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What did you do to your boat today?

A month old this weekend, one step at a time. Audio next week and Cobra Jets in a couple of weeks.20240425_122026.jpg20240503_160100.jpg20240503_160144.jpg
 
Changed the gate control cable today. Crazy that it was this bad and it really wasn’t that stiff at the throttle, yet.
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Had a slight freak out while changing it, the old one slipped out of my tape job to the new one while feeding it through the boat. Thankfully I could just tape the old cable to the transducer line, feed it back through to the engine compartment, then tape the new one to the transducer line as well and feed it back to the helm.

I put some sealant on areas I felt needed some more since I had the clean out hatch opened up, as well as other areas too.

Changed the oil in both engines, they fired up immediately after their slumber so that was nice! They ran so well I probably won’t change the spark plugs until I feel the need to.
 
Got my boat in the water, and ran it for the 30 seconds it took to get it on the lift. Had to do some troubleshooting on the lift with LiftTech, and they're sending me a new board. So for another day or two, the boat will go down using the remote, but only goes up using a drill on the emergency attachment. So, boat will mostly stay on the lift until I replace the control board between rain showers the next few days.

Tried out the cover fit (custom), now that I added marine mat to the gunnels. Needed to get a leather cutting tool (thanks to a random conversation on another thread that let me know there was such a thing) and cut holes where the snaps are. Cutting those sections before I installed them was not as scary as cutting big holes in the boat for the Garmin, but still made me nervous. Turned out better than I expected...

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Busy day, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck…..

Swapped out the scupper with the stainless steel version:

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Installed my new Ark 750 trailer jack - what a beast:

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Installed Boat Buckle transom straps:

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At one point I had my head and both arms (past the shoulder) in the bilge when I was replacing the scupper and I thought I was stuck…….panic almost set in until I was able to wiggle an arm out.
 
Busy day, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck…..

Swapped out the scupper with the stainless steel version:

View attachment 219610

Installed my new Ark 750 trailer jack - what a beast:

View attachment 219611

Installed Boat Buckle transom straps:

View attachment 219612

At one point I had my head and both arms (past the shoulder) in the bilge when I was replacing the scupper and I thought I was stuck…….panic almost set in until I was able to wiggle an arm out.

It would have been my great pleasure to bail him out and bring the pics of his feet flailing around for you guys!:D

You don't have far to go from the ramp to your storage spot, but I think you're gonna really enjoy those Boat Buckles. That was one of the first things I did for the boat, those stupid OEM "manual" straps were a waste of resources for whoever spec'd them.

What was the wrench situation you went with? After seeing that it wasn't that difficult to get a wrench behind the original winch mounting bracket, I wanted to figure out a way to mount the ARK in that same spot. That'll be the thing I get done just before I die, so my kids can enjoy it LOL If I ever decide to tackle that, I'll give you a heads-up, we can do a 2-for-1 while the tools are out and do both of ours at the same time.

DON'T use one of those yellow discs under the ARK tires. I did, because it would sink into the ground on me, and it ended up cutting into the tire. It's holding on for now, but I could kick myself for that.
 
It would have been my great pleasure to bail him out and bring the pics of his feet flailing around for you guys!:D

You don't have far to go from the ramp to your storage spot, but I think you're gonna really enjoy those Boat Buckles. That was one of the first things I did for the boat, those stupid OEM "manual" straps were a waste of resources for whoever spec'd them.

What was the wrench situation you went with? After seeing that it wasn't that difficult to get a wrench behind the original winch mounting bracket, I wanted to figure out a way to mount the ARK in that same spot. That'll be the thing I get done just before I die, so my kids can enjoy it LOL If I ever decide to tackle that, I'll give you a heads-up, we can do a 2-for-1 while the tools are out and do both of ours at the same time.

DON'T use one of those yellow discs under the ARK tires. I did, because it would sink into the ground on me, and it ended up cutting into the tire. It's holding on for now, but I could kick myself for that.

I think I would prefer death to having you shoot a photo of me stuck in the bilge. Death only happens once, that photo would haunt me for the rest of my days……. :)

Once I removed the clean out tray cover I could see the scupper pretty well and didn’t have to remove the water box like I’ve seen in some videos. If the clean out tray opening was a little bigger this process would be a lot easier……

Put Boat Buckles on my previous boat and completely agree - very nice upgrade.

I bought a set of Pittsburgh metric/SAE wrenches at Harbor Freight and they worked like a charm when removing the old jack from the bracket:


I looked for the thinnest wrench I could find but I think any of them would have worked. I used the 3/4” wrench but the 19mm would have been OK but there was a little play in it. Didn't have to loosen the winch stand at all and the top nut was easy to reach after the bottom one was off.

I’d be up for double teaming the Ark relocation project. It barely fits when I fold it toward the rear of the trailer and the wheel actually presses against the small trailer running light - another 1/8” and I would have been golden. :-/

I‘m almost always on hard ground so I don’t think I would something to go under it but that’s great info.

I have your scupper wrench - let me know when you’re around and I’ll drop it off.
 
Took her out for a Mother's Day spin with the whole family yesterday. Mostly fun with a few hiccups.

Getting out of the slip was still a challenge, even with my boat pointed in the right direction this time. I have to pivot to the port side and then make a starboard turn almost immediately. But somehow, I was getting pushed to the port side when trying to turn starboard, not sure if it was wind or wake. The water is usually fairly calm at this part of the marina, but I was drifting and worried that giving more input would pick up more speed than I wanted.

So I ended up brushing up against the dock and someone else's boat (they were on it) before getting turned. We called out to make sure they were good and they said "that was us an hour ago, no worries," but I still consider it basically unacceptable.

Returning to the slip was easier, but still would not be quite manageable solo.

As for being out, the lake was getting chewed up by a lot of boats and it was rougher than I wanted at times. I headed over to a no-wake bay to try to find a chill spot, but some jabroni came past doing 2.5x the posted speed and throwing a big wake before long. Later, I was heading back south somewhat in the "middle" of a large boat's wake when two other vessels approached coming from the other direction on either side. Granted, there was plenty of space, but I slowed down a bit because I wasn't sure how all the wakes were going to interact, and they basically interacted in the worst way possible, giving us a moment of pretty big chaotic water.

I'm trying to learn from this and think about what I could have done differently next time - any ideas? I'm also seeing if I can trade spots at the marina. I'm thinking that my large fenders will be adequate to protect the boat in a more exposed spot, and the tradeoff of having to walk farther to get to the boat will be worth it for the ease of getting in/out.
 
Later, I was heading back south somewhat in the "middle" of a large boat's wake when two other vessels approached coming from the other direction on either side. Granted, there was plenty of space, but I slowed down a bit because I wasn't sure how all the wakes were going to interact, and they basically interacted in the worst way possible, giving us a moment of pretty big chaotic water.

I call that “being in the blender” and it’s not much fun - I avoid it at all costs.
 
Yesterday, installed a Yamaha water separator on the Zodiac. I know what you’re thinking…

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Will it work with a Mercury? Lol

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Yesterday, installed a Yamaha water separator on the Zodiac. I know what you’re thinking…

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Will it work with a Mercury? Lol

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Yamaha and Ford teamed up a couple times for the Taurus SHO and that seemed to work well. Grab you some flex seal and keep it handy in the event those standard to metric cross threaded fittings start leaking ?
 
Yamaha and Ford teamed up a couple times for the Taurus SHO and that seemed to work well. Grab you some flex seal and keep it handy in the event those standard to metric cross threaded fittings start leaking ?

I submit the Geo Metro as a counter. Like the Yugo, the best improvement they made on the 2nd gen was to add a rear window defrost. That really helped in northern climates, so that your hands would stay warm when you were pushing that piece of crap off the road! ?
 
Got a few things accomplished this week.
  1. Installed new fast charger in place of OEM socket on passenger side.
  2. I ran a new line directly from my house batteries with a 8 spot fuse box. Then installed another fast charging port for phones and an additional socket for water pumps. Located behind my chair for easy access to filling bags.
  3. My wife’s favorite is the new Fusion/Garmin remote puck for her passenger spot. 100% wireless and connected to the current Fusion system without issue.
  4. Lastly installed fins on my new 5’6” surf style board. This is going to be the new “anyone can surf on this board,” board.IMG_1643.jpegIMG_1644.jpegIMG_1645.jpegIMG_1646.jpeg
 
Got a few things accomplished this week.
  1. Installed new fast charger in place of OEM socket on passenger side

What was the charger that you installed? I was looking to order the Blue Sea Systems 1045 to keep up with charging the Navionics tablet, not sure on the specs of what you've got there, but I'm interested if you have them.
 
What was the charger that you installed? I was looking to order the Blue Sea Systems 1045 to keep up with charging the Navionics tablet, not sure on the specs of what you've got there, but I'm interested if you have them.

I’ll second that question… I’d like to add the usb & 12 V ceeegareet lighter socket type of power points in a few locations on my boat.
 
What was the charger that you installed? I was looking to order the Blue Sea Systems 1045 to keep up with charging the Navionics tablet, not sure on the specs of what you've got there, but I'm interested if you have them.
Anything QC 3.0 or PD rated is a huge improvement over the 5v standard USB. 12v connection on the back is the same. I bought one like this that has a power on/off and a voltage display.

*Note* Android phones can use QC 3.0 but Apple doesn't have that feature. However you can use the PD with a USB-C-to-lighting (or C if you've got a new phone).

QC 3.0 is rated at 36w
PD charging rate can be as high as 20v @ 5A.

After installation I plugged in my iphone, which was at 52%. Came back approximately 10min later and it was at 72%.

Just remember to check or buy new fast charging rated cables.

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I’ll second that question… I’d like to add the usb & 12 V ceeegareet lighter socket type of power points in a few locations on my boat.

Consider doing what I did and running a separate 12v fuse box off the house battery. That way you can tie additional accessories in later from one central, fused, location without having to worry about running or tapping off the boat's OEM current (and sensitive) 12v system.

The only thing I did not do, which I'm going to add, is a switch between the fuse box and battery to cut all power if the boat is unable to be stored on a charging system (however normally always is).

Mine looked like this:

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Consider doing what I did and running a separate 12v fuse box off the house battery. That way you can tie additional accessories in later from one central, fused, location without having to worry about running or tapping off the boat's OEM current (and sensitive) 12v system.

The only thing I did not do, which I'm going to add, is a switch between the fuse box and battery to cut all power if the boat is unable to be stored on a charging system (however normally always is).

Mine looked like this:

View attachment 220103

Quick question, instead of tapping it directly to the House Battery, why didn't you tap into the DVSR House Batt side so that you don't accidentally leave it on and drain your batteries?

I haven't done it yet, but that is the route I'm going.
 
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