Phil's Smartwave 4200CC

[Des]

I was finding it hard to work out what I was going to do, when my Wife (yes you heard me correctly) suggested I use the angle iron and showed me where she would put it.
Damn but I hate that. Should have been so obvious but I missed it

Now I have really given you something to ponder.......

[habes]

Nice work fellas. Thanks for sharing. While in lockdown I am looking at tinkering. Need a cover over my anchor well for my 4.55. Do you guys have an open well on the Smartwaves?
Also do you have storage in rear tubs? My 4.1 Challenger did, and was a good place to hide the fuel tank. Build a rack for it to sit level.

My pet hate is clutter on the boat deck. Tripped once on some gear my deckie had and dislocated my shoulder and was 5 NM out to sea. Lets just say my deckie survived and the bar crossing was fun one armed.

[The Mariner]

G'day Habes,

Yes, there's an open anchor well on our 4200's. It's enough to take all the anchor rope but the anchor itself doesn't quite fit all the way in so a hard cover won't really work. Even leaving the anchor in the bow roller doesn't help. Obviously the risk is the anchor bouncing out in rough seas so the best thing I have come up with so far is a short length of rope connected to the anchor with a loop on the other end that can be tossed over a cleat as a safety line. It won't stop the anchor coming adrift but at least it won't drop over the side.

The rear tubs can be used for storage or for the battery but aren't big enough to take a typical 23L tank... or even an 11L for that matter.

I know what you mean about having stuff on the deck. Never had anything like a dislocated shoulder (ouch !) but as I get older I seem to be able to trip on the smallest thing.

[The Mariner]

Hi Everyone,

Made a few changes so time to update this showcase.

- Added a foil to my outboard.

After discussing the issue with Des & describing how the boat was behaving I followed his advice & fitted a SE Sport 300 foil. Big improvement ! The boat planes earlier, doesn't drag the stern when not on the plane & doesn't fall off-plane as easily as before. Definately worth doing !

- Re-mounted the seat esky.

The std. Smartwave bungee-cord mounting system isn't the most robust & allows the esky to tip if you are sitting on it facing backwards & lean towards the stern. The corner floor brackets also stuck out into the walkway just enough so you couldn't swing your foot around the end without it getting jammed between the bracket & the inside of the hull. It's the little things that annoy the most... right ?

I replaced the corner brackets with rubber door stops bolted to the floor, located on the inside corners of the handle recess so no more obstruction to the floor space. The RTIC esky has a slot moulded in the handle area which is just perfect to run a camlock strap through, and a simple aluminium angle bracket with a slot bolted to the floor gives something to attach it to. The seat is now nice & rigid yet easily removeable if needed.

- Better design seat cushion.

While screwing around with the seat I noticed the mounting flaps on the long sides of my seat cushion had begun tearing at the stitching & had taken the mesh underside of the cushion with them. $100 spent at my local marine upholsterer later & the mesh has been reinforced, the stitching re-done & 2 extra mounting flaps added... 1 at each end of the cushion. My theory was that while being road-transported, 100km/h wind is getting under the leading corners of the cushion ('coz they are not tied down) and lifting them up, straining everything. This should fix that problem.

[The Mariner]

OK, I promise this will be the last mod

I've replaced the 2 rear seat cushions with carpeted marine ply tops which are far more durable & there's no worries about putting things like a messy bait bucket on them while out on the water. What I didn't like was the way stuff 'could' either bounce overboard or into the tankwell... which on my boat with the tackle box tower fitted would make it a bit of a bugger to retrieve. I also didn't like having to leave the bait bucket either in the sun or down on the floor in some shade ready to be tripped over, so I made a shelf that sits on the gunwhale.

This shelf has sides to stop stuff sliding into the tankwell, provides an extra flat area to work on and provides shade to whatever is put under it. It has stops under it to firmly locate it into the corner of the boat, a safety strap & a single bungee tiedown so it's easily removable in the event you want to take a couple of bikini-clad hotties for a tour of the harbor

[Darbio]

This looks great. I’ll be using some of your ideas when I get mine soon (hopefully - the shipments from NZ to AU have been delayed so many times it’s not funny!).

Do you have any pics of the trailer without the bot on it? I am converting my roller trailer to a skid trailer and looking for how to configure it to take the new boat.

Cheers!

[The Mariner]

Hi Mate,

Sorry... no pics of the bare trailer. I've seen your other post and I've added some comments, so please have a look at that one. Welcome to the Smartwave family I know what you mean about the shipping delays... it took me 6 months to get my hull into Queensland, fitted-out & delivered down to me here in Adelaide.

[The Mariner]

Hi Guys,

Well, I know I said last time that I wouldn't do any more mods but I've gone back on that.

I originally fitted a common 4-bow bimini to cover the boat from the console to just over the stern, but found after a couple of years that it really gave me the $hit$ with the bows getting in the way while fishing.

Whilst on holiday I while ago spied a tinny with an innovative bimini that folded out front-and-back cantilevered from a central tower mounted on the gunwhales.
Some digging on the WWW & I found out it was a Kingfisher Eclipse made in Ballina, NSW. Unfortunately, after doing some measuring I discovered that it wouldn't suit my Smartwave in the way I wanted it to... but it started me thinking how I could manufacture something along the same lines.

I eventually settled on a bit of a mish-mash of purchased & custom items to make the one shown in the pics.

I used an Oceansouth Rocket Launcher as the basis, turned-up some aluminium bracketry & sockets at work & clamped them to the rocket launcher. The rocket launcher is mouned fairly high so you can walk under it without ducking & to maximise the volume under the fabric top.

For stays to hold the fabric top I used 3m telescopic fiberglass poles from Haverford. These were longer than needed, so I discarded the smallest dia. segment & cut the middle segment to give the length I needed. The largest end was epoxied onto a turned aluminium pin that fits in the rocket launcher socket & I epoxied a small eye bolt into the smallest end I can use to attach the fabric top to.

The top is another Oceansouth item... one of their Bimini Top Extensions. You don't use the poles that come with the kit... just the stretchy fabric top. The benefit of the fabric stretching is that it helps keep itself taught while having some give if the winds pick up. I sewed some extra velcro loops onto the front edge where it attaches to the rocket launcher and use a couple of simple aluminium carabiners to connect the loops in the back corners to the eye bolts on the ends of the fibreglass poles.

The end result is a canopy that covers the entire back half of the boat without any obstructions on the sides. When not being used, the fabric top gets stuffed into a 3L drybag & stowed below a front hatch & the poles are collapsed and stowed in clips down the inside of the cockpit. If the rocket launcher is up it takes about 1-1/2 minutes to assemble the poles & fit the fabric top. During the colder months, the rocket launcher can be used either by itself or easily be removed entirely... just leaving it's mounts on the boat.

These is some flex in the f/glass poles & the fabric top in the wind, but nothing that causes concern under normal conditions. I've left it all up while steaming along at 30kph & it's fine.

[habes]

Hey Mariner,

looks good. Where you based? I find my Akubra does the job, despite having a bimni using railblaza mounts I never use it.

rgds
Habes

[The Mariner]

Hi Habes,

I'm in Adelaide. I know... not exactly the sunniest spot in Oz but the shade is welcome on a hot day. I *hate* the heat (why was I born in Australia ?) but can usually get by with just my Adapt a Cap.

My better half is taking some meds that make her skin waaay too sensitive to the sun, so decent shade is necessary when she comes fishing with me.