Slaving on a skiff!

The epitome of irony is me, slaving on this skiff to get it ready as the premier fishing vessel of Casual Charters while this phrase from a song plays through my head over and over as though someone pressed the REPEAT button,

“sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting t i i i i i m e.”

And I’ve been doing anything BUT sitting here resting my bones.

Not counting the 101 trips to “town” to get this and that and that and this to make BAB (nickname of boat) ready, here’s what I can instantly recall having done in the past month since her purchase:

Removed four shoddy patches, using heat gun, scraper, and Acetone (OUCH), and sanded with four grits of wet/dry sandpaper and rubber sanding block.

Drilled screws out of 24 holes under those shoddy patches

Filled holes with Gel Coat, sanded, sanded, and sanded some more.

Patched two small holes in bottom of hull with fiberglass.

Applied polish compound and buffed.

Bolted battery trays to boat floor.  Moved trolling motor batteries from old boat to new boat, installed, and wired.  Bought and installed new main battery and tray and attached all wiring.

Installed on-board battery charger, and fiddled with it until it finally worked.

Fixed anchor light, which was not working

Cut out wiring for old GPS and depth finder.  Removed gobs of silicone from wiring holes, cleaned, and plugged properly.

Repaired holes in console from old bracket and installed my GPS bracket.  Ran wires and connected my old GPS.

Installed new bracket to hold GPS “module” or antenna and installed module.

Removed trolling motor bracket from old boat, drilled holes in new boat and installed trolling motor.  Installed new plug-in for trolling motor on front deck.

Removed old bimini top hardware, drilled new holes and installed new hardware.  Scrubbed bimini top and installed it.  YEA SHADE!!!

Changed oil in lower unit.  Checked and filled engine oil.

Cleaned gas tank and installed fuel and water separating filter.

Bought and installed safety chain on trailer tongue.  Replaced trailer rope clip.

Removed cracked aerator pump from bilge and plugged hole properly.  Bought four more T- plugs to have on hand, just in case I lose one.

Polished all the aluminum hand rails.

Scrubbed the deck with bleach and soap and deck brush.

I’m sure there was more, but I just can’t think of it now.

Coming soon . . . Maiden Charter!

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14 Comments

    1. I would love to have your engine, but it put the rig out of my price range . . .even used!!! It is a sweet boat, though. Put her through the paces in rolling waves and rough chop. She did great! Extra battery charger? I have two batteries for the rolling motor, and they are hooked up to the charger. That motor sucks the juice out of them pretty good when I use it for fishing.

      1. You shouldn’t need a extra charger,the 115 has a 35 amp charger and if you put your trolling motor batteries on a battery switch with your main battery you can charge them in minutes by switching them to “all” and running the engine. I went to a gel cell Die Hard,expensive but well worth the money and it has a 3 year FULL replacement warranty.

        1. Well, I think I have things that way because I don’t run my engine enough to keep them charged and ready for the next trip. I will have to ask my mechanic why we moved the charger from old boat to this one.

  1. Looks good! I just want to know if you ”Googled” fiberglass repair? I would absolutely have had to. Maybe for the wiring too! How was the maiden charter this weekend? Hope you put them on some fish.
    Going to Grand Isle tomorrow. Just a short trip. We’ll head home on Wed. My cousin and our Pennsylvania friends are there now. I hope to get in SOME fishing, but this trip will be more socializing than fishing.

    1. I hope you find clean sand, my dear. I hear there are places where the oil just oozes out. Does this mean all of the beach is now miraculously OPEN, only a month after all that secret cleanup humbug? That is pretty dog gone amazing. Can’t wait for a first-hand report from you about how things look. If anyone would know if things are amiss, it would be YOU! Have a great time!

      About the fiberglass, I have a very good friend who is a mechanic, boat builder, and basically jack-of-all-trades who helped and advised.

  2. The boat looks good, slim, trim and ready to rock! Fiberglass repair is no fun. Hubby is restoring an old ’49 pickup and has been since the late ’80s and we have done a lot of patching, sanding, priming and etc. I say restoring but, it is more like “tinkering” since he gets it together, takes it apart for some little mistake and redoes it over and over. At least it keeps him out of my hair and occupied. LOL!! Hope the charter went great.

  3. I second Heather’s pronouncement—-BAB is a beauty! Ya done good BW. Can’t wait to hear about all the new adventures in chartering. Did y’all get a touch of the cold spell that just blew through out here in the Hill Country?