Splashdown!
 

Put the V in the water today. I bought it in October, so this was much anticipated. The boat handled very well, but the engine didn't seem 100%. We ran it for an hour or so and it felt rough - the whole boat was vibrating at low speeds. And the tach isn't working right - it was erratic from 0 to 7000 rpms randomly and most of the time pegged at 0 (I have it set to 3 / 6 cyl).
We dropped in at a friend's for a beer and to show it off. After half hours rest it idled and ran much smoother. Never pushed it all the way but never got it over 30 mph. I'm thinking about having a mechanic look it over and tune it up.
I may also need a new throttle control or maybe the cables can be adjusted. It's not very responsive - kinda have to jam it to move it forward sometimes. It's just not smooth acceleration.
Regardless... it was great to get it in the water. Gonna be a good summer!

NICE!!!
:clap::beer:

Nothing better.....nice job. get those few things worked out and you'll bee golden. Boat looks great in the water!

Looks good man. One day mine will look that good!:beer:

WAY TO GO!!....you'll get all those little bugs worked out soon...great looin V you got there...ENJOY!!:party:

Out at night on your maiden voyage?

You got cajones, bro.

Congrats, and nice photos.

Boat looks good, how is your anchor mounted and do you like it? Gotta pic?

Pretty V! Congrats!

Looks great. Just uncovered mine at lunch today. Its only 34 here right now but in my mind its April and she needs to be in the water. Cannot wait to launch!

Looks new. Congrats. If it weren't for all the plastic (kayaks, decking on the dock, and the later model boat across the canal) that one pic could have been shot when the Wellcraft was new.

Thank you everyone!

This is a Lewmar anchor roller from West Marine for about $160. I think it will work great mounted as far forward on the bow as possible. You could also build a bow pulpit, but I decided I didn't need one and had enough to do. I haven't used it yet, but the concept is that you pull the pin that holds the chain... the anchor goes down. When you hoist it back up, you pull it tight and replace the pin. I think it will help for anchoring by myself, as my crew will often consist of my wife and son. At 3 years old, it'll be awhile till he starts pulling his weight on deck.

Thanks! I think that is the route I'll go too

Awthacker, two things you need to do/learn. First, put a lanyard on that anchor pin. Destroyer's First Rule of boating clearly states: If it can fall over the side, it will. (I highly recommend using Berkeley black vinyl covered wire leader. It lasts for years, doesn't rust, looks neat and is a cinch to make up). Second, learn how to make an eye splice on the bitter end of your line. Attach the anchor shackle thru the eye. It makes for a much neater appearance and goes thru the hawse pipe a lot easier. Other than that, really well done job. :clap:

as long as we are getting picky, i would also recommend safety wiring the clevis pin in the shackle on both ends of the chain. they will not come out when you want them to and back out when you don't want then to.

Complete agreement. :beer:

The anchor pin is welded into place and will not come free. I do need to replace the beaded chain that retains the lid to the rope/chain hole. Wire leader is what I was thinking - coated is a better idea.

I don't know knots very well. This is an "anchor hitch" I found online. I was gonna tie or tape the tail back. An eye splice sounds smart... is it as strong?

Any pictures? I googled and can't find an explanation of how-to or a picture. I'm all for taking extra measures to preserve my anchor... my life depends on it!

Ok, if the shackle's pins are welded then there's not much you can do except cut them off with a hacksaw and buy new ones. If you go that route make sure you get anchor shackles.

The coated wire leader works very well.

The rope/chain hole is called a hawse pipe.

Rope is called line. Line starts out as small strands of rope that are twisted together to make a strand. Three strands are then twisted together to make a line.

The chain is called an anchor rode.

The tail or end of a line is called the bitter end.

A rope with a knot will reduce a ropes breaking strength by 40 to 65%, depending on the knot.

An eye splice will still retain roughly 95% of the ropes strength.

You will need to get a metal (not plastic) thimble of the right size for the rope you are using, and either a lighter or some masking tape. The thimble keeps the line from chaffing and greatly increases the life of the line. Most people will tape the ends of the strands with tape. I like to use nylon line, so I usually melt the ends of the strands with the lighter and while they are still hot I form them into a point. The point makes weaving the strands through the line easier. CAUTION!!!!!! if you go this route, remember that melted nylon is VERY hot, will stick to your skin and will burn you severly if you touch it too soon. I use a stainless steel plate and an old file and I roll the melted nylon between the two of them to make the point while the nylon is hardening.

To make an eye splice, or really just about any kind of splice in a line, you just have to unravel the bitter end of the line into the three strands, and then re-weave (also called tucking) the strands back into the body of the line. I'd be happy to make up a sample and send it to you, and I could try and describe how to do it here, but there are far better writers than I on the internet that have already made posts with detailed instructions on how to make a splice. A really good one can be found at this link

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/SpliceRope.htm

Just remember that all you're really doing is tucking the strands of line back in on themselves one at a time. You tuck one strand in, pull it snug, then take the next strand and tuck it in over the strand you just tucked and under the next strand,, you just repeat it over and over. I usually make my splices about 6 inches long for a 1/2 " line. A little less for thiner line and a little more for thicker lines. Unless the line is really tight or is old and stiff you can open up the line with your fingers. If it's tight then you'll need a marlinspike or a fid. (A marlinspike is metal, a fid is wood.) Both of them come in different sizes. Both of them are round tapered objects coming to a thin point at the end, and are inserted into the line between the strands to open a hole for the strand to be woven through. (You can use a screwdriver with some success if necessary)

After you have made your eyesplice you simply take the new anchor shackle, put it through the eyesplice and the first link of your rode chain, screw in the pin (after you coat the threads with a little neverseize), and safety wire it shut so it cannot back out. Poof... all done.

(Look, I know that this sounds like a large undertaking, but really, once you know how to do this it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes from start to finish)

Send me a PM with an address if you want me to send you some samples:nice:

PS. A really neat little trick to consider is to drill a hole on the bottom shank of your anchor and then attach the rode chain to that point, then tie it loosly to the top of the anchor shank with some coat hanger wire. (I just wrap about a dozen turns around the chain with no twist or knot) Under normal conditions the wire will keep the anchor in the proper position for holding your boat, but if your anchor becomes fouled and hung up a really strong pull on the anchor line will cause the wire to unravel and free the chain. Now, since the chain is attached to the bottom of the anchor you can usually pull out the flukes from whatever was hanging you up. This is NOT for use on an anchor that you would use for overnight camping since there is always the possibility that a strong wave would do the same thing and you would start drifting, but it's a good trick to use if you are anchoring up and fishing over wrecks or reefs.

Great install, Thacker!!...as you say, that'll make anchoring a lot easier while your 1st mate is still in training...he's so lucky to be able to grow up around boats...my kids did and my 21 yr old (about to graduate college) just told me she wants to open a fishing charter in Charleston...oh well...

The guys have offered some great suggestions and I've got a couple, too...the hole thru the bow deck doesn't LOOK like it's sealed...if not, that wood core will start rotting out in pretty short order...if nothing else, spread a layer of 4200 around the inside of the cut, thoroughly coating all the exposed wood...

The chain laying on the deck will create a problem over time...you can simply pull the chain tighter if that'll keep the chain up off the gelcoat...you could rotate the hawse pipe 90* so the opening is closer to the direction of the chain...if you've already bedded the cap to the deck, this might be a little much...if you plan to do all this anyway, sorry for jumping the gun on ya...

Hope we don't sound like a bunch of picky bastids, but the devil's in the details...especially w/boats...:beer:

Thanks for the lesson. I practiced twice on some dock line for my fenders. A big improvement from my old dock lines in pic 1. The eye splice at the end of the anchor line worked out great and was very easy. Just took some time to get around to doing it.

Aaron

Ran the V down to St Augustine on Sunday (50 miles round trip, maybe) with the wife... it was 75* and sunny and the boat ran great. Topped it out at 40.1 knots. Tach still didn't work, though. We ran under 30 knots most of the day.

Took it in to a trusted shop on Monday and got some bad but bearable news... the regulator rectifier was bad. The brand new tach was also bad. Had both replaced as well as some general maintenance and minor repairs and ended up with a pretty good bill (hopefully West Marine will return the faulty Teleflex tach, but is it possible the regulator caused it go bad?).

Oh well, at least now everything's in good operating condition. We'll be heading offshore Sunday and the conditions are lining up perfect. My next post should be my first in the Fishing section!

"Bad but bearable news"...you may have just coined a phrase...man you got a great boat goin' there...the 175 sounds like it's pushin' it pretty good...40 kts bookin' pretty good...good luck fishin' Sunday...and don't forget the camera...:clap:

Wish you had time to bring her up to Charleston for Spare's Get-Together this weekend!...

Where are you fishing?

I was thinkin' the same thing but I've spent so much money on this thing I can't even think about a vacation right now. If you guys do it again next year, I'll try and jump in. I'd love to meet everyone and check out all the different setups. Here's another catch phrase "Maybe next year".

Gonna head out of Mayport and try and get on the flounder. They lay thick around the wrecks this time of year. We'll start around 9 mile and go further if need be. The only problem should be getting bait through the thickets of red snapper, which is why I'll bring a couple tanks along.

GREAT job... looks really good. I like the taper that you did on the ends. Gives it a good look and makes it easy to slide through the hawse pipe. One final, not necessary, but neat little touch that you might want to try is to take the splice you just made, put it on the floor, put your foot on it and roll it back and forth several times under pressure. It forms the splice into a nice round cylinder an gives it a "finished", professional look. Arrrr...ye be having the makins of a seadawg now... :clap: