Since there are a few on here that like working on boats I figured I would share. This was pretty hastily thrown together so I apologize if anything is out of order.
There have always been a few things I have wanted to change on my boat and now between guiding and fishing more tournaments these things become more and more obvious.
Rod Lockers - I hate these things, they take up way too much room and you have to clear the floor to open them. Needless to say I never really used them.
Console - I really wanted to move to an offset console allowing 2 people to comfortable sit in the back instead of one in the center and others awkwardly cramped to the side.
On top of all this it is a 20 year old boat and could use some love to bring it back to like new.
Here are starting pictures of the lockers
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Process on the rod lockers: removed the doors then cut out the supports and lip on the deck between the locker and floor. After that it was ground down and 2 layers of 1708 went over it followed by epoxy thickened with Q cells. From then on it was A LOT of sanding to get it all fair. I did not do too much fairing with the back as it will be sea decked. Once that was done I put in rod racks I made to both hold rods and support the walking gunnel above. These were tabbed in with 1708 and then faired in.
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From here we went to a full de-rigging of the boat as the console will be stripped, holes filled and painted. A new steering system is going in as well. Additionally all plumbing is getting replaced so all through hulls etc were pulled. All old seadek was removed and was a real pain, it may look nice but I really had second thoughts when having to remove it.
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Next began the painstaking process of filling in every chip/scratch I could find and sanding it out. Spider cracks were ground out and filled. This was especially fun under the boat where I got to undo years of oyster rash. I will certainly think twice before poling into another blocked off low tide creek (probably not). Sanding upside down under a trailer is terrible don't do it.
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Now we are on the paint stage. The entire boat was sanded down with 180 grit. Despite being only 17.5ft this was a lot of work and again upside down under the trailer was the worst. I now have primer on the boat and we are in the final stages of glazing putty and making sure it is the way I want it before it gets paint this weekend (hopefully).
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So far the real work began mid January and I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, total budget of materials looking to be around $500 (will have to double check).
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