iBoat Skipper Doug
Active Member
- Aug 8, 2018
- 140
- Boat Info
- 2003 225 Weekender w/Bravo III drive
2019 Venture trailer
- Engines
- 5.7 MPI Mercruiser w/Bravo III drive
Above photo is not my boat. Photo used as a example of what I do not want.
My boat, pre-start of this project.
Photo form a few minuets ago. More to do, but I have things located.
Just giving a little project update
Background: On my first boat I had a *cough* professional *cough* mechanic doing some things. I was a lot less jaded at the time. I purchased a VHF radio. The mechanic asked if he could install it. “How much would you charge” I asked? “$100” he replied. “Go ahead” I old him. Although the above photo is not my boat, it’s similar to what he did. He bolted the VFH to the outside of the helm with wires dangeling below. Looked like a 12 year old did it. I couldn’t get the DSC button to work, which was state of the art at that time. He replied “I don’t mess with that crap.” He never connected the DSC wires, he cut those wires off flush where they exit the radio. I was not yet hardened enought to do what I would do today, toss the mechanic in the lake. In the end, he got my money and I hated what he did every time I looked at it. I never did get the DSC to work. Also, my vintage little chartploter was ram mounted and it was in the way. Move it this way and it was in the way of the cup holder. Move it that way and it was in the way of the throttle. My second boat came with dash mounted radar. If I sat, I could not safely see forward. So I had to stand all the time. I swore someday I’d get another boat, add the electronics mysel and do it like I want, flush mounted.
Today: I am trying to DYI most of what I’m doing to get this new to me boat that had been in long term storage back to life. I’m not a mechanic and I may be slow with my progress, but by doing it myself I am getting exactly what I envision and want. In my new to me boat, I wanted a flush mounted GPS and VHF.
Here are photos from my in-process project. So far, I like how this project is going. Other then having one washer magically disappear after I dropped it, the project is going well.
Still ahead of me: Adding the VFH antenna mount plus all the wiring, which will be the easiest part of this project given my day job. But first, I need to go find that missing washer.
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