The joys of a new boat

[Ronald2boats]

It always seems to be the same. My third real boat and I always have to go over them with a fine tooth comb.

So far, brake discs covered in grease but not a spot of rust, funnily enough.

Override brakes so badly adjusted it felt like someone running in to me each time I hit the brakes.

VHF, am/fm splitter connector separated but pushed back together with duct tape.

Has L&R latch but had to move winch post 4in up and 4in back to align bits so it might work.

Cut off long bolts intruding thru cabin deckhead to prevent unexpected facial surgery.

Replaced plastic screw fasteners on electronics with ss bolts so that they are not removable items.

Found screws and secured loose kill tank hatch cover.

Need to buy new VHF antenna and maybe a new mount.

Need to organise some surgery to rocket launcher and bimini to get it to fold.

She is a good boat though and I am pleased to have her.

Thinking of renaming her to "BeFree". Third boat... B3...




... Ron via mobile

[Cape Crusader]

Indeed, never ending and surpriising how sloppily things are often done or time takes it's toll add in personal preferences and then in 12 months you can do another similar list
I like to detach, clean and tighten every electrical connection when I get a second hand boat, surprising how many loose ones. Usually the trailer lights get completely replaced but only have to do that right once normally.
I spent today rubuilding calipers, using a needle gun and a grinder with a flap wheel to clean the discs up x 4. And a few other associated jobs. Oh what fun, well maybe it was at one time Ramp is only a short distance and looks like we will have to drive a little after wash down just for the brakes.
Unfortunately the 'if you want it done right' saying is mostly on the money
I hope all goes well with the new boat
Cheers
Rod

[ranmar850]

Sounds like a pretty small list for a s/hand boat.

[Ronald2boats]

Hahahaha, yes, but I am still going, the list will get longer ... :-)

... Ron via mobile

[Ronald2boats]

Work continues:

1. Removed the anchor winch after I found that it was attached to an anchor well that was about 3mm thick fiberglass. No easy way to reinforce. I just gotta shake my head at what some people do.

2. Added a central fuse box rather than lots of inline fuses all through the boat

3. Had the rocket launcher modified to allow it to fold. I was able to extend the shed to handle the 8m on trailer, but raising the door was out of the question. I took it to a guy in Bundy (http://www.stainlessaluminiumsupplies.com.au/) who did the modification. Came up pretty well, I think.

4. Plus a hundred little things.



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[ericcs]

just curious, your new 3rd boat, B3(whittley), is already for sale?

[Ronald2boats]

Nuh, chronologically the Whittley is my 2nd boat, it needs to make way for the Yalta which is the 3rd.

... Ron via mobile

[catshark]

neat work done on the folding rocket launcher, good job

[Ronald2boats]

Having decided that I will put an anchor winch in the boat, I set about pulling out the remnants of the previous installation.

The winch was previously mounted on a poly board not much bigger than the base of the winch this was attached to the base of the anchor well with sika and then 6 bolts with washers on the back secured the whole lot together. The poly backing board had little adhesion to the sika.

The way this installation was done, the pull of the winch was primarily spread across the 6 washers which resulted in localised areas of high stress. This was clear to see from the regions of delaminated fibreglass around a number of the bolt holes.

From what I know of the history of the boat, the winch was fitted from new. I don't see any signs that the installation had been redone at any stage, so I can only assume that the dealership that the boat was bought from are either (a) incompetent, or (b) dont give a fark.

Anyway, I have now ground out the damaged area and laid down a few more layers of glass. Will start work on the backing board tomorrow, which I intend to cover the area of most of the floor of the anchor well and extend all the way up the back. I don't think it will ever be the perfect solution, but it should spread the load into the stronger areas of the structure reasonably well.

After reading here and on other forums, I have ordered the Stress Free Mini NG 50 with Freefall. I hummed and hahhed over freefall for some days and decided that I would just spend the money and have that option, rather than wish later on that I had ordered the freefall. At least now I have all bases covered.

[RayLamp]

Without seeing it, I can only guess that the original winch installer mounted it to a price, not a standard. At least you are treating it with the care it deserves.

Its a slight regret of mine that I couldn't have the same winch installed on my new boat from factory. I just can't afford it however I know the anchor well its equipped to take it later when I can.

[Ronald2boats]

Having some good structure to support a winch is a great start. It's like foundations on a house. The last thing you want to see is your winch flying over the bow rail!

... Ron via mobile

[Ronald2boats]

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The backing board for the winch is now ready. It is made from 1220x610x12mm AA grade hardwood marine ply from Bunnings. 200mm cut lengthways at 25 degrees and flipped and glued to the remainder to provide 115 degrees to match the angle between the bottom and back of the anchor well. A couple of notches were taken out to make it fit the deck profile.

The join was rounded out using a plane and three layers of glass on each side of the join to provide strength. The resultant backing board is strong and very rigid, though I spent little effort on making it look beautiful, other than a coat of paint. It weighs in at around 3kg at a guess.

The last two pics show how the board fits underneath the anchor well. As you can see, it covers almost all of the base of the anchor well and most of the back. This means that much of the tension on the winch will be transferred to primary structure and not to the thin fibreglass anchor well itself.

The cost of the board, glass and resin would be roughly $75.

I am now waiting for the winch to be delivered.

[Ronald2boats]

The winch has arrived and been installed.

I have installed the winch low down on the bottom of the anchor well, with the rode coming off the bottom of the drum, onto a Lone Star roller and then onto the bow roller. I have fitted 70m of 8mm 3-strand nylon rope and 7m of 8mm short-link chain. It just fits, so I may have to drop to 6mm chain if jamming becomes a problem.

I did want to have the motor on the starboard side but this did not seem possible with the gearbox shape precluding this rotation.

I also fitted oversize 2B&S cables throughout only because I had these cables already from an old camper trailer and I did not fancy spending another $150 on cables.

If you buy this winch, you will need to provide the main power cables, plus (a) 3-core wiring for up/down solenoid, (b) twin core cable for power and ground, and (c) I had to extend the freefall actuator cable by about a metre - another twin core cable. The winch roller was also not part of the kit, another $99. All up, the installation cost just under $2400, with the winch kit being around $2100.


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I disassembled the provided winch control panel as I did not have a good fit for it. I have mounted the two switches into the dash where they are easily reached. I have a separate master switch on the main switch panel to enable the winch, as the main breaker has been fitted aft near the batteries. Stress Free would have had this breaker in the dash and used it as the 'master' switch.


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I have also had time to install the P66 transducer, so I will look to get the boat on the water soon to test out the winch and the sounder/transducer.

[Fazz90]

Great bit of work there.

I am in the process of purchasing an anchor winch myself, and i am too in thinking that the glass on the anchor well feels a bit too thin, and was thinking of reinforcing.

How did you glue the backing board to the anchor well?

[Ronald2boats]

The top of the backing board has three M8 bolts and washers attaching it to the back of the anchor well. The four M12? bolts that attach the winch attach the base of the board to the well.

Great bit of work there.

I am in the process of purchasing an anchor winch myself, and i am too in thinking that the glass on the anchor well feels a bit too thin, and was thinking of reinforcing.

How did you glue the backing board to the anchor well?

I was a bit concerned about getting it off again if there was ever a need, so I minimised the amount of adhesive. Having sat and pondered the stresses for a while, I decided that (given the mounting location and rope&chain routing) that most of the stress would translate up into the upper structure. I put a bead of sikaflex along the top and the sides of the board and around the bolt holes (mentioned above) and left it at that. The aim was not really to 'attach' the board to the well, but rather to spread the stress (of rode tension) over a large area and thus spare the structure from any areas of high local stress .

Full tension on the winch does not make much of an impact on it backing board during static testing, so all good so far. The biggest stresses will come when anchored in ugly conditions but I am pretty confident that the winch will stay put. I expect the anchor to drag long before the strength of the backing board becomes an issue.

Also, I have used 3-strand nylon rope which is reasonably stretchy thus it will greatly mitigate any shock loads.