All model boats have to sail sometime and my new launch is no exception. I decided that I’d get the bare minimum of work done before she hit the water. Hence the propeller and rudder were installed along with the radio control bits – then we headed to the lake.
Actually I did check that she wasn’t going to sink using the bath but this was the proper maiden voyage.
With the transmitter switched on, everything appeared to be working. After placing it in the water a gentle nudge of the throttle sent her on her way. Steering worked OK and I tootled around the lake.
While all appeared well, the top speed was too low for a boat of this type. Not much but enough to mean I need to do something about it. The prop is quite small so a bigger one (if it will fit) seems the obvious move to me. You may gather that I know next to nothing about the complicated maths and mechanics that govern the movement of a boat. Like most people I reason that the biggest prop going round as fast as possible gives the best top speed. To be honest that’s probably all I will ever need to know as I don’t foresee any proper fast electrics or IC boats in my future.
Of course the voyage didn’t entirely go as planned. Once it made it around three quarters of the way to the other side of the pond the steering gave up and the boat just spun around in a small circle.
The only other boat on the water was tiny and not able to shove me to the side. 20 minutes later the wind did the job although a climb down the slippery muddy bank was required to recover it.
The problem was that I hadn’t tightened the linkage to the rudder properly. Next time my muddy shoes will remind me to do this !
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