The Journey

[goatram]

I sure hope don’t pierce a wave and turn the front of that boat into a diving plug.

Bay Boats up in Alaska have something along these lines. Jay aka @finadict has a spray rail on his Bitch as well.

Boat is welded up tight. Need to clean a bunch of welds stuck on the side and bottom to hold things on or as a hand rest. Used about 20lbs of the 33lb wire spool. $185 per spool, chit!

 

[goatram]

Now to put her back on her trailer after we clean her up. Fish the blackmouth derbies on the 18 and 19th area 10. Then a date for Bob's Spa. @Omakase. She'll have a defined water line then.

 

[Swede]

You lost me at the bow transition. I think it should have started about 3 feet back. Radius inward toward the bow leaving the original 3 inches of bow in tack. Excited to see the drone footage of the test run.

 

[goatram]

You lost me at the bow transition. I think it should have started about 3 feet back. Radius inward toward the bow leaving the original 3 inches of bow in tack. Excited to see the drone footage of the test run.

Don't own a drone. Ain't buying one this year for sure Brah!

 

[sharkster]

Goat how do you test all that pontoon for air tightness? Just curious not smart ass.
I was on a Sea sport years ago offshore bracket twin outboards. We were going out for tuna when we tried to get up and go we did not.
Off shore bracket was opened and entire bracket was filled with water. Limped back in hoping not to sink. Dumped bait tank and ice to lighten the load.
Owner had to get new offshore bracket.

 

[G-Spot]

We have something similar on the Hatteras made of Mahogany, lag bolted on and sealed to the boat and painted…. “Lifting strakes”. They provide better lift and supposedly fuel economy. Ours end back from the bow, and then a second splash rail is above to knock down waves at the bow.

You’ll probably get better lift with this mod in addition to the dryer deck.

 

[KimH]

We have something similar on the Hatteras made of Mahogany, lag bolted on and sealed to the boat and painted…. “Lifting strakes”. They provide better lift and supposedly fuel economy. Ours end back from the bow, and then a second splash rail is above to knock down waves at the bow.

You’ll probably get better lift with this mod in addition to the dryer deck.

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Basically on non-planing boats what we called 'rolling chocks' or 'bilge keels'. Installed to slow the roll down some.

 

[goatram]

As I have stated in the thread. My boat has 5 bilge pumps;
1. Bow comp. 800gph
2. House comp. 1500gph
3. Aft deck comp a 1500gph and a 2000gph aweshit high water pump.
4. Swimstep 1500gph.

The four main pumps can be turned on at the helm.

The bait tank is a area of concern in the plumping. When running it has a leak somewhere. The 1500gph pump cycles a bit. Been doing it every since built. It works. Did find and fixed a leak last Sept. I will be looking for it next month to ensure it WAS FIXED. And no others are present.

 

[G-Spot]

Basically on non-planing boats what we called 'rolling chocks' or 'bilge keels'. Installed to slow the roll down some.

Yep, but these were called “lifting strakes”. And technically this boat is considered a planing boat. It has 1900 HP and gets up on plane and goes 24-27 knots WOT….. Although we never run her like that because we couldn’t afford the fuel bill! .

I’ve read a fair amount about the lifting strakes… Hatteras was never happy about the companies adding these the “their design”. The guys who have them seem to say they increase fuel economy and help… They are a pain in the ass when lifting the boat, must have blocks above and/or below to keep the lift straps from ripping them and screwing things up!

I blow out the turbos after each trip like I did last Friday…. 1900 RPMs going about 20 knots for 10 minutes…. Heat it up, blow it out and then chug on in to the marina..

 

[Grady226]

Boat is back on the trailer but a couple leaks in the pontoons that need to be worked.

 

[sgwill122]

How do you find the leaks?

 

[Wild Bill]

Tapped in air fitting and low pressure air and soap bubbles?

 

[goatram]

This is the stern port side. There will be 2 plastic 1/8npt plugs left in there to plug the holes. There is also 2 more on the Starboard side.

I pressurized the valve to three psi. Same pressure I would if testing a fuel tank. As Gary said there was a few leaks. Last Monday my son welded up about 8 that I found. Today after we stuck her back on the trailer I rechecked and found 2 leaks on the aft face of the SB Side. I welded them up. The last leak is at the threads of the Bait Tank Drain. I didn't put anything on threads. I did tighten it up with the pipe wrench, I thought it would be good enough. To fix it I need to pull a vacuum on the compartment. Mix up some 5200 and alcohol and brush it on and let the vacuum to pull the slop into the threads to seal them up.

Back in 1997I bought an old Chevy Suburban with a 350. At 65 mph there was no oil leak above that it would blow oil out of the aft side of the intake to block flange. I had bought it a week prior when I landed in Seattle when I returned to the States from Misawa AB. JP. I got some silicone and carb cleaner, went to the car wash and stuck the Vacuum cleaner hose on the oil fill tube. Put my quarters in and while it sucked I sprayed the flange down then smeared the Silicone along the flange. I went back to the Motel in Idaho. Next morning I left there and continued on my cross country trip to RI, then FL back to RI then returned to Everett. That trick worked. I owned that truck for four more years. It leaked at the front crank and valve covers but it did not have a blue haze at 75mph.

 

[The Peddler]

John, I admire your resolve. You just “Git ‘er Done,” whatever it takes.

 

[goatram]

The leaks are fixed I think. Will test again on Saturday. I used the small bucket shop vac that I bought from Lowes. It has a 1.25" hose. Put that on the old floor drain scupper. Other end is in the Port sponson. Turned it on and watched the bucket collapse. Smeared the sealant aon the threads of the bait tank outflow. I also found another spot that was a previous repair patch that was leaking pressured air out. That had me go into the bilge. It's tight.

I also remounted and installed struts on the VHF Antennas extensions. Now both are up 16ft above the house. Used the Shakespeare lift and lay mounts. I welded up brackets and cut 1/4" x 1" flat bar to use as the struts.

 

[Chasin' Tail]

Only thing missing is a Tuna Tower with 2nd station up there... Maybe a project idea for next winter?

 

[goatram]

Forgot to say that the struts are removable. They use the small Scotty 5/16" DR swivel base mount bolts. Will take pictures of them this morning to show.

Reason for the extensions is for extended range of my two Radios. I was tired of the crappy range 8ft antennas. After I finally got around last summer mounting my first ext. my radio could reach out while offshore. Problem was the 16' tall set-up would break the Shakespeare SS antenna mount after two trips. Added expense.

 

[Master Chief]

@goatram that should really add to the distance and clarity for those offshore trips, as well as really clear it up inshore.

 

[Omakase]

No worries on those leaks John, we'll smear enough flex seal on her bottom to fix that issue!

 

[EJ Swanny]

DO NOT question the Goat about aluminum and how to fix/weld it. He's slept and pretended to work on it for 40 years, being a Boeing IAM union member, making the finest planes in the world. For shame, for shame.....

Cheers John....GL..

 

[goatram]

The pictures of the mounts as I promised. Just a few days Late! Sorry! Boat show got in the way.

I did use the Shakespeare mounts that are made to support the mast extension at the cabin exterior wall

Got the anchor pulpit welded and bolted back on. Currently I have grade 5 steel bolts in the holes. I will get the correct SS 5/16" bolts before I launch. I made it so I could unbolt it for it to fit in my shop if needed in the future. Tabs are 0.250" plate.

Last thing done was to make a better looking side boards for my truck's flatbed. I again used the commercial fish bin board. Strong as heck. The 1.5" architecture square tube ( Rounded edges) are cut and capped by Tig welded. The bin board is capped with an proprietor extrusion. (Owned and Sourced from Coldwater Boats).

Last but not least is the aft corner; I used a press brake to bend the 1/4" plate iny press. I can bend up to a 13" wide piece to a 90° angle.