Getting ready

[THEFERMANATOR]

Spring time is upon us in Flawda, so it's time to get my skiff ready to go. I hate to admit it, but I've let her set awhile, so I got the injectors cleaned & flowed($86 well spent for peace of mind it won't lean out), replace the fuel lines(was sucking air somewhere), charge the batteries, changed the timing belt(looked new, but at 11+ years old it was due), water pump, oil change, and now to move on to cleaning up the console.

The previous owner mounted the lowrance elite 7(POS!) & radio on top of the console making it so you can't see squat when setting on the seat. Standing to drive didn't used to be a big deal, but my hip, knees, & back say differently now. So I'm looking for a gauge type radio to put in it to use less space, putting a seat mount in the bow so I can sit to fish, and got a new humminbird helix 7 g3 msi to mount down lower on the console so I can see while sitting(and have a plotter that will work with a map chip in it). Looking forward to trying this humminbird out, the demos show amazing detail on this one. I couldn't afford to step up to a 8/9 with the g4n and 3d side imaging out to 200' vs 125' for the 7, and I prefer the smaller transducer of the 7 vs the 8+.

[spareparts]

let us know how that humming bird works, I may try one on the bass boat

[phatdaddy]

Third foggy morning in March, Spanish Mackerel will be here
We went yesterday, kind of a shakedown cruise, so I m with you on getting ready.

You planing on flush mounting the Hummingbird? I had a flush mounted furuno on my V and didn t like it. Hard to see most of the time , seemed to always be washed out by sun when rounding up on spots. I m sure when they designed the dash layout in 1983, they no idea of the electronics that would be put on these boats.

[Destroyer]

Great to see you getting ready Ferm... Hope that's a sign you're on the mend. :love:

[THEFERMANATOR]

Nope, not on the mend. Fooled around and hurt my back, so this weekend was a wash. I'm just at the point of either I use it, or sell it. I'm not flush mounting it, for now I'm going to just use the mount for it.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Some say you can't feel a picture, but I beg to differ. I HATE doing fiberglass work. My transom is curved except for a small spot in the middle where the outboard mounts, since I'm switching to side imaging sonar, I figured I better get a pad that is flat to the transom so the side imaging will be accurate. So I'm using some gel paste I had left over to build up a pad to mount the transducer to. But I really do not miss the fiberglass itch. Once it cures, I can sand it down to a flat pad that is even, and then I can put a coat of gel coat over it since this paste is purple, and no matter what you do, you cannot get a decent off white coloring with it.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Getting close. Here's a before and after of my console. Before I couldn't see SQUAT while sitting down on plane which isn't a problem to most, but my back don't let me stand much anymore. Went ahead and decided to flush mount everything. Cleaned my console up considerably.

[Giorgio]

Looks good!!!

[Pipe_Dream]

Oh yeah, that a yuge improvement!

[SkunkBoat]

look at Stern Pad on amazon. no more holes in transom. Works great lasts forever.

[THEFERMANATOR]

look at Stern Pad on amazon. no more holes in transom. Works great lasts forever.

I considered that, but it still wouldn't have fixed my curved transom issue. A few times of building up some filler and I got a nice pad built up. Unfortunately something came up this week and the boat had to get put on the back burner. A few more hours work and she will be back in the water. Just have to finish sand the gelcoat repairs some and finish mounting everything.