Re: Ouachita Spirit 16' Tri Hull
Thank you for all the compliments, guys! I am humbled and thankful for you guys taking a look at my work. I truly enjoy building things, and this project has really been therapy for me. I don't use all the "by the book" materials and techniques, but I do try to do it the best I can with what I have on hand(various random stuff), very little money(still spent some), and no workspace. I did all this in a two car garage with a car and the boat in it(not to mention the other stuff that is always cluttering up the garage). My workbench was usually a 10 gallon plastic recycling tub and the tools I used were extremely basic.
As I have shown my boat to some people, they always say I should recarpet the other lids,the floor, and paint the boat a new color...I say you pay for it and I will do it. I can afford to make it work, I can't afford to make it pretty.
Some other improvements I have done are: organizing the bilge so that the gas tanks(2 6gal.) are bungeed together, so they don't slide around, and secured the fuel line to the underside if the lid so that it is up off the floor. I also put the primer pump so that it hangs down slightly from the underside of the bilge deck so it is easy to reach after opening the lid.
I also zip-tied the wires, fuel line, and throttle cables as they come out of the hull and into the outboard motor housing.
I cleaned up all the wiring on this boat. Here is a pic of the two batteries, and the dual charger. You will notice that the wires are out of the way of access to the batteries...they can be removed without any trouble at all. Also note the two pairs of 8ga. wire coming from the cranking battery. One pair is to the outboard starter, the other is going to the distribution blocks under the steering console for the stereo, lights, pumps, etc.
I took the boat out on the water today, (water temp 41, outside temp 52) it was a little bit chilly, but I loved it. The motor ran like a champ, even though I forgot to open the vent on the gas tank cap...it was a little collapsed as I looked at it after getting home....dummy. Last time I did that the motor would not hardly run past idle...I guess it is running better than it did when I first got it....YAY! I took my GPS with me to see how fast(slow) it goes...32 mph, wow. Not fast, I know, but I'll get where I am going just fine, thank you very much. It got up on plane at about 15 mph, not bad.
When I first got the boat, I had it out on the water a few times. I noticed that when I hit a wake, or wave, the front end would twist and shudder throughout the hull. Since fixing the floor under the front deck, and rebuilding the deck, the whole boat is solid...no twisting or shuddering now.
The stereo sounds fantastic on the water, much better than I thought it would. The only thing I don't like is that the subwoofer makes the anchormate winches rattle...grrrr. I need to find a way to fix that now.
The other thing I found is that the steering column comes loose and wobbles against the console, I really don't like that. I have tightened the nut on the shaft under the console as tight as I can, but the torque of turning makes it come loose after a couple of hours of driving. Anyone know what to do about this?
Hunter, I left the fiberglass deck intact, and layered 3/8" plywood on top of it. I put resin all over the plywood before putting down, and then I put a coat of resin on the fiberglass deck prior to setting the plywood on it. I actually used the resin as the adhesive. If you need it, I can give you the denim pattern for the deck, if it will help you. As for the weight, it sounds right that it weighs that much. My boat is supposedly over 1800 pounds from the factory. 2100 pounds sounds like an 1800 pound boat, plus a 400 pound trailer. I bet my boat weighs 2100 pounds without the trailer! hehehee...must be all that wood and resin I put in...
Alright !!! Another neighbor.......................
