Boat Re-wired & Other Repairs, Before & After

[Todd in NY]

17 hours ago, NymphO said:

Knock em dead !!! Enjoy the hard work. First fish in the boat....feels oh, so good !!

Sent from my XT1650 using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

 

I hope to post some pics of fish later today.

[Chas0218]

2 hours ago, Todd in NY said:

 

I hope to post some pics of fish later today.

Looking forward to seeing all the good times! Good luck!

[Todd in NY]

9 hours ago, Chas0218 said:

Looking forward to seeing all the good times! Good luck!

 

Thanks!

[Todd in NY]

I got to the boat launch around 2pm and the first words I heard about the fishing was that no one was catching anything at all. We we're met with 10-20mph west wind and white caps on Chaumont Bay. We headed west at a snail's pace of 6mph in 2-3ft chop that gave my windshield wiper a good workout. I finally got tired of the pace so I killed the main motor and fired up the kicker motor. I put out a large Yellow Bird board on the starboard side with a perch colored Scatter Rap. I put a Wille Side-Liner board on the port side with a green and yellow long shallow Bay Rat. I then ran a purple DW spoon down the chute on a 5 color lead core. We marked what appeared to be some bait here and there, and a lot of random suspended weeds. Surface temp was 55*. We trolled for nearly 3 hours and never moved a rod. Got back to the dock and heard more of the same, no one out there is catching any fish.

 

I have absolutely NO complaints about the fishing trip. It was my first time running the boat since I bought it. Spicer's Marina did some major fine tuning and many repairs on the 1989 Evinrude 150 last fall. This boat has come a long way since I bought it last fall, and everything worked perfectly today. Im also very happy with how the boat handled the choppy conditions. The inline planer boards worked great in the turbulent white-capped chop we had  (large Yellow Bird and Wille Side-Liner, now made by Big Jon).

 

Even though we got skunked, this was the absolute best shakedown cruise I've ever done, with zero issues at all. Today was a huge success!

[NymphO]

Fish in the boat is a plus, but enjoying the work is Def better. Glad u had smooth sailing !!

Sent from my XT1650 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Decoy Hound]

Yes awesome report, you don’t always need fish!!! 

[Todd in NY]

Thanks guys, and good luck to everyone this weekend!

[lineman49]

  A bad day fishing is always better then a good day at work!

[Tyee II]

Mission accomplished. With a shakedown of your magnitude, if everything works on the boat, catching fish would just be a bonus. At least you know everything works and you will slay many a fish with your new weapon.

 

Congrats!

[Todd in NY]

2 hours ago, lineman49 said:

  A bad day fishing is always better then a good day at work!

 

Absolutely, couldn't agree more!

[Todd in NY]

19 minutes ago, Tyee II said:

Mission accomplished. With a shakedown of your magnitude, if everything works on the boat, catching fish would just be a bonus. At least you know everything works and you will slay many a fish with your new weapon.

 

Congrats!

 

Thanks! It feels great to have confidence in my boat and equipment. Now I can do the little things as I find the time.

[Todd in NY]

I just wanted to revisit this thread to see if I need to add any updates 

 

I added a 25 watt solar panel kit from harbor freight. I mounted it on my hardtop, with a full size piece of 1/4" thick rubber stall mat under it. It works great and keeps my batteries charged while it's in the slip. I'll add another 25 watt panel on the other side of the hardtop next spring.

 

I also added a long shaft 1991 Evinrude 15hp 2 stroke kicker with electric start, pull start, and charging system. It's a tiller steer without controls, but I added a throttle friction lock that keeps me at the speed I set it at.

 

My fish finder/GPS units are a Humminbird 1198c SI/DI/GPS and a Lowrance HDS8 GEN 2 Non-Touch unit. Everything works and functions perfectly!

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

This was supposed to be the year that I didn't "need" anything for my boat. But, I have replaced my Lowrance HDS 8 with an HDS 9 Gen 3. I also added a 2nd solar panel on the roof. I also added two dual rod holders on the gunwales (Great Lakes Planers brand), a dual Big Jon rod holder at the stern, two vertical triple rod holders on the gunwales (also from Great Lakes Planers), replaced both Cannon manual riggers with two Cannon Mag 5ST riggers with adjustable booms, rigger covers and new tackle. I sold some things to help pay for the new items. I'm glad I didn't actually "need" anything for my boat this year

 

[Todd in NY]

It's time to update this old thread with a few repairs and improvements that are either done or are being worked on now.

 

During the last 2 years I added 8 rod holders in the hardtop, and replaced my Hummingbird 1198c with a Gen 3 Helix 10  Chirp Mega+ SI. I also still use my Lowrance  HDS9 Gen 3 touch unit.

 

This year I'm replacing the wood floor inside the cuddy cabin, as well as a roughly 36" x 37" square piece of deck floor at the stern of the boat. Those new pieces are 1/8" aluminum sheet, primed with self etching primer, then painted with Total Boat brand Total Tread anti-slip paint (light gray). The floor pieces got their first coat of anti-slip paint today, and will get their 2nd and final coat tomorrow.

 

Here are the rod holders I added under the hard top. Spinning rods starboard, and trolling rods port

 

 

This is the old cuddy cabin floor (bottom side, of course)

 

These are the 2 pieces on the rear deck that I am replacing with one sheet. The hinged piece is 1/16" aluminum diamond plate that is a little too thin

Edited July 1, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

These are the 2 new floor pieces with the primer on them

 

[Todd in NY]

I got 2 pair of wooden rod holders out of a Thompson boat. Someone did a hack job on one pair, looks like they used a jig saw without knowing how to use one.

 

The pair on the right looked like the pair on the left before someone's lousy hack job. They opened up the holes on the right pair.

 

I used a rasp file first, then a less aggressive file to remove the saw blade cuts and re-shape the butchered holes, then 150 grit sandpaper on the "modified" pair. The unmodified pair just needed some 150 grit sandpaper. I started to try some teakwood oil on one of them before I remembered to take a picture after the wood prep was done. The 2 in the middle are the modified ones

 

This is the finished project after 2 coats of teakwood oil, applied with a 2" paint brush, with 30-45 minutes between coats

 

They look a lot better in sunlight

 

These rod holders will be mounted in the gunwales in the near future.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Todd in NY

[rglabach]

Nice work, and a great long term project. I got a few good ideas from you that I am going to try.

Bob Vila is jealous!

 

Rick

[Todd in NY]

Thanks Rick! I should have the new aluminum floor in the cuddy cabin, and the new aluminum sheet on the rear deck floor this weekend, with pics of the completed work. A real bonus would be to have those wooden rod holders installed in the gunwales.

 

I'm glad that other members can get some ideas from this thread.

 

BTW, I'm pretty sure Bob Villa has a much bigger and fancier boat to work with, Lol. I always enjoyed his shows.

 

I've been working extra hours at my job for the past 6 weeks, plus studying for the NY state EMT written exam tomorrow. So I've had very little time for anything else this year.

[rglabach]

Good luck with that EMT exam, Todd - we definitely need more EMTs both now and in the future.

[Todd in NY]

I passed my EMT test yesterday, so I drove the 75 minute drive home and started on my boat work.

 

I got up this morning and worked almost 10 more hours on the boat.

 

I installed my two aluminum floor pieces, the cuddy cabin piece yesterday, and the rear deck piece today.

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

My cuddy door, door frame, and some other wood trim pieces needed some major attention from 33 years of weather. So I removed those pieces and items, disassembled what needed to be, and gathered my tools.

 

This pic shows the door trim and 4 trim pieces from under the side windows. This is the "before" pic. The door was almost as bad as these pieces but I forgot to take a "before" pic of the door.

 

 

After much sanding with 150 grit sanding blocks, and 150 grit sandpaper on my orbital sander, what seemed like hours later, they turned out real nice. I was able to remove the water stains on the bottom 6-8" on the front of the cuddy door.

 

After sanding

 

 

 

I was running low on teakwood oil, so each piece got one coat. The top door trim piece had 4 cracks or breaks that needed some wood glue, so I took care of that too. It's not in these pics because the wood glue was still drying. I sanded it smooth and put the last of my teakwood oil on it.

 

 

[Todd in NY]

My wife and I decided to paint the wood paneling that forms the wall of the cuddy cabin. I roughed it up with a sanding block, you guessed it - 150 grit 

 

It's not done yet, but it will look real good with the the teakwood trim and door.

 

 

Keep in mind, this is not a RESTORATION project. I left some paint(?) spots, and imperfections in the wood, especially the 4 small pieces that go under the side windows. Number 1, I didn't want to remove too much wood, and #2, those spots are what I call character spots.

 

More to follow...

Edited June 17, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

Here are some "before" pics of the cuddy cabin exterior wall, wood trim, and door/door frame

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

Here are some "after" pics of the cuddy wall, door, and trim wood

 

 

 

 

There is one of these pieces of wood on each gunwale, so they got two coats of teakwood oil as well

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

I got the wooden rod holders installed on the port gunwale. I used the piece of aluminum diamond plate that I took off my stern deck to serve as mounting brackets. I cut it into 3" wide strips with my jig saw, or whatever it's called (I'm no carpenter). That left some rough edges all the way around, on both sides. I filed those edges with a medium file. I then made a bend, one on each end of the brackets, with my bench vise, then drilled 5 holes to mount the wooden rod holders to them. I used 5  #10 screws with 3/16" x 1" fender washers to attach the rod holders to the brackets. All mounting hardware is stainless steel.

 

I pre-fitted the brackets to the gunwale and drilled the 4 holes for each bracket, 2 in the floor and 2 on the gunwale edge.

 

I spray painted the brackets light gray, then mounted the rod holders to them. I then mounted the completed brackets to the gunwales using #12 x 1" screws with flat washers and lock washers.

 

Cutting the 3" x 35" brackets

 

Filing the rough edges

 

The brackets are painted

 

I used the 1st bracket as a jig to drill the holes in the other 3 brackets for the rod holders

 

The finished rod holder brackets prior to mounting them in the gunwale. Yes, the diamond plate faces the back because I couldn't  remove that tread tape.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Todd in NY