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Aug. 3, 2011: The deck plates are fabricated and ready for installation. Deck plates with access panels in place.

Aug. 28,2011: After 4 coats of epoxy gelcoat the deck is in and silica sand applied for a non-skid surface. One more color coat on everything to finish. Then it's on to rigging everything.

Sept.10,2011: Re-construction is complete. All trim pieces refinished and installed. All electrical functions are in working order. Engine and outdrive to be rigged and installed as soon as hydraulic hoses and gimble bushings arrive.

Oct.10,2011: Bit of a update on the first splash (10/15/2011) - didn't sink it, in fact no water leaking in which is always good for boats. After launch, warmed her up, leak checked then motored out passed the no wake zone, brought her up on plane and notice smoke! Bad thing but engine temp was 145-150º. Heat gun showed port riser 150º stb side 220+º. Shut down to see what's up noting no leaks but hot stuff every were. Restarted to head back. Now the Y-pipe is getting way too hot. Shut down just outside no wake and she wouldn't start again. Three men trying to row a 3500# boat into a non-existent breeze - not a great experience for 2 years of rebuild labor, blood, sweat and tears. I could complain a little here but the real pisser was not the boat troubles but the so-called Patrol boat motored right buy as we rowed back and not so much as a wave or acknowledgment. And I payed $17.00 dollar for this just to launch (Silverwood SRA).

OK, we got everything back home and started to investigate. Anyone with some knowledge of how risers work can probably guess what I am going to say next. Basically there was O water moving thru the stb riser and very little passing through the port side riser. Additionally I toasted all the rubber around the stb side exhaust flapper. So now I have replaced both risers and GIed the manifolds which are in fair to good shape, at least good enough for the second splash.

Sept. 29,2011: Second splash - fingers crossed, we launch and motor out past the no wake, bring her up on plane and motor off without the heat problems. Motor around from trolling speed up to WOT (GPS 36.8) without incident for a hour. Only problem this time was a small fuel leak at the top of the carb which stopped after a short while. Will investigate at home.

With the first/second splash issues behind for now, I have managed to finish and install the new dog house replacing the temporary plywood one I had fabricated for the first/second splash. This was my first attempt at making something like this but with some guidance from Gerald at Polymer Composites Inc I purchase a sheet of 1" insulating foam and proceeded cutting and gluing pieces of foam together to come up with basic shape of the new dog house. I used 16p nails to hold the pieces together while the wood glue dried. The nails worked great but if pushed in too far they leave a dimple in the foam which will show after glassing. You can see them in this picture. After two layers of cloth they were pretty much gone but I know their there.

From this point I covered the shape with two layers of fire retardant glass cloth and resin followed by three coats of gelcoat. After a week of sitting in the warm shop I installed it with a 3X36" SS piano hinge and 34 SS screws. With the piano hinge installed instead of the 4 small Perko hinges I used on the temp dog house the whole dog house was made very stable and strong. Here it is installed with cup holders.

Here's the under side of the dog house. You can see the re-enforcing oak stripe for the hinge to screw into along with the plywood seat rail support backing on either side.

I weighed the ½" plywood temporary dog house and it weighed in at 41#s, the new foam dog house weighed in a 31#s. The new one is very easy to lift and does not flex.

Time for more sea trials! :-) Finally after 3 attempts all the bugs have been worked out and the ole' girl is ready for another sea trial. This one went off without a problem.

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