Boat re work

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I bought the boat a little over 2 months ago. having had a pretty good marine guy look at it I agreed that it was untidy but usable. the plan was to Tow it up to Anglesey to have a friend fit a 40hp and new steering. I then intended to use it as it was until next year then completely strip it, paint and fit with the electrics.

 

Never gonna happen now

While it was in storage I stripped out the old deck boards, sanded down and re painted the deck. Built a new steering helm and temp fitted to find a decent position and pre drilled this into the bulkhead. After that it enabled me to fit the marine compass on top and wire it up with an internal LED for night time.

 

I then repaired/filled old screw holes in the cabin roof and temp fitted my new Marine stainless radar arch. Also I removed every single nut bolt and screw and replaced them with marine grade alternatives.

Before sanding down (I was not going to until next year) I set about positioning and drilling out the spots where my flush fitting rod holders and rod storage tubes would go, fitted and removed my fire extinguisher. Fitted the radio position, GPS and fish finder screens and made sure no crossover would occur on any wiring.

 

Next I made my own safety throw lines (fear not I am known for them) and found positions to fit 4 at key points on my boat. went into the cabin, fitted a first aid kit, timber framed for my ice-tec coolbox and framed for a removable single burner stove.

 

All good? nope, not on your life actually because in a shear moment of utter madness I took a belt sander and started to prep the outer cabin. There lies the mischief. I can not use the boat now until I have painted the bloody thing, purely because while it is good and ready and kitted out beyond what I would need for safety, the boat looks a complete mess. Full of filled patches and sanded down to the GRP.

Smooth as a babies backside, but I cannot afford the paint to damn well finish it.

I am a class fool and no mistake because now I have started, I cannot stop

 

One clever bit that I am pretty proud of. I had someone give me an NS25 fishfinder GPS unit. while wiring it all up I blew an internal fuse and was told it had had it. gutted to be sure. Then another customer offered me the same unit which I fitted.

A mate was using a Magnifying glas to find the fuse on the ruined one and bingo, he spotted it. quick bit of micro soldering and hey presto I now have two units, one for the fishfinder and one for the GPS. Now that was one lucky break!

[Coddy]

Hi Ian

 

I think we have all been there at some time, in fact I am still doing it. Going down to the boat to fix something then do that and start something else, it never stops unless you get someone else to do all the work!

 

Would love to see some pictures of your handy work sometime.

 

Keep at it and it will soon be time to go after those whiting and cod!

 

Coddy