I’m sure I missed some stuff in between but what can ya do? Last time I showed you all of the parts disassembled from the boat. It was also sitting on the old crappy trailer. It has come a long way since then. I’m getting really good at disassembling and reassembling all of these parts. I decided to drill out the rivets on the bracket that holds the front seat down. It makes it so much easier to install. Since that front part isn’t meant to be wood all the way to the bow its really hard to jamb it in there without damaging it. Now I can remove those brackets on the seat and set the platform in place then reinstall the brackets. When I reinstall them I just add a rubber washer around the screw and so far no water leaks. The seats go in much easier. I can just slide them under the brackets. I also put a little angle bracket on the floor to hold it down. Now it wont bounce around when I’m driving down the road or on the lake.
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I also got a chance to add a lock to my front storage cabinet. I decided to do it after the fact so I had to router out the wood I put there in the first place. It was kind of fun. I built a little jig to make sure I colored inside the lines 🙂 Cutting the slot for the lock to go into was no easy task, but with some patience I got it. As you can see in the picture, I had to pry the cabinet open before I installed the lock and handle. I caused a lot of damage I’m not happy about. Live and learn I guess I’m hoping to get a lock installed for the middle cabinet so I can lock up my valuables.
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For my birthday my mom was nice enough to buy me a couple pedestals for my boat seats. They sure are much nicer then sitting on that hard wood seat! I decided to reinforce the wood a bit. I thru bolted the seat down and glued a second piece of wood on the bench. Now I’m not so worried about the bench wood splitting. Especially at the front where it actually sits on a pedestal.
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My Grandpa pretty much gave me a bow mounted trolling motor. I tried to pay him what it was worth but he would have none of it! Thanks Gramps! I build a little section on the bow platform to mount my motor to and store my battery under. I have big plans for that, but not yet. I haven’t gotten around to cutting the wood to fully enclose the front, but I will. The more storage the better!
Next was a milestone for me. I got to take it off the old crappy trailer and put it on the less old, less crappy trailer. It wasn’t very hard. With a little help from my lovely wife, we got it cranked right on the new trailer. The boat fits so much better on this trailer then the other one.
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I’m by no means done with the boat, but it’s really close!
The Rex Manning 