Boat Re-wired & Other Repairs, Before & After

[Todd in NY]

Here is the port side gunwale with the rod holders

 

 

 

 

 

From a slightly different angle

 

I don't have the starboard side rod holders assembled yet. Not sure when I'll get to it.

 

I also replaced a metal basket with a plastic one. I usually store planer boards in it while they are drying out.

 

 

[Todd in NY]

I finished the starboard side rod holders today. Having those 8 rods out of the cuddy cabin sure does remove the clutter. So I have 16 rods stored in the gunwales and under the hardtop. The only 2 rods in the cuddy now are my 2 leadcore rods, a 5 color and a 10 color.

 

[Todd in NY]

I didn't notice a piece of wood trim on top of my helm until after I finished installing the gunwale rod holders this weekend.

 

After treating the other wood with teak oil, this unfinished piece really stood out in a bad way. Before...

 

After...

 

I sanded it down quite a bit because of the water damage on the right side. Again, not looking for the "new" look, just looking to improve the appearance and preserve the wood.

 

Thanks for following 

[Todd in NY]

Replaced my fuel/water filter today, first time in four years. There was no water in the filter at all. I buy most of my gas at Fastrac. I have to pre-mix it at home before topping off my fuel tank.

[Todd in NY]

Today I installed an LED flood light on my bow rail. It's only 5" wide, but it puts out an advertised 26,400 lumens of 6000k cool white light. It comes as a two pack, but I only used one light. They are water proof (IP68), dust proof and shock proof. I also bought a separate rail mount for it.

 

Here it is before I trimmed the zip ties. I wanted it mounted just forward of the rail so that there is no glare or reflection from the light on the rail

 

 

I wired it into my rocker switch panel with 16 ga wire and heat shrink connectors

 

And now for the brightness test. There is a utility light on behind the boat with a sort of orange glow

 

Now with the flood light on

 

This light will be useful when I'm docking at night. It shines the light in a 200 degree beam. It was well worth the $35.88 for the pair of lights.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

Every time I go fishing early in the morning, when the fog is really thick, I get some heavy condensation or fog on the inside of my windshield. I put a fan in my previous boat, and it helped a lot. So I finally picked up a fan for this boat.

 

It's a 6" oscillating fan, and I didn't want to block my vision, so I mounted it behind my Helix 10

 

 

 

I chose to not hardwire this fan, and left the 12v adapter plug on it.

[Todd in NY]

I always put the two size 24 batteries in my boat every spring, charge them with my two 25 watt solar panels that I mounted on my hardtop, then remove the batteries in the fall. I never realized that I didn't use heat shrink on my battery cables at the copper connectors.

 

So today, I finally used heat shrink tubing on my four battery connectors. The absolute best heat shrink I have found is the Grote brand from Napa. This stuff has the best shrinkage and the most glue I've ever seen in heat shrink tubing and heat shrink connectors.

 

Look at all the glue that is seeping out on the right side of the tubing, and the amount of shrinkage between the connector and the insulation

Edited August 14, 2021 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

Update on my gunwale rod holders...

 

Last year I was fishing in some choppy 3ft seas and the rods were falling out of the gunwale rod holders. So yesterday I move the rear rod holder 14" closer to the from one.

 

 

[Todd in NY]

I made one more upgrade to my gunwale rod holders today. I bought some 1/8" thick x 1/2" wide aluminum. I cut them to various lengths, depending on the wooden rod holders that I was attaching them to, drilled 2 holes on each piece, then made a notch in the bottom of each piece. This aluminum bar rotates up to give access to the rods, and replaces the tiny bungee cords I used last year. They rotate up to the gunwale if I need to get to the top fishing rod. The bungee cords were removed after I took these pics.

 

 

 

 

Edit to say that these rod holder upgrades held the rods in place perfectly in 3-4ft seas, when we could only manage 8 mph comfortably against the wind and waves.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Todd in NY

[Todd in NY]

My boat had two old pieces of lumber bolted inside the transom, behind the batteries. I'm guessing they were 2x6, about 6" x 6" square. They didn't appear to serve any purpose, and they didn't leak, so I left them alone for the past 5 years. A few days ago I noticed that the wood was rotted real bad on the starboard side, and almost as bad on the port side. So I bought new SS bolts, fender washers, lock washers and nuts, all 3/8". I had enough of that 1/8" x 2" wide aluminum left over from my hardtop repair, so I cut 2 pieces 5" long, to use instead of wood. There wasn't any damage to the hull, so it doesn't appear to have been treated lumber. I cleaned up the surfaces inside and out, then gobbed the Boat-Life caulk around the holes, inside and out. I used a 3/8" x 1" bolt and 1.5" fender washers on the exterior side, and the 5" long aluminum piece, a 1.5" fender washer, lock washer and nut on the inside.

 

It appears that these holes are from the original tow rings, that are now mounted on the extended transom. Not a big deal.

 

Starboard side, before

 

port side, before

 

 

 

 

 

starboard side finished

 

port side finished

 

 

 

This boat hasn't leaked a drop in the 5 years that I've owned it. I sealed all pre-existing holes with Boat-Life caulk before my first fishing trip, and never had a leak.

[Todd in NY]

My 33 year old Evinrude 150 (1989) finally got a new starter and solenoid yesterday. Now it fires up real fast, instead of taking longer to crank over like it did before. I think it was the original factory starter and solenoid I removed yesterday.

 

I installed a Lowrance Outboard Pilot cable steer pack earlier this week, as well as a new Teleflex steering cable.

 

I also put a new prop on my 1991 Evinrude 15hp kicker motor. The new prop is a 9.25 x 8 pitch 3 blade Solis. The prop I removed was a 3 blade 9.5 x 10 pitch. My goal is to increase ROM without increasing speed. I need the extra RPM to help charge the batteries better, especially when using the autopilot.