Spring, 2004
- Used transom-mount swim platform on starboard side
- Used Pioneer am/fm/cd stereo in center console
- New 6 gallon remote oil tank
- New fire extinguisher
- New Perko battery switch above splashwell
- New fresh water pump in splashwell
Fall, 2003
- A Raymarine L265 fishfinder. The old Humminbird just did not cut it any more.
- 4 mounts for the gimballed Bar Buoy drink holders. I now have 6 places on the boat where I can put my beer down and know for sure that it won't spill. [grin]
- 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter on the center console.
- A drawer under the RPS to hold a lot of tackle. It sure beats opening the tackle box everytime I need a snap swivel, hook, etc. No pics of this yet.
- Two newer 94 qt Igloo cooler cushions (original Whaler tan color) on Ebay. They were a lucky find and are in very good condition.
November, 2002
I'm giving some thought to the gauges on the boat. I currently have only a tachometer! It would be nice to have more gauges (I'm a bit of an information junkie... the more I know, the better!).
- tachometer: it is old. even manages to read 1000 when engine is off.
- speedometer: don't really need since I have handheld GPS
- fuel level: don't need one... gas tank under cockpit floor has built-in gauge
- outboard water temp: should have one
- outboard water pressure: should have one
- engine hour meter: don't need one... engine is from 1991 and has an unknown number of hours on it now
- trim indicator gauge: do I need one?
- voltmeter: nice to know if motor is charging battery properly
October 28, 2002
I've installed a new water pump in the outboard. Install went pretty well but took
a long time... 4 hours. Getting a lower unit back on the rest of
the outboard is hard work! The lower unit is HEAVY. I
made great use of my floor jack. Kyle and I had boat out on Chesapeake
on Sat. I ran it plenty hard (5000 RPMs and 25+ MPH) for an hour or
so with no motor problems (knock wood). Sure wish we could have
caught some ROCKFISH, though.
October 17, 2002
I've made some upgrades to the boat & trailer over past few weeks...
- installed an emergency engine cutoff switch... a MUST HAVE, IMO. This one was on sale for $17 something on BoatUS web site. A very easy install, too. Be sure to have & use one of these on your boat!
- installed new trailer lights (I first made mistake of buying $5 el-cheapo non-waterproof lights from an auto parts store. These lights are a waste of time & money. The bulbs burned out or corroded so badly that I was replacing them every weekend. I recently bought the round lights made by Dry Launch and hope to have my trailer light problems behind me now)
- bought new 94 qt Igloo cooler and (white) seat cushion (sure wish cushion was desert tan like other Whaler cushions... maybe I'll get proper color cushion this winter.)
- added 6 ft of chain to anchor rode. Anchor is now more effective on muddy bottom of Chesapeake Bay and various rivers
- bought new trailer jack, spare tire mount, and two new trailer tires
- bought new inline bulb to prime outboard before starting
- bought Clymer shop book for Mercury outboard
- installed mount for hand held Garmin eTrex GPS
- bought newer seat cushion for Reversible Pilot Seat (RPS)
Things still to be done/purchased
- replace outboard water pump... it is not pumping water like it should
- buy & install fixed mount VHF radio, antenna, and mount
- replace Whaler stickers on port and starboard sides
- go fishing and catch a big ROCKFISH! [GRIN]
Things I've learned about boat/motor/trailer
- To start the motor, I have to turn the key to the "run" postion and press and hold the key in for a count of 5 or so. This fills the carbs with extra fuel ("enrichment" as it is called in the outboard manual). I initially thought I only had to press and immediately release the ignition key.
- Don't bother buying the cheap-o trailer lights. They don't last long.
- An intermittent beep from the warning siren usually means that the oil level in the remote tank is below half. A steady beep usually means that the engine is running hot.
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