Experience report SRX30 -Yachtline-: Aare/Jura Lakes/Croatia

Our second season with our new boat will be a little more prepared and planned than the season before. Our “tinkerer’s heart” has had us thinking up and building modifications all winter. We definitely wanted to have a barbecue on the boat that didn’t need elaborate equipment but wouldn’t fall into the water at the first wave. Standing loose on the bathing platform was not an option. For the implementation, we need the multifunctional gangway (MFG) and built a stainless steel support base with 3D feet and a solid core board with the matching milled grill legs as a support. We clamp the whole thing together at the MFG and the barbecue/cooker is quickly on the boat. This meant that the captain could grill dinner without worrying and it had the side effect that we could use this as a safe exit when the jetties were very high. We have also fitted super powerful LED lights from the “off-road sector” on the bow. A dinghy has also joined us this year as a new addition. We did not buy the dinghy on the recommendation of the Öchsner team. It was a bit too small for 2 adults and 2 teenagers. We bought a 2.49m dinghy which does not have to be redeemed in Switzerland and bought a 6hp Mercury outboard engine for it (which of course is only used in Croatia). The dinghy with the motor proved to be a real super companion on vacation! This little boat presented us with an extremely diverse range of coasts and moorings. We just couldn’t load it up like in Öchsner’s photos and videos. Thanks to the mega bathing platform, however, we were able to place the part completely crosswise on the platform and secure it. It was bombproof! Our little ones found it difficult to pull up the gangway ladder, so we fitted two A4 stainless steel eyebolts to the end of the multifunctional gangway and attached a rope to it to make it easier to pull the ladder up after use. Anyone can now lift it up with ease. We have also fitted a hanging shelf from the Swedish furniture store to the clothes rail in the closet. This gives us a perfect arrangement of the cupboard. We have made blackout curtains in the cabin and on the soft top. My mom’s sewing skills helped us with this. The curtains on the canopy can be attached to the roof poles and tied up when not in use. This provides quick sun protection on all sides or a quick darkening of the soft top. (The weight of our modifications is approx. 15 kg (curtains, grill stand, etc.). So we continued to pursue the concept of the lightweight boat.

Start of the season on the Aare

We launch our Sunny into the Aare for the first time on the long weekend in Solothurn (10 minutes from our home) at the Aare shipyard. The water level wasn’t high, but everything still worked perfectly with the slipping. We spend 3 days on the water and then take the boat out of the water again straight afterwards. Again, it worked perfectly to load the boat onto the trailer. The new facilities mentioned above are proving to be very practical and we are proud of our work.

We’re still too scared about refueling and tend to fill up too much. We rarely need more than 0.7 l/km. That’s around a third of our previous boats. We usually drive half of our trips at around 45-50 km/h and the other half at 12 km/h (speed limit of 15 km/h on the rivers). Of course, tube and water-skiing on the lake, resulting in an average consumption of approx. 0.7 l/km.

Once again, we can enjoy the boat to the full with all the advantages of the space and the super sailing characteristics. On a river with a constant current, you are very dependent on the technique. But this year, too, the boat is running perfectly and we have no real problems with the lock. After the first season, the crew is already so well-rehearsed that we master all situations very confidently.

I had a bit of trouble with the radio, it works from time to time and then not again. I have no idea what the reason for this could be. We leave our Sunny on the Aare for another month and live without the radio. After describing my problem to Mr. Küffner, we immediately received a replacement for the box. Once again, we have found Öchsner to be extremely helpful and competent! Thanks again for the quick help! When you open the covers, you can see how cleanly the boat has been finished. Everything looks perfectly tidy and clean, even behind covers that the owner would rather not remove. It turned out that one pin of the plug did not have enough contact pressure. Small problem, big effect. Pin out, press together and everything runs again.

Summer Holidays in Croatia

After another month on the Aare, we take the boat out again and get everything ready for our vacation in Croatia. This year we want to stay in Croatia for 3 weeks, from Punat southwards and back again. I want to weigh the boat directly, with all the luggage we had with us on the river. The tank is almost empty and the scales still show 3540 kg when the boat is attached. Unhitched 3700kg. So we still have to take some weight off the boat for the trip. It has to be said, however, that we really had everything on the boat on the Aare except the dinghy with motor. For example, the barbecue, gas bottle, tube, water skis, SUP, paddles, swimming and bathing gear, mattresses and sleeping gear, dishes, tools, etc.! We unload the utensils that will not be used in Croatia and only pack what is not heavy or cannot be practically transported in the car. Then we weigh the boat again and have 3420kg attached and 3560kg detached (car has 140kg drawbar load) so it fits perfectly (if necessary, the anchor and chain, which weighs almost exactly 60kg, could still go in the car)!!!! Of course, the car with dinghy and engine etc. was also almost at the load limit of 3.5 tons. But what you can do, you can do 😉. So we set off fully loaded in the direction of Croatia to the island of Krk and started our wonderful 3-week trip from there.

We spend the first night directly in the harbor of Punat, where we are launched with the huge stacker. Off on the turn, we went straight to the town of Krk to refuel. The fuel gauge showed 310 liters. So we wouldn’t have had much more with a tank capacity of 330 liters – “No risk, no fun”. Thanks to our practical size, we are not too big in bays or harbors, but big enough for everyone to have enough space to hide away. The journey was 700km long until the end, we lay in 7 harbors, 3 jetties and at 6 buoys and twice at anchor to spend our nights. Everything went perfectly.

Our shore-free time is about 1.5 days, after which we have to recharge our batteries on shore power and fill the water tank.
Our cruiser speed is 48 km/h in calm seas. Except for one day, when we couldn’t drive more than 25 km/h because of the heavy thunderstorm (wind gusts of up to 100 km/h). But even that was easy for our Sunny. We filled up once for the 700 km and then only as much as we still had to go. So we returned home with about 20% gasoline. Everything went perfectly! We were asked about the boat in every harbor and were proud to tell everyone how great the boat is.

We are over the moon with the boat and would recommend it to anyone with similar intentions to buy!

Best regards Crew Sunny from Switzerland

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