Thinking about next season and wondering what tweaks/mods other 235 owners are planning.

There should be some pictures of my “sound-proofing box” that sits over the outboard. I tried it at the end of last season without the cutout for the outboard handle (so it did not sit flat on the cockpit floor) and without the soundproofing foam and it reduced the noise in the cockpit – but not below - quite a bit so I have high hopes for the finished product! The outboard throttle is fully accessible although I need to lift the box to reach the gear lever. If there is any sign of fresh air starvation I will drill holes in the back panel as needed. I ran out of foam which is why the 2 end panels do not have it.
[img][/img]
/img]

To hang wet waterproofs I have fitted hooks in the bow locker immediately above the heads hatch and removed the cover over the well below.

I bought a NASA Meteoman barometer at LIBS and intend fitting it above the chart table, probably (advice please Paul 😎 wiring it directly into the battery so the history function is available. It draws next to nothing and as my solar panel has kept my battery topped up all winter despite being hidden under a translucent cover I think the drain should be OK.

I have a Sterling battery charger to fit under the port locker and behind the chart table. This will be powered as needed from my Honda 10i generator.

There has been discussion in other threads about the 235 skating around on moorings. My mooring is very exposed and my bow roller has become loose perhaps from the side forces imposed on it. Bill tells me that he has modified the fitting on new boats. I have made up a bridle from the mooring buoy that goes through both the fairleads and attaches to the forward cleats. I will see if this makes a difference to the skating but it will certainly ease the strain on the bow roller.

Finally, for the moment anyway, I am mulling about the possible benefits of a small riding sail for use when anchored in more exposed locations. Last year I experimented with an old storm jib and although it was far too large to use in strong winds it did steady the boat quite a bit at anchor.


David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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David....

Re..Electrics....Shouldn't be a problem conecting it directly to the battery or even the live side of the isolator switch, but you MUST put an inline fuse in it. Don't for get to put it through your shunt on the negative side so your BM-1 will monitor it.

I'm sorry but I think you box looks ugly, but hey if it works for you then thats fine. Will you need to secure it down ?? Will it rattle around.???

I don't know about swinging moorings but I moor fore and aft and use the fairleads and not the bow roller.

I didn't see much I liked at the show....Nothing compared to a Parker..


Paul Burton.

Parker 235/ 40 Lady Penelope...

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You are right Paul. It is not a thing of great beauty but I am more interested in the concept at present. Like most 235 owners I much prefer to sail than motor but I am planning 2 return trips along the Caledonian Canal this season - and that could be perhaps 10/12 days of motoring. Anything for a quieter life!

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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quote:

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Originally posted by David Pocock

You are right Paul. It is not a thing of great beauty but I am more interested in the concept at present. Like most 235 owners I much prefer to sail than motor but I am planning 2 return trips along the Caledonian Canal this season - and that could be perhaps 10/12 days of motoring. Anything for a quieter life!

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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I have been thinking of fitting fire retardant acoustic foam sheets and/or damping sheet to the inside of the cowel. My engine ( a Tohatsu 8 ) has an unlined cowel, and since the exhaust exits underwater, and the air inlet is baffled, I would have thought there was a fair chance that it could make a useful difference, (assuming there is room). The engine is water cooled so I should have thought overheating should not be a problem. Has anyone any thoughts/advice?

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Hello James

Sounds interesting but I would have thought that if there were simple gains to be made here Tohatsu would have done them to improve their product. But not necessarily! I have had a look under the cowl on my 6hp and there is very little room. Extreme Marine, a main Tohatsu dealer, are very helpful. Why not give them a call?

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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Quite a quite off-season for me this year. I've had the keel gritblasted and repainted now looks great. Other jobs are just routine:

Change the keel rope
Lubricate the keel mechanism
Re-antifoul - I use Micron extra with good results so far.

Other than that, can't wait 'till March.

Graeme Parker

P235/22 "Gentoo"

quote:

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Originally posted by David Pocock

Hello James

Sounds interesting but I would have thought that if there were simple gains to be made here Tohatsu would have done them to improve their product. But not necessarily! I have had a look under the cowl on my 6hp and there is very little room. Extreme Marine, a main Tohatsu dealer, are very helpful. Why not give them a call?

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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Thanks, There seems quite a bit of room inside my 8hp, anyway I have gone ahead and bought a half sheet of 'Noisekiller' Foil faced 6mm sheet and fitted it to the inside of the cowl (http://www.noisekiller.co.uk/ ). It cost £55 including postage and added about 2lb 3oz to the cowl weight on the kitchen scales. The foam is non flamable, but the glasfibre damping base is not, but then neither probably is the (plastic) cowl itself. Will let you know if we think there is an improvement.

If anybody is interested in some of my unused sheet (will do another two cowls I think) will be happy to negotiate/show you it at Bucklers Hard. Aside from it's effectiveness ,the other question I suppose is how well the self adhesive backing works, which time will tell. As to why Tohatsu do not fit it or something similar, perhaps it is because of the weight which is a selling pont on this size engine


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Hello James

Very neat! Really keen to know effective it is - but it is bound to give some reduction. Your success prompted me to have another look at space in my engine. I certainly could not get the foam I have in there (about 18mm) but 6mm could fit. I'll take a piece of your leftovers.

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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David
Do you lift your rudder on your mooring, if you do it may be worth rigging a small shallow removable blade to the rudder for when on the mooring. Another option is to hang a bucket from the stern on about 1.5m of rope. Cut a hole in the bottom. This worked for my Bahia which was very mobile on the mooring.
Philip

The cover of the Merc 7.5 I had on my Sinbad years ago had a squashy black plastic lining which I suppose was some kind of foam. The new Merc 5 I now have is bare plastic and the motor is a whole lot noisier. I'd put it down to it being a 4stroke with all that extra valve gear clattering about. I'm not sure I'd think it worth £55 but if you've still got any bits left over, name your (rather lower) price!

And re rudders, Phil Linsell should look at the "swinging mooring" thread in the "other tech stuff" section, In particular my post of 17.3.07 about an idea I stole from Harry Wyatt.

Hello Philip

I leave the rudder down. Trailing a bucket did help but if I do that I have raise the rudder or the rope wraps around it when the boat swings with the tide. I will see how I get on with the bridle before I try anything else.

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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quote:

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Originally posted by Geoff Harwood

The cover of the Merc 7.5 I had on my Sinbad years ago had a squashy black plastic lining which I suppose was some kind of foam. The new Merc 5 I now have is bare plastic and the motor is a whole lot noisier. I'd put it down to it being a 4stroke with all that extra valve gear clattering about.

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Geof (& David)
I was thinking about £15 for half of what I have left, assuming that I don't have to post it, but I should wait and see if it makes a difference! Interesting that a manufacturer had tried it before. If your cowl has strong curvatures in two directions at once then you might find it difficult to fit. My cowl only curves strongly in one direction at once. Also reassuring that they were happy with 'squashy plastic' as that was presumably flammable, or would at least melt if it got too hot, while this stuff has aluminium foil as an outer layer.

Regards

Jim

Regards

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I'm thinking of adding a couple of cleats for the jib sheets - I find the clamcleats a real pain in light airs when the winches not required and am thinking of mounting cleats something like this:

[img][/img]

There is a good direct line from the jib sheet fairleads to this position and there is access to the underside through the panel below the winch so it should be possible to provide enough of a 'backplate' for strength.

Can anyone see any problems?

Stephen Godber
235/51 "Exodus"

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I think my "box" might not be needed! Inspired by James Hamilton, I painted the inside of my Tohatsu's cover with a thick layer of sound-deadening paint (E-Dead from Ebay). I have just been out for the first time and the difference is amazing. I can barely hear the engine on tick-over and it is both noticeably quieter and less irritating (less high frequency noise??) at higher revs. Very pleased indeed.

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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quote:

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Originally posted by David Pocock

...E-Dead from Ebay). I have just been out for the first time and the difference is amazing. I can barely hear the engine on tick-over and it is both noticeably quieter and less irritating (less high frequency noise??) at higher revs.

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Sounds a more economical method than mine, however on first test I also think I have a useful improvement. Peter Scrivens had a more technical response i.e. "it certainly does modulate the noise from the top end" which I think means it was better!

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There has been discussion in other threads about 235s skating around on their moorings.

I had this problem and for this year had a bridle made up, about 2.5m long - more of a "V" than a "Y" attached through both fairleads. I have just been on my boat on its mooring in about 20kts of wind, and the difference from last year when I had a single strop over the bow roller is dramatic. The boat starts to swing but soon stops, and each movement is much gentler than with the single strop when the change of direction was a real jerk that actually loosened the bow roller (Bill has now modified the design).

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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Any chance of a photo David?

Stephen Godber
235/51 "Exodus"

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For some reason I cannot put up pictures so I have emailed you 2 photographs.

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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David

Any chance of also sending me your bridle pics as we have a "swinging problem" on our mooring on the Deben - very strong ebb current often at odds with the wind!

Thanks

Chris Cobb

Tarakihi 235/48

Will do. Just had our first gale since I fitted the bridle and instead of Arawa being the boat swinging around the most she now moves almost the least - and these movements are much more gentle than before.

I have also been using a similar technique for anchoring. Chain over the bow roller but the tension actually taken by 2 chainhooks through the fairleads. This does not make quite as much difference as on the mooring but the increased stability is quite noticeable.

David Pocock
Parker 235/52 Arawa

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