Still no splashy splash - I really wish Mother Nature would be nice and stop the rain nonsense for a couple weeks. Last Thursday I took the short break we got from the rain and re-painted the seats from when the last coat of paint didn't cure, and got ruined by the tarp that was supposed to protect it...
Just to help the process along, since it was still very humid and cold - I spent a half an hour after painting warming up the seats with my heat gun. On the high setting it shoots out 1000 degree air, so for half an hour swept back and forth over the seats blasting hot air at them to get the wood and the paint warm and got it set up like it would on a 70 degree day.
Also - in the next couple pix you can see the PVC frame I built to help support the tarp. I have since had to reinforce these with some saw horses and rollers - the PVC frame sagged under weight of rain water.
I was also able to get some paint on the bare parts of the trailer. Still need to grind a bunch of old paint off so the trailer looks funny right now. Still shopping for tires - I don't feel like paying more for trailer tires than I paid for my last new set of car tires.
The color is lighter than I thought it would be - but that's OK.
On Saturday I met up with a fellow on my way in to work and picked up a 50lb thrust Minn Kota, and a group 24 battery. The small battery will do for now - maybe next summer I will add a 2nd battery, or replace it with a pair of 27s.
I was concerned that the motor mount on the minn kota was not going to fit properly, as I "forgot" about that need when I put those triangle decks on the stern of the boat, and was lucky I had exactly enough room (and not a quarter inch to spare) for the electric to mount properly.
Today was dead at work, so came home early and took advantage of the blue sky weather and got a bunch of rigging done - I installed all the rod holders, the aft cleats, and the cap'n's chair, and reinstalled the base for the fish finder. I didn't have enough daylight, nor did I feel quite comfortable enough to untarp the entire boat, so I did not get the forward rope cleat, anchor cleat, or either bow or stern nav lights installed.
I did get some dry testing done on rod holder use though
I think I mentioned before, but the Cannon rod holders I got had dual-duty mounts, they could be mounted flush on top of the gunnel, or in the traditional side mount position. They do give you some interesting rod holder positions if you use side mount:
Notice in the top pic I used the inside hole, which would normally be used if you mounted the base atop the gunnel. This positions the holder closer to the interior of the boat, and at a lower angle. I suppose this makes the holder more secure - almost zero chance of accidentally knocking the holder out of the base. It does limit you to either shallow straight out angle, or raising the rod tip in order to point the rod fore or aft. Fitting the holder into the traditional method provides more options for tip angle and fore/aft position. I do hope these Cannon holders break in a bit though - they've very sticky and stiff to adjust or place the holder in or pull it out of the base.
The other cool feature on these holders though - is that they're designed for three positions for the rod as it sits in the holder. If using a casting rod with a trigger, you can position the rod in the furthest out position, and the trigger actually locks the rod into the holder.
Notice the trigger protruding through a slot in the bottom of the holder. Also - there's a scalloped area on top of the holder, just in back of the reel's position. This is for position two - you can rest your bait caster or spinning reel in the scalloped area. The rod isn't locked into place here, so probably not a great idea if you're fishing for big fish to use this position. Would be fine if trolling for trout or kokes though.
The last position is the traditional place you'd use on other rod holders - and probably the most secure if you use the locking ring. This is where I would position the rod if I'm fishing for salmon/steel/sturgeon or any fish that is powerful enough to take off with a rod. I'd also use the lock rings if running place to place with the big motor and didn't want to bring the rods inside the boat while running.
In the next pic you can see the rocket launcher racks - I tested these with different type/size rods in all the positions, and these should work a-ok for any gear rods I have. Of course they won't work with fly rods unless they have no reels, but ohwell. The fly rods can be laid on the floor under the seats or something, or left in their tubes until it's time to use 'em.
Placement of the FF
View from the cap'n's chair
Doing some research I found I should be able to register my boat with an independent agent, and won't have to drive to salem. Active Watersports in Beaverton is an agent for OSMB, they can take my paperwork and issue me temp registration allowing me to use the boat before I get my certificate of number and title. I'm hoping to splash the boat first week of November at this point.
My boss is going to help me with some of the issues left on the trailer - got him on the hunt for decently priced tires, and we're considering changing up to 15 inch tires if we can find a reasonably priced set with the same bolt pattern and the right offset. 15s are a lot easier to find! He's also going to help me fix the issue with the winch tower - right now the plan is to add another center piece between the forward cross members and simply move the tower back, as he's got some scrap 3 inch channel iron and pretty good welding skillz. Oh, and I need to get off my arse and run the new wires and get the lights installed, but I can do that in a couple hours even if it's raining. I just wasn't too motivated because of the crap weather we had last week.
I need to get a decent stencil to get the name put on the boat soon. 
