Whaler Resto - part ix - splash time

After 5 months of sporadic thrashing,

the Boston Whaler was only a few hacks away from the water.

This is when I veered off 

trying to find a reason to grind metal.

How many bow lights auditioned for this spot!?

The top left original one was neat but too small.

The top right matched the square whaler shape...

This 60's version just fit right,

and most importantly had the best chrome 

and colored glass lenses.

A simple bolt on...

Heck no.

Now an anchor line won't rub through all that fiberglass work!

The lights were set up with LED bulbs,

a carryover from the first whaler.

Trial and error found the two prong bulb 

only used one prong.

The sharpie'd red colored one would blow a fuse.

This setup produced an intermittent flashing light,

no bueno.

I soldered a wire right onto the bulb and that solved it.

Now we were legal,

not that we would christen it at night,

but what if...

Even though the launch ramps 

are within a mile from the house,

I'd rather drive 8 miles to the shop,

and finish welding the trailer.

Wow what a sketchy drive.

There was no front V block,

just a temporary wood wedge,

the boat seemed to jiggle with every bump.

An hour+ later and it was rock solid,

same with the fenders and guards.

You'd think we'd have rushed to the water.

Nope.

We found out this must be dismantled 

to drop the lower unit.

Yeah we were an hour away from splash time,

and we found a small seal problem on the prop shaft.

Dang it.

Almost 2 weeks later,

Jake and I bit the bullet.

No more lolly-gagging and excuses.

We brought paddles just in case.

What a tank!

The 13 foot Whaler with the 30 hp was a fun little zipper,

the 17 foot Whaler with the 50 hp is a solid cruiser.

The 50 hp is the lowest suggested for the hull,

so I wasn't expecting blasting speeds.

We topped out at 28mph

on a rough and windy Mission Bay,

with room left on the throttle.

No need to kill our $400 engine on it's first run!

The outboard needed some trim tuning too,

the 1' setback really changes the setup.

Of course Jake wants a bigger engine already!

The thing is,

25 mph feels way different on a 13 vs 17.

As the kids get comfortable with handling,

and nailing the trailer...

But there may be an 85 hp in our sights!

Since Jaxon missed out,

we re-trimmed the engine and went out again.

Smiles all around,

definitely worth it.

Good times...

TP