Joka Tu and Cos We Can messing about in Southampton Water

[Ianfs]

Can't believe this was 4 years ago and have forgotten Jack had taken this. The boys and I met Colin at Mercury and went for a play, it was the day I lost my Trim Anode.....

Joka trims out well though eh?

[ColinR]

Thanks for posting that Ian. A good day

[BruceK]

That looks like a Sea Ray Seville. Had a cuddy version 19CC, great boats. Had a ball in mine

[Ianfs]

Yes Bruce, great boats, very well constructed, solid and a lot of fun. although she is old now and very dated, very basic, but people still think she is younger than she is . As standard they were fitted with the Mercruiser 3.0 but she is an exception for a UK boat that she has the optional 4.3 V6. We also have camping covers and a full fitted Canvas all weather cover.
She's not very good in moderate sea's though and when we had started out, it was sunny, calm and very smooth so speeds were good. As the day wore on Southampton water chopped up and I became uncomfortable with it, Joka was fine, handling a reasonable sea with ease. We had left on the Ebb and returned on the Flood, plus we had the usual SW winds, not so good.

However as Colin said it was a great day out and it was good to have him along.

[ColinR]

To be fair Ian you only struggled at the end near Calshot and that has caused problems to many bigger and newer boats that yours.

Joka has a very good hull for choppy seas with a more acute deadrise than the older, more lake designed, American hulls.

It said a lot that while it was flatter I could barely keep up with you I put it down to you shedding weight to improve performance

[BruceK]

To be honest I found mine, which admittedly being a cuddy helps, was actually rather good in choppy seas. When green water did come over the bows she shed it well and was a relatively dry boat. What she did struggle a bit with, or at least I did, was slamming so I'd be forced to slow her right down when the chop picked up. But she could handle anything up to 1m with a short period of 4 seconds before I started getting uncomfortable which given what they are and their design parameters is perfectly acceptable imo.

As for being dated I didn't think too badly of it. Except the dashboard. That was as is so American a style disaster. I replaced mine with wood in an afternoon adding a emergency cutout and covered the front in cream white vinyl. Made a small difference.

[Ianfs]

If I had been inclined I would have put the bow cover on and then the hood with the side covers which would have protected most of the cockpit. Her entry is quite fine so trimming "on", which is in fact down, would have made a more comfortable rid and any water over the bow would have been displaced and side on hits would be reasonably comfortable, but you are so close to the water, it then becomes a choice of fun if its calmish or challenge if it gets a bit rough and I chose not to take on the latter.

I think in truth she is only dated by means of her equipment or should I say her helm dash. The upholstery and side panels are well padded and still very stylish. What I like about this boat is the beam, so many boats of this size and above including cruisers have narrow beams and therefore when you step aboard, the boat rocks badly. This boat is very stable, so when anyone steps aboard she only moves slightly and then immediately regains balance. In addition she is great in a following sea, there is more than enough power to keep her in position at any time, plus she is a great surfer. Trimmed out she has enough power to ride over larger none breaking waves of nearly 2 metres as long as the wavelength is around 5-10 seconds, but it would not be my choice, however I have been caught out twice. Also I wouldn't want to attempt breaking waves and those of less that 5 seconds.

She's been great boat to play around with the any mechanics that may take a while but are simple, the bigger jobs dealt with by marine engineers. When I sell her, whoever gets her will have a great boat.