Almost new boat and new to the forum

[Sculpin]

Wow great project and awesome job on the extension. I really enjoyed reading through this thread. Thank you big time for sharing. We all love the project threads on here. It give folks some great ideas and insight into how these aluminum boats can be modified alot easier than tupperware.

It was all worth it huh???? (Sorry I had to get that in before Jettywolf shows up)

Congrats man. Awesome stuff

Cheers,
John

[Sea Lion]

Heavy loads and rough seas:
Just got back from a 200 mile jaunt. Took off with 220 gals of gas, three people and enough food and gear to go on a long trip. First day out we hit 5' seas and took a lot of water over the top. At 22 MPH there was some pound falling off the back side of the third wave in a set, more like a slap. My passengers preffered 14 MPH where we made good progress and had a smooth ride.

We ride about 2" higher than last year when fully loaded and the boat jumps right up on step. At this weight last year it took a bit.

Do I think all this was worth the effort, YES. The 98" long rear deck is awesome, The boat rides and handles well. There is enough room for far more stuff than we will ever carry.

Thanks for following along it's been an interesting trip.

[Sea Lion]

Lobo Hidey4.jpg (163.6 KiB) Viewed 6080 times

This is an update on some new projects.

When I lengthened the boat in March a year ago, I left the davit in its original position. I wasn't sure where I wanted it. After using it for a season, I moved it back to close to where it was. One photo shows it after lengthening and the other its new position. Before it was mounted to the inside of the gunnel, now it runs thru the gunnel and is more out of the way. This will free up the rear deck for fishing and still make pulling pots easy, that is if it ever stops snowing. 6" more last night.

[Sea Lion]

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The davit will still swing to the center of the deck for a helping hand. I put a new opening window in the door. Air circulation was an issue at times while on the hook and cooking.

[Sea Lion]

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Part of last year's project was a couple lockers built in to the side. One was for a kerosene tank for an Espar heater. These pics show the tank and how I will fill it the year.

[Sea Lion]

fuel pump2.JPG (58.08 KiB) Viewed 6079 times

[attachment=0]espar mount.JPG[/attachment

I placed the fuel pump for the Espar in the locker and made a mount for the heater tucked along the side next to the rear dinette seat.

[Sea Lion]

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Here is the Espar install and duct work. Yes I know a "Y" is facing the wrong direction. I'll replace it with a "T", but I did not have one and town is 250 miles away. One pic shows the duct running to the cuddy. The lower duct covers the exhaust. I put the heat sleeve on the exhaust pipe and had an extra hunk of duct so slid it over. One pic shows most of the install. There is a duct running to the head, a duct that vents under the table, a duct to the cuddy and a duct that runs to a defroster bar that runs across under the front windows. The exhaust drain goes to the self bailing deck and the intake air comes from the rear deck going thru the head.

[Sea Lion]

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defroster duct.JPG (69.09 KiB) Viewed 6078 times

These show the hot air vent into the cuddy, the duct to the defroster bar for the front windows and the duct hooked to the defroster bar.

[Sea Lion]

defroster bar3.JPG (127.33 KiB) Viewed 6078 times

defroster bar2.JPG (65.5 KiB) Viewed 6078 times

These pics show the defroster bar. This is an experiment. It is a tube with a lot of holes angled to blow hot air onto the windows There is a fan above to help with air circulation. I'll let you know how it works.