Almost 2000 posts
 

Been here almost 5 years now and this is still the coolest, most likable, most helpful and knowledgeable group of folks around. I owe more than a few of ya'll a favor for getting me out of a pinch, offering helpful and free advice, and a bunch of good laughs.

Now I have a confession to make....

....I've been holding out on ya'll.

Sometime in late April the wifey and I took the V for a ride. We went out Bull River, through Wassaw Sound and offshore a short ways on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon with light winds. I turned around at the "R2W" buoy and headed back in to anchor off on Salt Pond Shoal to have our picnic lunch. The V was really riding well until I underestimated the outgoing tide and the virgin skeg of my ETEC touched the bottom as I ran aground on the shoal. I immediately trimmed up the engine to see a nice sanding job on the skeg. I had been pretty proud of myself for never having touched bottom with my brand new engine for over a year now. Pretty bummed out I motored over to the north end of Wassaw Island. I anchored off the beach and trimmed the engine up again to survey the damage again as the wifey got out our picnic lunch. Turns out the sanding job on the skeg was the least of my worries. I leaned out over the stern looking at my engine and noticed that the small gelcoat crack in the top port side corner of my transom now continued down the transom and across and up the other side following the line of what I soon figured out used to be a 20 inch transom. The crack didn't go all the way through to the splash well and we weren't taking on water, Thank You God! The transom had some minimal flex when jacking up and down on the engine, but not enough that we couldn't make it back home. Needless to say it really bummed me out because I knew our summer with the V, one of my few escapes, was pretty much shot.

I had been talking to a couple of guys about getting her painted. I figured with dropping all that serious dough on a new engine the year before I should probably bring the rest of the boat up to speed to at least match the engine. I had planned on using her this summer and then use the autumn and winter to sand and fill all the screw holes from previous owners and get her painted. Well now I get to do a transom job as well. One of the guys I had talked to about doing glass work flaked out on me and another got his "real" job back and didn't have the time to do all that I was now thinking about doing. A few people In the marine industry that I knew recommended a fella named Jerry Adams down in Richmond Hill. I called and talked to Jerry and arranged to meet him at his shop with my V the following week. Turns out Jerry's boat happens to be a 70's model V20 and his family owned the Wellcraft dealership in Savannah back in the day.
After talking to Jerry and going over different scenarios in my head for about a week and a half, (find a different hull, fix the transom and get back out on the water, do a full blown redo,)and some soul searching, I decided I've been blessed with a unique opportunity to build/restore one of these classic hulls that our little community here loves and appreciates. I'm open to suggestions from ya'll, and plan on making changes that I've seen on ya'lls boats and adding features that I feel will make her one of a kind.

Here's the short list: Half of this is already done.
Rebuild transom
Recore sagging topdeck over cuddy cabin and add support (not to mention get rid of the lambs wool headliner)
Replace hatch covers and recess hinges into deck.
Fill all screw holes and remove all cockpit cover snaps, un-needed clam shell vents, and antennae mounts
Dremel out and fill all spider cracks
New rubrail
Cut new hatch in deck between fish box and cuddy cabin door (Like Phatdaddy's)
Move batteries forward to new deck hatch
Replace aging batteries and upgrade to larger gauge cables (Suggestions on size?)
Re-route deck drains to drain to splash well, fill scupper holes in hull
Replace all thru-hulls and deck drains with stainless
Upgrade rear cleats to 8 inch, add 8 inch cleats just forward of the windsheild
Add custom fiberglass anchor pulpit contoured to fit the forward edge of the cap and modify bowrail accordingly
Add hawse pipe to top deck to allow anchor rode to pass to anchor locker
Add additional bilge pump and float switch
Remove all stickers/decals/stripes
Remove all decals on ETEC
Paint hull and cap Awlgrip Cloud White, paint deck Awlgrip Sea Foam green cut with white to lighten.
New back to back seat for the wifey
New teak sliding hatch trim, teak dash, and arm rests. Remove all teak trim on gunnels and splash well
Custom Boykin Marine hardtop/half-tower with black sunbrella

Let me know what ya'll think. When she's finished I guess I'll have to get Tsubaki or Whatknot to come over and take some pics for ya'll.

Very sorry to hear about the transom, Bradford, but it sounds like Lady Luck was with you in the way the problem manifested itself. You could have been out in heavy seas and dropped that nice ETEC into the deep (or even worse). You and your wife are here to tell about it and boat another day, and that is a very good thing.

Sounds like that will be a beauty when it is done.

Is the wiring original?

That's what should be done with my boat. I am still waiting for inaforty to come over and show me how to do it while I hand him beers.

rkc

Grats on making it home... Grats on deciding to "geterdone"... MAJOR Grats on your next post for the deuce.... now, there's just one final thing that you need to do....:thre:

Impressive list...seatback for wifey would shoot to 1st position if mine...LOL!!...

About yer transom...my newly acquired '84 HAS a 25" transom...so how did yours become a 20" for somebody to build up like that...did Wellcraft offer both back then?...:head:...and the reason you didn't see the inside crack is because what we see looking at the back of the splashwell is not the true inside of the transom wall...what you see is part of the "cap" that fits into the stern position against the transom...if you pulled the entire cap off the hull, that piece would be a part of it...

In the 80's you could order either a 20", 25", or SEA-DRIVE for an outboard V-20. Along the way many would cut a 25" down to a 20 when the top of the transom would get soft instead of rebuilding it and this would buy some time before a rebuild.

Well I guess they'd have to replace the motor instead of fixing the transom...:head:...they musta had motors squirting outta their a$$es...but at least it explains the question...

Congrats on joining the 2000 club with your next post. What you are planning for the V sounds great. I wish you all the best of luck from here on out!

Sounds like a hell of a plan....as I was reading your post I was sure you were going to end up with "and thats why I'm sellin' the boat fellas and moving onto to something else" Was pleasantly surprised when I read your plan. Good luck with it and dont forget photo documenation:pic:

Well it's been a week and a half or so And I can't just not post till she's done So I guess this makes number 2000.

Made a few changes since the last post.

Decided to remove all the non-skid on the front deck over the cuddy and the tops of the gunnels. Gonna go with a smooth finish. This should cut down significantly with the scrubbing and cleaning, as well as give her a more clean and somewhat custom look.

I also decided to install a Blue Seas Systems automatic charging relay and dual circuit battery combiner in place of the 1 both 2 off switch that I have now. I installed a Blue Seas switch panel when I redid my dash a couple years ago and am impressed with the quality and functionality of their products.

I decided to change out both bilge pumps with everybody posting stories of 20 footers sinking and am thinking about adding a third just for overkill. The ones I'm installing are Rule 1500 fully automated pumps with the built in float switch. These cost a little more than installing ones with separate float switches, but I figure it's a cleaner install with fewer wires to become accidently disconnected.

I purchased two new Interstate batteries from River Supply in Thunderbolt. They were even cheaper than the Interstate distributor in Rincon. One battery is a deep cyle for all the house loads and the other is their extra heavy duty cranking battery which will be dedicated for starting.

I'm wondering what size wire to run from the new forward battery compartment just aft of the cuddy door to the engine. I'll be routing the wires up behind the helm and down the inside of the gunnel to the transom.. I'm thinking either 2 or 4 gauge? Tell me what ya'll think.

That's all for now.

Congrats on the 2 grander...:clap:...excellent one to do it on...I'm gonna be puttin' new pump or pumps in the '84 and have been considering the built-in float switch model...you refer to them in the plural, so sounds like yer doin' 2...or more?...

Thanks Reel, I currently have one Rule 1500 pump with a separate float switch in my aft bilge. I was gonna just add one additional pump forward in my new battery compartment. Now I'm adding a new one and replacing my old one and considering adding one more in the aft bilge. I read that Spareparts runs three 2000gph pumps. If she was ever taking on water I'd wish I spent the money.

I run a Rule 2000 in the stern and a Rule 1500 in the bow... Both are wired for Manual/Automatic, I've never had to turn the 1500 on, but she's wired for automatic just in case.

As to your wire question, both 4 and 2 are overkill, but if you're fixed on using those sizes then my gut would say go with the 4 over the 2 simply for it's flexibility. Max amp capacity in normal 115v conditions is 135 amps for the 4 gage, and 181 amps for the 2 gage. But amperage ratings are very different for common/typical 12V DC automotive usage. For example, a 12 gauge wire is commonly rated at 20A for 110V AC home usage, but in automotive 12V DC usage 12 gauge wire is commonly used for circuits carrying 60A. It would really surprise me if you reached anywhere's near 100 amps total in your boat with everything running full bore.

But if you want to be 100% certain, look up the specs on everything you are running, find out what each one's amp draw is, total them up, and you will then know what wire size you actually need.... I'd be willing to bet that 8 to 10 will work fine. (and fyi, I ran 8 in my boat from the battery to my fuse panel, then 16 [20A] gage from there out to all my do-dads.. lights, horn, instruments, etc.) Hope this helps. :head:

DC power is much different then AC and that's why you need a larger wire.
I have used 4 gauge in my boat from motor to battery's and then also to the cabin. I have has 0 issues and all works well!!

Look into it you will see I am right. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the replies ya'll. I'm thinking at least 2 gauge from the cranking battery to the engine and 4 gauge for the house to the switch panels. Still a little ways off though.

I went and visited her today, she's coming along, most of the holes to be filled are filled and sanded, and the new hatches are done as well as the transom except for a little more sanding. Front deck over the cuddy is convex again and should shed water instead of sagging inward.

Tell me ya'lls opinion on this wild idea I had.
I'm thinking about leaving the windsheild off and going for an express hardtop look. A coaming would be built up in front of the helm and port side dash area and follow the gunnels aft to taper off where the side windsheilds currently stop. A small section would connect the two in the middle across the top of the sliding hatch and would flip down into a recess in the top of the hatch when it was slid forward.

Like this one, only no second station.
35' Predator Express

http://www.yachtworld.com/lakeandbay/images/e249565.jpg
http://images03.olx-st.com/ui/12/08/...-1f00ea88.jpeg

Would ya'll do it? Opinions?

http://images01.olx-st.com/ui/12/08/...-e4fa63e1.jpeg http://images01.olx-st.com/ui/12/08/...-9bd319df.jpeg

i think it would look good ,but be wetter than i would want to cruise around in.

go for it though, we love projects & pictures

I like the idea. The windshields on the V-20's break up the great lines of the boats. Something a bit shorter with some curves would look better. Take it for what it's worth from a center console guy though.

Bradford one of the main issues that lead me to V-20s in the 1st place is the full windshield cuz I fish thru the winter and it's great cover when running across the water in F-F-February...plus a windshield makes a great family boat IMHO...

But all of us have different needs from out boats...if that works for you, GO FOR IT!!....and keep us in the loop as ya go...:pic:

How bout a vinyl winshield from the bimini that snaps to the new coaming. Then it's the best of both worlds. Call Kerry Conway 272-6449 "Causa Cushions".

vinyl windshields problem is it is hard to see if it catches spray and no windshield wipers, plus your not able to stick your head above it to have a better look like you can with the windshield. not putting them down but if there is no glass windshield, make sure you get one with the U-zipper in the vinyl so you can open it up easily for when you need better visibility

Hey Brad, just out of curiosity, what's all that extra topside steel going to do to the handling of the boat? Is it going to effect anything? :head:

I'm starting to think I'll keep the windsheild. I'm 90% of the time standing up while underway and usually hold to the top of the windsheild to steady myself with one hand. I don't like the idea of the esignglass enclosure, and I know the first bucket of spray that hits the wifey in the face will get me "that look", LOL!

Hey Brad, just out of curiosity, what's all that extra topside steel going to do to the handling of the boat? Is it going to effect anything? :head:

I'm trying to decide between a canvas top "half tower" or a hardtop. A hardtop can have a light weight non cored top or a much heavier cored top. The advantage of a cored top is mounting lights, antennaes, etc. is easier. I'm leaning towards a canvas top to save on weight and cost and planning on having an antennae mounting rail on top. I'd also like to mount my nav lights on the top so that will have to be considered. I'm told that a canvas top with aluminum structure shouldn't weigh more than 100-150 lbs.

Depends on how many rod holders etc you put on it, you can mount your lights antennas etc if you use starboard for a top, usually takes two pieces with a piece of aluminum molding on top over the seam. used to make hardtops/t-tops and canvas work. if you go canvas top i recommend seamark basically vinyl backed suunbrella. the alminum frame depending how much extra you mount is gonna weigh anywhere from 100 to about 200. can also mount your outriggers through a hardtop or starboard. wouldnt recomend doing it through a canvas top though. you having the top made, making it yourself or ordering a premade one?

Darn it! I was looking forward to watching the progress of the combing project.:bat:

Bradford, any progress or updates?

Went and saw her today. Things have taken a bit longer to finish due to the dismal business climate/economy, especially with the marine industry. Jerry Adams is coming through with some top notch work though. He spent nearly 16 hours hand sanding some problem areas around the rear storage compartments and the cuddy companionway. She has been primered and is naked, no more stripes or hardware to speak of. The cap and gunnels should be getting paint the end of this week, then the cuddy, then the deck, then the hullsides, and finally the hull bottom. I decided to go with awl-grip oyster white due to it being the closest match to the white on my engine. All new hatch covers have been built for all openings in the deck and cuddy. All will be hinged to swing open to the port side. Still gonna have a custom pulpit built.

Talked to Clay Boykin about the top and decided to go with a black Sunbrella soft top instead of the hard top. He says the canvas top will alllow us to pretty much do whatever we want as far as design goes and is more economical. Clay will also cut the bow rail and weld in a piece of stainless to radius around the pulpit with a couple additional forward stantions.

Looking forward to her being finished, it's sucked being without her all summer.

Sounds good Bradford. You are gonna have one sexy machine when done. Destroyer here is a dually with tower and 3 dudes. Looks like it is sitting ok in the water. Of course, don't know what it is made of and while it looks a bit odd, I'm sure it is a very functional Cobia killer.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4O5KU4P9KXM/TA...uallytower.jpg