What have you done for your boat lately?

After a wee bit of weighing the pro's & con's in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping :rolleyes:, I decided to go with a new raft rather than messing around trying to extend the life of the old one. I also followed the YOLO frame of mind and indulged myself by upgrading to a Kodiak after talking with Rich back at BSI.

To make my Dutch side happy, I went with the raft only and transferred other stuff over. I upon doing so, I found the Kodiak is not only longer but a few inches wider and the MacGyver fixes I envisioned weren't gonna work....so I busted out the wife's old school sewing machine and went to town.

After something like 3 or 4 trips ping ponging around to find materials, some Olympic level over thinking, a couple false starts, and about 6 or 8 hours of cutting, pinning, and futzing with the ancient sewing machine, I had a new stripping apron and cargo net. 🥳🥳

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Yahoo...now if the weather would just cooperate....:cautious:
 
Need to get the small boat ready to get out in the next few weeks. Starting with new bunks for the trailer. Then repack the bearings, routine engine service, and redoing the electrical connections (there's only a couple thankfully).
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Bunks completed 🥳

(this is before I lowered the jack and tightened it down)
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Definitely would be easier with the boat off the trailer, but it isn't too bad. I actually do think it helps getting the bunks in place and lowering the boat onto them so they settle in before drilling the holes and tightening down, though.
 
I'm replacing the forward section of flooring in my 1992 Fishrite 20' sled. There is some soft spots in the original flooring. I did one of the mid sections in 2024.
The hole on the bottom left side is for the wiring of my 3 bank charger. The charger is mounted inside one of the seat/storage boxes.
it's time to apply the vinyl flooring now.
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Wanative said:
I'm replacing the forward section of flooring in my 1992 Fishrite 20' sled. There is some soft spots in the original flooring. I did one of the mid sections in 2024.
The hole on the bottom left side is for the wiring of my 3 bank charger. The charger is mounted inside one of the seat/storage boxes.
it's time to apply the vinyl flooring now.
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Man you lucked out. When I did my floor on my 16' skiff two years ago, it came up in pieces so I couldn't do any tracing.
 
_WW_ said:
Tell me more about the vinyl. What is it and how is it fastened?
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Wayne, I ordered the vinyl on line. It is applied using weldwood non flammable contact cement.
The product comes in a 6' width and is sold by the foot. The floor of my boat is 6'3" wide by 4' long. So I had to order 7 feet (84")of the vinyl to do the job.
The glue is applied to the plywood and the back side of the vinyl and allowed to get tacky. Then the vinyl is applied on top of the plywood. I played thin slats on top of the tacky plywood then the vinyl on top of the slats. This allows the vinyl to be placed correctly without being stuck out of place. I pulled the slats one at a time and used a linoleum roller to apply pressure to the vinyl without wrinkles.
I cut the vinyl 2.5" wider than the 3/4 plywood for overhang to finish the bottom.
After the top side is cured flip the plywood and repeat process. I staple the excess corner material and the perimeter to insure the edges stay put.
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Wanative said:
Wayne, I ordered the vinyl on line. It is applied using weldwood non flammable contact cement.
The product comes in a 6' width and is sold by the foot. The floor of my boat is 6'3" wide by 4' long. So I had to order 7 feet (84")of the vinyl to do the job.
The glue is applied to the plywood and the back side of the vinyl and allowed to get tacky. Then the vinyl is applied on top of the plywood. I played thin slats on top of the tacky plywood then the vinyl on top of the slats. This allows the vinyl to be placed correctly without being stuck out of place. I pulled the slats one at a time and used a linoleum roller to apply pressure to the vinyl without wrinkles.
I cut the vinyl 2.5" wider than the 3/4 plywood for overhang to finish the bottom.
After the top side is cured flip the plywood and repeat process. I staple the excess corner material and the perimeter to insure the edges stay put.
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I'm going to look into some. Right now I've got interlocking rubber on the ply but it weighs almost 1.5 lbs per ft. It would be nice to shed some of that weight.
 
This stretch of nice weather has me thinking of a few boat projects I want to tackle before fishing gets rolling.

Looking to add a step up to the back deck on the bass tracker. If I do it right, it'll mount one of those mini boat seats for smaller fishing passengers. Or perhaps I can find a cooler + cushion that is properly sized to sit in there.

I also need to tidy up my old little 12" Duroboat and get the bow trolling motor set back up so it's ready to sell. Fun little boat, but between the kayak and bass tracker, it just doesn't get the use it should. And perhaps more importantly, the lady has reminded me that selling it was part of my justification for buying the tracker.
 
Josh said:
This stretch of nice weather has me thinking of a few boat projects I want to tackle before fishing gets rolling.

Looking to add a step up to the back deck on the bass tracker. If I do it right, it'll mount one of those mini boat seats for smaller fishing passengers. Or perhaps I can find a cooler + cushion that is properly sized to sit in there.

I also need to tidy up my old little 12" Duroboat and get the bow trolling motor set back up to it's ready to sell. Fun little boat, but between the kayak and bass tracker, it just doesn't get the use it should. And perhaps more importantly, the lady has reminded me that selling it was part of my justification for buying the tracker.
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Uncanny how they always remember that shit.
 
skyriver said:
Congrats! Such nice rigs.
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Thanks , have had it on the water 4 times now . 150 horse Merc , gets across the lakes pretty well . Kinda getting out of the pontoon , still got one , sold one . Not convinced I want to quit the pontoon boat quite yet . Although I’ve fished out of this boat pretty similar to how I fish out of the pontoon. Will see how it goes on the Montana trip this summer.
 
I love this thread!

I hope this post qualifies… I actually helped my Dad on this one.
His 1989 SeaSport’s 250hp died before his boating days were over. We decided to sell the 22’ behemoth and see what comes available. I sold that boat in a day, for 22K cash money! Wow, I could have sold two more of them.

I called a buddy who put me in touch with a word- of-mouth boat that was coming for sale. 1981 GlasPly 19.5 Cutty. Repowered with 2025 Suzuki 200 & 8hp outboards. This boat has been converted from a I/O to outboard years back. It’s in great shape and got it for the exact amount we sold the SeaSport.

GlasPly has been defunct for years, but they were a terrific builder of PNW boats!IMG_8170.jpegIMG_8171.jpegIMG_8067.jpeg
 
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