A Tale of Two FishBones and a Warning!

[willy]

Well Snaggers after a few weeks of hard work a lot of money and aggravation FishBones is finally up to snuff.
After talking with that esteemed Old Coot from South Carolina I decided to put this out here and on another couple of sites I frequent for all to learn from my experiences.
As you know I love my 1997 HydraSport Vector 2250 FishBones. I decided to commit to her and bring her up to date.
Well one of the first orders of business was to get my live well plumbing working well, it has had trouble draining and the pump seemed to pump when it dam well felt like it.
So I got my butt down and there and started to diagnose what could be the problem with that plus my bildge pump which would only work in manual.
So I reached in where I could barely see behind the live well and grabbed a hold of the hose from the drain to the thru hull.
It crumbled in my hand. The part you could see was OK. the bottom half was completely dry rotted.
I started checking further and saw a couple of other hoses that looked like they were rotting also. Had a hard time getting to where I could hit them with a good flashlight.
I tried to get to the bildge pump and see if I could reach it to work on it and it is in a God awful location and I could not do it.
I took FishBones to Seaboard Marine and told the owner Steve, check everything, if it looks like it might need replacing do it.
Well, well well. Get the call a week later come on down Willy and bring your wallet!
Turns out the mechanic who is really good said Will, I started looking at the hoses and I realized you have a problem.
Turns out all the hoses under the floor were dry rotted and crumbling including six (SIX) that went to thru hulls. He had a rather large pile for me to check out. Could not believe my own eyes. Most were literally seeping water and had areas of where the middle re-enforcement mesh was just falling apart.
Very dangerous. So in order to get to them all they had to remove my deck lid over the tank which is about seven feet long, do the work and then go back and re-bed and caulk it.
While they were in there they replaced all my electrical connections and replaced a bunch of wiring that had seen better days. New Rule pumps cleaned and checked all thru hulls.
I was a little floored by my $1500 bill. But it was more than eight hours labor and over four hundred in hose, fittings and clamps and wire and connectors.
I went home and poured myself a little Jimmy Beam and called up the aforementioned Old Coot and co-miserated.
In his typical fashion he set my mind at ease, told me to shut the h@ll up and drink my drink.
So, if you have an older boat, check them hoses, check them well, even where you think you cannot see. I had six thru hulls that were ready to go at any time, and according to Murphy that would be when I am 20 miles out chasing fins.
So, since FishBones is all brand new and better than factory under the floor I decided to splurge on her a little.
Got myself a nice Standard Horizon VHF with DSC, got my MMSI # and now I have got my VHF talking with my seven inch screen Garmin GPS so I can yell for help when needed quick.
Also installed a nice new Guest dual battery charger inside the CC.
And since I can't sing to save my life I went and splurged on a nice Fusion stereo and speakers for FB.
Well all are installed by me and up and running, in 2011 new ETEC, new Garmin electronics, 2012 all plumbing and electrical redone, new pumps, stereo, VHF, new trailer, new leaning post seat and numerous other upgrades.
I do have to redo the bottom paint yet but basically I have a 1997/2012 HydraSport 2250 Vector and the maiden voyage is tomorrow with the CEO and one of my sons and daughters.

[willy]

1997/2012 FishBones

[willy]

[chumbucket]

Good move Willy. Fishbones is worthy of those upgrades. She's a fine vessel and I hope to get to fish on her this summer.
On a similar note; MJ has been puzzled over why he gets a fair amount of water in his bilge at the end of the day. Not enough to set of the pumps, but a decent amount drains at the end of a day on the water. I guess it's time to start inspecting the hoses on his boat.

[willy]

Thanks my friend and I agree she is a solid hull with a fabulous ride. She is worth it.
And yes, I believe you will find that the dry rot allows a seepage.
I believe after talking with the mariner down there that HydraSport may have had a bad lot of hose. Who knows?
But any one of those six could have sunk my boat.
Now I have all new high quality hose double clamped at all through hulls and a little peace of mind.

[tartuffe]

Man, that is a fine lookin ride. I did not realize the hydra sports had such a nice layout. I'm a big fan of usable fishing space without a bunch on seating, hence my love for my 81. Be happy with 15 hundo. I'm not ready to add up the cost of my current restoration but I am certain I am well above that. Congrats on having a solid ride ready for the season.

[step up here]

Hey Willy
I take it that fishbones will be rocking and rolling at the V-20 raft up with the new juke box!!!!!!!!!!

[willy]

Thanks Tartuf and Tommy I am going to make a playlist for the IPOD just for the Snaggers down there.

[lumberslinger178]

Willy I've got some troubling new for you bud... in that bow picture I noticed some mud on the anchor.....make sure you address this problem before the july event ... this will haunt me for the next couple days....

[willy]

I will take care of it don't worry.
I am going to park right along side of you and show you up!