# Scott1298's Tracker Topper 1542LW Mod "Complete"



## Scott1298 (Jun 26, 2012)

Well, I knew we were going to upgrade from the 10 footer some time, I just didn't think it would be this fast! But I couldn't pass up the boat, 6 hp Merc, (and oars) I wanted on cl- all for the price of the motor at the local dealer's. I stumbled across this site around the time I bought the boat, and I love it! You will see many of the ideas recycled, and this is part of my payback. And thanks to gillhunter for lighting a fire under me to get started.
I don't know when I'll finish... it is fishing season! But I'll post as I work between fishing trips...

A 15' topper, less than 200 lbs; I can throw that on my truck rack myself... not! I bought a trailer within a week of bringing it home on aforementioned rack. :LOL2:


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## TheMaestro (Jun 26, 2012)

Nice work on the stripping. Your buiid may go quicker than you think!


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## gillhunter (Jun 27, 2012)

Boat's looking good. You got the paint off a lot quicker than I thought you would =D> The boat is going to be sharp looking with a natural finish.


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## trueblue1970 (Jun 27, 2012)

Nice job...im debating on stripping paint off of my new purchase. But theres no peeling so I may just paint over whats there...


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## Scott1298 (Jun 27, 2012)

One of my first jobs as a young man was in an autobody shop... I did lots of sanding and priming of automobiles. There were signs of orbital sanding underneath the stripped paint, and to be fair I'm not sure if I could have identified a primer, but the problem probably is there is none. My fear was that if I go to all the trouble of sanding (including feathering back all the scratches and peel) the peeling could continue under the remaining old paint for the foreseeable future... ruining a new paint job too.
Some people just pickup a can of matching spray paint and touch their boat up as "life happens". After a while you should know what you are up against. I just felt my used boat was too far gone.


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## Scott1298 (Jun 27, 2012)

Has anybody tried those sliderg5 seats :?: I'm thinking about getting two; one for each captain's bench on my tin boats. Then I could just move the swivel chair from boat to boat. I've had the same experience as themaestro for the rest of the boat, it's just as easy to throw a stadium seat in (or nothing) depending on the passengers. And if I bring the friend with a bad back like me, we just throw his clamp-on on the new front deck mod. :mrgreen:


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## Scott1298 (Jul 3, 2012)

I've been distracted mobilizing my last boat for the season. I'd never owned a boat until 3 years ago... now I own three?! Sometimes I think it would be cheaper to have a drug habit! Maybe my wife is right and I do have a problem  This one is like most of the girls on the other side of the bar... it looks better from a distance, but it gets us on the beaches of the river and big lakes in the area. This is a subject for another forum, but it is my excuse for not working on my tinny the last few weeks!


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## Scott1298 (Jul 30, 2012)

Alright, I've got a few days off so I have time to complete some projects. Yesterday I put a Wise sliding seat on my 10'. I tried to get the Slider G5s, but they don't ship to Canada. The positive side of using these is if I go out without the seat they are flat enough I can sit on them failrly comfortably. I had to cover the damage done by the clamp-on... but at least I knew where I needed to put it. I usually sat about 6-7 inches off center when operating the motor, so the 9" travel should be lots. I added a strip of 1.5" aluminum underneath one side, hopefully it will prevent more damage to the bench and give me a little clearance to slide, seams to work good. I bought another with the intent to put it on my 15' so I can move the seat back and forth between the two boats. I may wish I'd offset the back bracket an inch to the left, it would make installation of the seat a little easier if I could get the front in and then have an inch of seat to rest on before I had to "thread the needle" of the back bracket.


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## Zum (Jul 30, 2012)

You going to put tin foil on that seat to match your boat?...
That is one shiny boat though,nice job on striping it.


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## Scott1298 (Jul 31, 2012)

Zum said:


> You going to put tin foil on that seat to match your boat?...
> That is one shiny boat though,nice job on striping it.


Ha it is shiny, I burn't my hand leaning on it to open the gate the other day, but it's pretty tight down the side of the garage and I scratched the side of it pushing the other one in one time... a little sandpapering and nobody would know the difference :wink: Kinda reinforced my decision to leave the 15' stripped bare so I don't have to suffer that first time I scratch my new paint job,.. although I might not shine it up to reduce the heat/glare.


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## Scott1298 (Jul 31, 2012)

Ok, before we went on the river with the big boat for a few hours I got one more project started... I removed the LW cover with the intention of placing at least one battery in there and wiring everything from there. I discovered only one fits, and it has to go sideways. That should be enough for me, and if I take passengers I think I've figured out a plan. 
I think I've bought my dream trolling motor used (55lb Minn Kota PDV2 with ipilot), it's half the price of new but its 500 miles away. Fortunately as luck would have it, my dad lives 20 miles away from the guy in the middle of "Nowhere" Canada. If things work out, he'll pick it up and deliver on his next visit, but I can't go much farther until I know I have it and it's dimensions. Anyways, this is my first build so I keep starting projects as prototypes and when I'm done I think I can get away with what I've built... at least for now. This time I just grabbed the left over old 3/4 inch plywood from the front deck and built a little platform to fit the box, and I used what I had laying around to finish it. It ain't pretty but it should work at least for a while. Things fit tight, but I really should seal some plywood and build a seat with a hatch to keep the rain out because the original LW hatch funnels water into the box and the wood will likely sit in the water from time to time even though I have an old boat cover to keep the rain out when parked.
Back to the batteries; I'm going to run 8 gauge wire back to the transom (as well as to the bow) and if I use my 30lb transom motor I'll connect there. If I get the bow mount, when I have passengers or a serious fishing trip, I'll place a second battery at the transom (where I place it now) and connect it in parrallel with a quick connect to the one at the front doubling the battery life and balancing the boat! I may even charge the bow battery through the quick connect at the back.


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## Scott1298 (Aug 1, 2012)

Well the used Minn Kota is mine, I just don't know when mom and dad will drop it off. In the meantime I ran the wires for it today, but it's too hot to do anything else. I picked up the wiring snake on sale a while back, it was worth every penny today!


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## Scott1298 (Aug 19, 2012)

Alright, I got some more work done this week/end. The neighbor helped me rip some sheets of plywood to fit mid week and I finished them up over the last few days. I give the Wise/Action seat sliders a C-; they do what I need, but I had to work like a dog to make them fit. One aluminum piece came warped, making fitting really tough. I used the 3/4" screws provided for assembly, but I think I'll eventually replace them with 1 1/4" or stove bolts as I still have the thickness off the second sheet to work with. I stacked two pieces of 3/4" plywood for clearance on the drivers seat, cutting out what I didn't need for support, then put the seat mount on to match the one on my 10' boat. 3/4" plywood in the middle seat too, and I used a piano hinge to join the two sheets of plywood creating a new weather proof lid, then used the old lid to center the new boards. All boards were spar urethaned, and I used industrial strength velcro to attach the finished boards to the boat, so if I have to make changes I just have some glue to clean up. I had a nice surprise with the fit of the tappered bench lid... the lid gently stops at its vertical point due to a rub on the tappered beam.
Now all I have to do is wait for my bow mount trolling motor, measure, Macgyver, mount, and quick connect. Then I'm done with mods for this season   :?:


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## Scott1298 (Aug 26, 2012)

Well all the talk of storage compartments on this site, and an offer to buy my aluminum lid got me thinking... :idea: 

A couple things that happened along the way:
1) When I cut open the seat I discovered there was a support strap riveted an inch off the bottom inside on the port side. I decided to keep it figuring they put it there for a reason, but it shallowed up my container changing the measurements everywhere. Fortunately the inside lip on the lid gave me an inch of forgiveness. And I still have a 10.5" deep 10x18" compartment that will be great for tackle, lunches, beverages :wink: , etc.
2) Because of the strap, one side had way more support when I started spraying expanding foam and placing the container in the bottom. At the last minute I decided to stuff an old piece of foam under the unsupported side so it would stay in position. Next time I would glue a block of foam in place to level the bottom first.
3) It took way more foam than I thought it would, I had to make a trip back to the hardware store for another can in the middle of the project. But watchout, the expanding foam will collapse an unsupported container. I ended up filling the container with junk and then placed the wood cutout (notched for the container's handles) from the seat on top as it was the same size. 

I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the container on the aft side. The lid is not water tight and I have a full inch of clearance above the bottom so I'll take my chances that I don't take on so much water that it starts to fill the container up.
I mounted the lid for easy access from inside the boat. Only due to luck, my original design of the seat gave me support on the lip of the lid, and if the lid lifts at highway speed the sliding seat mount allows me to pull the swivel seat mechanism over the lid to hold it down. 8) 
And I figure if I ever want to add more electronics and a control panel, now all I have to do is pull out the container and cut a hole in the side of my seat.


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## Ictalurus (Aug 27, 2012)

Lookin' good man. I like what you did with the center seat lid. That a new Merc hangin of the transom?


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## Scott1298 (Aug 27, 2012)

Ictalurus said:


> Lookin' good man. I like what you did with the center seat lid. That a new Merc hangin of the transom?



Thanks! It came with the boat used, and had less than 10 hours on it. It's actually a 2008 that was bought new (on sale) Dec 2011... It's a long story, but I have 2 years warranty left on it!


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## Scott1298 (Aug 27, 2012)

I am planning for the arrival of my bow mount trolling motor, and realized I need to do something to counteract the torque on the front platform. This is what I came up with... I bought a couple turnbuckles, S hooks, and fence staples and put them together. Even just hand tightening the turnbuckles there's NO play at the back of the platform, and I'll use a wrench when it's for the last time. You'll have to scroll up to see the bow platform in place, no sense adding another picture as you can't see the anchors anyway.


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## Scott1298 (Sep 1, 2012)

We did a quick fishing trip today; my oldest got two in the boat, not bad for the amount of time we actually spent fishing! 
It was my first time on the road with the reversed lid... first bump I hit at highway speed it opened up. On the water it was no problem, I had the little six horse merc wide open into a stiff breeze and the lid didn't even bounce. On the way home I pulled the sliding seat over the lid, and it never moved on the way back. I took everything I'll fish with once I get the bow mount trolling motor and I think the balance is going to be ok, based on how we sat when I put my 5 year old in the bow mount position.


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## You Know (Sep 2, 2012)

Glad to see you got some good use out of your lid.


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## Scott1298 (Sep 3, 2012)

You Know said:


> Glad to see you got some good use out of your lid.


Thanks for the idea!


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## Scott1298 (Sep 9, 2012)

Well, I finally got my used minn kota ipilot \/ ! After a lot of head scratching, this is what I came up with...
Carriage bolts through tapered 2x6s, and a 2x8 platform in between. In hindsight if I'd had a 2x12 I could have cut an inch off the board and bolted it all down with the carriage bolts, but I didn't have one anyways. Most of the weight of the motor is actually on the aluminum lip of the bow so the screws aren't under a lot of pressure. If I need to I can drill a couple holes in the aluminum to secure the motor further, but for now I have 4 bolts through the 2x8 hidden by the base cover. The opening actually gives me room to stuff the wires, and maybe protect the tip of a rod or two :mrgreen:


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## Scott1298 (Sep 13, 2012)

Since I've now got two reliable motors, I took out the big oars and added a couple Scotty oar lock mounts for rod holders I already owned for passengers... but what about a rod holder at the back for me?! I dug deep into my junk and found an old holder that I could fit to the existing bolt and nut system, thought it turned out pretty good and with a little patience anybody could do this with a piece of pvc pipe.


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## Scott1298 (Sep 16, 2012)

Finally got the rig out on the water with the Minn Kota this weekend. 
The good: I adjusted the Mercury's trim, and we seemed to travel a lot faster under gas power  
The bad: The Minn Kota's ipilot feature didn't work, it appears the compass is buggared :evil: . Based on internet posts, it's a common problem; I'll get on the phone to Minn Kota tomorrow.
I was so busy troubleshooting I didn't get any pictures after the driveway.


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## slipsinker (Sep 25, 2012)

great job so far on the rig. have the same boat as you and was thinking on purchasing a tohatsu 6hp and was wondering if you had gps mph results or any kind of comments on your boats performance and fuel economy. right now i am under electric power only and tops at 3mph. i thought i would be happy with this but now i am fishing a larger reservoir and it takes forever to change spots.


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## slipsinker (Sep 25, 2012)

oh yeah by the way... great idea moving the lid to the aft bench!


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## Scott1298 (Sep 25, 2012)

slipsinker said:


> great job so far on the rig. have the same boat as you and was thinking on purchasing a tohatsu 6hp and was wondering if you had gps mph results or any kind of comments on your boats performance and fuel economy. right now i am under electric power only and tops at 3mph. i thought i would be happy with this but now i am fishing a larger reservoir and it takes forever to change spots.


I do plan to take a gps out with me... hopefully before "hard water" season starts this year but it is cooling off already here in the north. I'll let you know when I know, but I guarantee you'll notice a difference; Once I set the trim right I generate quite a wake with the gas motor, but I love the quietness of the electric for trolling! Here's a link to some used motors, the prices look pretty good to me compared to prices locally. We fish a lot of 9.9 hp limit lakes with the 15' and speed is not a big priority, I figure I get the most bang for my buck with the 6 hp being the same weight as the 5 & 4 hp... and in a pinch I can throw it on my 5 hp rated 10'.
https://www.smalloutboards.com/m99.htm


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## Scott1298 (Sep 25, 2012)

slipsinker said:


> oh yeah by the way... great idea moving the lid to the aft bench!


You can never have too much storage on these little boats!


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## Scott1298 (Oct 13, 2012)

Well it wasn't optimum testing conditions, but if I waited for that I may not have found out if my ipilot worked or how fast the Merc goes until April. Minn Kota replaced my ipilot head under warranty with the "new improved" version... good trade! It started to rain pretty hard so we didn't take a lot of pictures or video. To create a load I brought one 30 lb kid, and two 75 lb dogs (I'm no light weight either at 230 lbs).The ipilot worked great, the gps said about 2.9 mph max, and the 6 hp merc pushed us with the wind about 7.8 mph and 7.3 mph into the chop. 
It's likely the next time we go fishing, we'll be walking on water! My kid refused to smile "nice" so this is all I've got...


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## Scott1298 (Feb 17, 2013)

I just stumbled accross a blog that might be handy for someone thinking about coming over to the dark side; It's called Tricking Out a Jon Boat - Part 1 and puts the potential of jon boats into context, and ballparks what you'll need. (CDN prices are about 20% more than US... don't get me started!!!)
Just like the movies part 1 is best, I'll leave it up to you if you read on after that.

https://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/users/jesse-martin/blog/tricking-out-a-jon-boat-part-1-225830.aspx


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## HMS Chilcotin (Feb 17, 2013)

Great thread and mod Scott,

Are your benches foam filled or hollow? I am just wondering how noise you experience when waves hit your hull? ( currently something I see with my boat ... And I am using that same style of rubber mat in place of floors right now)

Ben


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## Scott1298 (Feb 18, 2013)

HMS Chilcotin said:


> Great thread and mod Scott,
> 
> Are your benches foam filled or hollow? I am just wondering how noise you experience when waves hit your hull? ( currently something I see with my boat ... And I am using that same style of rubber mat in place of floors right now)
> 
> Ben



Thx.
The rear bench was foam right to the top when I opened it up. It looked like two kinds; 3 inches of non-water absorbing foam (wrapped in something like wax paper), then cheap open-pore stuff on top. The middle bench is filled outside the old livewell the same way based on the material flying when I threaded my snake for wiring. I think we'd get rich if we could invent something lighter for the floors :lol: 
I find even my friends' aluminum V boats slap in waves some when we troll, and watch any of these things planing- the V area doesn't even touch the water. When I'm trolling jons I think the life jacket filled front deck on the 15' supresses some of the slapping noise compared to the 10'... That or I'm just farther away :LOL2:. The one time I do wish I have a "V" is if there are big waves, that's where the flat boat slap is really noticable, but then I tend to be heading for shore at that point anyways.

Cheers,


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## Scott1298 (Mar 9, 2013)

Well, the kid's last hockey game was today, and the weather is improving so I can get busy "playing" with the boat until "ice-off" the lakes (hopefully by the end of April). I finally decided to buy a dedicated ff for the boat and then lucked out in the fencing/gate section of the hardware store... I bought a "barn door guide" for $9 as my ff mount! Couldn't wait so modified the mount and attached the ff today. There were bolt holes in the spot on the boat already, so I came up with a solution that took advantage of them. I can now keep one eye on the ff, rod, & see where we're going, all while I'm talking to the other people in the boat 8). I'll start threading wires & mount the transducer when it's warmer.


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## Scott1298 (Mar 17, 2013)

Got a couple projects done this week... I went and bought one of Maestro's Canadian Tire cargo nets for $10 after coupon and Canadian Tire Money (The Canadians will understand), $2 worth of S hooks at the dollar store, and $2 worth of black rope from Surplus Herbie's, and got to work. I was able to cut the net right down the middle to make two, added the rope in place of the missing shock cord, melted the frayed ends, and S hooked in place through the bench cracks... and Voila; great storage for jackets, shirts, garbage, etc! I also added a BPS rod holder.


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## Scott1298 (Mar 17, 2013)

Drilled and placed cup holders today.


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## HMS Chilcotin (Mar 17, 2013)

Nice work Scott. I'm gonna have to do that too. Any tips or challenges or or was it pretty straight forward as you outlined?
Ben


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## Scott1298 (Mar 18, 2013)

HMS Chilcotin said:


> Nice work Scott. I'm gonna have to do that too. Any tips or challenges or or was it pretty straight forward as you outlined?
> Ben


Assuming you mean the netting... Hopefully you have seams at the ends of the seats for the S hooks. Next will be the width between your seats, mine is 51" and I didn't have to trim the ends. You'll still be able to do it without the thick fabric edges though. If you haven't already done it, take a look at Maestro's nets @ https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=25479, he shrunk his nets right down and used hockey tape for the trim (although he called it something much more exotic). I kept the added bottom rope inside the S hooks and just kept shortening the shock cord until I had satisfactory tension around the edges.
Your front deck is coming along nice!


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## TheMaestro (Mar 18, 2013)

Its true, the tape ended up being the same thing as hockey tape!! Here's a pic, but mine was black.


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## Scott1298 (Mar 18, 2013)

Well played Maestro... well played! I always wanted to say that! :wink:


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## TheMaestro (Mar 18, 2013)

:-({|= 

:LOL2:


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## Scott1298 (Mar 30, 2013)

I'm anxious to get this thing seaworthy, but I'm affraid to permanently mount my transducer, because it's well... permanent. I'm still thinking about painting the outside of the boat and I don't want to glue/screw a transducer mount before paint, and I have no idea where the best place to mount it even is yet. So... magnets like the FFM guys but cheaper. I'm sure they'll rust all to hell, but by then I should know what I'm doing with the rest of it. I just cut off most of the handle of a 150 lb rated magnet, and put in a couple screws to mount the transducer in a 100lb magnet.
I won't be able to set any speed records with this setup, but it should work trolling.


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## erictetterton (Mar 30, 2013)

what is that bard door guide made out of?


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## Scott1298 (Mar 31, 2013)

erictetterton said:


> what is that bard door guide made out of?



My guess is zinc plated steel.


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## Scott1298 (May 4, 2013)

Tired of the balancing act necessary when loading last year, I added a urethaned piece of plywood to stand on to the trailer today.


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## Scott1298 (Jun 2, 2013)

B-e-t-w-e-e-n r-a-i-n-s-s-s-s I have drilled all the holes in the hull of the boat necessary before painting the outside (navigation/transom lights and bilge), and added a floor in the main area of the boat. It actually gives me another inch of floor width in the bottom of the boat (from 42" to 43")! 
Worried about rot and water-logging based on the amount of water that tends to lay in the back third of the boat when exposed, I skipped foam insulation and instead cut a piece of aluminum 3/4" square tubing for support at the ends to match the ribs on the floor of the boat. The half-inch urethaned plywood proves solid during extreme fat guy tests!


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## Scott1298 (Jun 15, 2013)

Today I sanded, rinsed, wiped down with aluminum cleaner, rinsed, and finally rolled and tipped Tremclad "flat" green... which is not nearly as dark as the sample. Tomorrow I'll turn it over and spray bomb the railing to match.


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## Scott1298 (Jun 16, 2013)

Right-side-up, with transducer board freshly added. 
Rolled areas are more textured than those spray bombed. If I was painting a car I'd want to spray it, but in this case the texture hides more flaws.
Now the dreaded wiring...


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## Scott1298 (Jun 21, 2013)

I have a weekend's worth of work left, but I'll be lucky to get at it Saturday so I'm doing bits in the evenings...
Tonight it was transom and navigation lights. I chose led to keep battery consumption down; standard Attwood led at the back, but Oznium license plate leds at the front with ss finishing washers to elevate them slightly. They have about 150 degrees visibility. Don't use them if you're going to sea, but with all the light noise in town, and at dusk, I could see them fine from across the street at about 100'... and remember that transom light in the pic claims a 2 mile nautical visibility. So I consider them not bad for $7! 
Only I would pick the second longest day of the year for a night shot?! #-o


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## Scott1298 (Jun 22, 2013)

99% done. Time to fish! 

Here's a link to a walk-around https://youtu.be/vUm-EVEbP4I


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## Scott1298 (Jul 4, 2013)

Nice evening on the lake.


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## Scott1298 (Jul 24, 2013)

... and another!


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## Scott1298 (Oct 6, 2013)

Likely the last fishing trip of the season today...


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## Scott1298 (Oct 19, 2013)

One more thing off my craigs-bucket-list, a 9.9 hp for my boat. This "near new" used 2008 is the last outboard I'm ever going to buy... and this time I mean it! [-o<
First run: A 65% increase in power equaled a 65% increase in speed- from 7+ mph with the 6 hp to 12+ mph with the 9.9.
With this, my boat is finally complete!


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