GPSguru

Yes, very similar, however, the 550 pro is not regarded highly here in the UK as the build quality was not good. Before I ordered the Ribcraft I was seriously considering a 550 pro open in a speck similar to that displayed at the 2018 French boat show. In the Uk (oz might be different) the boat is assembled at the dealership to the customer spec, and this is where my concerns over standards of 'fit and finish' started. I knew of a couple of boats that had serious issues with leaking lockers and seat and consols that were showing signs of fixing damage. A step or two up the ladder plus a f'off big hole in my bank account, and I was into factory custom built with Ribcraft, who had a legendary reputation for build strength and finish. Also, the boat's performance credentials were well documented, having been a design that has been with us since the late 80's. So, I almost had a 550, but ended up with a 585 Ribcraft ..............

Dead rise angle of 24.4degress at the transom, but 26.5degress at midships ...................

The 550pro is only a medium Vee (that is why they can get away with using 115 or less on them), but a very capable boat. The Ribcraft 585 with it's very deep Vee is far more capable than I ever want to experience, but as with all deep Vee's it needs lots of HP, however, I am super happy with the performance and pretty much always feel safe. I am also careful of braid cuts, but IIRC the 550 pro was PVC and hypalon is a lot more tolerant. Hooks are not a big issue as they tend to just slide across the hypalon, provided the tube pressure is good. I pretty much have to top up the tubes (2 psi pressure) before every trip as the boat is fitted with over pressure valves on every chamber, so as the day warms up, air comes out, but none goes back in until I do it with the electric pump. As I tend to leave at first light, it is the coldest time and therefore the tubes are at their lowest pressure.

I did the former with a new Ribcraft 😇 but it is holding its value better than any hard boat.

I certainly ticks a good many boxes for me, especially being close to the coast .......... example, if it is raining for an hour or two, then I just set off later. Take heed, there are RIB's and then there are RIB's ............ some are way better than others, but cost more money and are harder to find.

Justice for all !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 He is a good lad 👍

Yeah, but Leo is a better angler than him, is he going blame his tool for that as well ? 🤷‍♂️🤣😇

Yes, the engine runs and Gary’s tach works really well, in fact it works better than some of the childhood english lessons that have been wasted by some members on here 🙄😇🤣

The 40 - 75 range had an inherent ECU problem, the ECU failed and the main fuse would blow, replacement ECU’s had to be programmed to the engine by a dealer. Also, the oil is expensive as they tend to run better on Xd100, you can use Xd50 but the ECU needs to be told to use it. Misfire due to injectors was a common fault, however, the injectors are coded in the ECU, so changing them is not an easy option. On hard used ribs the engine mounting clamshell bracket has been known to break on the port side The lower cowl has hidden bolts and if not aligned perfectly it would easily crack. Gearbox seizures were common place on the earlier models, mainly with commercials when used at lower revs.

Ok, I think I have found the right diagram, 3 is the TT motor, 4 is the relay pack, 16 is the up/down switch. So ............... the relays are fed from the starter solenoid , so check the red wire to make sure that is ok, and check you have 12v at the relay pack. If the relays are operating OK, then you can rule out the up/down switch wiring, all the switch does is to operate the relays, and the relay contacts control the voltage to the motor. How it works ...................... looking at the diagram when the up button is pressed the upper relay operates and sends 12V to the motor on the blue wire and the green wire stays at ground. When the down button is pressed, the lower relay operates via the light blue wire and sends 12V to the motor on the green wire and the blue wire stays at ground. So, the relays have a purpose in life of reversing the polarity to the motor for either up or down. UP/DOWN relays do fail, especially on the older Johnsons, but it is unusual for them both to fail, having said that, Yam package both relays into one module. Firstly, I would check the wiring harness plug to the relay module, looking for green and water damaged connections. Also check the ground connection (continuity) to the relay pack (that is the black wires), using multimeter on low ohms from ground to the black at the relay. Then, press up and down and measure the voltage on the blue and green wires at the relay pack, if it is a low voltage, then disconnect the TT motor and measure again. If the voltage is still low then the relay pack is faulty, if the voltage is 12v then there is a possibility that the TT motor is faulty and drawing too much current, but that is unlikely, also the wiring would be ferkin hot and probably the main 20A engine fuse would blow (6) By all accounts, changing the motor is more difficult than it seems, as the 'o' ring is difficult to seal. There is a guy on RIBNET who runs an outboard outfit in jockistan, and he specializes in yams, so probably has all the parts. If all else fails, give me a call and I will give you a hand at a suitable low tide.

For a Yam, that motor looks in very good condition. When the voltage increased to 12 and above, did the motor begin to spin the pump Ok? ........... I am guessing yes ? What you are describing could well be the relay pack, a duff switch, or a bad earth, however, if the engine stars ok, then that is pretty much ruled out. Was the result the same from both the control unit switch and the engine switch ? Do you have a wiring diagram that you could scan and post up for us to look at ?

Well, I called it off this morning at 7am as the live wave buoy data was not encouraging, 0.8m @2.3secs, with no sign of improvement. Although I could easily travel in that sea, drifting would be a whole different ball game. my mate went out at 9am but came back after just 2 miles, the sea was limiting his speed to just 10knts.

The real bad boy was caused by tip tasting very old water, to see if it was fresh (ha,ha,) or salty. This time I held a wet rope from the boat cover between my teeth whilst I tightened the lacing down. I must learn to keep things out of my mouth, especially if they are wet and green 🙄🤣 Immunosuppressed is exactly what it says on the tin 🙄

I have just got the boat ready for tomorrow. It is a big spring tide and sea state is difficult to call, it is either going to be 0.3m @ 6secs, which will be good for some wreck fishing, or it could be 0.7m @ 3 secs, which means that I will probably stay local for some Mackerel fishing. Currently, I am nursing another self-inflicted UTI (don't ask), but nowhere near as bad as the last bad boy that had me on antibiotics for 9 weeks. If the sea is less than flat, I will stay inshore to avoid shaking up the bugs 🙄

I thought, maybe, you now have a black pick up (ute) with a rear hard top ? I have changed to volvo S90 and now have a MY19 discovery sport HSE dynamic, black, lux. The jeep is still going strong, but I had to change a dash bulb the other day. I was going to complain to jeep as the bulb was only 19 years old 🤣 Yes, it looks like Peter had a good session on the clay boat, and found three 5lb bass.

Yes, saw you down there this morning whilst I was collecting some stuff from Brother in laws car. The steering wheels come off easier by using a side to side rocking motion, a puller always seems to damage the wheel. I am expecting a text from Peter (Petrel) with a catch report as he was out on the Swansea (Clay Boat), and the Ursa (the Salvage) today. Have you got rid of your disco ?

Unless Unless you can find a good gearbox for less than £500, you will be better off cutting your losses and trying for a S/H 60 4 stroke. 😉

Considering that the video was made in Oct 2019, if these props are so damn good, then why in 2022 isn't it a standard fitment and a 'boating household name' I guess there are more 'cons' than what meets the eye. I will stick with my Mercury Revolution 4 prop, however, they come in at £800 each, so also, not cheap.

Hi Alain, With the Merc 150 the water pressure is 2psi on muffs, 11 psi on idle before the thermostat has opened, 7 psi on idle when the thermostat has opened fully, and 22 psi at 3000rpm. The max pressure is 35psi at WOT. With regard to the BFT, this autumn / winter my interest is more in finding big Pollock and also locating wrecks where there could be some decent Ling. Also, Kyle wants me to anchor over a wreck for some conger, but that is easy, because nearly all our wrecks here hold a decent head of slimy snakes, with 50lb fish being fairly common.

I can only assume, because it was OK when Kyle was using it on the skerries, a couple of weeks ago. The gain was very high 20% and the depth was set to about 10ft, so it was a very bright screen !. I have the gain and depth controls always displayed on the touch screen.

From London Bridge to Brighton is about 160Nm, which is a lot more than a one day journey. You will need to make a passage plan to include waypoints, tide, tidal streams, fuel stops, and weather etc. Also, if you intend to do a night passage, then you must be able to read navigation lighting (including vessel type identification) as you will be in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and you have to comply with the separation zone once in the English Channel. TBH, unless you want the adventure, I would be tempted to transport the boat by road. The boat is not huge, 32ft LOA, and a sub 10ft beam with a total weight of 3.3T.

Today was going to be a quick morning session as the sea was forecast to kick up rough at 11:00 (ish). The day didn’t start well as when I stopped at Tesco’s for fuel, I realized that my wallet was at home, so I guess that cost me a good 15 -20 mins. Finally go to the slip and launched at 08:00, which was 30 minutes later than I had planned. The real purpose of today was a shake down of the engine service to make sure everything is OK and to look at the engine parameters to reference against for the next 12 months. Once out of the harbour and into the navigation channel I checked the engine temp, oil pressure, water pressure, charging voltage, and also the responsiveness of the new trim pump to the active trim ……….. all was working just as it should. I decided to try a wreck that I haven’t fished for a couple of years that is about 10 miles out. I know that @fishybuisness sometime fishes it, as the wreck is more toward Torbay. A steady 25knts soon had me on the wreck, but then it took me a few minutes to sort out the panoptics, I guess the grease monkey’s had been playing ! I reset the depth to Auto and set the gain at 60% and soon had a good image of the wreck in 155ft. After several drifts with both a slow jig and shads, it was obvious that nobody was home. I moved onto a wreck that often gives me Autumn Bass and is about 11 miles out in 135ft. By this time (about 10:00) the sea is beginning kick up but just about OK to drift. A few drifts saw me catch 2 pout (one very big and one small) and 2 of the tiniest mackerel I have ever seen. They were smaller than the 150g jig but perfectly lip hooked, so I guess they were going for the shiny jig hooks and not the jig. At about 11:00 something quite strange happened. I had seen Dolphins on the way out to the wreck at about 8 miles and they joined me for a mile or so and then disappeared. I was fishing on the port side and I heard quite a splash behind me on the starboard side, I turned around just to see some water disturbance on the surface. I assumed it was probably the Dolphins, as we often see them on the wrecks. However, about 10 mins went by and all of a sudden a BFT breached right beside the boat on the port side. It was so close that it hit the line of the jigging rod and made me jump backwards. Not a huge BFT, about 6ft long so maybe 300lb, but he breached clean out of the water and took me by surprise, TBH I feck’in near shat myself and had to sit down for a cup of coffee ! By 11:45 the sea had really kicked up, and I was taking the odd wave over the stern (RIBS don’t have a splash well), which is OK as the pumps clear it quickly, and if the deck floods, then the twin 4 inch elephant trunks will empty at the rate of 38,000L per hour. I decided it was time to head back in. The sea was confused with 1.5m waves about every 3 secs, however, I managed a comfortable 22knts back to the slip. The total trip was 27nm, but very enjoyable indeed. At least it has proved that the winter species have not taken up residence on the wrecks yet, and also the Bass are late moving onto the wrecks before they head off to the spawning grounds in the western approaches. Sorry, no pics today ……… I would have been nice to snap a pic of the BFT, but it happened way too quickly.

I am friendly with the local dive club and boats, usually a swap of Mack or Bass for Lobster and Crab (seems fair to me !), a couple of times I moved off wrecks, so they could dive on slack, not a problem for me, I just went to another wreck. When I got back to the slip I found a huge bag of fresh Scallops tied to the boat trailer, and that has happened a few times ............generally I have found divers to be top guy's.

There is some proper shit weather on Wednesday / Thursday ............... Tomorrow is good here in Lymebay, I have just finished getting the boat ready for a morning session. Wind is light NW, veering light SE at 13:00, on a neap tide.