My boat: Will update when finished

[colsrob]

I only have a couple pics of my boat, and they are mainly of the rod rack that I built last season. The motor is still out, but I finally found someone to fix it...cheap...I think. Still waitin' to hear back from him, as he said he will come and pick it up.

Aside from that repair, and cleaning the winter out of it, I have a couple more mods to care of. First, I plan on building a castnet deck in the open bow. In doing that, I have to build in some storage, including a trap large enough to store a battery. Second, the battery storage is necessary for when I mount the bow mount trolling motor that I picked up over the off-season.

When I get it all together I will post a few picks. Hopefully nothing new crops up while i'm taking care of the other things.

[katfish]

Do your homework on the boat wiring before setting up the battery compartment. I helped a guy restore an old Lund once and the old wiring was in the foam floatation in the sides.

Run new wiring in plasric conduit in easily accessable areas under decks or rails. Water and condensation cause many electric problems on boats and the conduit will help cushion shock on wire insulation.

You will get more enjoyment out of an old boat with a new motor than you will from a new boat with an old motor.

[colsrob]

Mar 6, 2011 14:41:48 GMT -5 katfish said:

Do your homework on the boat wiring before setting up the battery compartment. I helped a guy restore an old Lund once and the old wiring was in the foam floatation in the sides.

Run new wiring in plasric conduit in easily accessable areas under decks or rails. Water and condensation cause many electric problems on boats and the conduit will help cushion shock on wire insulation.

You will get more enjoyment out of an old boat with a new motor than you will from a new boat with an old motor.

Thanks for ideas. I really hadn't thought about the wiring getting a short. Although, I have plans to make the storage area fairly watertight. The battery will only be a couple feet away from the motor, so there will not be very much length to be worried about.

The cushioning idea is very valid though. No big deal to add a little protection, just in case.

[Catfishrollo]

Robbie is right. Biggest problems year to year are electrical issues. rollo

[katfish]

The battery will only be a couple feet away from the motor, so there will not be very much length to be worried about.

I was speaking of wiring for lights/starters/trolling motors/ fishfinders or other electrical items. I normally leave the main battery cables where I can see them and fix them quickly and easily. Like you said they are short and near the motor.

Just a couple of years of trailer lights will frustrate you ;D

[Seanstone]

We just recently bought a 15 foot tri hull from the early 80s. Me and a friend re-wired the whole boat, we figured it needed it anyway. (The wiring was in the Styrofoam in the sides as well.) One suggestion I have from personal experience is to watch what kind of lights you put into your boat. We had some lights from the old wiring system that we re-used, until we found out they ate batteries like crazy. We switched them out for more efficient lights. You might run into the same problems, so go with LED lights. They cost more than normal lights but don't drain your battery so you can stay out longer.

You will get more enjoyment out of an old boat with a new motor than you will from a new boat with an old motor.

I agree with Rob on this one. We just bought a 9.9 hp Mercury "bigfoot" motor for our boat. I think it was around 1200. More than the boat of course, but we wont be paddling anytime soon. I HOPE.

[colsrob]

I guess I can make a update.

The guy I thought was going to fix my motor didn't pan out. After several calls to him, I just couldn't seem to get him interested enough. I guess he has enough already that he doesn't need more money.

Anyway, tomorrow I take the motor to a guy I found through craigslist. Yes, the other guy was found the same way, but this guy has a shop and actually does it for his livelihood. From the many quote feelers that I sent out, this guy was the most detailed and was within the budget that I set for myself. Some time in the next week or two I should have it back in the boat and ready to hit the water.

With work, combined with the crappy weather, I have yet to make progress on my side project of installing the trolling motor, and building a new front deck. Being that I will be getting the boat out to access the motor, it should put me in the mood to start getting things squared away. I have the Minn Kota Edge motor and was wondering if anyone has an idea where I can get the boat side plug? Everything I keep finding involves replacing motor side to get a matching pair, or having to buy a whole Minn Kota plug kit, which is kind of costly for all that I need it for.

I think i'm going to use marine plywood for the deck, and then cover it with matching carpet. I still need to get over to West Marine and see what they offer as hinges for the traps that I need to build in. 1 for the battery storage and 2 for the doors that I will put over the original bow storage areas that used to be covered by the bow seats. I keep life jackets in those.

Hopefully some picks will soon follow.

[colsrob]

Now to respond to some replies that I missed.

Robby: The new box that i'm going to add will hold a battery for the troller only. There will be no other wires cross or anything that will be affected by it. I will make sure it's charged for each trip, so I won't have it connected to any of the other boat electrical.

As for both: I love my boats layout....old or new doesn't matter. But, I also have nothing against a new boat, as long as it fits the requirements that I have. When i'm finished with the additions to mine it will be very similar to a Bayliner fish and ski. The closest things I have seen to mine are the aluminum V bottoms. They have less wasted space and plenty of interior room. I like the I/O's because an outboard bugs me. They stick up too high for my liking. My father has a outboard and it's definitely better than nothing, but I always wished that cowling wasn't in my way.

I'll post some pics of mine when I get it done...and cleaned up.

Sean: Aside from a lighter socket for my spotlight, and my fish finder, I don't have anything that isn't stock in the electrical system. However, if I were going to add some extra lighting, I would most likely go with led.