my formula 233

[OPTI]

cheers gary ,i just hope the marlin like it.
i fitted the rod holders today .one of the problems i encountered in pre fit up was the side coamings wernt wide enough to fit the large 37kg heavy duty rod holders ,originally i made spacers out of starboard but it just didnt look rite,so the 20mm teak inlay on the coamings fixed the problem and gave me plenty of flat surface for the rod holders to mount to.i have to admit i was a little nervous drilling into a 4 thousand dollar piece of wood,anyway 6 hours later 6 rod holders fitted ,through bolted with 1/4 ss bolts and nyloc nuts and large od washers.
because the teak is 20mm and the edencraft deck is 15mm thick,i had to drill a 2,1/8 hole and then chanfer the angle with a die grinder to get holder clearence,the two rear rod holders face straight back and the foward two are 90 degrees to the boat,george from reelax gave me the tip on there placement ,if you mount them on a 45 degree angle when a marlin strikes it pulles the line off the tip rollers and the line breaks,so at 90 degree it lays the rod over but keeps it facing aft and the line over the roller.[something i didnt know].the rear four are spaced as far apart as possible to help with line clearance.
i sealed them with silacone ,as they will need to be removed periodiacally for maintenance,instead of sika.
i had drain tubes welded on the rear 4 so i can fit pvc tubes to them and drain them into the bilge instead of water draining on the 6 pumps and electrics mounted under neath them.
another pic of my gaff rack ,i had the side pocket deleted on the build of the boat ,i wanted the cockpit clean and uncluttered .also allows for the chair to swing all the way around.
takes a lot of time and thought to do the simple things sometimes

[Spaniard_King]

Dave, it certainly will be hard for the average boaty to understand/comprehend the time involved in your boat.... please keep it for a looong time

[OPTI]

im hearing you gary ,il never sell it unless i can afford a 56 viking ,then it wont matter how much i lose on it .i look at all the boats in the usa atm and think i could get a really nice 30 plus foot boat for what this will end up owing me,but nothing has what i want ,so id end up spending a lot on a second hand import and still lose a lot of money when i sell it .
i couldnt add up the hours ive put into to this fit up so far ,the last 7 weeks have been crazy ,but i can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel now,and im at the good part where im fitting up bits for the final time and i can finally see progress for my efforts,starting to get a little excited ,just a little

[oldie]

yeah OPTI this is a real love from man for his machine and i appreciate being able to see the blood sweat and tears you are putting in. the 233 can be trailed right? this i feel is a better option than the Mooring job, how many times i have seen a trailer boat win a game event over a bunch of flybridge cruiser, i remember staying on a mates 45" Mariner at D'boro marina in Nelson bay during a game event and looking across to the weigh in and seeing a 6.4m plate hard top boat (maroon colour) with a real nice Marlin strapped up the port side, not sure whether they won the event but the Gold Lure in Port Mac many a Trailer boat has walked away with the title. Some thing about big fish in a small boat they gives you a cave man type feel!! hahah looking forward to photo of the rig complete with a couple of DI Mercs she will haul ass. Cheers for the thread Opti

[OPTI]

yes the 233 is 2.5 beam so legally trailable in aus ,my dream is to stick a tag in a grander on ribbon 10.if i ever go bigger it will be at least 40 ft,as the maintence cost between 30 to 50 ft is negligable ,only running costs.

[siegfried]

Amazing ,makes mine look a bit poxy, credit to you mate, well done

[OPTI]

well im still fitting up components ,just lovin it .
first up is the bait tank shower i had made up ,im running a jabsco cyclone pump as the main volume pump for the bait tank ,its pumps 110 litres per minute,so i had the shower rail made to try and stop turbelence ,as slimies dont like being spa bathed,the tube has a washer welded in the end for extra restriction,this will be trial and error ,i might need more holes in the tube ,i also have the hipressure deck wash pump [sure flow] pumping the airater head,im hoping this combination will work out ok with out having to resorting to oxygen feed.i copied this of an american boat i saw .
a couple of pics of the polished dive door ,i capped the bottom to make it bullet proof [so to speak] and then o got carried away and capped the ends and then the ends of the dive door [wanky] i know ,just have to silocone wipe the edges and addd non skid tape .
fitted the rear coaming pad ,its got the 50 ft game boat look now,but is also really comfortable and just the right height.
stainless rub rail and stainless end caps ,keeping the trend [nofukinplastic]on my boat.

[oldie]

hey OPTI dive door looks the treat near a teaser for Marlin on its own should shoot some sun rays down thats for sure and he you can work on ya tan if no fish!!

nice looking rig thats for sure mate, even thoughtful enough to offer your live bait a shower or spa bath haha

enjoy

[Jarrah Jack]

Those slimies will be living it up in luxury...Till the call for duty happens..

[Tangles]

absolute credit to you,

mike

[OPTI]

cheers for the comments guys .
i have slimy tubes in the engine well,so ready for quick dispatch.im still try to get my head around plumbing them ,might run another diverter switch off the main pump.

[OPTI]

I got my new outrigger bases off reelax this week ,i thought the junior 600 looked a bit whimpy next to the 60 mm tube on the t top ,so i asked george at reelax if he could make me up a set of mini 650,s. a true heavy tackle base only 650mm long using the 51mm tube,no problem he said,although he did ask wether it was a trailer boat
this also allows me to run the stiff 6.5 meter poles .something that is required if chasing blue marlin .
something worth noting ,if your building a t top and going to run bases like these ,check your rigger angle [pole tip position ] and get the arch to line up with the riggers ,we fluked it this time [thank god] but i think it would look out of place having your outriggers on a different angle to you t top arch.
i was also lucky with the cleat placement ,these were fitted at the factory ,before t top and outriggers were thought of ,cheers dave

[oldie]

well thought out Opti they really do look the treat and blend in with the rest of the SST perfectly

[Argle]

Yep well worth getting the bigger rigger bases they look horn! Matches in really nice - it would be a shame to half do anything on this boat now because up till now its been nothing but a masterclass on boat fitout - Im very impressed with the way its coming together for you, I can only imagine the satisfaction you must be gaining seeing it all come together so well. Keep the updates coming!!!
PS I love the Teak - really classy!

Cheers
Scott

[OPTI]

back after a month off [thanks mods].
ok well motors are on thier way ,mercury decided in thier wisdom to stop selling the opimax range with dts controls in 2011,and here i was thinking they might offer it on all models including the 300s,so major panic set in when i found out as i had already bought the dts prerig kits and installed them ,even if i went to verados200s i would of had to swap harnesses and remove oil bottles etc,major drama.anyway luckily i have some good contacts in mercury and i was able to source a pair of 225 dts optis ,should be here in 3 weeks.
i ended up sending the stress free winch back to stress free and having the upgrade it to the ng series which has free fall ,i figured it better to do it all now than later ,first class service from them had the winch there and back in less than 2 weeks.so back in it went ,i weighed it 35kg plus rope 8kg and chain 10kg and 15kg anchor,thats a lot of weight on the nose of any boat [i have my concerns] anyway others are running them in thier 233s so hopefully it wont effect the balance and ride too much[or its gone].just got to teach myself how to splice the 8mm spectra rope.stainless channel around the hatch to keep the water off the winch motor.
ive done heaps but have little to show for it ,the t top trimming is almost done [this week],ive come up with some neat little tricks il show you once the clears are on .
stereo is in ,and sounder ,just waiting for the rest of my electronics to turn up [this week ] i hope.
got the rear cleats fitted ,added drain tubes to them ,i didnt realise they needed them till i went to refit them ,another simple job that took ages ,because of the 20mm teak deck the studs on the cleats wernt long enough ,so i bought some longer ss bolts and had them welded on ,when i went to fit them the thread was different to the original studs so i had to go out and get new nyloc nuts[sending me nuts ]anyway all good ,have a look how thick the deck is where the cleat mounts ,these edencraft are ice breakers i tell you thats 40mm of glass.
transom lights are in ,i went with ocean led amphibians pro a12 in blue.
had to mount the auto pliot core pack in the side pocket as i have no more room behind the dash,having room to mount this stuff is the biggest challange ive had in this fit up.
should have some more interesting pics pics for you soon