Todd in NY

Quite a few updates this week. Replaced my red & green nav lights on the bow, replaced my anchor/nav mast head light, and bought a new light bulb and white globe for my stern light. Old New The old mast head light was broken on the rear light bulb holder, and the covers were so dirty you couldn't see through them. New

Yes Mike, I'm interested. Send me a pic or two. I lost one of my Big Bird boards a few years ago, but I still have the red Big Bird. Thanks!

Sounds like a lot of work. I hope it goes smoothly for you. Nothing on my Sabre has gone real smooth at all. It seems like a 1 hour repair takes 3-4 hours, or more, and then I find something I need to fix that wasn't already on my repair list.

Thanks for the kind words Pap! I'm just working on little things such as adding access doors to the seat boxes, like this one on the left side seat box. There's a bunch of storage space under both seat boxes that I couldn't reach because the only access was by raising the rear seat. They did have two drawers built into the right side seat box, so all I have to do is make the drawer taller in the middle of the seat box.

Forgot to mention the rain gutters hang about 1/4" below the bottom of the hardtop. It keeps the rain from dripping between the hardtop and side curtains. I pre-drilled the holes for the self-tapping screws, then added the screws to check the mounting of the gutter. Then I backed the screws out 2/3 of the way and added a bead of white silicone along the top inside of the gutter to form a nice water tight seal, then tightened the screws.

That was the old wiring job. Did you notice the corrosion on those wire terminals? They had to go. I have replaced ALL of the 4ga wire with the correct color of wire for both batteries and the Perko switch, black for negative and red for positive. The only wires I haven't replaced back there are the wires coming from the starter on the main motor. But that might happen this year.

Thanks! The gutter is working great, even in the harder rainfall. That J bead trim was only $1.98 for a 10ft long piece (it took one piece per side).

The gutter is 1/2" white vinyl J bead trim from the drywall area at Lowes.

My water proofing (white silicone) around the windshield was tested today in the rain, and no more rain water leaks onto the dashboard, which was also leaking into the cuddy, but not now. Also, my rain "gutters" kept the rain out of the wheel house area. The (white) gutter is on both sides of the hardtop.

Thanks, and good eye! I have post covers for the batteries, and the boat came with West Marine battery trays that secure the batteries to the floor. I'm just using the Walmart and Interstate batteries in my driveway while I complete my projects. There's no need to secure these temporary batteries the way I'll have my permanent batteries set up. I'll have the Exide batteries secured in the trays with the covers on the posts before I launch the boat. I also plan to have the Coast Guard do one of their safety inspections as soon as I finish a few more small projects such as adding the extra kicker motor fuel line and a new anchor/nav mast head light (should complete those today).

I'm using two of these dual purpose size 24 marine Exide batteries in my Sabre. They're new, and they've been charging in my basement all winter. In fact, they are still on the Pro Sport charger in this pic.

Added a new trailer jack with dual wheels and 14" of vertical travel. I got mine at Tractor Supply because it has a grease fitting at the top. I don't use the trailer Jack to move my boat and trailer around the driveway, but I like the added stability of the dual wheel design, and I like the extra 4" of lift so rain water can drain out of my bilge in the driveway. The pivot locking pin on the old Jack was so worn out it wouldn't stay locked in the up or down position very well. I also installed a new trailer coupler. The old one was badly rusted and didn't lock down very easily or securely on the hitch ball.

Congrats

Are these still for sale?

Sent a text and a PM for the planer boards

I agree that they would probably hold up. It would be nice for Big Jon to advertise their intended purpose. I've used several different Big Jon single rod holders and they were all very sturdy and built like a tank.

Les, I haven't seen a product description for the Big Jon triple or quad rod holders that say they are ok for dipsy rods. That doesn't mean they won't stand up to dipsy rod "abuse" but it does make you wonder. The Tite-Lok triple rod holders says it's ok for planer board rods, and that's the most "abuse" my triple Tite-Loks will see. I know the Big Jon holders are much better quality, and a lot more sturdy than Tite-Loks, so I'm not comparing the two. I'm simply stating that the Big Jon item description doesn't specify dipsy rod use or just planer board use like the Tite-Lok triple holder does.