Bayliner 4788

KS - what model of Sitex autopilot do you have & does it come with a rudder indicator?
Sorry to change the subject.

psneeld said:

What designation are those batteries? I believe 105 are 6V.

My friend just tried to get 12V deep cycle golf cart Batts and Trojan plus box manufactures told him they didn't know of boxes that would fit them.

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Yes T105's are 6V. These are Trojan 1275 T2 Plus's. I had never heard of them until I saw them on the floor of the golf cart shop. Were$ 155.00 which I thought was pretty good and then they added a $25.00 'no core' charge and a $6.00 'battery' charge and of course, Florida sales tax. The battery box was $9:00 at Big Lots.

Greetings,
Mr.d2. Great use of the spacer material. THAT'S using your noodle...

dimer2 said:

Yes T105's are 6V. These are Trojan 1275 T2 Plus's. I had never heard of them until I saw them on the floor of the golf cart shop. Were$ 155.00 which I thought was pretty good and then they added a $25.00 'no core' charge and a $6.00 'battery' charge and of course, Florida sales tax. The battery box was $9:00 at Big Lots.

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It looks like a clear plastic bin with some cutouts and a cut up swimming pool noodle to keep the batteries from bouncing around. Clever, really.

dimer2 said:

Kevin, then why is hand steering also sloppy? Am I going to slow at 8.5 Kts for the relatively small rudders?

Woodsea, I will postpone the hatch modification pending your photos. I did a search on BOC too. Did this ever become a standard modification from Bayliner or Meridian?

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Well...

Perhaps your boat does have a steering system malfunction.

Dang you guys caught me. That's what it is, a good old plastic storage bin and a couple of noodle halves. When I screwed the bin down I screwed a nylon tie down strap the length of the batteries so that is what actually secures everything.

dimer2 said:

Dang you guys caught me. That's what it is, a good old plastic storage bin and a couple of noodle halves. When I screwed the bin down I screwed a nylon tie down strap the length of the batteries so that is what actually secures everything.

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You sure that thin plastic storage bin will hold those batteries when you hit a big wave?

Only reason I ask is because I just pulled some of those down from my attic the other day, and one cracked when I plopped it down on my garage floor. I think the heat in the attic made them brittle.

TONTOROSS said:

KS - what model of Sitex autopilot do you have & does it come with a rudder indicator?
Sorry to change the subject.

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It's a Simrad unit, I forgot the model, and yes it does come with a rudder indicator.

Cardude, the batteries are strapped down independent to the box. They cannot move. The box is in case anything leaks. I drilled holes without anything cracking. You must have those cheap $7.00 boxes whereas I went first class with the $9.00 ones

dimer2 said:

Cardude, the batteries are strapped down independent to the box. They cannot move. The box is in case anything leaks. I drilled holes without anything cracking. You must have those cheap $7.00 boxes whereas I went first class with the $9.00 ones

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Ha! Yes I'm sure mine were the cheapest I could find.

I understand now with the batteries strapped down individually. That makes sense. Great idea.

Dimer2, re the sloppy steering. Have you checked the pressure on your steering system? Just inside the engine room access door on the starboard side there is a pressure tank for the steering system. Make sure the pressure is in the acceptable range. If not you will need to add air pressure with something that can fill a bicycle or car tire.

Mine was low when I bought the boat. I purchased a portable charger with an air compressor at Harbor Freight for about sixty dollars that did the trick and is handy to have on board. If your pressure is low that might fix your steering issue. Then monitor the pressure to make sure you don't have a leak somewhere.

Robster_in_edmonds said:

Dimer2, re the sloppy steering. Have you checked the pressure on your steering system? Just inside the engine room access door on the starboard side there is a pressure tank for the steering system. Make sure the pressure is in the acceptable range. If not you will need to add air pressure with something that can fill a bicycle or car tire.

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Rob, that one is for the throttle and shifters, at least on my boat.

The steering one on my boat is in the lazarette.

Doh! That's what happens when you're on vacation and far away from your boat! Good catch, Kevin. Thank you!

Bayliner 4788 my dream boat. Our goal is in 3-4 years to jump up to one. Kevin, thanks for the video and your wen site. Great photos.


Dale.

Thanks guys, it reads 22 psi on a 60 psi gauge. I just need to look up what it is supposed to be. It was in the center lazarette, the third one I looked in

A couple of thoughts, run the boat at wave speed in following conditions. Adjust the response time of the Ray Marine auto pilot to a planning boat setting, check the air pressure in steering resivour to 35lb. The 47/45 rudders are little small and the flat stern section tend to broach if you run too slow. Mine tended to yah about twenty deg quartering seas. Still gets there. Don't worry about breaking the hull.

Thanks scary, I will do that today. I am not having much luck getting things done here, even though I stopped and made arrangements 2 weeks ago. So I plan on leaving in the morning for Tx. That wil allow me plenty of time to play with auto pilot settings. I will also increase the pressure to 35 psi before we leave.

Still in Pensacola?

I will have to make this trip eventually when I bring the boat back to Texas from Florida, so I'm interested in your trip.

I haven't researched it much yet, but I can't figure out what to do around NOLA-- stay inside or go outside? I've heard the the locks are a pain. What's your planned route?

Cardude, two things are holding us here now. The first and probably most important is the search and rescue operation is ongoing in Mobile bay and I don't want to hinder this and second the weather is being a little weird. We plan on a short 25 mile trip tomorrow to Roberts Bayou, which we position me for a straight run to Gulfport Friday (95 miles). From there it is another short run to the Blind Rigolets on Saturday and then through the locks and bridges on Sunday when there are no bridge curfews. Monday the wind kicks back up to 23 kts but by then I should be in Houma. The run across the Gulf of Mexico from Crystal River, basically direct to Pensacola was "interesting" and believe next time will probably do the more conservative Steinhatchee - Carabelle route. A buddy who was in New Orleans (Slidell) says he found a nice pier to overnight about 12 miles west of Harvey lock, which I plan on trying to find. I will let you know how this all works out. If the weather would have cooperated, I would have done the Gulfport - Venice route, staying offshore all the way to Beaumont.

Thanks for the info. I know nothing about the ICW from FL to TX.

How did you decide to make that long run all the way to Pensacola instead of the "usual" run to Carabelle? Is the ICW crappy between Carabelle and Pensacola?

Cardude, I have no idea as I have never run that part of the ICW but when I left Crystal river, I only had to average 10 mph to arrive at dusk at Dog Island (Carabelle). By 12:00 I knew I wasn't going to make it so headed towards Panama. We arrived at the safety fairway turn off to Pensacola at dawn, the weather had settled and not wanting to waste a day in Panama, headed for Pensacola.

dimer2 said:

Kevin, then why is hand steering also sloppy? Am I going to slow at 8.5 Kts for the relatively small rudders?

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It can be a long list of things to check for sloppy steering. One of which is (out of the water if possible) test to be sure there is no movement of the rudder post in the "yoke." Also, in many planing designed vessels, small rudders can work fine at say 14 to 16 knots but not so at 8 knots.

Dimer2,
Here are the port side engine hatches. The boat had them installed when I bought it.

Not sure what happened to the other pics I posted? Here is one more

Well it's upside down but it at least there. Here's another assembled.

woodsea said:

Dimer2,
Here are the port side engine hatches. The boat had them installed when I bought it.

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Thats Handy!!!

I'd like to do that and another set under the sette to Starboard

Yes, the concept of putting the engines overhead sure clears some space below.

Totally agree Kevin. Hatches under the settee would be nice for the outboard side of the SB engine. My holding tank is there but it would be nice to at least be able to be outboard of the tranny. I broke off the hynautic line to the shifter last time I was trying to get myself out of that hole. I feel that the stock configuration for a twin engine boat the access is ok and with all my extra hatches access is quite good.

woodsea said:

I broke off the hynautic line to the shifter last time I was trying to get myself out of that hole.

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:lol: :lol: :lol:

I thought I was the only one!!

I broke that same fitting while replacing a starter on the starboard engine in Ketchikan Alaska of all places.

Woodsea, that's exactly what I hope to do. As noted above, we have decided to move on tomorrow....should be home next Wed/Thurs if all goes well. Thanks for posting those pics, now the admiral understands why I have to "cut up" her boat.