July 6th 2006 - Thursday

It's been another few weeks.  I missed my July 4th target of getting the boat complete enough to launch, but I tried not to rush myself too much.  There were a few issues but I worked through most of them.  One of the key disappointments was finding out that I didn't have all the right cables to get the motor started.  They don't tell you when you buy the motor which cables you actually need to get it installed.  But after a lot of research on-line, I figure out which 5 cables you really need and got them ordered and installed.  Unfortunately, I ended up ordering them almost one at a time. 

The good news is that the motor is installed and I got it started after priming the engine with oil and gas!  I got the entire electrical system installed, including the radio, GPS, horn, cabin light, charger, starter, speedometer, fuel gauge, and tachometer. Even the GPS and radio are functioning and communicating between the devices.  I did have another problem with the installation of the fuel tank.  I accidentally got a chain caught in the tube line and it was causing the tank to leak. 

Also, I've started finishing up the trim work.  I'm sanding down most of the wood filler over the screw holes, and I've gotten half the trim installed around the deck of the boat.  This is exceptionally hard work because you have to hand plane down the fiberglass and plywood edge of the boat.  The fiberglass dulls the plane down very fast which makes it very hard work.