The boat thread

It's raining, so I think I'll go scrub the boat. I'm going to get soaking wet and filthy in any case, but the freaking mosquitoes don't fly in the rain.

Thirsty little shiny happy people.

So I'm building a boat dolly cause who wants to pay $100+ for one? (and I couldn't find one on CL that was still a good ad)

Should I plan for the dolly wheels to be in line with the hitch, or should the axle of the wheels be before or after the hitch?

Solid line is to the hitch, so blue is in line, red is axle after the hitch, green is axle before the hitch.

I would think I'd want a little bit of the green so that when I start pulling on it it ends up in line.  

So I doubled the value of my boat with an electronics upgrade. I added a Raymarine Axiom 9 Multi Function Display. It's designed to be the central control brain for sonar, GPS chartplotting, radar, autopilot, tv cameras, augmented reality video, and it will even fly your drone for you. It uses sidescan, downscan, and chirp to build a real-time 3D model of the sea floor. 
 

on a '73 trihull worth $2000 on a good day....lol

I decided it was a good opportunity to completely rewire the boat. When I bought it a couple years back I rewired  it but I've learned some since then  I moved the fuse panel to the captains binnacle from the aft cubby. I used marine grade duplex wire, added a main battery switch and a circuit breaker for the main power run up to the panel  

6awg twisted pair...I can add another 142 circuits I think. It's mounted to a piece of UHMW Plastic so you can pull 2 screws and swing the whole thing out work on it.  

If the screen was any bigger I'd have to cut a hole in the windshield lol. The transducer is as big as the trim tab.  
 

I did a sea trial last weekend and immediately had a major problem. As soon as I got on plane the boat rolled onto the port chine, putting the gunnel dangerously near the water. Turns out the transom saver block I added was a acting like a trim tab. Even though it was 1/8" higher than the bottom of the hull, once I removed it the boat ran fine. I think the angle of the boat combined with the thickness of the plate put an edge below the running surface, causing the port side to lift. 
 

I cut the transom saver down and reinstalled it. We'll see if that does the trick. 

In reply to Mr_Asa :

The hitch should be in line with the axle. 

In reply to ultraclyde :

Nice! I went with a Simrad version, mostly for the chart plotter. 

Electronics get crazy, fast. I could drop $10k so fast on them if I won the lottery, and I'd probably catch about 4% more fish too. 

funny thing is I don't even fish lol. I wanted this so I could make my own sonar charts for the creeks we run on the coast using Navionics live charting. The 3D rendering sonar was the cool factor that bumped me up to this system over one of the triple scan fish finders. I want to look at the bottom structures in the impound lakes around here and pretend I'm Clive Cussler around the shipwrecks down on the coast. I caught the system on sale at West Marine of all places for about $400 off, plus they through in a free transducer which is normally another $400.  With all the discounts I got it just under a grand - which is what I was looking at for a 3 sonar fish finder that wasn't half as cool. 

In a different vein entirely...why do I want this boat so bad?

https://charleston.craigslist.org/boa/d/mount-pleasant-chaparral-244-fish-new/7324462969.html

25' Center line length, 8' beam, 4,100 lbs dry.
Deck off restoration in 2005 with 3 coats of White Awlgrip® paint over 2 coats of Epoxy primer on hull, deck cockpit and cuddy.
2 Coats of Sea Foam Green Awlgrip® inside over 2 coats of epoxy primer.
New Mercruiser 7.4 liter engine in fall 2019 (1 hour on engine).
Mercruiser Bravo-1 outdrive.
23 pitch Mirage® stainless steel propeller.
Compass.
Garmin® GPSMap 168 depth sounder & chart plotter.
Furuno® FCV-582 600 watt, 50/200Hz, 15-2,500 foot depth range, 8-inch color depth/fish finder.
ICOM® M502 radio.
Ancor® breaker switches on dash. Fuse block upgraded to modern mini-fuses like your car has.
Much of the wiring replaced with Ancor® tinned copper wire with Ancor® adhesive lined crimp connectors.
Windshields (with manual wipers) tilt down to stay dry in rough water or storms and up for air flow on hot day.
Custom stainless steel radar arch and top with White and Sea Foam Green Weblon® canvas.
Large fiberglass dock boxes in cockpit for gear and fish.
New teak/holly floor in cuddy in Winter 2020.
Port-Potti.
V-Berth sleeps 2.
Ample storage under V-Berth.
6 large Rod Holders along cuddy ceiling.
Storage for gear and more rods on sides above V-Berth.
Front hatch access to Anchor (or walk around sides to Anchor).
Engine cover repainted with 2 coats of Epoxy primer, 3 coats of white Awlgrip® on outside, 2 coats of black Epoxy inside in fall 2019.
Teak pulpit with Fortress® aluminum anchor, type 316 stainless steel chain and LED spotlight.
Sturdy, welded type 316 stainless steel bow rails.
Teak swim platform with type 316 stainless steel folding ladder.
100 gallon aluminum fuel tank.
Never bottom painted (blue bottom is 3 coats fo Awlgrip®).
Runs over 50mph.
Very deep vee cuts through waves.
Heavy duty aluminum 2 axle trailer (new axles in 2019, 3 new tires).
New Sunbrella® Royal Blue Tweed boat cover used 1 season.
Must sell boat because my wife has cancer and can no longer go offshore.
Have all paperwork on new motor installed by Tony at Master Tech of Charleston (Mercury® certified Master mechanic).

It's probably bigger than what I really want, it's an I/O when I'd prefer OB, it's probably on the heavy side for my F150, there's no bow seating like I want...

But damn I like the look of that boat.  

Its cause it is shiny and has a bunch of chrome and polished stainless.

In reply to ultraclyde :

That looks like a Formula F233 clone, the transom bumpout for the sterndrive (or sterndrives in some cases) was pretty distinctive.  If so it's a true deep V hull with good ride in a chop but a bit of a roll at rest.   Chaparral built a decent boat in the day, as long as the transom and stringers are dry / intact it's probably good for many more years.     Looks like it was the guys pride and joy, sad to see these ads.

11GTCS said:

In reply to ultraclyde :

That looks like a Formula F233 clone, the transom bumpout for the sterndrive (or sterndrives in some cases) was pretty distinctive.  If so it's a true deep V hull with good ride in a chop but a bit of a roll at rest.   Chaparral built a decent boat in the day, as long as the transom and stringers are dry / intact it's probably good for many more years.     Looks like it was the guys pride and joy, sad to see these ads.

Yeah, it makes me kind of sad. . He says it had a deck off restoration in '05, and there are pics of the process in the ad. I suspect the stringers and transom were redone but you'd have to confirm. Pics of the engine invoice as well. The video of the big block running sounds intoxicating....

He listed it for 28 originally and has dropped it to 20. It's been on CL for well over a month. 

Can you ride on the front deck when slow cruising and not on plane?

11GTCS said:

In reply to ultraclyde :

sad to see these ads.

Brother in law went to Carabelle, Fl to pick up a 5HP outboard for his daughter's boat from a craigslist ad.  Met an older couple in their 80s, being my BIL and that's just what he does, he started talking and got their whole life story.  Found out that the wife was diagnosed with Parkinson's and then about a year later the husband was also diagnosed.  They spent 3-4 days a week getting treatment in Tallahassee and with their failing health they just couldn't justify the guy's wood shop, the boats, the fishing equipment, or spending so much time on the road every day.  So they got a little place in Tally and were selling the place and all their stuff.

BIL gave them decent money for what he got from them, and gave them his card if they needed any contractor work at their new place, but he said they told him that they had taken trailer loads of fishing stuff to the various pawn shops and thrift stores in the area before he had gotten there.

In reply to ultraclyde :

You can sit up front at anchor for sure.  I wouldn’t have anyone up there underway, the potential consequences to someone accidentally slipping off are pretty horrific .   It’s a big boat, plenty of room in the cockpit for everyone.   

That's a lot of boat for what he’s asking.  Something similar new would be well over $100K.  She’ll be a thirsty girl though!   This may be a car forum but I can enable with the best of them on boats, go for it! 

We still have some issues to work out on fuel delivery, but she's on the water And working well enough to make three little ones happy for a day. 

Pinch - looks good man! 
 

11gtcs- yeah, more I think about it the more having someone up there in motion is iffy. We do a lot of cruising the the shrimp boat docks and such barely above no-wake speed in pretty calm water. But still. Maybe safety nets on the rails like a sailboat....

thirst isn't really my big concern. I wouldn't plan on running long distance, it's just a play boat. I have a lot more concerns about running the I/O drive in skinny salt water or launching something that big at the tiny ramps we hit down on the coast. 

In reply to ultraclyde :

That's a good looking boat. Feeding a 454 might get painful though. 

In reply to ultraclyde :

Doesn’t draw significantly more water than your outboard boat especially on plane.   It sounds like you know the area pretty well anyways.   You say “big”, it’s not that big by today’s standards.  We have 30+ foot bow riders on an inland lake up here.   A bit of a learning curve for sure in terms of docking and launching/ recovering but then you’ve done it a lot with your present boat.

Do eeet!  

I've had my 1990 boat since 2012. It's been great only requiring oil changes and sea water pumps. And gobs of fuel. Twin 502 Merc inboards are really thirsty.

We keep in in a covered berth in fresh water in the California Delta and use it probably 20 weekends a year and another 20 or so mid week ventures. 

This is just the latest boat as I've owned a boat pretty much since I was a teenager in the 70's.
 

In reply to 67LS1 :

That's a pretty baby! Love the photo with the palm trees in the background, SoCal at its finest. What's the story behind the name?

Also...You guys are going to make me call the guy, aren't you?

In reply to ultraclyde :

Wait, you haven’t done it yet? 

So...yeah, sent the guy an email. He replied.  oh boy.

He said they routinely took the boat 65mi out on fishing trips and would burn 95gal, so 1.3mpg climbing waves in the open ocean. I suspect I'd see better than that on lakes and the ICW where the waves are less aggressive.  Transom and stringers were found to be solid when the restoration was done in 2010, so not replaced. Aluminum fuel tank was inspected at the time and found to be good.  Neither of those answers give me a huge amount of comfort, but some. 

What do you guys think that trailer weighs? 1300-1400 lbs?

Boat goes about 4100lbs dry, 100gallons of fuel adds just under 700lbs, additional gear say 400lbs... I'm thinking wet boat at 5200, plus trailer. So 6600-6800lbs loaded and rolling?

My EB F150 will tow 9600, so I know I should be safe...but that's a chunk of weight. 

also, ahem...

I'm not sure why you're posting here when you could be picking it up?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

LOL, because I'm a 4-1/2 hour drive away? But seriously. I was looking at 20-22' bow riders. This is completely not the boat i was looking for...but something about it grabs me. I really need to think hard about how we will use it and if it would fit before I invest that kind of scratch. This would not be an easy boat to flip and you could get stuck with it. Even in today's stupid-hot market he's been trying to sell it well over a month, that says something. Guys that want that kind of fish boat don't wan an I/O these days. 

BTW, I don't think the hull is identical to the Formula - there are some minor differences. but the shape is definitely very similar. 

Hey, what Mr. Asa said.  Less posting / yapping on here and more going to buy it....

I don’t think you’ll have any trouble hauling that with the F 150.   I used to tow my 22’ cuddy with a 6 cylinder Explorer.  We just always made sure the trailer brakes were in tip top form.  Seriously, pulling / going isn’t the main problem it’s stopping, the truck will be fine.  1.3 MPG is about where I expected that rig to run but then he probably had it loaded with gear and ice for fishing.   Maybe a little better than that day tripping it but yeah, you need to feed the inches.    Please post pictures at the gas station on your way back.  

Don’t worry about flipping it, that is a keeper.   It’s older but seems to be in nearly new condition.  You can’t by a crappy 15 foot center console for 20 K.   

Well, since the big old Chaparral sold before I could go look at it, I guess I'll keep working on my small old Chaparral.

To that end...

I need to replace the piece of scrap plywood that my battery and 2 poly 6gal fuel tanks sit on. I threw it in the stern since the floor was soft and I didn't want to lose a battery through the floor. I'd like to use starboard (UHMW HDPE) so it looks nice without painting. Do you guys think there's any static danger when sliding poly gas tanks around on plastic sheet like that?  I know the stuff builds a hell of a static charge, and I'm always sliding the tanks around, both to remove them for filling and for balancing the boat.