Happy St. Patty’s Day!  We went in the water today, about a month late but we finally launched for the 2009 season.  It almost didn’t happen, when I arrived at the marina at 8 am the boat was not in the condition I had expected and I wasn not sure if I should go in or wait until I could have the boat detailed properly.

The stains were about 60% removed. About half the boat was still covered with rubbing compound that was not buffed out and the residue washed off. There were compound splatters all over the windows, railings and other parts of the boat. Some of the manufacturer logos, pin striping, reg numbers and other decals were burned off or damaged from the polishing wheel. About 3/4 of the waterline had compound and polish along it about 4″ wide, I had already touched up the waterline so it needed to be sanded off and re-touched up.

I spoke with marina and others and we decided to redo the bottom and put the boat in and haul out in a few weeks and have the boat cleaned by a professional. I gave the guy who caused the damage a chance to do the right thing as per his wishes despite my reservations. I am done playing games after waiting almost a month for a less than marginal job.

On to the shakedown run…she was an absolute beast! I had the wheels reconditioned and about 2″ of pitch taken out of each wheel on the recommendation from Jim Anderson of Jimmy’s Marine Service. Pate Whalen at Eastern Propeller did a great job of taking my WOT info, make model, year and spec of the motor and getting me to where I need to be with the boat fully loaded. Previously I only got 4,250 RPM at WOT with full fuel, gear, ice, bait and crew. Now I get 4,950 with full gear, fuel and crew. Did not load ice and bait but shouldn’t loose that much RPM from another 10-80 lbs. The boat jumped right out of the water as compared to before, came out of the water more when on plane. There was a huge increase in throttle response and no more hesitation at all. I also gained about a knot at cruise and almost 2 knots at WOT. The ride and sound from the motor is much, much smoother now as well. According to the scans the wheels were out a little but what a huge difference after being balanced on the computer.

The Pat and Jim also anticipate a big savings in fuel, possibly doubling my 1.5 nmpg to close to 3 nmpg. I was happy with the 1.5 but if we do really see numbers closer to 3 it will make us much more comfortable running off for tuna this year and dipping into the last 1/3 of a tank to come home.

Indeed it is…launched the boat today after finishing up the installation of the new raw water intake system. The hoses, valves and elbows are all installed and clamped. All that is left is to bond the whole system. That will have to wait…we are launching today!

After the hoses were installed I reinstalled the battery shelves and boxes, all that remains with the electrical system upgrade is to install the new batteries. They are in, just waiting to be picked up from Sun Harbor.

On the shakedown run she ran a little hot. After inspection there was a ton of grass in the heat exchanger and hoses from last season. Now with the sea strainer in place that will all be eliminated. After cleaning the leftovers out she ran great, only getting up to about 165 degrees and the risers ran at a cool 75!

Can’t wait to get back on the water on a regular basis and start catching again. I was so elated with being back in the water that I forgot to take pictures of the completed system, I will take some next week and post them with hopefully pics from my first striper of the season.

I am ready! Finished up all the major stuff that needs to be done before going in the water today. I rewired the wash down pump and always-on buss bar for electronics memory. They used to be on the start battery and both always hot. I moved them to the house battery and the wash down is now on the fused side of the house load so it no longer has 24/7 power like it did.

We used Yacht Brite Pro Polish on my boat and two others yesturday. The results were great, all the boats looked great. The best part was despite the chilly temps it went on and off extremely easy. So easy it actually took longer to use the polisher than it did by hand and all three of us polished our boats by hand…even Mark with his 37′ Bertram!

The battery boxes went in along with stops that I made out of starboard to further secure them. I just did not trust the flimsy straps that came with the boxes. Plus the plastic box sitting on a starboard shelf is very slick and moves easily. The house battery box I had to remove the handle on one side to get a good fit but since I don’t carry the batteries around in the box nor did it seem to be structural in anyway felt it was not an issue to do so. Otherwise I would have either had to go with a tray again or a smaller battery…neither of which I felt were options.

The only thing left to do before going in the water is to connect the hoses for the raw water intake, just waiting on the hose to arrive. Assuming there are no issues with the hose and connections I should be launching this Friday!

I am very optimistic today…I spoke with the marina and we hope to glass in the holes for the through hulls early next week. I guess you could say we will have the glass completely full! Assuming the weather does not halt that later in the week we can re-bore the holes and install the through hulls. If all goes well the rest of the connections can be finalized and the fishing touches on the spring maintenance can be completed. It looks as if I will launch by the first week of March maybe earlier. Great news…I can then have a plenty of time to get a good shake down run in and if any unforeseen issues pop up have time to fix them before flounder season opens on March 23.

Sunday I hope to get all the templating done for cup holders, new rigging station and new shelving. The initial shelving will be for the ditch back with a small tray above it for odds and ends. After I get some other projects done I will move on to installing shelving in the lockers for tackle boxes and bins.

Unfortunately I am not going in the water tomorrow. A friend’s charter boat was delayed in getting ready and the marina is scrambling to get them in the water. They should be good to go tomorrow so then it is on to me. A couple of problems have come up, one that needs to be handled before getting wet. The through hull fitting for the plug has a screw missing or the head has snapped off. So we have to address that since an issue with a 1 inch sized hole in the bottom of the boat is pretty important. Once that is taken care of we will be in the water. This should be by Thursday, Friday the latest. Just in time for winter flounder.

Well if all goes well we will be splashing the boat Tuesday the 20th!

Yes it is! The cover came off today and final preparation is just about done for launch day. I fished the wiring overhaul project as well as the finishing touches on new wiring for new devices and toys. Loaded on most of the gear and safety equipment. Removed the rosin paper that I had taped down in the cockpit to keep it clean over the winter while working on the boat. Boy did that work well. The cockpit sole is just as clean as the day it was washed and polished. I was hesitant that the rosin paper might bleed since it was red but there was only two stains about the size of dimes that were only a very faint pink color. Most likely they will fade in a week or so of sunlight.

I finally finished moving my second sonar unit to the cockpit. It will be so nice to not have to squint and duck to look into the pilothouse and read the one at the helm. It will also just be cool to watch your hooked fish come up on the screen next to you! I also finished installing the new radio. I have never used a Uniden VHF but have had several of their other products with no complaints.

I went with a wireless second station mic so I can roam anywhere on the boat and hear what is going on and keep in contact with fellow fisherman.

Another good use of the wireless mic is when someone goes up on the bow to work the anchor. They can take the mic with them and I won’t have to shout through the windows for them to hear, it doubles as an intercom system. It will also serve me well while back at the dock hanging out in the picnic area waiting for the larger boats returning from offshore. Instead of having to run out to the boat to hail them on the radio we will be able to do it from the comfort of a lounge chair.

I would have liked to get the new cockpit lighting, CO2 detector, new power points and freshwater shower installed before going back in the water. Because most likely once in the water projects get put on the back burner unless absolutely needed…fishing becomes the number one priority once we get wet!

Well we got wet today! She started right up as if never put to bed for the winter and ran like a champ on her fist run of 2006. There was a little chatter in the hydraulic steering…not sure what was causing it. Seems to be a rubber or plastic bushing in the steering to the outdrive. Have a call out to the Volvo dealer and hopefully will have that taken care of before the Winter Flounder opener on Thursday.

What a day today…would have been great to be on the water. We will be in soon. I removed the cover and cleaned the bilge. I also took measurements for seating and tackle storage. I wanted to replace the bilge pumps today but the forward bilge had water. At least I know my forward bilge water problems are not sea water. Hopefully there will be no new water and it will be dry on the weekend so I can install the new pumps.