Getting close...

Sorry, I haven't posted lately. Got lots done. I finally got the nerve to cut the floor so I could get to the leaking rivets. I was right about the aluminum plating under the plywood floor. This limited me to cut openings that were about 6" to 8". It was really tight in some places to get my arms in to get to the rivets. I couldn't find Gluvit locally, and settled on this "Capt. Tolley's" stuff. Sounds like it will seal the leak... temporarily. It is super thin, runs like water, and fills any hairline cracks with a few applications. It seems to work pretty good to find leaks. I found some leaks where I thought was watertight. I got as far as behind the front fishing seat. There maybe some leaks in that area, but I didn't do any testing on it. It will be really tough to get under the fishing seat, and I'm sure there is plate aluminum all around it.

http://www.captaintolley.com/

I tested the bilge switch and it was actually working. I got the bilge working, then my neighbor asked me if I had a float switch; what a great idea! If I had a float switch, that would set my mind at ease when I've got the boat in Tennessee. I could leave the boat in the water for the week while I'm there. I also found out that the hose to the side bilge discharge was still connected. I don't know why George didn't reconnect the bilge but it seems the hose is free of obstruction. I reconnected the line with the hoses available. I will probably have to revisit this since one of the hoses seems to kink too easily. This could be fixed by getting an actual bilge hose. Back to the float switch. It seemed pretty straight forward wiring the float switch, however, I didn't count on routing wire to the console. I will revisit that later on after I return from TN.

I reattached the portside livewell. I'm going to hold off reattaching the starboard side livewell so that I could still work on the console panel. I'm beginning to think that everything on the right side of the steering wheel has been blown to bits. The switches and breakers don't seem to work at all. This would be the aerator and accessory switch. The aerator switch is on a SPDT switch, as well as the second aerator switch up front. I only ordered breakers to replace the ones that are bad. I should've ordered the switches as well, just in case. The aerator pump actually works. I hooked it up direct to the battery and ran pretty good. All I have to do is replace the switch and breaker and I'll be in business.

Started the motor up for the first time. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I tried to pull start it but for some reason I couldn't get it to go. I found out that the starter battery that came with the boat isn't any good. It'll charge up OK but will lose it in a matter of hours just sitting. The trolling motor is also gone. Good thing I had a deep cycle battery ready to go. Hooked it up and turned over the motor. I forgot to turn the choke off on the motor. That made a lot of smoke. It ran rough for a little bit but steadied out. It still runs rough on high idle.

The trolling motor and mount actually works OK. I just had to push it the rest of the way down.