The Waiting is the Hardest Part...

[sopwithcamel74]

This has to be a record.

While we were out in the boat earlier today, I lifted up the flap underneath the splash well that leads to the bilge. Showed them all the bilge pump and explained what it was for. It was ancient, filthy and in rough shape.

Well, we were out shopping a couple hours ago. Wife didn't complain one bit when I mentioned seeing a great price on a new bilge pump and a float switch the other day while I was out. Me and the boy made a detour and picked them up. So that's officially one more thing off the list!

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Lowrance Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter came in the mail yesterday! Power cable and transducer are en route.

I took out my old Eagle SeaCharter earlier this week, thinking that the cables and transducer would be compatible with the new unit. Sadly, I'd gotten the model # wrong due to the amount of wearing on the label, and the hookups are completely different - that'll teach me not to check that sorta thing out beforehand :frusty:

The new unit does everything that I needed, so I'm not at all bummed about basing my choice at least partially around the idea of using the boat's existing cabling and hardware. And poking around did lead me to the realization that virtually none of the existing wiring is going to find it's way into my eventual restore; way too much electrical tape, damaged insulation, and corrosion for my liking, despite it all still being in working order.

The Lowrance has a different footprint, so I'll patch the hole in the dash. Not sure if I'll mount it flush, or use it's bracket.

The Lowrance also has an internal GPS antenna. The Eagle had an external one, which the previous owner installed by removing the horn and glassing over the cup holder behind the starboard side bow seat back. I'll fix that back to the way that it should be, too.

The mounting hardware for the old transducer may well work with the new one - will have to wait till it gets here to know for sure. The Eagle also had one of those water-wheel style speed sensors - will be removing that bracket and patching that area of the transom, too.

Lastly - it looks like the pitot tube from the lower unit to the factory speedometer was cut and tucked back through the cable bundle. Not enough of a run left to reroute it correctly, so that'll also have to be replaced.

None of this is discouraging, but it does make me wonder what other kind of stuff I'll uncover when I get the opportunity to dig a bit deeper.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Power cable and transducer delivered today; power cable fits :lol:

Way too rainy to fiddle around with the transducer bracket, but that looks like a win, too.

 

[dezmond]

Crappy rainy weather predicted for the next week or so Glad I get to work in the garage instead of outdoors. When you tearing the boat apart?

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Crappy rainy weather predicted for the next week or so Glad I get to work in the garage instead of outdoors. When you tearing the boat apart?

Not until I finish the home reno; the boat's off limits until the honey do's are all done.

2 room addition, carport to garage conversion, and a total gut and restore of the 3rd bedroom. A crew of one - me.

Work on that's been draaaaaaaging, and you know the wife's been giving me an earful about it.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Figure I'll keep this one alive, despite being in the doldrums due to not being able to really start the reno.

Not much to report, really, but I did finally chose a marine radio. Even though my plan electrical layout will eventually include an amp (or two), for the time being I'm just going to power the 4 main speakers via the head unit.

Wife is happy that I included her with the decision making... Probably happier that I found an amazing deal over the msrp.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Bought a NMEA 0183 cable to connect my fish finder and VHF.

In talks with a couple different boat repair places re: using them to order my fiberglass cloth and resin.

Still feels like a far off dream, but it's getting closer!

 

[sopwithcamel74]

This cold, wet winter has kept me from working on our home reno/addition projects as much as I'd like to. And when I do manage to put some time into it, my current tool and equipment storage situation is in such a state of disarray that I spend more time looking for things than I spend using them.

The common space areas where shared-use items like ladders, storage containers, garden tools, paint, cleaning supplies, glues, fasteners, etc. are stored is the worst of the worst, since multiple sets of hands touch the items there. Naturally I blame the wife for this, and of course she blames me.

It used to be that everything was logically organized and easily accessible. But, if I'm being honest, the real reason for this disorganized cluster is that damn near half of the space is now consumed by odds and ends for the boat, along with all of the additional tools and equipment that I've acquired for the sake of redoing the boat.

The plan with the home reno was to better organize the living and hobby spaces for all of us - me, the wife, and both of the kids. And it'll work wonderfully to that end once it's all buttoned up, but the meantime, I've reached critical mass regarding what I can reasonably store around here without further compromising my ability to find things.

My solution to this problem? I've started building a new shed on our property, which should be done before the month ends. This has become a necessary means to an end if I'm ever going to get back on track with my other builds, though, so I'm all in on this plan now. I've not determined which of our tools and equipment will be stored in there, and I'm sure that the list will change once the garage and storage rooms are finished.

I don't like spending a chunk of un-budgeted cash on something other than the original building project or the boat resto. Truly makes me a bit ill, as I don't have unlimited finances, and it's taken time to save for the projects already on the docket. Even with income tax returns, a likely raise, and a work bonus all hitting this spring, I anticipate that one of my existing projects may take a hit. I'm going to do some more planning and number crunching with those to see if I can make this choice a bit easier to digest, while still accomplishing everything that is needed.

The wife will absolutely murder me if I try and compromise on the home reno. And she's sworn that she won't get on the water with me unless the boat has her seal of approval. So I don't have a choice but to find a way to make it happen.

Time to work some magic.

 

[Timr71]

Glad to see you're still moving forward with the boat resto.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Glad to see you're still moving forward with the boat resto.

It's almost all that I think about. When I'm not working or spending time with the fam, I'm usually researching any and all aspects of the restoration process.

The process itself has become a full-blown obsession, only surpassed by my desire to actually be out on the water with the family in tow for some quality time.

 

[chevymaher]

So your a full blown Boataholic like me then. We have meetings at the marina thursday night.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Latest purchase: New external gas tank. Some of the fittings on the old one are failing, and were being held together with duct tape; it's definitely time to move on from that.

I'm anxious to fully inspect of the factory gas tank once I demo the deck; just crossing my fingers that it's not thoroughly trashed. The bit that I can inspect from the bilge seems ok, but there's definitely some sludge in there to deal with. The plan to remove and thoroughly clean it, and if there's no major pitting or corrosion, leak and pressure test it. Naturally, all fittings, hoses, and the sender will be replaced if it passes the integrity test.

I haven't been able to work on the shed over the past few days because of the weather, so I've been going over my plans for the boat. I think that I've committed to the idea of building a wooden gantry instead of buying a metal one. And I may get started on that soon, with the wife's blessing.

My guess is that she's seeing enough forward progress on the house stuff to finally relax a little bit You won't hear me complaining, but to be fair I will keep the diversions to a bare minimum for the time being.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Going to replace the transom after all.

There was a thru-hull for the bilge pump that I'd inspected from the outside only up until now. Something compelled me to take it off today while I was outside with the wife talking about our spring plans for the yard. So I climbed into the boat, snaked down into the bilge and loosened the inside fitting enough so that I could pull it through from the outside, and get a good look at the surrounding wood.

It's not mulch, but it's not dry and pristine, either.

I'd more or less made peace with the idea of completely redoing all of the existing wood structure anyway, but was hopeful that I'd be able to avoid the hassle and expense. Not gonna happen now - I don't care if it there are no visible signs of failure, there's no way I'm leaving it as is before it hits the water again.

As if I wasn't motivated enough to get the rest of the projects around here wrapped up... I'm literally about to crawl out of my skin from wanting to get out there and completely gut this thing!!!

 

[chevymaher]

Yea once you go this far replace it all. No worry no wondering.

Yes I know it is not rotted. It is brand new I just did it. Other boaters mouths snap shut after that like a bear trap. The look in their eyes of he is the man.

Once you hit the boat ramps and talk to friends that you didn't even know had boats. You will know what I am talking about.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Yea once you go this far replace it all. No worry no wondering.

Yes I know it is not rotted. It is brand new I just did it. Other boaters mouths snap shut after that like a bear trap. The look in their eyes of he is the man.

Once you hit the boat ramps and talk to friends that you didn't even know had boats. You will know what I am talking about.

I'm right there with you as far as my mindset goes. It would be about the only part that I wouldn't be doing something with as it were; now all it means is that I'll have touched pretty much everything when I'm done.

Wife was standing right there when I found it. She was watching a YouTube video with me the day before where a couple of guys had their outboard rip loose and sink, nearly taking them with it. She's wise to what a worse case scenario looks like, and she ain't having it either.

At this point it's a matter of time and money. Will take more of each to do what I want. But it will be done, and done right when it's all over.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Even more at peace with the impending transom rebuild today; never underestimate the power of a little retail therapy to clear one's head.

Last night I picked up a new torque wrench and a new combo wrench set to help with the impending engine removal and it's subsequent re-installation. Also finalizing plans for a mobile engine stand that I'll be building alongside the gantry. And, the new portable gas tank also came in. Figure I'll give the Force 85 a bit more attention than I'd initially planned. Besides the maintenance stuff, I'm strongly considering new paint, maybe even new decals.

I also reorganized my current workspace; categorized the stuff that'll go out into the shed... Sorted and consolidated boxes of boat items while I was out there, too. It was nice to lay hands on all of it again, daydream about how it'll all be put to use soon. Also served as great motivation to stay on task with the around-the-house stuff so that I can get to that bit of business.

Current weather situation has the shed build on hold for the rest of the day - we are under a tornado watch, and there have been warnings in the counties adjacent to us. The line of storms coming through is pretty long, so probably won't be back out there. I made good progress yesterday, at least; got a shipment of building materials in that I'd been waiting on. Forecast says that after today we've got almost a week solid with no rain or storms; if that's true I can continue to work unabated till it's done... Then it's back to working on the extension and bedroom reno, so that the 'real' work can begin.

 

[chevymaher]

LOL my family was watching the tornado warning weather in the van. I was out in back standing guard on the boat. Admiral is used to it now. Any deadly ordeal going on I got to be in the middle somewhere. She don't even argue anymore.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

We're well clear of it now. It's just a fact of life around here - the season is just getting under way. Will be darn near 6 or more months of favorable conditions, but we've had a few in what amounts to winter around here too.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

I need to order plywood for both the home reno and shed project. I've decided that, once I've put in a couple more hours of work, I'm going to break out the tape measure and get some base measurements from the boat.

Stringers, bulkheads, decking, transom, console supports, bow seat boxes, anchor stow, jump seat boxes, splash well supports... That should be more than enough to get me started.

I might get some dimensional lumber for the gantry and engine stand while I'm at it... Don't want to push my luck with the admiral though. She might cry foul if she realizes what I'm up to.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Wasn't able to get around to taking measurements on the boat yesterday, but did put in some more work on the shed. So, a few minutes ago, I took a 15 min break before jumping on a phone conference for work... Grabbed the tape measure and climbed aboard the boat - the things that I'm finding are nothing short of astounding.

I started at the anchor locker, and made it back to the dash supports. The previous owner's repair work was more extensive than I'd initially thought, and not in a good way. They didn't exactly follow the proper script - I don't think that I'll be able to use anything that's in there for a template for my restoration. Lots of things were done just well enough to get by, I assume; guess you do what you can with what you have, but it frightens me to think how it was before they started their own work.

Not that I was planning on salvaging much to use in my build, but dang it - I didn't want to have to design each and every template from scratch! I'll head back out after work to finish taking the measurements that I'll need; good vibes sent my way would be appreciated.