She's finally home!! Rickk's 230

[RickK]

Actually it is going to be summer-like up there this week , thank god.

Yeah, right.  Brrrrr

Godspeed!

What are you doing in town so much lately - or are you?

[JimCt]

Summer-like in Montreal... in December?????

Have a good trip.  Don't forget the SPF 45 sun-screen.

[John Jones]

Good one Jim.

I'm in town for 2 reasons.  Business is always slow this time of year.  I'm not hiking around airports and power plants with the bum knee and they don't have much for me to do at home right now except a few tech support phone calls.

I had arthroscopic surgery on the knee yesterday.  I'm doing pretty good so far as long as I take the hydrocodone as prescribed.  I went about two hours over today before taking a pill and the knee let me know the meds were overdue.  I should be back on the road by Jan.

I have the ICOM M302 in my flats boat.  Good radio.  I interfaced it with the Garmin so the DSC will work.  I have the M502 in the 22-2.

[RickK]

Summer-like in Montreal... in December?????

Have a good trip.  Don't forget the SPF 45 sun-screen.

High 30's and low 40s for highs - isn't that summer-like?  I only saw one day with a "partly sunny" forecast - the rest overcast, so I don't think I'll need the sunscreen.  But thanks for reminding me anyway

I had arthroscopic surgery on the knee yesterday. I'm doing pretty good so far as long as I take the hydrocodone as prescribed. I went about two hours over today before taking a pill and the knee let me know the meds were overdue. I should be back on the road by Jan.

I hope your knee is like new when it heals.  You needed a break from the road anyway.  This is the last trip of the year for me and looking at my schedule for next qtr, Detroit is booked for March, so far - hope it thaws out by then.  I'm sure a few trips will pop up before then too, as usual.

I have the ICOM M302 in my flats boat. Good radio. I interfaced it with the Garmin so the DSC will work. I have the M502 in the 22-2.

Yeah, it looked like a nice small radio - I'll have to read my Garmin 188C manual to see if that can be interfaced.  Better to use the DSC properly, if possible. I bought an ICOM IC-M72 handheld vhf for the 170 and I keep it in the "boat bag", so it's actually a spare for the 230 too. It's a very small 6W workhorse - most powerful I could find.  I don't have a whip antenna on the 170 and don't want one - since she's an "inside" boat, the handheld should be enough.  Hope I never have to use either.  I guess if you carry them, you're supposed to monitor 16 at all times anyway??

Yesterday I installed a new Nav Light on the bow, put in the new DPDT switch and the Nav/Anchor lights work as designed now.  I think I have to get a new anchor light - the new biminis might be as high as the 4ft light I have now.  I saw a 5ft one being discontinued at Boaters World the other day when I was there.  Breaks down in half for storage.  THE BIMINI GUY STARTS TOMORROW When I get back Saturday from Montreal, I should have biminis, at a minimum - maybe a boat cover too by then.

I pulled up the hatches in the aft also and took a look at the 3 pumps down in the bilge.  The 1500gph rear bilge pump works fine - very quiet, couldn't hear anything, had to touch it to make sure it was working.
The previous owner has a pump inline with a drain from the fish box to a hose/shower.  Only thing I can figure is he'd fill the fish box with fresh water and use this 500gph pump for freshwater rinse.  Don't know what to do with this now.  It wasn't connected to power, so I traced/fixed that one.  It would be nice to put a fresh water tank in back there somehow.  Have to ponder on this for a while.
The 700gph raw water pump, on a thruhull pickup, still won't come on.  It's tough to trace wiring through a boat, that's for sure. Seems easier to pull new then trace existing.  This one is plumbed to the baitwell and the previous owner put a "Y" in the plumbing to a different hose/shower, I guess for raw water washdown.  Have to put a few more hours into this.
Courtesy lights, the lights that light up the floor in the aft, don't come on either and I have to put a few hours into them soon too.  I'm contemplating putting some other form of lighting under the gunnels instead of trying to figure out the old lights.  I've traced them a little so far but haven't put a meter on them yet.

I've looked at my "list" and the only big ticket item I have left to buy is the stainless gas BBQ.  Then I'll be ready to try her out camping.

[JimCt]

Wiring always takes a beating on a boat.  Had pretty much the same problems with the 170.  The 240... well, that's another keg of nails    .  Probably not a bad idea to plan a long term goal of pulling all new wire through.  Then you'll know things are on a good footing.


JJ, advice doc. gave me was to take the pain pills before the pain kicks in.  Naturally, I experimented by ignoring the advice & regretted it.  Jeez, we sound like a bunch of old fa*ts discussing our ailments.

[John Jones]

I feel old but I refuse to give up  

[JimCt]

Cheer up!

Once the knee's back in fighting trim you'll be back to your usual youthful exuberance.  Lots of good projects on the horizon.

[RickK]

I feel old but I refuse to give up  

I don't think giving up is easy as we get older (read that as hard heads), it's giving IN that gets easier  

I'm trying to watch football up here and they have one football channel in the Hilton and it's in French (They do have 3 ice skating channels though - a whole different world of preferences up here)

What do you guys think of the LED lighting options available for under gunnel applications? This goes back to the courtesy lighting problems I'm having. I think I remember Tim commenting on them in an earlier post.
I was thinking maybe these for the steps and maybe these or these (or maybe both) for under gunnel/protected night lighting.  Probably wouldn't hurt to have one in the bilge area too.

Also, I'm finding out the previous owner has a lot of stuff wired directly to the batteries.  I can understand bilge pumps but the entire switch panel is wired direct and the radios are too.  I see now why he wanted lighted switches, so maybe he wouldn't forget to turn them off.

[JimCt]

I like the LED option since the fixtures have sealed "bulbs", at least the ones I've seen are.  Having light in the bilge area might be handy when you're running at night and want to check in there.

[John Jones]

A friend of mine used these LED tubes under his gunwales.  Scroll down.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini_tubes.htm
Waterproof and a life time warranty.

They also sell LED "bulbs" to replace standard 12 v bulbs.


I used a red trailer LED side marker light for a dome light over my console.  Just enough light to find a switch without killing night vision.  $8.88 instead of $24.  

Now I'm looking for something to put under the poling platform on my flats boat to tie lines in the dark.  It might be another trailer marker light.  What can I say, I'm cheap.

[RickK]

I like the LED option since the fixtures have sealed "bulbs", at least the ones I've seen are.  Having light in the bilge area might be handy when you're running at night and want to check in there.

The bilge area in this boat is big enough for me to step down into. It's like the area they would put an i/o motor into, to include a platform at the bottom. See the double hatches back by the motor in this pic -


they both lift out opening a 3'x4' area to the bilge.  If I need to get down there while camping, and it's dark, I thought hands-free light, especially sealed LED, would be handy.

[RickK]

I was thinking about putting in both red and white courtesy (and step) lights and putting them on a DPDT so I could select either for different scenarios.

[John Jones]

Hey, you should have had those chairs when we took the wet test  

Looks nice.  I won't have room for them until I close the transom and open the motor well.

[RickK]

JJ, the current lights are on both sides of the boat (right behind the aft chair) on the forward facing edge of the storage cabinets that are on either side of the motor.  With the LED lights I was talking about, do you think the red ones would give enough flood effect to help?  I'm pretty sure that the whites will, since they say they're as bright as the incandescent bulbs.  I also want to put the white and red "step" versions above the steps going forward (Where you were sitting on the wet test).  Maybe I should put another pair on the aft facing wall where the rod holders start (just in front of the speakers) and put a switch on them in case it's too bright?

[Fishhead]

Looks good Rick,You will have alot of fun with it.My center scupper wouldnt drain because engine covered hole,so put in 2 more scuppers. Just finished crab pot puller,ready to go. Have fun!!!!