Hello all. First let me say I've been poring over this forum community for a few hours and you people are incredible. I've never seen a more helpful bunch of people, combined with an abscence of jerks, in any set of forums anywhere.
A quick back story before I ask for help: My father and I are avid fishermen but, until now neither of us has had time enough to warrant a boat, so we've settled for shore fishing or rentals in the 2 or 3 times each season (in western NY) we have. Now my father is retired and I'm disabled, so we set out in search of a nice little fishing boat for the inlets, streams and bays around lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. My father came across a boat that fit the bill and bought it. It's a '77 Mirrocraft 14' aluminum v-hull with a '78 Evinrude 25hp outboard. He paid $1200 for boat, motor, and trailer, with the motor running well and the hull floating. It also had a couple nice extras like 6 pole holders, 2 new fuel tanks, a fish finder and a little marine radio. We're hoping to refurbish it in time for the fall runs.
Cosmetically it's rough looking in and out(faded and scraped yellow paint on the hull, faded and peeling applique on the benches), but with access to a paint booth and the proper equipment we'll have her looking sharp in a two-tone scheme to match his truck, so this isn't an area of concern. As I stated before the motor runs and seems to have been well maintained, and we're both former auto mechanics, so with a proper repair manual that's not a concern either unless something major happens. We have all the safety gear suggesated by the USCG. The trailer is getting fresh tires, bearings, and wiring as well as paint and roller bunks.
Here are my problems and questions:
1. The wooden transom board looks pretty weather-beaten with a tiny bit of raising in the grain on the ends, but it feels quite solid. Is this something we should consider replacing right away? If so is there something besides hardwood and marine sealant we'd need to use?
2. This is the big one. The boat has an old cable-and-pulley steering setup in a terribly slapped together homemade wooden side console. Anyone who's ever worked with wood couldn't stand to look at this console without shuddering, and the steering is non-funtional. I have some oak in the shop to build a new console, and we'd like to make it a center console to help with balance and driver comfort. Our budget doesn't allow for anything but the most basic steering setup, which from what I gather should be fine for a 14' boat with a 25hp outboard. Is it as simple as installing a rotary steering system and wheel? Will I run into routing and kinking problems running the cable down and back to the transom, then up and to the side? Most of the rotary kits I've seen say they're best used with existing power steering. Am I looking at the wrong thing here?
3. By the time it's all said and done we'll have invested nearly $2500 including all repairs/mods above to boat and trailer, trailering cover, insurance, registration & inspection, and the original purchase. This pretty much soaked up our hardware budget. Have we invested too much into what most boaters would likely consider a glorified rowboat?
4. We've both operated rentals and friends/rekatives boats in the past, but any general advice for us as owners? Any specific thing to look out for with the Mirrocraft or Evinrude?
Thanks for reading this monster post. I'll certainly be quicker to the point in the future. Thanks in advance for any help.
A quick back story before I ask for help: My father and I are avid fishermen but, until now neither of us has had time enough to warrant a boat, so we've settled for shore fishing or rentals in the 2 or 3 times each season (in western NY) we have. Now my father is retired and I'm disabled, so we set out in search of a nice little fishing boat for the inlets, streams and bays around lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. My father came across a boat that fit the bill and bought it. It's a '77 Mirrocraft 14' aluminum v-hull with a '78 Evinrude 25hp outboard. He paid $1200 for boat, motor, and trailer, with the motor running well and the hull floating. It also had a couple nice extras like 6 pole holders, 2 new fuel tanks, a fish finder and a little marine radio. We're hoping to refurbish it in time for the fall runs.
Cosmetically it's rough looking in and out(faded and scraped yellow paint on the hull, faded and peeling applique on the benches), but with access to a paint booth and the proper equipment we'll have her looking sharp in a two-tone scheme to match his truck, so this isn't an area of concern. As I stated before the motor runs and seems to have been well maintained, and we're both former auto mechanics, so with a proper repair manual that's not a concern either unless something major happens. We have all the safety gear suggesated by the USCG. The trailer is getting fresh tires, bearings, and wiring as well as paint and roller bunks.
Here are my problems and questions:
1. The wooden transom board looks pretty weather-beaten with a tiny bit of raising in the grain on the ends, but it feels quite solid. Is this something we should consider replacing right away? If so is there something besides hardwood and marine sealant we'd need to use?
2. This is the big one. The boat has an old cable-and-pulley steering setup in a terribly slapped together homemade wooden side console. Anyone who's ever worked with wood couldn't stand to look at this console without shuddering, and the steering is non-funtional. I have some oak in the shop to build a new console, and we'd like to make it a center console to help with balance and driver comfort. Our budget doesn't allow for anything but the most basic steering setup, which from what I gather should be fine for a 14' boat with a 25hp outboard. Is it as simple as installing a rotary steering system and wheel? Will I run into routing and kinking problems running the cable down and back to the transom, then up and to the side? Most of the rotary kits I've seen say they're best used with existing power steering. Am I looking at the wrong thing here?
3. By the time it's all said and done we'll have invested nearly $2500 including all repairs/mods above to boat and trailer, trailering cover, insurance, registration & inspection, and the original purchase. This pretty much soaked up our hardware budget. Have we invested too much into what most boaters would likely consider a glorified rowboat?
4. We've both operated rentals and friends/rekatives boats in the past, but any general advice for us as owners? Any specific thing to look out for with the Mirrocraft or Evinrude?
Thanks for reading this monster post. I'll certainly be quicker to the point in the future. Thanks in advance for any help.
Don't get the 2 footitis right away and you'll be fine.
