A couple of shots taken at Dovercourt in September 2016. I was visiting and so am not able to tell you anything of the boats or skippers. Dovercourt is a salt water pond and plays havoc with switches and brass fittings.
Geof L.
Hi Peter, nice to hear from you and that the majority of Australia and borders have re-opened and that you guys managing to get back to the lake/ pond !.
Ok on your observations, for sails I mainly use ripstop nylon, mainly for colour variety and good light/med weather. I dont usually sail in heavy weather but I do have 1 suit made from a more ridgid sail cloth which certanly holds its form better. However, I do find that ,the ripstop does absorb streatch in heavier winds thus inducing a bit of "belly". I really must get hold of some mylar to try myself.
I dont recall cutting to a triangular shape as I use a template (see photo) however I recently joined up two 2 panels with double sided tape, then did a 3 panel suit (again in ripstop) which
added a batten like rigidity.
I do enjoy trying out other materials and design options within the Wee Nip design brief, but now also getting fun from filming other members boats from the "Camera Nip".
Take care Pete - cheers and beers !
Phil
Airboat on board camera added. You can watch both of these vids together if you start them one after the other and adjust the sync by quickly pausing the one which is ahead till they match. Who didn't know that then?😁 Only works in std view not full screen.
Added some strakes to the bottom, and added some down thrust to the motor (to push the stern down) which has made it run a lot straighter and with more control on full power. Also added a camera mount as well.
Jb,
Definitely looks more controllable, you may have tamed the beast at last or she is saving up a little surprise that she will give to you latter.LOL!!
Test no 2 with deflector plate above jet unit,- stops water running up the transom in reverse. Changed cameras so vid is slightly better than the last rubbish😁 Also demonstrates the jets ability to have fwd, neut and reverse while running in one direction.
Hi Martin, quite pleased that it worked so well😊 And you mean put out fires like this ? (jet boat, Lake Lyndon NZ 2012)😁😁 Quite a common fire fighting method by the public for boats these days, especially using jet skis.
Trying the jet reverse bucket mods, engine sounds and radio, (wanted to see if you could still hear the radio over the motor.) Still needs a deflector fitted above the jet.
Hi Jb,
It look like the bucket will have to be a very close fit to the top of the thruster when using in reverse
And as you say a small deflector so that it clears the bucket in the forward mode.
Hi Martin, I've made a small plate to go above the jet which should divert the water away from the bucket pushrod, just have to glue it on and test it (possibly tomorrow). Most jet boats tend to have the same problem with back feed out the top as it's pretty much impossible to seal, because the nozzle has to move from side to side. Most of the Hamilton production jet boats had a large platform over the jet unit which stopped water splashing up the transom (see pics of some early Hamilton jet boats).
The lens on my small vid cam is stuffed and I really need to invest in a GO Pro or similar (when I win Lotto)😁 I Have a few other cheapies, but this was the best, until I somehow scratched the lens, and then tried to polish it☹️. Works a bit better at longer range on sunny days. May be able to get it repaired as it is just the domed protective lens over the main tiny lens.
Couldn't do much more on the boat, (waiting for stuff from China) so took my latest plane (finished early this year and never tested) down to the big playing fields for some high speed taxi runs. on the last run, it actually took off accidentally, (but very smoothly) before I was ready and ended up putting it back down quickly but bending a landing gear strut. I consider it very successful as I now know it will fly, and my wing construction around the electric retract was strong enough to bend the 4mm landing gear wire. Same thing happened with another own design, plane but I was in a position to keep going after it leapt off the ground unexpectedly, and I found it flew perfectly! At least today provided something positive which is always good. This is one I made from some photographs of a one off prototype. Had my doubts if the wing design was correct, but it seems ok.
You might be interested in these vids from INCAT Australia,- amazing ship. It uses the Finnish Wartsila companys' waterjets.
Haven' seen water in a while so off to the harbor . This was one of the first models I'd ever built in 1974 . I went with my girlfriend to a little creek at Confederation park just in front of the old Hutches fish & chip shack put it in and the rudder jammed full over and it corkscrewed and sank I jumped in without realizing water was only about a foot deep and two feet muck . Moral of the story is she's still my wife .
All's well that ends well Garth😉
Admit it shipmate the rudder didn't jam -
you were simply distracted by the attentions of the now good lady!😉
Cheers, Doug 😎
This will be last Sequin Tug run for 2020 weather great for Nov.6th it was 19 C today & will be nice weather for the next few days Then the cool weather will be back again . You can see that most of the real boats are now out of the water & are now in storage for the winter because Hamilton Harbor usually freezes over .
Managed to shoehorn in a GT Power sound unit, and seeing the boat has a 'V8 installed' I thought I'd go with the V8tyest sound there was in the file😁😁. You can hear Grahams timer switch the air and water pumps on at the start of the vid, (after I switch the power on) - off-reset-on and off again before the engine start. The engine sound is a little bit muffled as the unit is buried under everything in the stern, but still gives a reasonable effect (well I think anyway😁)
Smoke, water and air are ready to go,- just waiting for some V regs to come via sampan.
Thanks Ed, the GT Power unit has about 55 different car and diesel machinery sounds (unfortunately a lot of noisy high revving 4 cyl sounds) but there are a number of good ones which can be applied to boats.
Hi Pete, the throttle is mode 1 on the 9x. I usually use a 6ch HK6DF which I've converted to twin throttles for the MTB, HSL and ST (was bought as mode 2 but converted to mode 1 and modified to twin throttles). I bought 2 of those a few years back before they changed to inside aerial and digital trims, (basic 6ch, - one for small planes and one for boats) I think they were also a Fly sky with HK stickers, but they have been 100% reliable. I needed a bit of programming ability with the jet unit (end points ) for the bucket and a few more switches for lights etc, and with only one motor in this boat the 9x was perfect. I use it for planes as well and have about 6 models on it.
Left stick rudder is used for arming the smoke/water/air timer which Graham built.
Had a large moment of enthusiasm yesterday and fitted the jet unit and associated bits. Then it was time to wet its bum for a test. First off, the jet wouldn't suck water without pushing the stern down slightly, (as I expected due to the boats' light weight.) I added 300g to the stern and she was away😊 Happiness filled I were😁!. Reversing bucket works very well (even though it's a bit of a blob on the transom). You really need one if you don't want to go forward forever, trying not to 'sail yourself into a corner'.
I Need to waterproof the pushrod holes in the transom but the bellows I bought are too stiff and compress too much, so I'll have to come up with another method, (probably some deflectors for a start. Only a problem when in reverse with a bit of throttle on. Plenty of power with the 2s I was using, but motor is rated 12-24v so it would scream, -even with a 3s. I'll start with 2s and see how it goes. Might have an initial blast on the lake this week if all goes well, although I'd like to finish the deck bits first.
Just waiting for some Voltage regs to come so I can complete the electrical side with the fancy bits.. The mechanical and electrical sides are as good as done, Grahams timer is working perfectly, with the water pump and air pumps hooked up (going to install a VReg on each one plus the smoker).
No plans for a camera. I think PD Donald is finished now. He’s getting a bit heavy with the extras and I don’t want to find him diving and failing to resurface.
