Hello all,
It has been a few years since I've had a boat, and a few years since I've tinkered with one. I had a 1995 Blue Wave 189T that I completely refinished. I believe I had a thread on this website, but who knows if the pics are still working. Basically I removed all of the interior carpet, and replaced it with DuraBak. I then had to do it AGAIN because what I originally thought was UV resistant DuraBak was not, so it faded BAD quickly. The second application held up beautifully once i got the right product. Here's my old Blue Wave with the Durabak on it:
Here's more pics of it with the original durabak, then faded durabak, then new UV resistant durabak (went darker on decks the second time):
http://lonestarsharkers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=583
I had to sell that boat a few years back in order to fund my Wife's Masters Degree. Somewhere along the line, I got tired of construction project management as a career...took a huge paycut, made a big life change and joined the good ol' US Coast Guard. As an active member of the USCG, I have been transferred around a bit. My current duty station allows me a little bit of free time, and more importantly, I live on a canal with access to great fishing! So, living on a canal...I had to have a boat, right?! That's what I told my wife at least! We can't have a house, with a canal, and a covered boat slip with an empty lift!
So, early september.... I finally got my Wife to give me a green light. She's great! A buddy of mine happened to have a boat for sale...and I had just saved up enough to pay for it. He was a few hours away, and I hadn't gotten a chance to go see it yet...but I had planned to purchase it regardless as I trust him and his description of the boat. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, and a little more than I wanted to spend, but it was a good deal and a good boat for my area.
Needless to say, life got in the way a bit (doesn't it always?). On 14SEP2011 I received the greatest gift of my life, a son! He wasn't supposed to be here until 04NOV11, so he came a few months early! Although he had to stay in NICU for a few weeks for precautionary reasons, he's healthy and home now, doing well! The delay he caused was well worth it...but now it was time to get serious. As I was about to go visit my friend out of town and look at his boat, I stumbled upon another boat locally that was almost exactly what I was looking for.
I wanted the following out of a boat:
-inexpensive ($2000-5000, maybe more if it was just too good of a deal to pass)
-shallow running
-16-20'
-solid hull, but needing some work (I like to tinker and make things my own-prefer something needing work as it's less expensive up front)
-reliable outboard
-family safe
-minimal corrosion
Preferred options i wanted, but not necessary:
-trolling motor
-jack plate
-baitwell
-front and rear casting decks
-preferred glass over aluminum
-preferred a semi-V over a flatbottom for choppy water
-poling tower
My friends boat met all of those 'required' except the last one to a point- it is a tunnel-V style shallow water boat with no sides/gunwales. So, the younger and elderly people in the family could easily fall right off. Although I can look past that, I preferred something with sides, and it made an easier sell to Mama. My buddy's boat also didn't have much of the preferred additions. It was pretty bare. Still a good deal though...
Well, the boat that fell right into my lap met all of the 'required' above! It also had a bonus - it came with a 55# saltwater trolling motor and battery, a poling tower for the rear, and a removable temporary baitwell. It also has a jackplate and a casting deck on the front (aluminum removable). The trailer is not perfect, but the running gear is good. It mainly just needs the side guide boards replaced. Otherwise, everything else has been gone through recently. Trailer wasn't much of a concern as it will be stored in a boat slip. I Just need it if I have to evacuate for a storm, and when we move again or it goes to a shop.
With that said, it is a 'project' as it needs some cosmetic repair, and a few additions. However, it is fishable/useable "AS-IS" and I plan to make it a project that I fish with in the meantime. Should be fun!
The details on the boat:
- 1998 17'3" Rockport made by Renegade Marine out of Rosebud, TX. They are a little company who used to make hand laid, relatively inexpensive bay/shallow water boats. They are probably most popular for their 'BaySport' line (not to be confused with Pioneer Baysport), or their 'CatTrax' cat hull shallow water boats. They aren't a top-tier manufacturer, but build a good fishing boat for this area.
- ??? Beam? (I'll fill this in later, not sure, probably 7' at top of gunnel, 6 at sole/deck)
- V-bow with flat pocket tunnel
- 6-8" draft?? Not sure on this, but previous owner has pics of it floating in less than shin deep water.
- 70hp Nissan w/3-blade S.S. prop (not sure on pitch). Recent impeller/t-stat, 123-126psi compression on all 3, minimal corrosion, everything works.
- hydraulic jack plate
- removable rear poling tower
- 55# Riptide
Boat History:
According to the seller, the original owner was actually a electric/phone company in SE Texas. They used the boat to get to structures that were over shallow water. As you can imagine, the hull took some licks, probably beating against telephone poles and what not. He did say that they didn't use it often, so it should be fairly low hours for the age. The engine appears to be in good condition for the age...but who knows on hours. The rolled-gunnel on one side has a small crack and will need some attention. Otherwise, the obvious repair on the keel needs to be finished. The boat is water-tight, and appears solid and dry. The few screws in the deck and transom were sealed and shouldn't have allowed much water in, so it should be structurally sound.
The front platform was added by the phone company to serve as a work platform and storage compartment. It is aluminum, thick, heavy, and not the prettiest thing to look at...although it does appear to be made well and does fit pretty good. It will serve as a nice casting deck for the time being.
The person I bought it from has owned it for a few years. He did a lot of freshwater fishing, and a few saltwater trips. He re-painted the interior with interlux paint. He showed me one area where he applied some thin cloth/resin because the cooler was vibrating and slowly wearing into the existing resin/cloth. He said it probably didn't need it, but he had extra already mixed from the keel repair so he wanted to put it to use. Otherwise, he added the rear poling tower and appears to have sealed it up well, even though it's above the water line. He also added the trolling motor, and did a lot of maintenance work on the engine and trailer.
It has been worked and fished hard, but appears to be holding up pretty well for a 12-13yr old boat.
My plans are as follows:
MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL:
-Re-Wire electrical components. The boat had a depthfinder stolen off of it at one point, and when the thiefs took it - they messed up the wiring under the console. The seller currently has the bilge pump, ignition, tilt/trim, and jack plate working well. The rest needs work. I'll just go through it all, clean up anything unneccessary, and do it all correctly to prevent further worries. There is a nice rigging tube with plenty of space - should be easy and simple. I just need to measure and order the tinned wire. I'll pull extra wires for future baitwell, led courtesy lights, etc.
-replace plugs, plug wires if needed (looked good upon quick visual inspection), lower unit lube, fuel lines/filters. Waterpump and t-stat just recently changed w/receipt.
-replace steering cable eventually. It has a spot that was 'rubbed through' on the poling tower. It currently works well, but I'd like to replace it before it is too late.
-Add a few low-draw LED courtesy lights to center console, bow, and stern. Just enough to bait a hook in the dark...nothing bright.
-Add a VHF/depthfinder/GPS eventually. A handheld VHF/GPS will be used until I figure out which ones I want.
-check stereo speakers. If they are good, I'll replace the headunit (current one has a stolen faceplate). If speakers are bad, I'll remove them and do without.
EXTERIOR:
-Repair minor exterior blemishes. There is some oyster rash on the sharp 'V' keel. It has been repaired, but never gel-coated. I may just smooth it a bit more, and then put a keel guard on it. I'm not trying to make it a show boat, but I want it to be strong and structurally sound. It currently is...but could use a little fairing to clean up the line on the keel.
-Add paint to the hull sides - probably either seafoam green or carolina blue. Possibly a small graphic on the aft portion of the sides, like a stripe of sorts. We'll see. I worked in a body shop for a while, did a lot of paint and prep work, so I should be able to lay out a pretty slick coat of something on the sides. I'm not too concerned with the bottom...but I may coat it eventually. It will get scuffed a lot though as I pull up on beaches/banks frequently.
-Replace exterior rub-rail. It has taken some abuse over the years. Some of the insert is missing. I've replaced these before - pretty easy project and really helped the appearance of the boat to look 'New' again. If I'm going to paint the sides, it will need a nice new rubrail!
INTERIOR:
-Add 14-18" wide casting deck across the stern, with baitwell, battery box, and dry storage. The boat is really void of any dry storage. It is a plane ol' fishing boat. The battery sits on the rear deck. I'd like to make a platform that crosses the entire beam of the boat, from the transom forward about 14-18". This will give an elevated casting area, allow dry storage, and allow me to put the battery in a compartment. I can also plumb a baitwell with easy overboard access on either the gunnel or the transom.
-Once the rear deck/storage/baitwell is in place, I want to modify the rear poling platform so that it has an additional vertical support/anchor point. It currently sits in two 'receiver' tubes on the transom. Although it is solid and sturdy, I'd feel better if I spread the load over 4 points instead of just 2. I'll probably keep it removable though. I like the fact that I can pull a few pins and pull the tower off the boat.
-DuraBak the interior once all of the additions are done with storage, baitwells, and casting decks. I really liked it on my other boat. The current interlux paint looks pretty good, but it's thin, and it's SLICK!
-Clean up console/gauges and make a nice area to mount electronics.
Possible additions:
-Front casting deck. It currently has a thick aluminum deck that just sets on the boat. I would like to remove the thick aluminum, probably sell it for scrap as it's heavy! I'd like to then add a fiberglass/wood platform up there, maybe a little larger than the current one. This will give me a bigger casting deck, and more dry storage underneath for trolling motor battery, PFDs, etc. To be honest, I'm not even sure if there is a rigging tube up on the bow. I assume there is, but not sure as I didn't even look. If not, no big deal, I can keep the trolling motor electronics all contained on the bow, and one battery for a 12V motor wont affect weight too much.
-Small baitwell/seat on front of center console. I like having a cooler up front, but I also like the ones built into the consoles. I may be ok with just one baitwell in the stern...but on my last boat, I hated when the person on the bow had to come back to get bait. We'll see how my glass work is on the other projects before I decide to tackle this. I dont fish bait very often, usually plastics. But, my family does, so I may end up adding a baitwell. We'll see.
-strengthen/widen the gunnel tops, similar to a Hewes/Maverick/etc, with rod storage underneath. I like having a gunnel that I can walk on. This would be a pretty big project and I doubt I'll get this far, but it would make for a cool little boat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, I've got big plans. Things change, so we'll see how far we get. Like I said, it is fishable 'as is', so I wont be in a big rush to splash it or anything. Much of the work will be done while its in the water. I don't have a lot of money into it, so I can afford to slowly add stuff to it to make it exactly how I want it. Either way, I don't think I'll have much trouble at least 'breaking even' when I'm done with it as this style of boat is pretty popular in this area. Worst case I'll do a few things and sell it for a new project!
I will definitely need help/guidance/opinions along the way. I know a big concern with additions is weight distribution. Most of my plans don't add much weight, or at least counter-balance themselves...so I'm not too worried about that. My biggest concern is doing it correct the first time. I'm not a fan of seeing people just take some plywood, drywall screws, and metal brackets and build stuff on their boats. I want my additions glassed in like they would be from a factory small boat builder. Nothing injection molded, but at least decent. Nothing I plan to add is structural, although some of it may need to hold a person's weight safely...so I may need some tips. We'll cross those bridges when we get there!
I plan to keep this thing updated as I progress!
Tight lines,
SQ
It has been a few years since I've had a boat, and a few years since I've tinkered with one. I had a 1995 Blue Wave 189T that I completely refinished. I believe I had a thread on this website, but who knows if the pics are still working. Basically I removed all of the interior carpet, and replaced it with DuraBak. I then had to do it AGAIN because what I originally thought was UV resistant DuraBak was not, so it faded BAD quickly. The second application held up beautifully once i got the right product. Here's my old Blue Wave with the Durabak on it:
Here's more pics of it with the original durabak, then faded durabak, then new UV resistant durabak (went darker on decks the second time):
http://lonestarsharkers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=583
I had to sell that boat a few years back in order to fund my Wife's Masters Degree. Somewhere along the line, I got tired of construction project management as a career...took a huge paycut, made a big life change and joined the good ol' US Coast Guard. As an active member of the USCG, I have been transferred around a bit. My current duty station allows me a little bit of free time, and more importantly, I live on a canal with access to great fishing! So, living on a canal...I had to have a boat, right?! That's what I told my wife at least! We can't have a house, with a canal, and a covered boat slip with an empty lift!
So, early september.... I finally got my Wife to give me a green light. She's great! A buddy of mine happened to have a boat for sale...and I had just saved up enough to pay for it. He was a few hours away, and I hadn't gotten a chance to go see it yet...but I had planned to purchase it regardless as I trust him and his description of the boat. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, and a little more than I wanted to spend, but it was a good deal and a good boat for my area.
Needless to say, life got in the way a bit (doesn't it always?). On 14SEP2011 I received the greatest gift of my life, a son! He wasn't supposed to be here until 04NOV11, so he came a few months early! Although he had to stay in NICU for a few weeks for precautionary reasons, he's healthy and home now, doing well! The delay he caused was well worth it...but now it was time to get serious. As I was about to go visit my friend out of town and look at his boat, I stumbled upon another boat locally that was almost exactly what I was looking for.
I wanted the following out of a boat:
-inexpensive ($2000-5000, maybe more if it was just too good of a deal to pass)
-shallow running
-16-20'
-solid hull, but needing some work (I like to tinker and make things my own-prefer something needing work as it's less expensive up front)
-reliable outboard
-family safe
-minimal corrosion
Preferred options i wanted, but not necessary:
-trolling motor
-jack plate
-baitwell
-front and rear casting decks
-preferred glass over aluminum
-preferred a semi-V over a flatbottom for choppy water
-poling tower
My friends boat met all of those 'required' except the last one to a point- it is a tunnel-V style shallow water boat with no sides/gunwales. So, the younger and elderly people in the family could easily fall right off. Although I can look past that, I preferred something with sides, and it made an easier sell to Mama. My buddy's boat also didn't have much of the preferred additions. It was pretty bare. Still a good deal though...
Well, the boat that fell right into my lap met all of the 'required' above! It also had a bonus - it came with a 55# saltwater trolling motor and battery, a poling tower for the rear, and a removable temporary baitwell. It also has a jackplate and a casting deck on the front (aluminum removable). The trailer is not perfect, but the running gear is good. It mainly just needs the side guide boards replaced. Otherwise, everything else has been gone through recently. Trailer wasn't much of a concern as it will be stored in a boat slip. I Just need it if I have to evacuate for a storm, and when we move again or it goes to a shop.
With that said, it is a 'project' as it needs some cosmetic repair, and a few additions. However, it is fishable/useable "AS-IS" and I plan to make it a project that I fish with in the meantime. Should be fun!
The details on the boat:
- 1998 17'3" Rockport made by Renegade Marine out of Rosebud, TX. They are a little company who used to make hand laid, relatively inexpensive bay/shallow water boats. They are probably most popular for their 'BaySport' line (not to be confused with Pioneer Baysport), or their 'CatTrax' cat hull shallow water boats. They aren't a top-tier manufacturer, but build a good fishing boat for this area.
- ??? Beam? (I'll fill this in later, not sure, probably 7' at top of gunnel, 6 at sole/deck)
- V-bow with flat pocket tunnel
- 6-8" draft?? Not sure on this, but previous owner has pics of it floating in less than shin deep water.
- 70hp Nissan w/3-blade S.S. prop (not sure on pitch). Recent impeller/t-stat, 123-126psi compression on all 3, minimal corrosion, everything works.
- hydraulic jack plate
- removable rear poling tower
- 55# Riptide
Boat History:
According to the seller, the original owner was actually a electric/phone company in SE Texas. They used the boat to get to structures that were over shallow water. As you can imagine, the hull took some licks, probably beating against telephone poles and what not. He did say that they didn't use it often, so it should be fairly low hours for the age. The engine appears to be in good condition for the age...but who knows on hours. The rolled-gunnel on one side has a small crack and will need some attention. Otherwise, the obvious repair on the keel needs to be finished. The boat is water-tight, and appears solid and dry. The few screws in the deck and transom were sealed and shouldn't have allowed much water in, so it should be structurally sound.
The front platform was added by the phone company to serve as a work platform and storage compartment. It is aluminum, thick, heavy, and not the prettiest thing to look at...although it does appear to be made well and does fit pretty good. It will serve as a nice casting deck for the time being.
The person I bought it from has owned it for a few years. He did a lot of freshwater fishing, and a few saltwater trips. He re-painted the interior with interlux paint. He showed me one area where he applied some thin cloth/resin because the cooler was vibrating and slowly wearing into the existing resin/cloth. He said it probably didn't need it, but he had extra already mixed from the keel repair so he wanted to put it to use. Otherwise, he added the rear poling tower and appears to have sealed it up well, even though it's above the water line. He also added the trolling motor, and did a lot of maintenance work on the engine and trailer.
It has been worked and fished hard, but appears to be holding up pretty well for a 12-13yr old boat.
My plans are as follows:
MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL:
-Re-Wire electrical components. The boat had a depthfinder stolen off of it at one point, and when the thiefs took it - they messed up the wiring under the console. The seller currently has the bilge pump, ignition, tilt/trim, and jack plate working well. The rest needs work. I'll just go through it all, clean up anything unneccessary, and do it all correctly to prevent further worries. There is a nice rigging tube with plenty of space - should be easy and simple. I just need to measure and order the tinned wire. I'll pull extra wires for future baitwell, led courtesy lights, etc.
-replace plugs, plug wires if needed (looked good upon quick visual inspection), lower unit lube, fuel lines/filters. Waterpump and t-stat just recently changed w/receipt.
-replace steering cable eventually. It has a spot that was 'rubbed through' on the poling tower. It currently works well, but I'd like to replace it before it is too late.
-Add a few low-draw LED courtesy lights to center console, bow, and stern. Just enough to bait a hook in the dark...nothing bright.
-Add a VHF/depthfinder/GPS eventually. A handheld VHF/GPS will be used until I figure out which ones I want.
-check stereo speakers. If they are good, I'll replace the headunit (current one has a stolen faceplate). If speakers are bad, I'll remove them and do without.
EXTERIOR:
-Repair minor exterior blemishes. There is some oyster rash on the sharp 'V' keel. It has been repaired, but never gel-coated. I may just smooth it a bit more, and then put a keel guard on it. I'm not trying to make it a show boat, but I want it to be strong and structurally sound. It currently is...but could use a little fairing to clean up the line on the keel.
-Add paint to the hull sides - probably either seafoam green or carolina blue. Possibly a small graphic on the aft portion of the sides, like a stripe of sorts. We'll see. I worked in a body shop for a while, did a lot of paint and prep work, so I should be able to lay out a pretty slick coat of something on the sides. I'm not too concerned with the bottom...but I may coat it eventually. It will get scuffed a lot though as I pull up on beaches/banks frequently.
-Replace exterior rub-rail. It has taken some abuse over the years. Some of the insert is missing. I've replaced these before - pretty easy project and really helped the appearance of the boat to look 'New' again. If I'm going to paint the sides, it will need a nice new rubrail!
INTERIOR:
-Add 14-18" wide casting deck across the stern, with baitwell, battery box, and dry storage. The boat is really void of any dry storage. It is a plane ol' fishing boat. The battery sits on the rear deck. I'd like to make a platform that crosses the entire beam of the boat, from the transom forward about 14-18". This will give an elevated casting area, allow dry storage, and allow me to put the battery in a compartment. I can also plumb a baitwell with easy overboard access on either the gunnel or the transom.
-Once the rear deck/storage/baitwell is in place, I want to modify the rear poling platform so that it has an additional vertical support/anchor point. It currently sits in two 'receiver' tubes on the transom. Although it is solid and sturdy, I'd feel better if I spread the load over 4 points instead of just 2. I'll probably keep it removable though. I like the fact that I can pull a few pins and pull the tower off the boat.
-DuraBak the interior once all of the additions are done with storage, baitwells, and casting decks. I really liked it on my other boat. The current interlux paint looks pretty good, but it's thin, and it's SLICK!
-Clean up console/gauges and make a nice area to mount electronics.
Possible additions:
-Front casting deck. It currently has a thick aluminum deck that just sets on the boat. I would like to remove the thick aluminum, probably sell it for scrap as it's heavy! I'd like to then add a fiberglass/wood platform up there, maybe a little larger than the current one. This will give me a bigger casting deck, and more dry storage underneath for trolling motor battery, PFDs, etc. To be honest, I'm not even sure if there is a rigging tube up on the bow. I assume there is, but not sure as I didn't even look. If not, no big deal, I can keep the trolling motor electronics all contained on the bow, and one battery for a 12V motor wont affect weight too much.
-Small baitwell/seat on front of center console. I like having a cooler up front, but I also like the ones built into the consoles. I may be ok with just one baitwell in the stern...but on my last boat, I hated when the person on the bow had to come back to get bait. We'll see how my glass work is on the other projects before I decide to tackle this. I dont fish bait very often, usually plastics. But, my family does, so I may end up adding a baitwell. We'll see.
-strengthen/widen the gunnel tops, similar to a Hewes/Maverick/etc, with rod storage underneath. I like having a gunnel that I can walk on. This would be a pretty big project and I doubt I'll get this far, but it would make for a cool little boat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, I've got big plans. Things change, so we'll see how far we get. Like I said, it is fishable 'as is', so I wont be in a big rush to splash it or anything. Much of the work will be done while its in the water. I don't have a lot of money into it, so I can afford to slowly add stuff to it to make it exactly how I want it. Either way, I don't think I'll have much trouble at least 'breaking even' when I'm done with it as this style of boat is pretty popular in this area. Worst case I'll do a few things and sell it for a new project!
I will definitely need help/guidance/opinions along the way. I know a big concern with additions is weight distribution. Most of my plans don't add much weight, or at least counter-balance themselves...so I'm not too worried about that. My biggest concern is doing it correct the first time. I'm not a fan of seeing people just take some plywood, drywall screws, and metal brackets and build stuff on their boats. I want my additions glassed in like they would be from a factory small boat builder. Nothing injection molded, but at least decent. Nothing I plan to add is structural, although some of it may need to hold a person's weight safely...so I may need some tips. We'll cross those bridges when we get there!
I plan to keep this thing updated as I progress!
Tight lines,
SQ
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