Newbie saying hi and sharing p

[reyb]

Well, I figured I might as well introduce myself and my V20. I stumbled upon this website a while back ago but hadn't posted anything since now.

So, I bought my '89 V20 a couple of years ago and from when I got it it has gone through the following:

o I almost sank it when the boat had a lot of water in it
from a recent raining; I usually leave the plug in.

o I lent my boat to some friends and they ended up cap-
sizing it. When I bought the boat, it did not have a
splash board. The previous owner said he had never
needed it, but I guess when you have 4 adults fishing,
a 35 gal bait tank and some decent wakes, it makes it
easier for water to come in from the transom area.

o Made a splash board for it but I find that water is still
getting in from under the board. I'm gonna have to
redo it or something to make a better seal.

o The boat originally had a sofa type seat which I replaced
with individual seats; a lot more comfortable when
fishing.

o I replaced the dual axle steel trailer with a dual axle
aluminum trailer that I found for $1k. This trailer has
smaller tires, but I really like the idea that the trailer
itself won't rust. One drawback to the aluminum
trailer is that it floats and tends to drift to one side
when I'm taking the boat out of the water.

o Fabricated a bait tank(~35 gal) leveraging one of the
rear floor storage compartments. I had a bait bag that
hangs off the rear of the boat,but it could only hold
1/2 of bait. It's really nice having a bigger tank.

One thing I wouldn't mind having is a T-Top, but man are
those things expensive. I thought about building one but
my mig welder can't weld aluminum and it would cost too
much to make it capable. The idea of using plain steel
comes to mind, but I worry about the weight. Aluminum
is supposed 1/3 lighter that steel, so doing the number,
if an aluminum T-Top weight a couple hundred pounds
would make a steel one 600 pounds...big difference. Oh
well, on to some pictures :)