She's finally home!! Rickk's 230

[RickK]

After strapping the cabling again (I'd cut the existing trying to re-route) and a bit of verbal encouragement , I was able to get the batteries back in.  No room for anything else in there, that's for sure.
I sanded the hull lightly and the 3x3 blocks were raw - hope it holds.  The board is probably 20+ pounds.

[John Jones]

I had the same problem in my console.  with 3 batteries and the 3-bank onboard charger there is not room for much else.  I think I have a plastic container with some cheese crackers, a couple of caps, and a couple of hand towels.  I did make the cables long enough that I can pull a battery out to check it without having to disconnect it.  I have to lay on the deck to reach in and strap them down.

[RickK]

To follow up on the 230's maiden campout.  We (my family in the 230 EXP and CaptAqua250EXPLTD's (we'll call him Dave so I don't have to type so much) family in his 250 EXP) chose Apr 5th as the target date and a front had dropped through the night before and it was pretty "breezy" here on departure day.  Oh well, come hell or high water.... we were towing south to a place around Boca Grande.
We arrived to a really stiff Northerly breeze (20-25) and 2+' whitecaps in the ICW   We were going to be heading South so it wasn't going to be too bad.  We got to Cayo Costa - a state park in the mouth of Boca Grande accessible only by water - about an hour later and the waves were 4-6' by then.  We headed to a somewhat lee side, backed up to the beach, anchored in, tied the boats together and settled in.
I put up the vinyl 3/4s the way around and zipped in screen the last 1/4 (aft port).  It cut the wind to nothing and left it quite comfortable in the boat (shorts and t-shirts).  
The next day we headed farther South to cruise near Captiva and Gasparilla Islands - wind was still howling so I left the "condo" put together once it was up. If I unzipped the back panel and stepped outside, I was almost blown off the boat, that's how hard it was blowing.  Inside, snug as a bug - best investment made in the boat so far.  Saturday night/Sunday morning, even with the canvas, I had to put on sweat pants and socks, so the windchill was pretty bad still. I can honestly say that if we didn't have the canvas on this trip, this would have been my wife's last campout on the boat.  Now, she's game for the next one.  

Dave's boat


Had the dogs with us so we had to island hop to let them do their thing. The chocolate lab is Dave's and the little black smudge beside her is our 5 month old black lab.  She was learning how to swim that day.



We headed to another spoil island for the night and had the dogs out again and I looked down the beach and here comes this black wild pig.  Dave had his dog in his boat and mine was on the beach with me. I figured that if the little puppy saw this thing I would probably never see her again.  Soon as I thought it she saw it and off she went.  We watched as she chased the pig into the woods, out of the woods and back into the woods again.  We didn't see her for a minute or 2 and then all of a sudden we see her flying out of the woods, bottom tucked under her and the pig chasing her   We rolled on the floor laughing.





It was a wonderful, mini-vacation.  Didn't get to fish any this time, it was more of a learning experience for us and we sure learned plenty.  Boat ran great, no leaks anywhere, plenty of room.  Great boat.  Super canvas. Super time.
Ready for the get-together now.

[JimCt]

Appears the little piggy wanted to come aboard for dinner... pork chops perhaps?

I know you were somewhat dazed about the cost of the canvas-work but it has already saved your first weekend.  Tough to beat that return on investment.  Looks great!

[John Jones]

Do you have the Lat/Lon of the pig?  

[RickK]

You're right Jim, the canvas was a trip, and future trip, saver.  And worth every penny.  Definitely on Dave's list now too, right near the top.

JJ, yes I do, as a matter of fact.  

[JimCt]

Give your Lab a little time and perhaps she can bring home the bacon.

Did you get any rain or take on any spray on your trip to see if there were any drips?  Any problems handling the boat with the canvas up?

[RickK]

I definitely had a new experience everytime I tried to dock with the canvas up.  Like a big sail. I need a speed knob on the steering wheel, for sure. Learn, learn, learn.  I saw someone post a link to some knobs on ebay a while back. I'll have to dig a little.
No rain, had the windows in the cabin open on the way to the first site and found that a little water came in through them.  On the initial cruise south we didn't have any of the canvas up, only the helm bimini and the spray wasn't too bad.  If anything came over the front it went right over the windshield (gotta duck quickly :) ) into the cockpit behind us.  I remember how I learned about that the hard way.  My wife and neighbor's wife were sitting in the back - neighbor and I were up front - we hit some wave, we both saw it coming up, ducked and the water landed on the wives in the back.  Funny - at least to us up front.    An early lesson, if you know what I mean.
We learned on this trip that if there is any wind or rough water, the helm bimini and vinyl goes up, at a minimum.

[JimCt]

NAPA sells the knobs... at least they used to.

[GoneFission]

They're nicknamed "Suicide Knobs" and come in all shapes and sizes.  Pick the one that suits your personality:

http://www.thehotrodgirl.com/suicideknobs.html

http://www.kingofdice.com/tear.asp

At the following site, I'm not sure if I would go for the 3 Stooges version or for Elvis:

http://stores.ebay.com/LOST-IN-THE-50S_ ... idZ2QQtZkm

See ya on the water!

[JimCt]

Years ago there was a little known variation of the suicide knob.  Instead of the customary knob, there was a smooth loop you could hook a finger through.  Very, very cool and a singularly efficient way to bust or rip off a finger.  But back then dashboards were painted steel and seat belts were unknown.  Suicide knobs in cars were made illegal in several states after a few unlucky motorists managed to put knobs through their foreheads...

[RickK]

They sure make a ton of these, out of any "thing" or any material you'd ever want. Some of these look like they'd lay you wide open if you didn't grab them just right too.  That's not a good thing when you're trying to react quickly.
My steering wheel is mounted straight up and down, so I'm not looking for a "palm" type of necker knob.  I'm looking for one that I can stand off to the side and "crank" the wheel. Also, I'm looking for it in stainless.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/STAINLESS-STEEL-STEERING-WHEEL-SUICIDE-KNOB_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ31283QQihZ013QQitemZ230116006002QQrdZ1
It looks like you mount it with the knob on the outside of the wheel otherwise the clip part could cut you.
This one looks like it doesn't have any sharp egdes on it and folds out of the way. Maybe could be mounted with the knob on the inside of the wheel too, so it's more out of the way.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FOLD-DOWN-HANDICAP-STEERING-WHEEL-KNOB-BRAND-NEW-B_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33704QQihZ006QQitemZ160105204742QQrdZ1

[GoneFission]

I guess they don't call them "Suicide Knobs" for nothing...
 

[JimCt]

Rick, I've seen those flip-out cranks somewhere.

  When in use it's perpendicular to the plane of the wheel so you can crank with it.  When not needed it flips in so that the end of the crank handle is pointing toward the center of the wheel.

[John Jones]

Rick, Marine Surplus has the knobs, all SS, something like $22.  Ask at the counter.