connected with 3mm machine screws, and has a clearance at the back to allow for the props and rudders. More bits to make yet, - guards, support pads, winch post etc,- just a matter of getting into the shops at the moment with the restrictions. I'm Starting to run out of materials.😮