Hey guys, just thought I'd drop in with an update on the Islander. Its been a while and there's been quite a additions, mainly fishing related. There's a 250 Etec hanging off the back now along with some track systems and a lot more rod holders. More electronics and a kicker throttle control...
Fishing trip was a success. Boat held up and ran great. No major issues to report.
Was pretty windy the whole week so we mainly fished for perch but did get out one day after lake trout and salmon but no success on those.
Gander Outdoors in our area is having 40% off store-wide so I took advantage and upgraded the helix to a 9 with Mega Side Imaging and also picked up a VHF radio.
Mounted those and the new SI transducer as well as moved the antenna to the T-top.
Its getting to be that time of year up here...
I noticed a slight bit of transom flex happening in the top quarter of the transom while on the trailer (getting in and out and bouncing a bit on the swim platform). I didn't notice it while running the boat but I could get it flexing while on the trailer so I know it would be flexing even more...
Hacked a couple holes in the hull for some flush mount nav lights. Wired those up and also the compass back light.
Center console door got some new plexiglass and a new latch.
For the bilge hatch - I cut out for flush mount hinges with some wood chisels and a dremel. Touched up with some epoxy and a some deck over to match. Also added a gas strut to hold it open when needed.
I installed the live-well control valve on the side of the console.
The original bilge...
OK been busy the past couple weeks and finally getting a chance to post the updates.
Next up was making the live-well lid/seat and back rest. They got a few coats of epoxy and then off to get foam and vinyl wrapped.
The T-top support braces also got installed.
OK, got a little work done tonight. T-Top, electronics box and rod holders installed. I still need to finish up the support braces tomorrow.
With the console as wide as it is I decided to notch out the flange on the base of the console to squeak out an extra inch of room on each side. Between...
Sunday morning i gave it a quick scrub and hose down, threw the bow cushions back in and we headed north and gave it a full day work out, couldn't be happier with the performance!
2 people and some gear - WOT 41mph at 5100 RPM so I suppose there's some room to play with prop pitch for more rpms...
OK, getting you guys pretty close to real time updates here! The previous post was the Sat morning Aug 31st. Sunday we had plans to go north and visit my wife's parents who were up camping for the holiday weekend. Its on a larger inland lake so naturally I wanted to drag the boat along and give...
A quick run down to the launch was now in order. Just a short sea trial to make sure everything was working as it should.
Sorry I din't get any better photos, guess I was a little excited to take it out for its first spin!
Motor is running great, swim platform and motor height seem to be...
Still quite a bit to do but...time to fire this thing up!
All my photos and videos are hosted in Google photos so not sure if this video will play? Let me know if you have trouble with it...
I drilled the hols in the console top for the graph wiring and a new flush mount compass.
I used a grommet and a rubber plug to seal up where the power and transducer cable come up through the console. That should keep any water out and give it a nice clean look. I drilled the proper size hole...
Had to wait an extra day before my buddy could bring the tractor back over to get the motor bolted up.
But we made quick work of that and then I drilled holes to run the rigging through the transom and started fished the control cables and steering hoses to the console.
Almost ready to fire...
Gauges and finding a spot for the Helix 7 was next.
Jason threw in those awesome Starcraft gauges with the deal so I definitely had to try and use what I could. I didn't want to lose the alarms built into the RPM gauge for the Ocean Pro going on it so I settled for using that stock RPM gauge...
