Mariner 3400 delivery #2
October 14th 2006 20:30
To date: We have been delivvering a Mariner 34 from Broken Bay to the Gold Coast. (see previous blog)
The entry to Yamba, which we did at night, was a bit tough. To our way of thinking the first port hand marker on the break wall was a bit hard to find with our approach. It did not seem to be bright enough yet we could clearly see the starboard light. To the confusion of entering the harbour we had road traffic headlights and tail- lights. Then just on eleven hundred hours the first of the new years eve fireworks went off. It was a nerve-wracking entry but without any swell at the bar. We got a great welcome from the marina and the fuel berth owner who had decided as he was waiting for us anyhow, he would have an impromtu party at his office.
We left right on midnight at not much more than idling speed as we were cooking our dinner of frozen pies in the microwave. We had cleared the entrance and were heading north when suddenly some big waves loomed up in the moonlight and they were breaking across the top! We angled straight into them and the first one lifted us high and slammed the boat down shaking everything and every one board and tilting the microwave tilting the micro wave so our pies stopped cooking. The next three or four we took a bit slower and managed to clear the breaking bar. In just the couple of hours we had been inside the port the bar conditipns had changed so much!
Elsewhere the sea was, as we anticipated, quite calm. By now we could step up the pace and doing fifteen knots managed to reach the Gold Coast Seaway around seven thirty in the morning
.
The boat handled all conditions from rough to long rolling smooth swells very well. The engines were a dream to handle and when we worked out the right angle with the trim tabs the hull’s motion was quite reasonable for the conditions.
At the berth we noticed a film of exhaust across the whole back of the boat. Obviously some attention to injectors or whatever required here. That also explained the slippery ladder to the top deck. The trip would have been made easier if we had self-steering but a great boon was to get the GPS and Chart plotter working.
Our average speed at sea after Port Stevens was around fourteen knots. Our average fuel consumption was around forty to forty-five litres per hour at three thousand revs per engine. Accommodation was for four on fitted bunks and two could sleep in the saloon with a comfortable berth possible on the fly bridge as well.
The gas bottle had been disconnected so the gas cooker could not be used. The galley has plenty of room and can be used in uncomfortable seas. The head is adequate in size with fairly large doors and a separate shower with a deck shower also fitted.
Mooring cleats were functional and seemed strong enough to hold her on a berth in strong conditions but we did not get to test that. She is still a good looker having been built around 1985. Fitted with game poles, I suppose she could give a fair account of herself for some offshore angling as well.
I have checked out a report written just after these boats were released and apparently in a test in one metre seas offshore they got 25 knots at three thousand seven hundred revs and 20 knots at three thousand two hundred revs with twin 165 Volvos. If this is true then we did not even scratch the surface of what this girl could do.
Tom N
The entry to Yamba, which we did at night, was a bit tough. To our way of thinking the first port hand marker on the break wall was a bit hard to find with our approach. It did not seem to be bright enough yet we could clearly see the starboard light. To the confusion of entering the harbour we had road traffic headlights and tail- lights. Then just on eleven hundred hours the first of the new years eve fireworks went off. It was a nerve-wracking entry but without any swell at the bar. We got a great welcome from the marina and the fuel berth owner who had decided as he was waiting for us anyhow, he would have an impromtu party at his office.
We left right on midnight at not much more than idling speed as we were cooking our dinner of frozen pies in the microwave. We had cleared the entrance and were heading north when suddenly some big waves loomed up in the moonlight and they were breaking across the top! We angled straight into them and the first one lifted us high and slammed the boat down shaking everything and every one board and tilting the microwave tilting the micro wave so our pies stopped cooking. The next three or four we took a bit slower and managed to clear the breaking bar. In just the couple of hours we had been inside the port the bar conditipns had changed so much!
Elsewhere the sea was, as we anticipated, quite calm. By now we could step up the pace and doing fifteen knots managed to reach the Gold Coast Seaway around seven thirty in the morning
.
The boat handled all conditions from rough to long rolling smooth swells very well. The engines were a dream to handle and when we worked out the right angle with the trim tabs the hull’s motion was quite reasonable for the conditions.
At the berth we noticed a film of exhaust across the whole back of the boat. Obviously some attention to injectors or whatever required here. That also explained the slippery ladder to the top deck. The trip would have been made easier if we had self-steering but a great boon was to get the GPS and Chart plotter working.
Our average speed at sea after Port Stevens was around fourteen knots. Our average fuel consumption was around forty to forty-five litres per hour at three thousand revs per engine. Accommodation was for four on fitted bunks and two could sleep in the saloon with a comfortable berth possible on the fly bridge as well.
The gas bottle had been disconnected so the gas cooker could not be used. The galley has plenty of room and can be used in uncomfortable seas. The head is adequate in size with fairly large doors and a separate shower with a deck shower also fitted.
Mooring cleats were functional and seemed strong enough to hold her on a berth in strong conditions but we did not get to test that. She is still a good looker having been built around 1985. Fitted with game poles, I suppose she could give a fair account of herself for some offshore angling as well.
I have checked out a report written just after these boats were released and apparently in a test in one metre seas offshore they got 25 knots at three thousand seven hundred revs and 20 knots at three thousand two hundred revs with twin 165 Volvos. If this is true then we did not even scratch the surface of what this girl could do.
Tom N
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