Project Double Trouble!

[SteelyDan]

Hey fellas, So this is the new fishing machine. I went in partners on it with a good friend of mine and named it "Double Trouble". Its a 1979-185 Double Eagle on a Starcraft tandem axle trailer. The trailer used to have a 23' aluminum on it so I'm thinking I'm going to shorten up the tongue a bit to save a few bucks on the ferries. Its got a fresh marine 305 with fresh water cooling with a volvo 280 leg and electronic ignition. Everything on this motor is new. Its got trim tabs on it, and it also came with vhf. This is the first inboard that either of us has ever owned so I'm a bit on edge about it but from what little I know, the 280 is a good leg. We have an appointment to have a full 6'4" convertible canvas top with a slop back mooring cover made up for her this tuesday (black). I'm going to put my old Garmin split screen on it for now and slap my scotty long arm electrics on it as soon as we have some stainless plate bent up for the rails. I guess I should let my bud know he's buying the cannon balls lol!! Plans are to put new marine vinyl on the deck, fab up a checker plate aluminum swim grid and we will be looking for a t8 or t9.9 for it soon. Oh yea, we will be treating our broken asses to full suspension seats lol. The 17.5 double eagle we ran last summer was a good hull but she really pounded in the chop! I will post more progress pics as work is done

I forgot to mention that we are planning on mooring it in Sooke for the spring/summer and I recon its a perfect Sooke boat.

 

[Sangster21]

Looks like it should be a good fishing rig. What are your plans for the swim grid? I want to make up a swim grid for my Sangster project boat as well. I moved my fuel tanks forward under the seats and could put some weight aft. I bought the trotac anchoring setup and thought instead of putting it in the cuddy how about building a box for the swim grid and storing it out back. Anyone else store their anchor aft instead of up forward?
Alan

 

[SteelyDan]

Thanks Alan. I have a nice piece of checker plate aluminum left over in my garage so I'll most likely weld up some 1.5" box tube as a sub frame and sheet it with the alum.

 

[Finished Business]

look forward to the pics. Looks like a very fishy boat Dan!

Just a heads up your checkerplate swim grid will be pretty slick when wet...you will want to consider options for traction should you be standing on it, rather than just using it for cooler storage.

 

[SteelyDan]

Thanks FB, I seen that you had yours bead blasted for traction. Nice idea! I'm not too worried about it though. Its going to be just big enough for my igloo cooler to sit on an other than that we might need to stand on it for prop emergencies/changes but I'm going to leave it shiny for some bling lol

 

[SteelyDan]

I have a garmin 421s plotter/sounder that came with this transducer and I got to say that I have not been impressed with the performance http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-dual-freq-transducer-depth-temp-plastic.html

If anyone can recommend a decent Airmar transducer I'd really appreciate it. I don't really want to spend over a grand on a unit but I'd pay a couple hundred for increased performance...

 

[SteelyDan]

Just got it back from the canvas shop. Looks badass

 

[spring time]

how was that canvas shop to deal with and workmanship. i've drivin past there lots a times and wondered

 

[SteelyDan]

how was that canvas shop to deal with and workmanship. i've drivin past there lots a times and wondered

he does very nice work and the price is hard to beat. He did that top for $1460 tax in. He did make a BIG mistake though. When I had them quote it I specifically asked if they can do a 6'4" top and the one he made us is only 5'6". Overall it's nice but that is going to bug us for years! I would go back but make sure you are very specific on what you ask for.

 

[Charlie415]

If you asked for 6'4" you should get it. You will not be happy without standing room height.

 

[SteelyDan]

If you asked for 6'4" you should get it. You will not be happy without standing room height.

I know what you mean. It was a situation that I was not comfortable with but I also didn't want to **** the guy out of something that he worked on for a week. I could have refused it but decided to live with it.

 

[Charlie415]

Too bad you feel that way. It is most unfortunate. I know a guy who put a 6'4" top on a 18'6" DE and it worked out great for him. The top you got looks like good quality but the listening skills of the guy are questionable. Did you get a qritten quote?

 

[Charlie415]

I have a garmin 421s plotter/sounder that came with this transducer and I got to say that I have not been impressed with the performance http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-dual-freq-transducer-depth-temp-plastic.html

If anyone can recommend a decent Airmar transducer I'd really appreciate it. I don't really want to spend over a grand on a unit but I'd pay a couple hundred for increased performance...

I bought an Airmar B60. A nice upgrade for around $300. Couldn't justify a 1kw transducer for $1000. When my sounder is working properly I like it. But that is another thread.

 

[SteelyDan]

Too bad you feel that way. It is most unfortunate. I know a guy who put a 6'4" top on a 18'6" DE and it worked out great for him. The top you got looks like good quality but the listening skills of the guy are questionable. Did you get a qritten quote?

yep

I bought an Airmar B60. A nice upgrade for around $300. Couldn't justify a 1kw transducer for $1000. When my sounder is working properly I like it. But that is another thread.

Thanks, Ive been doing a bit of reading and It looks like its either going to be the B60 or the B744. The only thing that I dont understand is wtf is the fearing piece that comes with the B744 and how do you get that to make a seal?

 

[Charlie415]

I dont see the point of having the fairing to level the TD when you can have one that compensates and sits flush. Less chance of knocking it off.

 

[SteelyDan]

I went with the B60 and so far its been working great! It was a bit nerve racking to drill a hole through a perfeclty good hull but hey, its in there now.

 

[SteelyDan]

Shine Box

So I lost most of my pics of the build but here are a few that I do have. I should also add that we changed the name of the boat from double trouble to "Shine Box" lol. Ended up redoing the secondary stringers, new floatation foam, fuel tank, deck, vinyl, seats and boxes, doghouse, dual batteries, new t9.9 kicker and bracket. It was ALOT of work and I never want to do that again! There also used to be a drop in cooler cut in above the transom but I wanted to mount my down riggers there so I filled it in which was a big project in itself. The kicker is also now plumbed into the main tank. All in all, its an awesome fishing platform and we are happy with how she came out!

 

[dmurph]

Nice set up steely. Was gonna mention that I had issues with my 9.9 being plumbed into my main fuel tank and so did several others that I know of. I see from the photos your using a day tank, did you end up not tying into the main fuel? Like that inside, glad to see you took out the seats beside the dog house, looks good. What up with the swim grid, great spot for the big cost co cooler and day tank. How is the head height working out? Looks like it catches fish nicely.

 

[wolf]

PM sent to you Steely dan

 

[Charlie415]

I went with the B60 and so far its been working great! It was a bit nerve racking to drill a hole through a perfeclty good hull but hey, its in there now.

LOL. Took me 2 days to get up the courage.