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Club Marine editor Chris Beattie tests out the RAM 2500 Laramie. He reckons there’s better place to test it than in Gladstone – the heavy equipment capital of Queensland. Chris says it's a fantastic tow rig, designed to tow big boats. In this case it's the Haines Signature 788SF. The Laramie features a 6.7L turbo-diesel and almost 1100NM of torque.
Dean Miller and the Club Marine crew are in the port of Gladstone. Some say it's the engine room of Queensland. It's also at the doorstep of the Southern Great Barrier Reef in the Capricorn and Bunker Group. Some of the iconic destinations here include Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Herron Island and North West Island. The crew fished North West Island and landed some tuskies, red throat and cobia. Greg Haines even whipped up some bread-crumbed cobia! Not far from Gladstone is Lake Awonga, one of the best sportsfishing impoundments in the world.
Dean Miller has found the perfect solution to sea sickness – the Seakeeper Gyro 2 stabiliser. To test the SeaKeeper the Club Marine crew head out from Gladstone on the central Queensland coast. SeaKeeper has fitted a unit to a Haines Signature 788SF. Simon Bochenski from SeaKeeper describes it as a flywheel weight spinning at 9000 RPM. The gyro “precesses” fore and aft putting torque through the hull of the boat, eliminating roll. It operates at rest or underway, is powered by 12V and can operate for up to six hours.
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