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.

while i'm waiting for the deadliest catch premiere

Some other things I want to tell you about...

While tearing apart my boat I needed a specialized tool to take out the livewells. This would be in the form of a spanner wrench, which I probably will never use again once I get the livewell tanks back in. This tool costs about $30 at Sears.com. So I found one on eBay and saved $20.

Once I got the livewells/seats out I realized the deck was divided from the front and rear; probably the only way to get a 9ft continuous deck. This is great news. All I have to do is just take out the rear 4ft to gain full access to all the stuff under the deck. I'm expecting the seat mounting plate hardware will need to be replaced. I tried to take out the bolts but I think the nuts, or whatever is holding the bolt in, is rusted thru. Once I take out the rear deck I'll find out.

The other thing I found is the chair pedestal doesn't fit in the forward mount. I'm gonna have to open it up somehow. What's annoying is that it's on the forward deck which is longer and more of a PITA to replace if I can't open up the hole.

The Homecoming

So I actually got my boat home on Mar 27. It has been in the shop since the 7th having work done on the motor and trailer. This whole thing has been one surprise after another. I'm used to the way cars are handled; same day service and the labor rate is not $100/hr! I swear, if I could help it, no one else will ever work on my boat; I'm impatient and just not that rich!

When I got it home I nearly got run over by my own boat. So I planned on driving it halfway up the driveway, unhitch it, and finesse it into my garage. My wife was busy and my 5 y/o son was eager to help. So I had him take the tire chocks out with me ready to push the boat up the driveway. Well, gravity works! The boat pushed me back so hard that it pushed me out of my shoes and I ended up fighting the boat all the way down the driveway in my socks! I ended up just having the boat sit in my driveway because it won't fit in my garage afterall.

I kinda felt overwhelmed after having the time to look over the boat more closely. I found holes in the transom and I think the guy I bought it from tried to patch them up with Marine-Tex-White, which is the wrong version for aluminum. There are a lot of holes, like about 10! Carpeting needed to be replaced and the electrical is mess! I really didn't know where to begin. Also needs to be painted. ugh!!!

So I figure to get this riverworthy I'd have to patch the transom, make sense of the electrical, put new carpeting down, and paint the front end enough to get my registration stickers on. On second thought, forget painting. I'll do that next year.