read testimonial - Schionning Designs

I had seen on wilderness areas in Canada. The water was crystal clear and reflected trees and clouds
in a picture like fashion.
Arriving at Metung we had some difficulty in locating the fuel bunker but after a number of phone
calls and three sweeps of the shoreline eventually found it. We tied up to be greeted by a middle
aged man who was intent of safety for the transfer of fuel (good practice). After relaxed general
discussion which is the order of the day in Metung the pump was handed over and I filled our main
tanks and paid the bill $1.75 per litre so don’t complain about the price of fuel. The man at the
pump stated that he knew my boat and had lived in Yaringa when the previous owner was
assembling the hulls. (small world) After the refill we had agreed to meet the Honda Tech at the
main jetty at Metung Township. As planned he was waiting there on our arrival. We tied off and
exchanged greetings and discussed the surging in the motors. His name was Jason proudly
displaying his association with Honda with well labelled jacket and his power cat. Jason had another
person in his company who appeared to be his assistant and later to discover drove Jason’s power
cat. After having a brief look at the boat Jason suggested that we leave the engines with him while
we went to the main street to get some food. The Bakery sounded like a great idea. What a sale at
the Bakery 6 pies, one Apricot pie family size, one vanilla slice, six lamo’s, three coffees, one ice
coffee. We were blessed with three of the best Boston bun’s you had ever seen as a gift from the
bakery for such a magnificent sale. On returning to the boat Jason had completed his work but
wanted to stay on board to make sure his work had resolved the problem. His offsider followed us
back to Lakes Entrance all the while Jason tuned and tinkered with the mixtures. Perfect motors
were now running like a dream so after some good buys to Jason and his friend we again prepared
for the outgoing bar crossing.
The passage of the bar was quite bumpy but again our skilled skipper Denis made the crossing
without mishap...at this point I must say that I was quickly learning the art of seamanship by
observing Denis and listening to his advice which later in our journey proved to be spot on. The
Schionning 1320 handled the bar crossing in its stride as the hours were turning into days my
confidence in the performance and seaworthiness of the 1320 increased exponentially. We radioed
Lakes Entrance Coast Guard and generated our first OTC sheet projecting our eta at Eden for the
next morning. The reporting systems through the Coastguard, Marine Rescue and VRM systems was
excellent and provided a sense of security to the crew. Reporting was also a routine reminder for
accurate calculations for speed currents and fuel. Thank you to the staff of VMR, Marine Rescue and
Coast Guard who monitored our position.
We plotted a course for Gabo Island and plotted a wide pass on the southerly side of the island
setting our next way point north, Oh! I thought warmer weather something to look forward too. As
evening set‐in the sunset from Bass Strait put on a magnificent show.