Spring Cleanout!

After we had a dump of snow and now its gone, I decided to do some spring cleaning.  I opened the console to find the 60 watt lightbulb at some point burnt out.  For those that don’t know, I use that to keep the dampness out of the console and to save my electronics from negative temperatures.

So let me give some details of what is found on my dash.  The steering system is a Teleflex SeaStar hydraulic steering system.  Below the wheel is a Xantrex Link 20, above is a Jensen remote stereo.  To the left of is the Mercury gauges (Fuel/Tach/Speedo/PSI) and to the right side is an Icom IC-M305 VHF with a Blue Sea Systems Weatherdeck 8 position DC fuse panel.

On the right side of the console is a Mercury Marine keyless ignition system, the trim switches for the Bennet trim tabs, and the throttle.

The dash has an antenna (temporary) for the Smart Radio SR-161 AIS transceiver, a Standard Horizon CP300 chartplotter, and Icom IC-M503 VHF radio.  There is also an electronic compass for heading positions on the chartplotter as well as a GPS puck for lack of a better place to put it.

In the left side panel you will find access to the Jensen CD player, as well as a Walmart special DVD player which works off the screen.   In the front console panel is another 8 position Blue Sea DC terminal block as well as a video switcher to change video sources from the default video camera to DVD player.  I want to relocate this at some point, it was there during the initial setup phases and I never bothered moving it.

I’ve been getting some questions about my mounting of the Fishmaster T-Top to the 17′ hull.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts and here are some photos.
 
So you will see the plate to replace the stock whaler one to mount the console to the deck.  I’ll get a sketch up later, but you get the idea.  Its 31″ aluminum 4 x 4 angle bracket, which was cut to ID2.75″ x 1.5″ so the legs of the Fishmaster can bolt to.  On the front you will see I bolted from the bottom up, with acorn nuts.  That is then secured to the deck.  The rear legs of the t-top use the mounting hardware included.

The rear of the t-top has a read deck light as well as the allround white light and a rear facing color camera.  This is great when travelling at night to see what is going on behind you but my biggest complaint with the chartplotter is the inability to dim the display when in video mode.   Its a terrible distraction for night operation and destroys your night vision should some fool put a hand in front of the camera (with the IR leds, the hand appears bright white!).

view all photos

Some summer photos….

Going to English Bay for the 2008 Vancouver Celebration of Lights Fireworks.

Touring the Indian Arm on a bright summer day!

Some evening boating with some friends.  You get a close up view of the console.

VPD98 with someone from Vancouver Police Marine Squad as well as an officer from Port Moody Police Department along side another Boston Whaler.  We responded to a “mayday” call about a missing swimmer in the Port Moody area.  Since my boat allowed me to get into the mud flats, I was first on scene wading around the mud until my friends with the Coast Guard cutter Osprey came!

Air One – the RCMP Helicopter was also dispatched to the scene.

Day 24 – 32 – Finishing

Sorry for the delay, I haven’t had time to make regular posts as I have been really busy both working on the boat, trying to get a marine survey and finding a new job that this has slipped through the cracks.

The project is 99% complete and I have got some minor issues to address.  I picked up the gas tank and leaning post from Bruce and RYM Propeller in Richmond yesterday with Jay and it looks fantastic!  I’ve primed and painted it and just waiting at this point for it to cure before doing another coat.

Another thing I must do is get the upholstry done and that will be this next week sometime.  I got it in the water last week and it need to be repitched.  I have a 20P stainless 3 blade prop but I’m going to have to try something different as its not getting to full power.  I was waiting until the fuel tank is installed to take into account its weight.

Day 23 – more electronics

As I mentioned in the previous post, I spent the day at Boat for Hope.  When I got back to Jay’s, he had been busy working on the wiring.  Needless to say, this work party involved a lot of wiring and completed the bilge wiring, installing the brackets for the rear seats and getting the DC power plant started.

 

Day 21 – installing console

I spent the day fabricating aluminum pieces for mounting the console.  With the design of the 17′ Boston Whaler Hull, there was going to be some problems mounting the t-top.  I had devised a way to accomplish this without setting the console further aft in the boat by mounting the front and back legs to the aluminum angle bracket that holds the console to the floor.  The advantage is that the t-top is now supported by the full surface area of the 4×32″ piece of aluminum bolted to the floor rather than just the leg.  The design of the hull makes it difficult to mount the leg when there is no plywood under the deck to bolt to.

When Jay came home from work he began to rig the console by installing all the hardware components.  He installed the steering and controls as well as most of the electronics.  He got quite far and with that, another order to Western Marine for parts.  The list was quite significant and there were some other things we needed to change from the previous order.

The Perko courtesy lights (1 watt) were quite disappointing and we switched to Sea Dog (5 watt) courtesy lights.   Pieces of the skibar were missing which turned out to be an error on my part ordering the deck clevis set and not the pole (DOH!).  Its coming along great!

Day 18 – 20 – Multitasking!

These last few days have been busy.  Tod and I got together to get the console finished.  We finished sanding it and it was sent to be sprayed.  We got it back Wednesday and it looked fantastic!  We managed to sand it down and buff it to a shiny desert tan!  Previously it was sprayed grey to match the commercial division color from a Boston Whaler Guardian so now it matches.

Wednesday I also went shopping to pick up some missing pieces.  I made a trip to the Metal Supermarket to purchase 4×4x1/4 aluminum angle pieces to allow for bolting to the floor (more on why this large to come).  I also picked up an order from West Marine in Vancouver which had got the seat cushion for the Igloo cooler and over to Steveston Marine to make a swap.

I had my birthday on Tuesday and thought as a present to myself to upgrade the chartplotter to a 7in screen, so I swapped displays and got a chart card which was also on order.  I also got a bargin deal on speakers to mount on the t-top.

Day 17 – console

After a long day yesterday with the Parade, I didn’t get to Jay’s until just after 2pm.  Jay had already started removing his stuff from the console he is giving me and when I arrived, I gave him a hand.  After many hours of messing about removing hardware, we finally got it setup in my boat.

We assessed the space and started to fill holes.  Another cause for concern was the t-top mounting as warned by the manufacturer.  We have come up with a solution to address that issue, and I will be shopping for new angle aluminum to mount the console.

We fiberglassed all the old holes and filled in the others.  Presently the console is curing and needs to be sanded and prep’d for spraying.

 

 

 

Day 16 – motor installed!

Jay installed the motor on the boat during his lunch break.  Today I took the day off as we had to pickup a boat after work and prepare for a parade we participated in on Saturday. 

Day 15 – motor install and swapping hardware

After work we decided to install the motor now that the transom was repaired.  We got my old boat from home and took it to the shop to remove the motor.  What initially was going to be a straight swap ended up being a long ordeal of stripping my old boat.

We dismounted the motor and took out the Teleflex hydrolic steering system, radio, dash (gauges and all), galvanic isolator, batteries, depth sounder and other hardware we will reuse on this Whaler.  I noticed the boat was sitting low and after looking under the trailer discovered the cheap steel trailer had a broken frame that is resting on the axle! 

I spent the next hour applying a bandaid which consisted of aligning two pieces of 1/4 in aluminum to either side of the broken piece and bolting it back together.  I know its not street legal but it allowed us to take it home.

While at my house, Jay and I loaded the Fishmaster T-top into the van.  It came earlier that day and I was surprised to learn UPS charged $549 for brokerage across the border.  I haven’t got an invoice yet but I would hope to dispute that charge as its excessive for an item $1200USD in my opinion.  We didn’t have time to get the motor installed on the Whaler so that will have to be tomorrows project.

Completed:
 - motor hanging in Jay’s shed.
 - old boat “de-rigged” of useful hardware.

Day 14 – fixing transom

 

It was unfortunate the previous owner decided to take a hacksaw to the transom to allow for the motor mount to fit the montauk hull without sealing.  I took the grinder and lost about another inch of wet plywood, and proceeded to fill it with long ‘n strong. 

After letting it cure, I did another pass with the grinder and started fiberglassing.  I got 5 mats applied by the end of the day, as well as 4 coats of gelcoat.  It was not a colormatch but seals it up and is hidden by the motor mount on the engine.  Like I said in a previous post, when I get the boat sprayed again, I can worry about that.