Families enjoy free engine-testing cruise

October 5th, 2014
[by David Armstrong]

The power of social media was shown on Saturday when a message on Facebook rapidly drew a full passenger list of 125 for a sea trial of Wilsons Abel Tasman's new Vista engine.

Despite unpromising weather, the Facebook message - plus some follow-up word of mouth and the #LoveMotueka hashtag - quickly filled the boat for a free hour-plus journey from Kaiteriteri to Adele Island and return. And with a lucky choice of time when earlier showers had passed, no-one got wet.

Wilsons has refitted a brand new Hyundai engine to the largest boat in its fleet, and needed a full complement of passengers so that the engine's performance could be tested under full load, particularly when accelerating under full power.

The result was a thumbs up all round, not just for the staff who monitored the performance but also for the families who enjoyed the smooth trip, with close up views of Split Apple Rock and Adele Island chores.

Another feature for the passengers was when the engine was stopped beside Adele Island to listen to the birdsong from the bush there.

The Birdsong Trust has been working on removal of all bird predators from the island and using the bush there to help endangered bird species to grow before re-release to the wild. Passengers made donations to the project.

Wilsons Abel Tasman owner Darryl Wilson said the trial had gone well. He said the new engine was state-of-the-art and with its much bigger displacement it could deliver the same performance at much lower revs, meaning it would have a much longer working life.

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