Page 3
With the boat being functional, I have a chance to enjoy it as well as work on it. The keel of the boat was pretty banged up. I guess 15 years of loading onto a trailer with rollers and sharp stanchions as well as a few oyster beds in the mix can tear up a keel. I didn't take many pictures until after the repair was complete. I began the task of teaching myself how to be a fiberglass/gelcoat repairman.
Above, you can barely see the damage. It was pretty rough and had been filled in several times with vinylester fairing fillers. I ground out all of the scratches in the gelcoat and filler and I smoothed out all of the marred glass that was exposed. I then ground out gelcoat about 6 inches up each side. I laid 3 layers of 6oz glass fabric with West System Epoxy. I faired it out and then sprayed the area with gelcoat.
The project was a success. I had to try the gelcoat application twice, but needless to say it finally came out! On the left you can see where the scratches begin near the bunks where I stopped the job. The rest will have to wait for a day that I feel like taking the center bunks off of the trailer.
But some things are over my head. T-tops are over my head, I don't have the equipment. I knew of a guy in Biloxi that did good custom fabrication. So since my wife was tired of me getting sun burnt to a crisp, and I wanted a t-top, we got Caldwell Custom Fab. to make the boat a top.
This t-top might be the strongest and best built top I have ever seen. James Caldwell, the builder and I custom designed this thing to my wants and needs. I am not tall, so the rocket launchers are in reach for ME. The console on my boat is wide, so we attached the top to the console and not the floor. That is possible because the old Mako consoles are built like Brick outhouses. There are grab bars all around it, and the radio box is powder coated aluminum. I would change nothing on it.
The boat needed a good cover. I looked around town at the canvas shops and they all quoted in the $1000 range. So, being creative, I looked in the Boaters World catalog and ordered a semi-custom cover for a 22' boat made out of a waterproof/breathable material. I measured the boat/t-top several different ways, and I laid the new cover out and put those measurements on the cover. I cut out a flap for the t-top to fit in and I marked where I wanted zippers and seams. I found a canvas shop to put in the zippers and here it is for about $300.
I was not a big fan of the brown Mako trim, so I took the windshield off of the console and stripped all of that old brown paint off of it. I then took the glass out of the aluminum frame and took the frame to a welder to have 10 screw holes welded over and grinded smooth. I primed the frame for new paint, and I painted it white with a single part polyurethane. It matches the boat really well. I had to make a little paint tent in my garage which has really been useful in other projects as well.
Along the way, I decided that I didn't like the Vance 11" set back jack plate. So I took it off and sold it, and replaced it with a Cook Mfg. 5" plate. It is just sturdier I guess, and when I back down hard I don't blow water into the boat as bad.
