New Wheels

Well, not exactly wheels, but a new Yamaha 4 stroke outboard to provide quieter and more reliable propulsion. There was nothing wrong with the old Mercury 650.  It started right up and ran just fine. There was the issue of noise and smoke when backing up. Knowing the motor wouldn't last forever and not wanting to pay full price for new motor, I had been trolling Craigslist for about a year, looking for a Yamaha 70hp four stroke.  Why this engine? Well, this engine is the highest horsepower that weighs in under 300 pounds, in fact, it weighs about 260.  A 60hp Mercury is a bit lighter, but once you move up in power, the weight jumps to well over 300 pounds.  Honda, Suzuki, Evinrude E-TEC all weigh more, so the Yammie 70hp was my target.

At the end of last year I found this. It was located about 2 hours away, but knowing it is rare to find a used one, I jumped on it.  I also don't think it is a 2012, as the manufacture date was 2010.  However, this owner bought it from the dealer as a demo, so it was considered new and had a full warranty.
 

Then came the challenge of removing the old and fitting the new. I had the boat at home for some other work, so I was able to start the process of fitting the new engine. I removed the Mercury and was able to sell in on Craigslist. I had to plug the old bolt holes and clean up the cables, etc.

With my sons help and a chain hoist, I was positioned the engine for bolt holes,

The trickier part was the control handle. I wanted to use the Yamaha control. This required removing the after market control I had mounted in my console.  I could use the existing control cables as they fit right into the Yamaha control and engine.  I had to string the wiring bundle up to the control area.

To remove the old and fit the new, I had to cut away the top of my console to get at the wires, cables and the old unit. Here is the hack job I did to get it out.  I then rigged the cut away piece to fit the new and also mount it higher. This makes it easier to use.  The old unit was pretty low and you had to bend over to give it gas.  With mahogany trim pieces and a round plug, I was able to put it back to a nice looking package.

The Yamaha control includes the ignition switch, which I did not want to use.  I preferred keeping my dash mounted ignition switch, etc. So, I wired around the control wiring.  When everything was hooked up  I test started the engine and found I could not shut it off.  Even though it had no power, the engine just kept running like the Energizer bunny.  I found out I needed to provide a shut-off signal to the engine control unit when I wanted to turn the engine off, something my Mercury did not require.

My ignition switch did not provide this, so I rigged a relay to my switch and mounted it behind the dash.  It provides +12v to the shut-off signal when the ignition key is off, and cuts the signal when the key is in the 'on' position.  

The other problem with the installation was the steering arm. Due to location of the tilt tube or length of the arm, it ran into the wood edging around my motor well on a hard right turn.  I had to cut some space for the arm to move over.

Everything now seemed to working as expected.  It turned out the weekend of Feb. 7, 2015 was warm, so we hauled the boat back to the lake and launched it on Saturday. Everything worked like a charm.  The boat started right up and ran smooth and quiet.  The temperature hit 70 degrees, so we were able to cruise the lake on a beautiful weekend. No more mixing gas, either.

There is one outstanding issue and it was the prop. The boat came with 13pitch prop and I could not go wide open for fear of over-revving the engine. I ordered a 15pitch prop and hope to try it shortly.

I Have Tunes

With better weather, I've been able to do a few more additions and improvements to the boat.  It is a real challenge to work on the boat in the slip at our condo.  I have to plan out all the materials and tools and take them to the lake. In addition, as I only have some smaller hand and power tools available, I have to pre-make pieces based on templates I created on an earlier visit.  It is a lot slower and less accurate than working on the boat in my garage. 

Anyway, I was able to accomplish several items on my improvement list:

• Added radio to listen to music and Cardinal games while anchored in the cove. 
• Added a modesty panel to hide the trash and cooler from back seat view.
• Replaced some crappy electrical connectors that caused my lights to fail
• Added a US ensign flag at the rear. 

 Here are some pics of the radio install.  It is a Boss Audio marine radio.  It has an iPod connector on that cable as well as a USB and SD card slot in the main unit.  I didn't want to mess up my dash so I decided to drop it into the side console on the passenger side.  A whole lot easier to install - gravity holds it in!  It comes with a remote so I can control it from the driver seat if needed.

 An unfinished project was hiding the trash and cooler.  I built a 3 sided plywood box to cover it up and hung it from the framing of the center deck.  It is pretty light, so the 3 through bolts seem to hold it easily.

I wanted to fly a flag, so I bought a US ensign and pole.  My intent was to hold it in the navigation light which had a hole for a flag.  The problem was it vibrated loose when under way.  I could not think of a good way to make a more solid mount without hacking up the light, so I mounted a flag holder behind the rear seat in the center (no picture).  I couldn't mount it further back or off to the port side due to my cover, which then wouldn't fit.

Finally, I had to replace some female disconnect connectors on my wiring.  The cheap connectors did not maintain tension on the male connector and came loose or fell off.  This affected my lighting which didn't work one day.  I have a few more to replace where my wiring connects to the fuse panel.  It's a real pain to work under the dash and front deck. 

January Cruising

We were at our condo at Lake of the Ozarks this weekend for the first time since mid-November.  I checked out the lift and boat and all was well.  Since I had left the battery in the boat I wanted to charge it to ensure it didn't freeze. (A discharged battery will freeze and be destroyed.)   It turned out to be a warm day and actually hit the mid-60's but was very windy, creating white caps and lots of chop.  However, around 3:00 the wind died down and I could not resist the warm weather and deserted lake. I had to take a cruise.   With a couple of friends, we fired it up and took a cruise.  The video is from an iPhone held upright so the picture is tall and thin. 

Here we are leaving the dock.

Out on the lake. It was sunny and warm and no other boats, except for a few fishermen.

Here is the video of a portion of the cruise.

The weather turned nasty that night and it is now 22 degrees.  One day is better than none.

November cruising

I realize it is now January, but I just received a pleasant surprise from a neighbor at our condo complex.  Katie and I were at the lake on November 17, 2012 and the weather was sunny and warm (Mid- 60's, I think.)  So, we took the boat out for a spin.   It was great cruising since there was almost no traffic on the water, which is unusual for Lake of the Ozarks. 

 As we were heading out, a wooden boat fan who shares our dock took these pictures.  Since he didn't know me or I him, he had to do some investigation to find out who I was and where to send these pictures.  Well, we connected over the holidays and he sent me pictures of the Admiral and I leaving our slip.   Thanks, Dean.

Officially Named

If you remember the old Zenith brand of TVs, they had a slogan: "The quality goes in before the name goes on."  Well, my slogan should be: " The boat goes in (the water) before the name goes on." 

The stick-on vinyl lettering had not arrived when we launched the boat, so Tossin' & Turnin' remained nameless for several weeks since it was difficult to access the transom when the boat was on the lift at the lake.  However, in early September I pulled the boat for our trip to the Sixth Annual Gathering of Glen-L Boat Builders, which was held at Lake Nickajack in Tennessee and affectionately called "G6" or the "Gathering".  As I was prepping for the long drive, I had time to apply the name.

 I ordered the lettering on one long curve and then cut it into sections for application. Due to lots of different hardware bits on the transom, there was limited room to fit the lettering, but I got it to fit.   I wish the ampersand was smaller so I could have put it to the right of the u-bolt on the transom.

The Gathering was a 7 hour drive from St. Louis and it trailered with no problems.  We had a floating cabin at the marina so we could park T&T right outside our front door.  Very convenient for a weekend of boating with fellow builders.   Here's the eponymous boat parked at G6.

We have a launch!

The launch of "Tossin & Turnin" is now official.  We picked the name from a 1961 oldie that we dance to at all our kids weddings. It also will be appropriate at the Lake which can get pretty rough.  We will definitely be tossing and turning.

The launch was scheduled for June 24 at the Lake of the Ozarks, were we have a condo and boat slip.  Several friends were also available at the lake to help with the launch and escort our new boat from the ramp to the boat slip.

I was really surprised by my son, who surreptitiously flew in from Seattle to help with the launch.  Everyone else knew about Kevin's trip except me, so I was really pleasantly surprised.  The admiral and my daughter Leah also were present the help and make it official.

We trailer-ed the boat down on Saturday which is about a 3 hour drive and the fitted boat cover and trailer worked well. I was able to cruise at 70 with no issues.  We parked the boat in our condo storage lot overnight and then prepared for the launch on Sunday morning.  Here we are taking off the cover.  

We took the boat the to Lake of the Ozarks State Park boat ramp #1, which is near our condo.

Here we are ready to start the launch party, complete with champagne. And, thanks to a park attendant, we have a picture of the whole launch crew.

Here's a video of the launch sequence.  Thanks to Leah and Cathy who provided the video and commentary of the launch.

And here is the boat at rest on its lift in the slip at our dock.

I still have to order the boat name vinyl signs to complete the boat.

Pre-launch activity

With the registration in hand, we settled on June 24th for the launch at our condo at Lake of the Ozarks.  Some friends at the lake that have a boat are also planning to be there and they will accompany our trip from the launching ramp to our condo, just in case.

There are still lots of things I want to do to the boat, so I went on a crash course of activity in hopes of getting most of them done.  It will be much harder to work on the boat once at the lake since it will be kept in a slip and lift at the lake, I won't be near all my tools and supplies.

Since we want to anchor in coves and go swimming, the first order of business was a ladder. I bought a fold-down stainless steel ladder, but it needed to be bolted through the transom.  It also had to go on the port side since the speedometer pitot tube is on the starboard side.  The port side access to the transom is blocked by the gas tank, so I had a challenge.

The tank is not removable or even movable due to the tight fit.  So, I decided to put an access hole in the motor well. Using scrap plywood I determined I needed a 3.5" hole to get my hand in for any reasonable access.

All I had to do was be able to place washers and start four nuts.  The two closer to the hole were easy.  The further ones I could not reach, so I had rig a little extender to position both pieces so I could start the threading.  I luckily hit it right on the first attempt and didn't drop anything.  I then could get a wrench in there and tighten it all up.  I now know what endoscopic surgery must be like. I also made a rounded square cover plate out of 1/4" plywood to cover the hole.

I cut about 1.5" off the top of the ladder to get it hang more vertical since the transom tilts at 12 degrees.  It's a pretty tiny ladder so it will be interesting to see how we can manage to use it in practice.

I then mounted some hatch trim as a poor man's transom band.  A true transom band is a bit wider and matched to the curve of the hull and transom.  This is just approximate, but it looks OK in my book.

I also wanted to paint the lower unit of the 1975 Merc I had acquired since it was pretty faded.  I did a quick sanding and clean up job and spray painted the lower unit.  I didn't have time to clean and mask the mounting bracket, etc. so they are still a bit faded. 

Finally, the admiral wanted the boat blessed. Help from a higher power is always a good thing, so Father Chuck from our parish came over for an official blessing.  The church has an actual boat blessing that I think was intended for working boats but he adapted it for ours.  If the epoxy and plywood start to fail I'm counting on a little divine intervention.  Amen.

Next up is the launch!  (It actually took place but you'll have to wait for the post.)