Leaks

Well, after two full days of rain I was psyched to get working on the boat again. Last time for some reason, I put the drain plug back in and forgot to take it back out. Anyway, with all the rain the boat filled up with water. This was a good thing, because it exposed a number of leaks on the bottom. Looking at it closer it looks like the boat had a lot of bad patching done to it. The leaks aren't too bad, some are loose rivets, and some are pinholes, 5 in all.


Now that my pressure washer is back from the shop, I'm going to wash'er down and see what else is hidden. BTW, if you don't, you really should winterize your pressure washer for the winter. This was the first year I didn't do it and it turned out to be the coldest winter in 10 years! The pump valves went on it and cost me about half what I paid for the washer in the first place.

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.

Hi everyone!
Just got a new (to me) boat and fixing it up in time to hit the summer bass! I really want to have this boat with me when I go to my inlaws lakehouse in TN. Tennessee has got to be the bass capital, at least in the US.

More to come, plus pics of the boat as it progresses to a bass huntin' machine!