A couple of new additions. You all may have already seen Bob’s awesome work on the leaning post rear bench seat.
I bought my son a new E-Searider wedge bean bag chair. He doesn’t like riding in the boat very fast, so I figured he would feel safer in one of these. Plus they are really comfortable, and he uses it in his room playing video games. Now my little girl wants one for her birthday in pink/purple. It’s not Gator colors, but Ashton colors. His 2 favorite, blue and orange. Plus the blue matched the bimini, and orange is all around the boat since we love Clemson.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
Started getting all the nav lights wired up since we will be out fishing at night tomorrow and discovered the bow light wiring is shot. Since I have to remove the rub rail to replace, I will wait and do that when I buy a new rub rail. Plus the bow light is hidden by the trolling motor anyway.
Went to Academy Sports and found these really cool LED strips for navigation in a pack for $10 with a green and red. 10 minute install and they work awesome.
Hopefully the next update will be with a ton of stripers on the boat.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
Those LED strips are great!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com
Had an experience last week that I thought I should share with you since we have the same boat & trolling motor setup. Hopefully sharing my bad experience will help other 17’ Whaler Owners avoid an expensive mis-hap.
quote:
Originally posted by Geronimo
I used the proper size ss screws and then a bed of marine silicone for water intrusion and to make it a little more solid.
I bought a Minn Kota Riptide ST w/ iPilot and quick-release bracket like you have and since that was no cheap piece of kit I decided to pay a mobile marine electronics installer to mount it properly to my '17 Whaler. He installed it using the same method you mentioned, SS Screws into the flat part of the bow with some silicone to seal it. That area (on my boat anyways) is 1/4" fiberglass/gelcoat and foam backing. Under way in the Stono last weekend in relatively calm seas the trolling motor unintentionally deployed. As soon as the bulb hit the water the screws ripped right out of the bow and in a split second I watched $1200+ sink to the bottom of the Stono. What a heart-breaker.
Though the unintentional deployment was the cause for breaking the mount off on that day, every installer I’ve spoken to since says that SS screws are insufficient for such a heavy piece of hardware on that thin of a surface and it was destined to break loose eventually. In other situations where the motor has unintentionally deployed the shaft breaks but the bracket/motor/etc remain firmly attached to the boat. Fortunately no passengers were on the bow of the boat when the motor launched.
Lessons learned -
- Always move the cuff to the bottom of the shaft when under way to prevent unintentional deployment
- If you can't thru-bolt it, embed the screws into epoxy or some other backing because the fiberglass alone is no
Thanks for the heads up, but my boat has 1/2 marine plywood on the bow step pads under the fiberglass non skid. I think the shaft would split in a similar situation on mine, but I guess anything is possible. Also, not sure how the ST locks in place, but I have an SP unit, and it has a black clip that locks the unit in the stow position. I will make sure it is firmly seated from now on though.
Sorry to here about your situation. I agree, SS screws through 1/4" fiberglass into foam is a bad idea. Bolts mounted in a bed of epoxy would be ideal in that scenario.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
That is an awesome build. I love the Nav lights. My bow light went out last week I know what Im going to replace it with. Thanks for the idea. Great looking boat.
Keebler
23’ Mako
18’ Boston Whaler
“Fishing - Hours of boredom with moments of Chaos” John Payne
Thanks, just look for them in the Kayak accessories aisle. They are made by No Limit in a small package.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
That “marine installer” should have known better. SS lag screws at the minimum!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com
Neat lights, will defently have some on my whaler and CC next week. The Mk I pilot sure blanks out the OEM light! Thanks for the info!
Boat worked great for a days worth of activities. Kids loved the new layout. They had plenty of room to fall asleep, and I could keep fishing up to 11pm. Only managed 3 fish, but was nice go out and try out all the new stuff and see how the ipilot performed to the new hull. Everything worked flawlessly. Very happy with the upgrade.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
Winter upgrades on the way!
A pair of Fosgate Punch 8" speakers and a 4 x 100 Fosgate marine amp. Controlled by a Bluetooth module and smartphone. Will still have 2 channels and 200 watts on tap if I want to add some tower speakers on the back seat, or maybe a sub facing out the front. But I think the 2 8" speakers should do it. Install to follow once they arrive.
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/m400-4d
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/pm282x
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115