Subject: My first solo outing on my new R29 CB
Today couldn't have been better for me... it was clear and sunny with temps at around 65ºF, slight breeze, slack tide and the water surface was glass like with no evidence or ripples except for the odd Edmonds ferry boat's left over long heaving swells.
I simply glided out of my marina with the normal big swells that always seem to be at the marina's entrance... just a bit of ups and downs and then into the smooth calm waters. Retrieved my fenders and got around to some serious boating for testing out this brand new R29 CB. Oh, the sweet muffled diesel sound which disappeared completely after closing the cabin door. There was some slight harmonic engine sounds as I got going but quickly abated after speed got above around 8 kts. A slight push on the throttle delivers a very nice sudden push/thrust and the bow/nose comes up a tad and can be easily controlled with the trim tabs. Not another boat to see so setup Auto pilot to engage a heading and started some speed tests from 6 kts all the way up to 23 kts (26.5 mph and about 3600 rpm - WOT). The boat was a dream to be in and the ride was awesome for me. Slowing down caused my following wake to quickly encroach my stern/swim step, that was at first a bit unnerving but I came to no harm and the wake subsided before overwhelming the stern. Turning at speed was very controllable, smooth, easy on the wheel effort and with little leaning. At 20 Kts this boat will cover distances very quickly. At this speed the fuel burn was at around 1.7 MPG.... quiet respectable IMO.
Given there were no boats about and the waters were so calm/flat and practically no wind I decided to enhance my skills walking the boat sideways. After doing this several times I really got the hang of it and felt comfortable with doing this when needed. I will be doing this again now and then with similar water conditions to keep my walking skills sharpened.
It was a glorious day to be out on the water with the Mt Rainier to my south and the Olympic mountain to my west in full view with their snow capped peaks.
I had placed my IoM flags on the mast's halyard and my US flag on the stern/transom pole and was pleased to see they flew nicely. :lol:
I had thought about having my inflatable Sea Eagle Kayak (weighs 35 lbs) deflated in its bag and would be suitable for being placed on the swim step. However, the swim step does get a lot of water swimming all over it.... but then, the Kayak is waterproof and in its bag so no harm should come to it. Other places would be to have it bagged in the cockpit, stowed on the Command bridge between front & rear seats or inflated and slung on J supports on port side of the Command Bridge's railing. I will experiment with all this over time. Inflating it in the cockpit should be a breeze and take no longer than a few minutes with my battery powered pump. 🙂
In my excitement during this first solo outing I forgot to go up to the Command Bridge to try driving the boat from there... Ah well, next time for sure.
The boat cabin was a bit on the cool side to start off and so engaged the Webasto heater before I got going and it does a super job warming the inside of the boat and the fan noise could not be heard. I also tried the engine coolant cabin heater and its fan was a bit noisy for me so shut it off after awhile.... but it did pump out decent heated air. The windscreen defogging outlets worked well but a bit noisy. The vent immediately in front of the helm when the vanes were oriented to blow toward my face worked very well without needing the helm window to be open to get the fresh air in my face.
I have bought myself a small sturdy wooden/bamboo box that I placed in the helm footwell. It's about 5" tall and gives me the needed height when stepped on to get myself onto the helm seat and that allows me to lean out further through the helm sliding window. It was perfect and the box can hold small items such as small talky units, mobile device cables and other small stuff. The lid can be used as a tray when turned upside down -- just another benefit the box has for me. 🙂
My next outing will be with family members onboard and I'm sure they are going to be impressed -- especially the grandkids who most likely will want to climb up to the Command Bridge area to get the 'real' experience for being on the water. 😀
Later.... this R29 CB is absolutely awesome. 😀 😀 😀
P.S. I was not quite solo as I had my Wire Hair For Terrier - Jake with me. he liked it. :lol:
Today couldn't have been better for me... it was clear and sunny with temps at around 65ºF, slight breeze, slack tide and the water surface was glass like with no evidence or ripples except for the odd Edmonds ferry boat's left over long heaving swells.
I simply glided out of my marina with the normal big swells that always seem to be at the marina's entrance... just a bit of ups and downs and then into the smooth calm waters. Retrieved my fenders and got around to some serious boating for testing out this brand new R29 CB. Oh, the sweet muffled diesel sound which disappeared completely after closing the cabin door. There was some slight harmonic engine sounds as I got going but quickly abated after speed got above around 8 kts. A slight push on the throttle delivers a very nice sudden push/thrust and the bow/nose comes up a tad and can be easily controlled with the trim tabs. Not another boat to see so setup Auto pilot to engage a heading and started some speed tests from 6 kts all the way up to 23 kts (26.5 mph and about 3600 rpm - WOT). The boat was a dream to be in and the ride was awesome for me. Slowing down caused my following wake to quickly encroach my stern/swim step, that was at first a bit unnerving but I came to no harm and the wake subsided before overwhelming the stern. Turning at speed was very controllable, smooth, easy on the wheel effort and with little leaning. At 20 Kts this boat will cover distances very quickly. At this speed the fuel burn was at around 1.7 MPG.... quiet respectable IMO.
Given there were no boats about and the waters were so calm/flat and practically no wind I decided to enhance my skills walking the boat sideways. After doing this several times I really got the hang of it and felt comfortable with doing this when needed. I will be doing this again now and then with similar water conditions to keep my walking skills sharpened.
It was a glorious day to be out on the water with the Mt Rainier to my south and the Olympic mountain to my west in full view with their snow capped peaks.
I had placed my IoM flags on the mast's halyard and my US flag on the stern/transom pole and was pleased to see they flew nicely. :lol:
I had thought about having my inflatable Sea Eagle Kayak (weighs 35 lbs) deflated in its bag and would be suitable for being placed on the swim step. However, the swim step does get a lot of water swimming all over it.... but then, the Kayak is waterproof and in its bag so no harm should come to it. Other places would be to have it bagged in the cockpit, stowed on the Command bridge between front & rear seats or inflated and slung on J supports on port side of the Command Bridge's railing. I will experiment with all this over time. Inflating it in the cockpit should be a breeze and take no longer than a few minutes with my battery powered pump. 🙂
In my excitement during this first solo outing I forgot to go up to the Command Bridge to try driving the boat from there... Ah well, next time for sure.
The boat cabin was a bit on the cool side to start off and so engaged the Webasto heater before I got going and it does a super job warming the inside of the boat and the fan noise could not be heard. I also tried the engine coolant cabin heater and its fan was a bit noisy for me so shut it off after awhile.... but it did pump out decent heated air. The windscreen defogging outlets worked well but a bit noisy. The vent immediately in front of the helm when the vanes were oriented to blow toward my face worked very well without needing the helm window to be open to get the fresh air in my face.
I have bought myself a small sturdy wooden/bamboo box that I placed in the helm footwell. It's about 5" tall and gives me the needed height when stepped on to get myself onto the helm seat and that allows me to lean out further through the helm sliding window. It was perfect and the box can hold small items such as small talky units, mobile device cables and other small stuff. The lid can be used as a tray when turned upside down -- just another benefit the box has for me. 🙂
My next outing will be with family members onboard and I'm sure they are going to be impressed -- especially the grandkids who most likely will want to climb up to the Command Bridge area to get the 'real' experience for being on the water. 😀
Later.... this R29 CB is absolutely awesome. 😀 😀 😀
P.S. I was not quite solo as I had my Wire Hair For Terrier - Jake with me. he liked it. :lol: