hblair

LOL guys. I called Dan, and he gave me some good advice. I’m going to take the time and go ahead and tab all the bulkheads to the deck. The last thing I want is screws loosening up after some big waves. After three trips across the Gulf Stream in the 30 footer, I’ve seen screws loosen up and don’t want that for this boat...

bck

For what it's worth, there aren't any bolts at all on my bulkheads. Even the rubrail seems to be held on by some magic only Dan knows of. Actually i think the rubrail was screwed on and then all the screws were ground flush on the inside. Seems remarkable that just the screws engaging in the material thickness would last 30 years but ...

hblair

I’m getting the bulkheads ready to glass, In the meantime I was able to borrow an arch from a friend to use as a template to build one of my own. IMO radar arches usually look cheesey but in the case of a vice boat they are SUPER KEWL!

Also bought some new misc. plated thru hulls and stainless gas caps, still gotta find a new Stainless water cap in the style of what was on the boat. The originals seem to have been pot metal construction. So these are definitely an upgrade.

Also fitted the saddle tanks.

hblair

jeff32

Great progress! What are the saddle tank for? They are right under the gunnels on each side?

bck

How come you chose to mount the saddle tanks in cockpit area and not engine compartment?

hblair

They were mounted under the gunnels in the cockpit originally. I haven’t really given any thought to moving them. They will rarely be used by me. But after having made Bahamas trips before in my 30 and having to consider the limited range of these boats, it would be nice to have a 250+ Mile range .

bck

Must've missed it in the thread. So if you won't be using them often then you have a belly tank or more saddle tanks in the engine compartment?

hblair

I had a new main center tank fabricated a few year ago, to replace the original center tank. The boat originally had a center main tank under the cockpit, with two saddle tanks beside the cockpit, and that’s what I’m going back with. I plan to use the main tank all the time and the saddles rarely on long trips.

bck

How was the fuel switching handled? How will you handle it now?