7.4m Assassin HT Rebuild/Upgrade (AKA Snowball)

[ryangler]

Everybody likes a bit of DIY so thought I would do a quick thread, I'm punching this out quickly so don't bash me for my grammar and spelling

History- Its a 2004 7.5m Assassin Hardtop, I've owned the boat for 5 years, and brought it within 6 months of moving to Karratha in WA. It was my first boat, I brought It from my boss and whilst I didn't want something this big initially, it's been a great boat. The learning curve with 7+m boat was steep and there are not so fond memories of arguments at the boat ramp with my wife file:///C:/Users/Ryan/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif, trying to go mud crabbing in the creeks (one mates remakes of the day was I've never been 4wding in a boat before) and beach launching it in 8m tides in Broome one Christmas with it blowing a gale side on and my wife trying to hold it whilst I try to get it on the trailer. There have been plenty of good memories though with trips in the Dampier Archipelago and Montebello islands.

The boat came with twin 90hp Merc carbi 2S and it was thirsty, averaging 1L per 1km to 900m. It was always a $200 weekend to take it out. Which I didn't mind but when a 2nd hand 08 Yamaha F250B came up I jumped on it. The engine came of an ex-commercial boat out of Broome, 1000hrs, full service history, with the lower unit just replaced. The paint and cowling were a little banged up but i got it for a steal. The bloke brought the boat a 8.5m open centre console at auction repowered it and had the engine sitting on the stand for a couple years. He was moving back to the east coast and had to get rid of it that week and posted it for sale on one of the local FB pages at a great price. I jumped on it 15 minutes after he posted it for sale. I then had it resprayed for $500 at the local panel shop and then managed to sell my old carbi 2s’s for $3k.

The Plan (That Snowballed)
The initial plan was to simply weld up the old holes, respray the transom and hang the engine. Things then snowballed into simply respraying the whole boat, then again snowballed to stripping the whole boat. After all the effort of stripping the boat by hand things snowballed again and I told myself that now would be the best time to do some ally work. I decided to do kill tanks, underfloor storage box and a simple shade structure. Unfortunately the engineering company didn’t do a very good job, I won’t go into specifics but their quality and some of the things they did structurally was no good and refused to fix it. In the end I had to engage a private contractor to rectify and complete the works.

The original plan was to paint it myself in my drive way (naive) and then I got put onto a local guy in town who was a painter by trade working for one of the bus fleet companies, and I was to rent their bus booth on w/e’s. This was knocked back by the company’s senior manager so I came up with the idea to setup a DIY booth in a mates yard in the local light industrial area. I did a deal with the painter to give him the setup as part payment to paint the boat as he wants to get into doing other cash work on the side. For anyone thinking of doing the same the booth consists of the below

- 10mx5m marquee $579 + 200 freight http://alwaysdirect.com.au/commerica...t-marquee.html
- 32OD steel pipe to extend legs 1.1m to get the height I needed $100
- 2x 750mm pedestal fans $200 (Masters had them on special for $99 each they are normally 149-199 at Supercheap and the like)
- 2x work lights $80 https://www.masters.com.au/product/1...in-led-20w.jsp
- 4x second hand sheets of form ply to make the fan boxes $100 (if you send me you email I can send you a photo)
- a stack (20 sheets probably) of old 1200x1800 formply to make bottom walls where I extended the legs. Borrowed from a mate who owns a concreting company for 2 cartons
- roll of black plastic for the floor $90
- painter provided the filter material for the fan boxes which he got from work when they replaced theirs
- 300m gaffa tape (could have done without this, I was pedantic about making the booth air tight to prevent dust getting. In the end I turned the fan blowing in up to 3 and the one pulling air out to 1 to provide a slight positive pressure)

To get the job done I also brought
- supercheap compressor package (compressor, spray guns, 15m hose)
- extra 15m hose
- regulator with moisture trap
- Random orbital air sander
- 10 rolls of 50mm masking tape
- A stack of 80, 180, 240, 320 grit sanding disks (80c each from Atom Supplies)

We did need a little more air when spraying the top coats so the painter brought his little 2hp compressor and we manifolded them together with a T piece and some couplings

When it came to the paint work I went a little OTT regarding preventing oxidization, we sealed the surface by mechanically sanding to a bright finish for a max of 2 hours at a time, then applying alodine (used in aviation to prevent oxidation on planes) to that area and then move on. The reason for the maximum of 2 hours is I was instructed by a professional boat painter that the time to seal aluminium after removing oxidisation is within 4 hour period, It took us a week alone to seal the whole boat. We then applied 1 coat of Wattyl PR250 adhesion promoting Primer, 1 coat of International Paints zinc oxide primer Interguard 269(used on submerged sea structures), 3 coats of International Paints Interplus 1180 heavy high build primer and finally 1 coat of Wattyl UC230 high build primer to make for easy sanding and shaping.

Before the high build primer welds where filled (U-pol Dolphin Glaze) and shapped to provide clean lines. The primer was block sanded with 80 grit to remove the minor highs and lows, then random orbital sanded with 180, 240 and finally 320 grit to a flat polished finish. Top Coats are Wattyl Poly U400 Polyurethane, I was put onto this paint by Perth’s main rec boat painter who, does work for top tier builders like Rip Tide and Stag Boats. The top coats are thick, 3 full coats (two passes) were applied then light 320 grit sanded and another 3 full coats applied. As a comparison boats are generally painted with 3 full coats if they were final sanded with 180 grit or 2 full coats if they were final sanded with 240 grit then and that’s it. There are plans to clear the whole boat in a blue/green pearl but after the spraying the top coats the other day the level of gloss the painter achieved is fantastic so im not going to bother.

Assassin build strong boats but aren't known for there paint finish, though its a lot better in the last 5 years. My paint was 11 years old, and the previous owner didn't put a cover on it, there was a lot of flaking and lifting so I took the whole thing back to bare ally. Alot of weekends have gone into it but it came up looking magic. Ive probably put 250 hours into stripping and painting so I now understand why the pros charge $8k-$12k just to paint ex stripping and no to the level of detail I finished the welds and corners. I suppose it's like renovating a house, if your going to pay someone else to do all the work its cheaper to just by a new one....

I'm now at the stage of doing the deck paint and trailer…

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words, photo of the transom layout before with the twins

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words.

The body shop used the wrong paint code in their system and the outboard was resprayed in the older darker 2s Yamaha colour. They offered to change it but I like it.

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words.

[shaungonemad]

That's a lot of work you have done it looks good well done.

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words.​

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words.​

[ryangler]

Pictures paint a thousand words.

We dont have a local galvaniser with Perth (1600km) the closest option. I looked at other options and considered Hammercoat but apparently despite the name this has poor chip performance. I have previously used a product called U-Pol Raptor liner on the fenders, grill and bonnet of my Wrangler to protect it from trail damage with really good results.

The frame was in good nick with the galvanising doing its sacrificial job so is dismantled it and knocked it all back to bare metal than a coat of kill rust for good measure. I've then applied a thick coat of Interguard 269 and a coat of Wattyl Poly U 400 whilst still in pieces. I then partially bolted it back together and applied a thick coat of Raptor liner.

The inside of the tubes are in good knick I routinely mix liquid lanolin and boat grease in a pot on the bbq, then pour this in one of those engine degreaser attachments with the under slung 1lt pots you get in the cheap 4pce air tool kits. whilst hot I shoot this down all the tubes a couple times a year. combined with dust there is a nice thick coating on walls. Simply if air cant get to it it wont rust.

[scottar]

Looks like an all out blizzard - not a snowball. You need to find another hobby. You will be so afraid to scratch it by the time it's finished you won't use it.

Seriously though, awesome effort and top looking job.

[terryc]

Great job really enjoyed the photos, only thing was i felt exhausted looking at all the work you've done, Congratulations.

[bluefin59]

WOW outstanding job mate ,I love the colour and the finish on the boat it will be tough as I would think and the alloy work looks the goods . Be interesting to see it finished ,keep us posted mate..Matt

[ryangler]

Update; I ended up shooting the white again as the painter only applied 2 coats after applying the initial 3 coats. Between the first and second spray we shot the black and because he had only shot 2 coats the black slightly bleed through in places. I had a falling out with the painter over it and ended up shooting the white myself. Im actually really happy with the result. The painter hadnt picked up his $600 Devilbiss gun yet so I gave that a go but couldnt get the paint to flow properly. I ended up using a $60 Repco gravity feed to shoot this.

I did get a couple small runs that I knocked the top off of the next day while the paint was still somewhat plastic with a fresh stanley blade and gave them a light rub with 320. I will give them another rub with 1500 and 2000 wet and dry before I cut and buff the whole boat to flatten it out once its out of the booth.

[ryangler]

I started taping off for the texture paint to deck, foredeck, gun whale pockets, hard top roof, dive platforms, ladder steps, inside all the boxes and hatches and a strip on top of each roof rack. Its such a tedious progress, but a good paint job is all in the prep. I watched week I watched a youtube video of how to spray 2k paint and the old boy doing the video said that a good paint job is 99% prep and that actually applying the paint is the reward for all the prep done before hand, he's right. It reminds me of that Mr Bean episode where he paints his flat by wrapping everything in paper and put a fire cracker in the bucket of paint....

I plan to start spraying tomorrow arvo and should have it done over two arvos.

Once its done I will report back with some photos and tips on prep and application of this product which i have used a few times on other projects.

[ryangler]

3x 4lt kits of U-Pol Raptor Bed Liner, thinned 10% with acetone, thinned and tinted with 1.5lt International Paint Interthane 990 (tinted blue) dosed with 8:1 by volume international paints Intergrip noskid texture additive.

[ryangler]

Managed to only get the HT sprayed tonight as I ran out of light. Im really happy with the result though with plenty of texture. I ended up increasing the intergrip to 200ml per liter or 5:1 and it came out the gun no worries. Considering people will be climbing up there to get a better view from the spotting station i wanted a lot of grip. The TDS recommends a max of 8:1 otherwise it can clump up but im assuming they are spraying it with a LVLP gun with 2.0mm nozze. The shutz gun I brought a while back to shoot raptor liner in the tub of my Jeep has an approx 3mm tip and sprays a finner texture then a more common 1/4' (6mm) tip shutz gun.

I always pull the tap straight after the last coat, the box recommends 20min after last coat once its tacked off but I find I get cleanner lines straight after you just need to be careful to keep the removed tape of the surface to not ruin the finish. Another tip is when removing the tape roll it back on its self and into the sprayed area. If you dont you will get all these little tails along the edge that you will need to trim with a stanley blade the next day and even then it looks a little average. When you pull the tape early the tape cuts the edge cleanly and the edge springs back.

Another tip is not to load the product up on the edges to achieve clean lines, this finish is 3 coats and 3lt of material

1st coat I hit all the edges then infill to get coverage, I then get a small brush and touchup and missed bits on the edges. Material can come out the gun quickly and if you apply too much in one spot at once you will flatten the surface, so instead of trying to touchup bits with the gun its easier to dab a bit on with a brush.
2nd coat I build up thickness and stay just off the edges
3rd coat I added the intergrip with a quick pass over the edges to get some grit on them then empty the bottle building up thickness staying just of the edges

i shoot it from about 1/2 to 3/4 a meter away and let the material fall on the surface, to close and again you will flatten the finish. This was applied at 45psi

[ryangler]

Sprayed the foredeck, gun whales, insides hull walls hatches and boxes on the weekend.

Used the same ratios of material (eg intergrip) on the foredeck and gunwhales as I did with the hardtop roof and laid it on thick due to it being a higher traffic (use) area. I continued the protective coating half way around the bullnose of the gunwhale cap from the hardtop to the transom to protect it from eskys and dive gear that typically gets dragged up over the sides. i did the same on the bow sprit again because things tend to get dragged up over this area too

With the hull insides and boxes not being a high use area i only applied 2 coats and didnt add the intergrip
1st coat - thinned it down 25% to get it through a HVLP gun with 1.8mm tip, opened the paint flow right up and narrowed the fan, applied it till it started to run and then back rolled it to a slight texture finish with a small foam roller
2nd coat - was to give it a slight stipple finish to hide prep flaws and build the film thickness up slightly. I applied it will the Schutz gun from around 2ft away and reasonably quick passes.

With the below deck storage likely to have heavier things thrown in them I applied a 3rd coat with the shutz gun to build up the film thickness a little more.

[ryangler]

More Pics...

[ryangler]

Couple close ups of the finish

[ryangler]

Test fitting the drop down transom shelf and preping it to shoot the top with nonslip.

This was designed to hold four jerrys of either water or fuel when the engine is trimed down. It will provide an additional 80lt storage ontop of the 320lt main and 130lt sub tank. The plan is to also fit a bypass valve in the deck wash pickup with a length of hose. I will then be able to store 80lt of water on this shelf and fit a shower head to the deck wash output to have fresh water rinse on the transom.

I want to be able to do 5-10 day trips in the Kimberlys, like the below links, refilling the jerrys out of the fresh water waterfalls.the ability to have a shower will keep the missus happy.

http://fishwrecked.com/forum/full-derby-trip-report-lots-photos
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/kimberly-transit-kuri-bay

[ryangler]

Came up with another addition modification last night... With the big tides we get up here (Dampier archipelago & Monti islands 4-5.5m) and where I want to explore (Derby & Kimberlys 9.5-12m) you can find yourself sitting on the deck waiting for the water to come back in. To keep the boat upright when beached while waiting and possibly while we are sleeping I'm going to run some removable legs on the transom.

The legs will consist of heavier 60mm O.D 6mm wall tube with a 10mm base plate of say 200x200 or 250x250 and will slide into the bottom of the transom posts and held in place with a removable pin. The pin will be simple solid aluminium bar with a hole drilled in the end with a stainless wire rope looped through it and tethered off to an eyelet on the leg. In the event the leg is stuck and we have to ditch it we will be able to cut the wire loop and push the pin through (with a mallet if need be) to release it.

The aim for the boat is to be a trailable touring/exploring rig for up to four people, hence the changes to maximise usable deck space and accessibility;
Roof racks and full length shade - to store a small inflatable tender and light items like swags there is also a small frame and 150w solar panel to mount between the rear roof rack and rocket launcher. We opted for a canvas top to keep weight down and some days you actually want to be in the sun.
Transom shelf - storage to get gear off the deck whilst underway with the engine trimmed down. I can still trim up to navigate shallow water and will only need to fold the shelf up if the hull in going to be sitting on the ground
Dive ladder and transom pipework - I got the basic idea from the Mclay Premier HT range. It turns the transom into a usable space that you can actually fish off with the ladder being a leaning post. I can also step around the motor from one duck board to the other via the small triangle shapped steps infront of the live wells. this will be handy when fighting macky and other pelagics off the back of the boat and brings you out from under the shade to really work the rod. the other aim was to add a transom shower and give the wife a sense of security on the transom with the ladders up. when exploring the Kimberly you need to be mindful of freshwater crocs and Iive heard stories of crocs mounting the transom to get at the smell of scraps on the bait board
Storage boxes and kill tanks - These are simply to get stuff off the deck and potentially run small fuel bladders in the kill tanks to increase the range.
Bow ladder - To help the ladies get on and off, plus assist with tying off to bouys/moorings in bays in the Kimberly

Its all to hopefully accommodate up to 4 people (my wife and I plus a couple of friends) with a king swag on the deck and one up on the HT. Alternatively when we aren't going to be sheltered me and 2 mates will be able to comfortably swag on the deck, 3 could be a little cosy.

The big dream would be to do a 5 day trip to the Rowley Shoals (265km each way from Port Hedland) with 2 mates using a 210L plastic drum on the deck and a 100-120L bladder in each kill tank. This will depend on fuel burn with the new engine though. Previously on 4-5 day trips to the Monte Islands (100km each way) with 4 mates, we would take 320L in main tank (no sub tank then) and the 210L drum on the deck. Top the tank off when we got there, hoist the drum over the side into the drink and roll it up the beach. We would then fish for 3 days, then transfer the rest of the fuel for the trip home and get back to the ramp with around 90-100L. Im hoping to get around 1.5-1.3km per/L loaded, with it not being a really deep V hull at around 19' means it gets on the plane easily and is quite effecint.

[ryangler]

Sorry not sure how to rotate the photos.

[ryangler]

Prepped and sprayed the transom area tonight and yesterday. Again I continued the finish half way around the edge of the each duck board (swim platform) to protect it. I also put a 50mm strip on each ladder step and base of the transom engine well. The reason for the finish in the transom engine well is I get into a bit of spearfishing and the first thing that usually comes off after a dive Is the weight belt and it normally ends up in the transom well while you unload the gun (if haven't already away from the boat) and pull your fins off. The old 2k paint held up pretty well but it made sense to spray the base with this material while I was at it.

I wanted a more grip in this area as it usually gets wet so I upped the intergrip slightly again and thinned the mixture a little aswell with some acetone. The idea was that with the thinned mixture it should flatten out more and expose the particles of the intergrip more, it did the trick perfectly. To build up a decent film thickness with the thinned mixture I sprayed 4 coats.

The reason for using acetone to thin instead of top coat thinners with this product is because acetone has a much quicker evap rate. I figured, in theory this would be ideal so that the sovents would gas off quicker stopping the textured finish from flattening out as you build the film thickness up with subsequent coats. Basically cure faster. Im not a painter or qualified tradesman just a weekend warrior (with a little experience) so im not sure if this is in fact what's happening on a chemical level but it seems to be working well.

Aim tomorrow is to shoot the deck then pull all the tape and paper for the big reveal...

[ryangler]

Didnt manage to get the deck sprayed yesterday, simply ran out of light and I underestimated the amount of taping and masking. It will be sprayed today though.

Put the sprayed drop down shelf back in to see what it would look like and I'm happy with how it turned out. It will be secured in the upright position with one of those bungy cord loops. Also im tossing up between cutting some disks out of a small blue trailer roller or using a couple of domed black rubber bumpers of a Jeep Wrangler tail gate (left overfrom jeep project) mounted to the transom wall for the shelf to sit up against whilst not in use to stop any potential vibration.

Again I continued the finish around the exposed edges as they are bound to cope a knock every now and then

Took a shot of the transom from the deck looking back and im happy with how it looks and just trying to imagine the resprayed 3.3 Yamaha sitting there. If I could afford it I would love to hang a white Verado 300 or Suzuki 300 back there to really set it off., maybe one day....

[myusernam]

nice work mate and like the transom setup. Would love to see a trip report when you get out to those remote areas. enjoy

[ryangler]

Last 48hrs has been a case of high's and low's...

High's - I got the deck sprayed and it looks great, I went with the same intergrip ratios as the gunwhales (5:1) but I accidently grabbed a box of black Raptor kit instead of tintable when I brought all the gear in Perth months ago. To make it work I diluted it 6lt of International Paints Interthane 990 in N14 white and about 500mls of the Polyurethane I sprayed on the hull sides. The end result was a colour I was a little unsure about at first but I think it turned out well. It was thinner in consistency than the material I sprayed on the gun whales, having less bedliner material in it, so I had to do more passes to build up the thickness. It was thick enough in consistency to get a good splatter effect off the gun though. It wont have the hardness rating as if it was straight bed liner material but it won't be an issue as I won't be throwing the type of things that you put in the back of a ute on the boat deck, the deck will always have carpet on it. The gun whales and foredeck will likely get more of a punishment being exposed and 2k Polyurethane i mixed in the raptor liner on the deck is still a hard finish regardless.

Low's - I noticed some contamination in the black on Thursday late arvo and decided to rush to quickly sand and spray it before the deck to avoid having to mask off the deck. I fubured it. It was getting late when I started but thought I had enough time to get it done and I've also never sprayed overhead before. I could'nt get the finish to flow/flatten on the underside of the HT and was getting orange peel. When spraying a vertical surface or down on a flat surface the paint will automatical flow/flatten through its own weight, was'nt happening overhead so I really thinned it down on the last coat and got runs and sags everywhere. Its fixable and I will sand it today and reshoot it.

I previously painted the underside of the hatches just to finish them off and am thinking a neat touch will be to get a couple stickers made up for the underside kill tank lids that feature a ruler and a PB table and the name of the boat for the underside of the front storage lid.

[ryangler]

The fubar...

[ryangler]

Next step will be upholstery, then electrics & fitout. I've been accumulating bits and pieces for about 12 months. The wife and I will drive to Perth a couple times a year to catchup with family (once you consider the cost of flights and renting a car its worth it) and we bring back stuff that we can otherwise buy in town and is bulky to be economical to buy online with freight. She will be glad to get the spare room back once all the gear is out of there.

Upholstery - I've already brought all the gear to get this done through Nolan UDA, who I believe ae Australia wide, and there is a local guy that works from home that will do the stitch work for me. Colours are blue vinyl, white fluted vinyl and edge white piping. I'm having the following done by the professional

- Front seat bases, backs and arm rests recovered (blue vinyl with white piping)
- 2x 1500x450x100mm and 1x 1200x100mm base cushions for the fold out seating (blue vinyl with white piping)
- 1x 900x350x100mm base cushion 700x200x50mm seat back for the spotting station (blue vinyl with white piping)

I will attempt the following myself
Carpet - I went with the non ribbed Autex Raider in slate, I looked at the more expensive floor coverings but couldn't justify the cost, not that they are not worth it but I wanted to spend the money else where, I also considered the more expensive carpets but when I had a looked at the specs (thickness and GSM rating) and feel under foot the Raider won and I previously had the ribbed reef version. It might sound fickle but you can notice standing on marine carpet on the deck all day. I went to the Mandurah Boat Show last year and had a sticky beak at the luxury motor yatchs where you had to take your shoes off. one of the first things I noticed, other then the prices on the leaflets, was how nice the carpet felt under foot. I looked at some carpet underlay but there was nothing on the market that wouldnt grow mold getting wet regularly. As an alternative I've brought 5mm blue closed cell foam that I will stick to the bottom of the carpet, I tested it in the Nolan UDA showroom and it's no motor yatch alternative but it was much nicer than the marine carpet alone. The surface of closed cell foam can be relatively easily marketed and torn so I will also glue something to the bottom of it so the deck grip dos'nt tear it up and create a breathable void between the foam and deck. Possibly either Heshan or shade cloth material. Im also going to run the carpet east/west with glued and taped joins instead of north/south so it will span hull side sheet to hull side sheet, why they don't make 2.5m wide marine carpet I have no idea.

Coaming pads and transom wall seat back - Im going to attempt to make coaming pads for the gun whale as per this link http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-how-s-kerno-memorial-forum/651335-diy-coaming-bolster.html#b . I can't get star board up here so I will use some marine ply and I am planning to put some verticle strips of blue vinyl in to break up the fluting. Im also going to make a seat back for the transom wall bench seat using the same method. Another tip I've read on another thread is to punch small s/s eyelets in the bottom edge of the coaming pads to let the foam breath.

The thicker 25mm closed cell eva foam is to
- insulate the kill tanks. I will just liquid nail the cut to length pieces to the back side of the walls.
- insulate the trans live bait tanks / hatches. I going to cut out some drop in panels that will turn these into insulated bins. based on there size they will each hold a carton of drinks so when the seats are folded out to create u shapped lounge area so people wont need to get up to get drinks out of the kill tanks

[Cobbo1]

Mate from someone who has been a spray painter for 7 years, you are doing awesome, dont get down about the sags it happens to the best of us, and painting overheard is not something that would usually be taken on by someone with little experience, give yourself a pat on the back you're doing great

[ryangler]

Cheers Cobbo1, I managed to get the first two coats on fine/flat(ish) everywhere bar the underside of the HT, and just thinned it to much on the final coat. It was getting late at around 5:00ish with the 2nd coat and started to have trouble seeing my wet line and started to rush only allowed 10-15min for flash off then got into the 3rd coat starting at the underside of the HT which is where I finished the 2nd coat. I had trouble trying to see the fan and making sure to not load up material on the vertical face of the 25mm square section on the underside. Knowing that it would run easily in this area. I then came into trouble where the inside wall of the HT meets the roof because I had alredy applied material there when I started and finished each pass on the roof so when I did my first pass at this overlap It just started to run.

Ive done some reading since and it seems 9/10 most single stage jobs require a cut and buff to get a good finish. I had considered knocking the top of the runs with a stanly blade then hitting it with 320, 1000, 1500, 2000 then cut and buff. Do you think that would be a good idea or it would he easier to just 320 it and reshoot? Considering the photos only show 50% of the runs. There is plenty of film thickness so I wont need to worry about thin paint or rubbing through. Im getting mixed opinions on the hotrod and resto forums with some saying sanding will take just as long as reshooting it.

[ryangler]

Had the day off yesterday... the wife passed a comment that these days if its not boat related im not interested......... She is pretty patient so when she says something it's generally a fair call so I took her out for lunch and took the dogs to the beach.

I spent today getting the trailer going, giving it another coat of raptor liner (had two bottles left otherwise would'nt of bothered), and then fitting it off with the axles, rollers, wiring etc. Everything has been replaced including all bolts bar the axle beams/shafts, winch, and rollers and off course the frame. I thought long and hard about building my own aluminium trailer as per this link http://fishwrecked.com/forum/new-aliminium-boat-trailer-build with the idea being I could use my existing coupeling, draw bar, winch post and winch, axles, rims, tyres, brakes, lights and wiring. Then all I would need is the I beams, bunks, cross members, brackets, bolts and guards. I figured I could get it done for under $ 3.5-4k but came to the conclusion that there wasnt anything majorly wrong with my existing trailer its just needed some maintenance and new protective coating. With some of the launching I do, creeks and beach, plus plan to do, it also makes alot more sense to have the rollers. You can also break the back of trailer which I had to do once whilst retrieving off the deck the ground in a 9m tide in Broome's roebuck bay. The water was running out so fast it was ridiculous I would back the trailer up to the nose jump out to winch it up and then have to push the boat back further to keep water under neath it, then reverse back again. In the end we just let it run out and winch the boat of the deck.

An ali trailer would be nice and look the part but what I have is more purposeful for what I need. I did however opt for S/S where i could to limit future maintenance.

I haven't decided what to do with the black around the cab just yet. I don't have enough black to respray it and they only sell it in 5lt kits @ $150 when I will only need 2lt max. If I sand, cut and buff I will need to buy a few bits and pieces too and it may take longer but I was going to give the whole thing a light cut and buff when I finish anyway. I'll sleep on it

[Cobbo1]

Personally I would go with a reshoot, but thats because after 7 years I'm sick of flatting and buffing, if it was me, I would flat it down, and then go with 1 maybe 2 coats of clear over it again, if you finish the black with fine enough paper say 600 grit, the clear will flow nicely, and no need for buffing, in tight areas its very easy to buff through or burn and all your hard work will go to waste

[ryangler]

Cheers Cobbo1, I actually reshot it this arvo and it turned out much better its still going to need some flattening in sections but nowhere near as much work as it did before and only 2 small runs that I will nick with a razor when its still a little plastic tomorrow morning.

I thought masking of the floor (done it ass about face should have got all the top coats done and then done the nonslip :-? ) was going to be a PIA but I ended up using the old blood stained (mackie and tuna) carpet. It worked well at first till my shoes started to stick to it with the overspray.... >:(.... ended up putting a couple sheets of form ply on the deck to work off of.

Started pulling all the tape and found a couple other issues I will need to fix, seems like I'm going around in circles a little at the moment
- Some how paint bled under the masking tape running under the side windows. To fix this I'm thinking I will tape the black off and hit it with some wet and dry on a block along this edge to knock the black of and get down to the white to clean the line up.
- A few patches of overspray I will hit with wet and dry.

Not sure how the above two happened as I'm really meticulous with taping off, so a bit of a pain.

The third problem is going to be a little trickier to sort out. when I masked off the non skid where its meets the black of the windscreen the paint has got under the tape. I should have used a more flexible tape on the nonskid like duct or cloth tape as the masking is to stiff and just sits on top of the grit leaving voids for the paint to get under. the problem is I have approx 650ml of Prt A for the tread paint left at 3:1 Hardner gives me approx 850ml plus intergrip 5:1 leaves me with 1000ml of material. This wont go far if I shoot it so im going to dig the black out with a stanley blade and use a small roller along this edge and anywhere else i has a little over spray on the nonslip.

Im itching to get it out of the booth to give it a pressure clean and remove all the tape residue and see how much work I have left in the paint.

[ryangler]

Stripped all the masking and cover of the deck and found a little over spray. I saved enough material to put another coat on the deck knowing something would happen and I wanted to put a further coat on the deck with the hatches in place to ensure an even texture/finish across the hatches and deck. The painted lockers turned pout pretty good too.

[ryangler]

So out came the gun again for another coat. the paint shop was out of intergrip so I went and got a bag of washed white sand. There was moisture in the bag so I put 5 cups in a wok on the stove to dry it out and let it cool. TBH i probably should of just went with the white sand from the beginning and saved myself $60. The intergrip has an advantage in that its lighter so doesn't settle at the bottom of the gun pot, at the pickup, to ensure even dispersion. With the sand if you just give it a shake every 10-20 sec's its not a problem, its naturally harder (heavier) so should provide a tougher finish too.

After I shot it I got into stripping all the masking off as its only touchups now.

It seems considerably darker in the photos but was later at night and the sun was setting, I think it will dry lighter too.

I also rolled the anchor well as to in the deck paint so that its a different colour to the foredeck. I just had this picture of my wife of another female friend coming up the bow ladder not noticing the anchor well and stepping into it, taking a tumble.

[ryangler]

Tomorrow will be a big cleanup and get it on the trailer to start the fitout. Ive got a deadline to have it done before the end of the first week of September. (11th)

[ryangler]

Got it on the trailer and in the sun today... the blue really lit up...

To say im happy with the result is an understatement and also a little chuffed considering first ever boat project, first ever 2k paint job (previous paint project consist of only a drift pig sprayed septone acrylic matt black, spraying the guards and bonnet of my Jeep wrangler with Raptor Linner and underbody black on the wrangler too)

The project went from
- Picking it up from a mate yard where it sat for 18 Months after removing the engines and telling myself, and the wife, this wont take long couple of months max
- Convincing myself, and the wife, a full respray will be easy and not take long that I will spray coats during the day rolling out some black plastic on the common driveway of our duplex while everyone is at work with their cars, overspray wont be a problem ::)
- Stripping it in late summer (Karratha 35+ every day) with a RA air sander in the single undercover bay of our quadruplex with the HT and nose hanging out wife getting annoyed
- Getting it 85% stripped and the neighbours complaining (understandable) me thinking what have I got myself into and my mate offering to use his commercial yard space and telling him i will be out within 3 weeks
- Getting it fully stripped and me thinking what have I done, Ive f##ked my boat its going to cost me a fortune to pay someone to paint this up here (karratha)
- Bloody welders... call them self an engeneering company blah blah blah... I will sort it out myself
- Right lets just tidy up these welds only a day or two > week and a half latter
- How the hell am I going to paint this thing
- Get put onto a painter > great we will paint it at the bus booth at your work > and then not
- Ok temporary spray booth time then a week of 50-70k winds and the marquee almost taking off
- Painter starts and we run short of primer
- Primer on great there is light at the end of the tunnel
- Black 1st go > runs and orange peel > will fix it later lets do the sides
- Sides done looks great this guy (painter) is really good
- Try to spray all the white at once get runs and decide to sand and reshoot later
- Ok lets do the black again and break the white up into two sprays
- Black = orange peel and having to redo again starting to loose faith in painter
- Spray white > run short on a Sunday (paint shop closed) after asking the painter 4 times if he will have enough of paint > have to rub back to reshoot
- Spray half the white > yay he's got it on
- Painter takes off for 1 1/2 weeks > bugger it I will do it myself
- Spray 2nd half of white hey that turned out all right I can do this
- Spray the black > oh I f%%ked it, why cant I get this flat
- 2nd attempt > that will do lets get it on the trailer

Ups and downs

[shaungonemad]

Awesome looking rig thats an incredible amount of work you have done well done.

[ryangler]

Cheers Shaungonemad

A couple photos of where I started working on it and how naive I was. It was fully stripped before we applied the alodine and if I ever done another boat project I would opt for soda blasting as opposed to sanding with a DA... ::)

[shakey55]

A magnificent job. Well done. Bet your looking forward to maiden voyage

Keep the progress pictures coming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ryangler]

Stripped tape and started to tidy up over spray today. I've been lucky, in that where the black has bled under the tape, I've been able to lightly scratch it off with a fresh stanley blade. Clean lines straight lines. on another note never by cheap tape its a PIA. I had read about it previously but when I went to buy it no name brand was $2 the Blue 3m stuff $7.5, Regretting it now as it wont peel off cleanly in reasonable size pieces. Its like an inch at a time. Hoping to 1500 RA sand tomorrow then onto the mechanical buff. Aiming to start rewiring on Wednesday but probably more like Thursday.

Fitted the cover plates and seats today to see how it looked and the missus come out and had a look. Needless to say she likes the "entertaining area" as she put it.

another tip 70% WD40 & 30% turps makes great tape residue remover. Then neutralise it with wiping over with 30% metho 70% water .

[ryangler]

Woke up with an idea for the side graphics.

The boats name is Liquid Therapy or My Liquid Therapy undecided... I came up with it because I hardly ever drink anymore and my mates give me stick about it every now and then...

Im thinking of having Liquid Therapy in a fluid caligraphic font with a Clipart beer bottle pouring out onto the L and as the Y comes around on itself, run this off as a tight fishing line into the mouth of a jumping billfish. this would all be in white vinyl against the blue hull sides

This is a mock up to send off to a designer but gives you an idea

[PROS]

Mate great effort, well done
I know how exactly much effort it takes for the prep work from my 6mt repaint project, I still hate site of seeing sand paper.

How are you ever going to drive this boat in a relaxed way about upcoming paint scratches, I have no idea.
I just smile nowadays if I discover a new one and consider them battle scratches with great memories behind.

Enjoy, not far left to go

Max

[ryangler]

Cheers PROS That pretty much exactly how I feel, so over rubbing/sanding, want to move onto the next stage.

I won't be doing another boat project in a while although I did see this the other day and start to dream of a world cruiser build AKA "Liquid Therapy II", selling everything and taking off for a couple years following the trade winds west ::).... apparently the whole keel was ripped out and hull fractured on the port side hull when they pulled it back of the beach after grounding in a storm, started to think about all the sanding, bogging and faring in a project like that and said bugger that...

One day maybe...

[ryangler]

Struggled with the tape and residue again today, its a huge PIA... whats that saying you either pay at the start or at the end... i was originally thinking of running strips of 50mm tape along all the shade pipework instead of papering it. Very glad I didnt otherwise I would be in a world of pain right now.

Managed to get the shade bar work stripped and will hopefully start wet and drying the black tomorrow

[ryangler]

I took a couple of days off then got back into it, the tape residue was a nightmare, I can ABSOLUTELY recommend buying 3m (green or yellow) or another quality tape it will cost more but the time you save easily outweighs the cost. In the end to get all the residue off I had to pretty much wipe the whole boat down with WD40, the WD40 dissolved the glue without effecting the paint but this leaves the WD40/glue mix on the surface, we then had a days of 50km/h winds, and this residue mix attracted a tonne of dust. Dish washing liquid wouldn't dissolve this oily residue so then had to wipe the whole boat down in Wax and grease remover to dissolve this and then spray the whole boat in a CT14 degreaser mix and wash with a bucket of water and pressure cleaner. The more expensive tape would of cost me max $100 but instead I wasted 1-2 days cleaning the boat. the reason I had to get the surface completely clean was to avoid the Wet & Dry paper getting gummed up when flattening.

For flattening Youtube says proper procedure is
If using Wet & Dry Sheets (cheaper but longer)- start with 1500grit, then 2000grit, then cut with a compound using a wool buff, then polish with a foam pad (you can use a swirl mark remover and foam pad priod to polishing if needed/wanted)
If using DA Disks (more expensive but quicker)- using a DA with foam backing pad start with 1000grit, then 1500 grit, then cut with a compound using a wool buff, then polish with a foam pad (you can use a swirl mark remover and foam pad priod to polishing if needed/wanted)

I started by hand and then through it in after doing one section with only the 1200 grit. I need to make up some time I've lost and ordered some DA disks on Ebay. The results with the wet and dry was very good but to time consuming. For a cutting compound I used Kitten products mainly due to the price, Repco has 2 tins for $15 at the moment and 3m Perfet It was $90 for 946ml and it would be order in. Starting with the black tin, then the red tin, then switching to a foam pad and using Maguires Scratch X (swirl marks) and finishing up with Kitten green tin. The results speak for them self, fixing my average job on the black. It didnt look to bad until you got up close. A good photo showing the difference is the one with the corner of the H/T the RHS hasnt been flattened and the LHS has.

considering this is 1200grit then compound buff its pretty good, though i had read online that the black Kitten is quite abrasive and will get out 1200grit scratches. apparently its the compound and polish of choice for all the old school hot rodders.

[ryangler]

Good vids here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Hd9FO_Kew

[ryangler]

Leaving the paint now until the discs arrive Ive moved onto the electrics, to fit there is
- 20m White 5050 strip lights to cab roof, cab front under dash, shade frame, gun whales, bait board, anchor well, dash storage box and maybe bait and kill tanks
- 15m Red 5050 strip lights to cab roof, cab front under dash, shade frame, gun whales
- 8x 15w work lights, 2 facing out the rear and 3 down each side spaced at roughly 2m
- 240w front light bar
- 2x 3700gph bilge pumps, one on a float switch and the other on a dash switch
- new deck wash pump
- new nav and anchor lights
- Fusion system with amp, sub, 4x 7inch speakers and 4x 6inch speakers
- DIY LED Transom lights
- 12 gang membrane switch panel

I may require up to 18 switches but might look to group some together instead of getting another 12 gang membrane switch kit


White LED
1 Cab
2 Shade
3 Gun Whales
4 Bait Board
5 Anchor Well
6 Bow under dash storage
7 Kill & Front Tanks

Red LED
8 Cab
9 Shade
10 Gun Whale

Power
11 Bilge Pump
12 Deck Wash
13 Nav Lights
14 Anchor Lights
15 Transom Lights
16 Rear Spot
17 Side Spot
18 Front Spot

Im also considering a DIY custom switch panel using stainless push on/off Halo LED switches but because these are only rates to 5amps some circuits will require relays and it could turn into a bigger job then im picturing in my head. Actually based on how things have gone so far, will be a bigger job then I think it will be. Need to stay of the DIY forums as im just creating more work for myself.

I don’t know, have to think about it, the end result would look pretty shmick.

For electronics im piecing together a Simrad kit at the moment. Im thinking

1xNSS12 EVO2
4G Radar
AP24 Auto pilot pack minus Ap24 controller (AC12 Computer, RC42 Compass, RPU80 Drive Pump)
HS35 VHF
RS35 Handheld VHF for spotter station
SonicHub 2
Go Free WIFI
Network Expansion Port
1kw Transom Mount Tranny
Structure Scan Transducer
New GME bases and 1.8m whips

Im removing the AP24 controller as I plan to use the NSS as the AP controller. Its probably a fair bit of information to run off one unit (sonar, gps, radar, AP, music) but apparently the layout and functionality is fantastic. Also when the new EVO3 drops in December I will likely get either the NSS 7 or 9 as a 2nd screen to free up screen area. Its also rumoured to have the new StructureScan 3D inbuilt then network them together. The 3D Structurescan is a $1300 standalone module at the moment, so for a couple months weight and an extra 1000-1700 I will get an additional screen, as opposed to spending $1700, on an NSS7 Evo2 now.

Due to the long deck space I will likely mount and connect up via WIFI an old Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 out the back somewhere to vie the fish finder while drifting. Initial thought is the shade cross bar, between the posts above the bait board on some form of Ebay mount and wire a USB plug up there aswell to power it. having it directly under the shade should keep the sun off it and make it easier to see

[Kondo 1]

HonestLy keep the autopilot controller, tactile buttons are far easier to use for something like that than touchscreen.

I can use both in my Furuno setup but always revert to using the controller, much easier and if you need to flick it off in a hurry (in traffic or an obstacle) I find the controller much easier and safer to use in a hurry and/or in the slop.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ryangler]

Cheers Kondo1, I actually pulled the trigger on ordering the gear last night.

I ended up keeping the AP24 controller as I read the same opinions on Hulltruth regarding the handyness of having the controller. I also added Th OP40 controller with the knob that im going to mount on the spotting station. The idea is when on the trawl and working birds I will be able to set the speed then duck up to the spotting station with a tablet linked to the NSS with wifi to view the sounder and plotter then steer the boat with the knob. I'm not going to kid myself and think that I can drive the boat from up there at any kind of significant speed but 6 knots will be fine and I will always have people on the deck to knock the engine out of gear if need be.

nothing like buying some new gear to get a 2nd wind to get the project finished.

[Kondo 1]

Good work - interesting to see how good the wifi goes, I haven't used simrad wifi but always had mixed results streaming to a tablet from my gear. I am sure it will be fine.

At 6 knots with the controller if it isn't too busy you will be right, depends mostly on the heading sensor and how good it is because you will be setting a heading and it steering to that, not steering the motors directly so to speak.

I have struggled to get the accuracy in the past with flux gate heading sensors, but now I use the SC30 satellite compass and they are unbelievable for accuracy. Obviously different gear, but maybe in the future if you struggle look toward the Simrad equivalent satellite compass.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ryangler]

Bit of an update...

Had to focus on other things that last fortnight so whilst I havnt physically been working on the boat ive been focusing on planning the next stages at night. Living in a remote town I can't just pop into an Upholstery Shop/ Whitworths/ 12v shop supply, to get things I have to order them in or online and wait a week or two. On the shopping list has been
- Lenco 12x12 trim tabs with led indicaor
- Viper2 1000w winch
- 12v gear (fuse blocks, switches, etc etc)

Ive sanded all the paint now except the bar work and hull sides. I will give the bar work a quick once over and the hull sides im going to clear coat. I know why they call it colour sanding too, because it makes a hell of a mess. Initially i was burning through dics quickly and figured there had to be another way and read about damp sanding. Basically the same as wet sanding with a block but you use much less water out of a spray bottle and then squeagy of the slurry. Started with 400 grit with little pressure then went to the 1200 and worked it get the 400 scratches out. You normally wouldnt use 400grit, from what I have read the courses you would normally go would be 800grit, but admittedly some of my finish was like braille :P::) so the 400 grit made the job quicker and easier i then had to sand/squeagy 3 times to get the 400 scratches out. also in normal circumstances you would probably go through to the primer doing this but because the paint is so thick I didnt have to worry about that.

I did go through to the white in a couple small areasnot because the blacks thin by any means but I wasnt paying attention and didnt hold the palm sander flat to the surface. I will mask off and roll on a couple coats with a small foam roller then blend with some wet and dry, Having to mask everything off to use a small touch-up gun would be a PIA and you shouldn't see it after being a solid colour from the same pot.

So moral of the story is "if you cant spray well, spray lots" cause you can always flatten it after (can just imagine the pro's out there cringing). Once buffed it should look like glass.

Obviously this isn't an efficient way of doing things, which is why a pro's charge what they charge. A pro would quickly go broke painting a boat like this with the extra materials used, and no hypothetical client would pay for the man hours ive put in. I like to think the finish is above what you would expect of a factory finished boat though. Im not sure what a pro would of charged me to paint a boat like this, any one know?

So ifs buffing and done.

[ryangler]

Messy job, had cleaned the deck a couple times prior to this...

[ryangler]

So been planning the dash too because I want to flush mount the displays. I'm going to have a display/dash box welded up out of ali that I will spray black and will be bolted down from underneath the dash to hide the fixings.

It will hold a couple of NSS12's with 20 stainless LED halo buttons underneath all mounted into a sheet of black acrylic sheet. I saw these buttons initially on Hulltruth and always thought they looked slick (need to stay off that site as I keep adding more work for myself). The Buttons are only rated to 3A so will need to run some relays on certain circuits. I will mount the Trim tab and anchor rocker switch on the RHS of the wheel. the HS35 VHF and Sonichub2 Dock will be mounted into the blue overhead console panel and the RS35 will fit in a charging cradle next to the dash box.

Because iIdont have a lock up cab If there is enough room I plan to mount some of the modules like AP Computer, AP compass, Sonic Hub and network expansion port, in the dash box with all cables travelling through a 1 1/2 hole in the dash to the underside, this way they wont be exposed to thieving fingers and out of sight. Im also thinking about fixing the acrylic cover plate,that will cover the NSS fixings, from the back inside the box, then using 4 wheel studs to mount the box to the dash and use those anti theft wheel lock nuts to bolt the box down. So to remove the screens you will first need to remove the acrylic and to do this you will need to remove the box. I will mount a pc fan in the dash as it might get a little hot in there.

Im also going to get the boats name water jet cut out of blue dash panel where it covers the white dash, so the white comes through.

Generally if I can picture it and then draw it, I can then normally build it so here goes....

[millzee]

Thats awesome work your doing, I look forward to seeing the final results. Well done 8-)

[scottar]

Don't mind me - just re read your post - you have got it covered.

[ryangler]

Don't mind me - just re read your post - you have got it covered.

Certainly appreciate any tips, tricks or advice ;D

[scottar]

Was just the heat issue. Suspect you will definitely need the PC Fan. Try and find one that runs quiet or it will give you the sh*ts (if and when you turn the stereo down and your ears stop ringing :P) I use one to cool an inverter that runs a PC but in the size I needed I couldn't find a low noise variant.......it's annoying.

[scottar]

Also with your box design, think about a brow and having them a bit more vertical - serves a dual purpose - keeps mid day sun off your displays and stops them putting light on your screen at night.

[ryangler]

Scottar, yeah it took me a while to decide on this angle, 70', as I was actually going to lay it back further at 65'. I was kind of hoping the new screen tech was good in full sun light but Im not sure as im coming from a 8yr old Furuno 582. its not like a bracket where you can change it afterward. I had convinced myelf that if it worked on the dash of a centre console it should be fine but there HT's do span gunnel to gunnel providing shade from the side where as i have a window right there on the RHS

the first design had the RHS display rotated in a little but drawing it became a pain which would of meant transfering it to sheet/plate would of been a pain

To keep costs down so far to date I have cut all ali pipe, bar and plate myself with a 1mm disc on a 5inch grinder and bent any plate with my mates old school hand powered finger bender. Ive then taken it to an engineering company to weld up or in.

To create a bit of a hood I could run the side panels through past the front face make the back and top panel as one piece with the top face to running through past the front face too. if i had it welded from the back I could then have the acrylic snug up to the hood at the edges without having to bevel the edge for the weld.

hmmm...

[ryangler]

This is the look I'm going for with the dash. Ideally I wanted to just run the one NSS12 initially as I've read there is a good chance the evo3 be announced in November with the $1200 StructureScan 3D module built in and the ability to run dual band chirp transducer. I just hope the overall dimensions of the units stay similar.

Also if I can manage to get the wiring to look like this I will be pretty chuffed with myself

[scottar]

The new screen shouldn't be an issue with vis in full sunlight but heat can still damage them. If you lay it back on that sort of angle, the brow required to keep glare off the screen will be quite large. Easiest way I have found to mock up a console is cardboard and tape

[ryangler]

A bit of an update..

Had a bit of a holiday so not much has been physically achieved. I'm into the upholstery now, cutting, glueing and getting all the pieces ready for the professional to do the stitch work. I used a combination of closed cell, open cell foam and recycled the old foam from the seats. the denser closed-cell distributes the load to the softer open cell so you dont sink into the foam and provides plenty of support, I use the front edge of the seat base as a leaning post whilst driving so Ive wrapped the closed cell around the front to provide support in this area too. If I had direct access to a supplier I would have just run with a thicker piece in the bases instead of layers but on the last trip down to Perth I could only fit one sheet of foam in the Grand, with everything else I had, and had to opt for the thinnest thickness I needed which was 38mm. It would have been cheaper too as being so porous it absorbs alot of glue which comes at a cost.

Coaming blosters are 38+5mm EVA Blue
Bases 50+38+10mm EVA Blue top and bottom
Backs 5mm EVA (Bottom) + 38 + 10mm EVA Blue top

This will all be mounted on 9mm marine ply and fixed using stainless T nuts and bolts. One problem I've stopped the bolsters 700mm short of the transom but they are still 3075mm long I want them as one piece but marine ply only comes in 2400mm lengths so I'm thinking of different options, maybe some sort of manufactured poly cladding board I can cut down.

Once I drop the upholstery off, I will jump into the electrical. I now have a clearer plan/idea and am just waiting for a few things to arrive, but most of it has. The attached plan isn't quite complete but gives you an idea of the circuits.

I've change plans with the electronics after moose brought my attention to the stand alone Simrad units S2009, R2009 and some info regarding the EVO 3's leaked. I will now be running
- NSS16 + S2009 + R2009 (only $400 more then twin 12's)
- HALO 3
- NAC-2 AP Computer, HS60 GPS Compass, RPU-80 Pump (dont think I will get the AP44 controller seems pointless with the OP40 and NSS16)
- OP40 controller (cab)
- HS35 VHF
- RS35 Handheld VHF
- SonicHub 2
- Go Free WIFI
- Network Expansion Port
- OP50 controller for spotting station
- Structure Scan 3D
- SS175-HW
- I will add a SS175M and BSM4 next year when I do my deeper trips

I managed to sell the NSS12, 1kw tranny, 4G radar and through hull Structure scan for almost (kind off) what I paid for it on the agreement I would give the fella a hand to install and only lost a few hundred dollars on the AP pack. The blow was softened when I found out a good childhood mate, I hadn't seen in a while, now works for BCF and they get a hell of a staff discount ;). The fellas I sold the gear too are also great blokes and will probably keep in touch with them to which is a bonus.

**note the cardboard protecting the table, learnt my lesson after I ended up in the dog house last time, when the glass in the old one exploded as I tried to quickly buzz some mild steel together with the welder. It was only a cheapy we were given 2nd hand a few years ago but it made a hell of a mess. One minute I'm welding away and then bang the work piece disappears to the floor and there is little glass squares (safety glass) everywhere. Hind site I should of known better and stupid thing to do ;D

[ryangler]

1600km trip home with not much room for anything else. ;D pup was over it after the first couple hrs...

[mal555]

A quick thread he says! ;)
Obviously living remotely makes you think of self sufficiency, both renovating the boat and cruises into the Kimberly.
I like your style mate, top job so far with everything. As with many others, looking forward to seeing the end result as well as the cruises into the Kimberly's.

The Brits have been using legs to stabilise their boats when sitting on the hard, for many years. Like you, huge tidal variations.
Keep up the good work!

[Cobbo1]

How's it all going mate? Really liking this thread

[ryangler]

Well after putting it away for 6 months and busying myself with other projects I realised summer is only around the corner and the idea of working on it instead of using it during 40c+ heat wasnt very appealing.


The first step was to give it a thorough pressure washing.. more updates to follow... :)

115974115975

[myusernam]

any updates?