Just coated all my bolts with Duralac, thought I'd get all the annual maintenance out of the way while it's not raining but not fishing weather yet.

Just did up the new main member for the winch on the trailer

Gotta re-cover the seats with Marine leather.

But the wife to be has frozen all the funds.....wedding is too close now apparently :(

Adding another fuel tank so I am able to get to the Abrolhos and fish for several days without having to worry about the amount of fuel on board to get home. Also refining and adding items to the boat to make the days fishing a more pleasing experience. Only had the boat ion the water six times from rebuild, slight changes were always on the plans after sea trials had been completed.

if you get the F&B mags from the east coast, they have heaps of god info, also their plate alley boat building series of books are great for ideas and renovations

Tony

yea paul, my trailcraft 610 was rear end heavy, so this break if have pulled up the floor  and found the 240 lt tank was mounted right at the transom, so i modified all of the filler pipes and moved the tank so it is central in the hull .  then i decided to install a  flush central transducer mount for echo sounder.  whislt the floor was up i removed the half size seat and installed two pole mounted seats,

The trailers just come back from Gnaraloo, all central wooble keel rollers removed and i installed 8 large keel rollers on a seperate frame for easy launching and weight spread over trailer this also allows the boat to sit lower in the frame work, cleaned out springs and checked all bolts and wheel bearings etc  ready for summer time and next years trips  

mines been a labour of love and hate for almost a year now,

she is an old (1998) allie 8m wheel house, that every one calls ugly-betty...lol
Have re done the steering set-up, changed from morse controls to a single leaver set-up, pulled out the seat box and put in a captains chair on a post and fitted a bow sprit for the angler, plus 1kw external commercial transducer on the hull.
Biggest job was cutting off the pontoons on the side put on when the boat was being used as a dive boat. They had huge drag and knocked off about 7knots at least from the top speed.
Now to do the carpets, refit the last of the dash wood-work and paint the sides. Then she goes back into the sea. Also got a tri-axle trailer for the tub, with all stuff on board, but no fuel or water, she is just under 3.3tons towing!!!
Plan is to make it a fishing liver-aboard, that can do long stays at Rotto or north of Perth to shark-bay etc. With a diesel motor and 500lt fuel, plus 150lt water, I should be able to do one week away stints with ease.
Biggest issue is time and then when I do have the the time..it bloody rains

ps when looking for top tips, if you a member of Sea Media ( F&B's website)then you can get e-copies of old refits and articles on boat rebuilds. Worth every dollar is finding tricks of the trade and good ideas when you in a jamb.

Tony