Summer upgrades 35TE

[DestinSteve]

Our bolsters were looking bad with fading, snags and leaking some moldy water after a rain. Saw Sea Dek at a boat show and decided to try. Like the clean look and hope to get more years out of them than a vinyl replacement. Can be cleaned with most anything including a pressure washer on low setting. We hope this was a good move but will probably take a year to see how they hold up.

Company was easy to deal with and we decided to also try Sea Dek on our Boston Whaler. We covered the seating area non skid with a .5 inch pad with non skid built in. I did not think possible but is is more secure footing than the fiberglass non skid and much easier to sit on. The Whaler makes a great skiff but comfort is not its strong suit.

On the flybridge we added a ARB refrig/freezer. There are lots of options for these type units (Dometic, Engel)

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but decided this one was the best fit for where we wanted to park it. This gives us much needed extra refrigerator space for longer trips (we only have 1 under counter Norcold in the cabin) plus I have found you can dial the beverage temperature you want for sundowners. Note: Beer is very cold without carrying lots of ice but not frozen at 29 degrees. Amp draw on 12 volt averages about 2. Quite a bit less than the built in Norcold unit.

These were the easy projects next one is to replace the shelf the generator sits on with some sort of Starboard material and fix whatever leaks have helped rot the current plywood shelf.

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[seasalt]

Steve,

I am having the board under my generator replaced also. I asked for starboard but my mechanic said that even 3/4 inch would not be stiff enough. He is going to use marine plywood. This is a pain in the ass job. All the sound deading material was loose and is getting replaced. Plus, the generator has to be totally disconnected from everything to get one end of the sound box off.

Where did you put the frige on the bridge? I have a full size in the galley but could always use more beer space.

Thanks,

Ron
"Hi Spirits"
35 TE SF
Punta Gorda, FL

[DougSea]

Steve - Really like the bolsters. I'll be interested to hear how they hold up. The pricing looks pretty reasonable. Also have to look into that ARB fridge. It would be great to be able to have a freezer for longer trips and since our 35 doesn't have the built in sink or bait station we have a good spot for a unit in the cockpit.

Thanks for posting!

Ron - I double checked, my gen platform IS 3/4 starboard. Since the generator pretty much spans the stringers I can't see why your mechanic doesn't think it's strong enough, most of the load is on the stringers.

[DestinSteve]

The fridge/freezer fits nicely behind the helm chair in otherwise wasted space. This is the Sports Fisherman bridge.

Just a theory at this point but I think the 3/4 Starboard will be fine. As Doug said most of it is supported by rather large stringers. I will know for sure next weekend. I would hate to do this job with plywood and see it fail again. I do plan to replace everything on the front end of the generator while it is pulled back. For me the belt, hose, and water pump are feel only items with the generator in its normal position. 5.5 KW Northern lights.

[seasalt]

My new board is in place. Here is a shot of the old one. The job was done by putting a new hole in the cockpit floor over the generator's lifing eye and using a small crane to raise it. While it was apart I installed new sound insulation and installed a rebuilt water pump (which was why the old board rotted in the first place). The mechanic said to look inside the box occasionally to see if there is a leak and the problem will not occur again

The cost broke down like this:

Board, install board, install pump, labor etc. $950.00
Rebuild pump $200
New insulation which I installed $200

It has been two years since I got to spend money on a boat and I sure did miss the experience.

Ron
35 TE SF

[Chuck Waygood]

Whoa, that's some ugly board! What was holding the genny up? I am surprised Embree did not catch that when replacing the exhaust manifold last year. congratulations to your surveyor. Sorry about the expense, Ron, but I DON'T miss the experience!