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Well at long last, I've finished major painting operations on the boat. I hope I don't eat these words like the prez ate his. Even with painting complete, I seem to do something that causes a scar in the paint almost every time I work on the boat by dropping tools or equipment on it. I had a terrible time painting this outside because of dust and bugs. The walls of my shop are rotted away from sunshine and wind so I've only got cover from above these days... The bugs only got bad when I began working on the top deck so they're being called "non-slip paint additive"

Most everything is installed at this point, steering is installed even... I now know what it would be like to be blind and missing an arm... putting the steering gear in blind and one handed was a real challenge but I got it done and it's nice and tight after a lot of fiddling.

All I've got left now is the rigging and hand rails, and the horn, and screw the forward nav lights in place.

Hopefully the dude at fish and wildlife will come inspect it at this point without the rigging on.. They told me it would be a two week wait for them to come inspect it for registration and I hope to have the rigging done by then. I'm ready to go fishing.

Anyway here is a link to my flickr photoset for the boat...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flhippy/set...211413657/

And here are some photos of the paintjob. I did it with a brush and I really didn't enjoy it, and it shows. But it looks good from a distance! And it's way too pretty for a fishing boat.




Here is the cockpit which shows off the deckplate hatchcovers I used. I got them from a second hand discount marine store for less than $10 per.. Bigger ones slightly more, smaller ones slightly less.




And one last photo from behind ... drain hole.. transom light, rudder and paint on the cabin. Plus the rear wall of my workshop in tatters... The sunny sides of the shop were torn to shreds from the florida sunshine.

Great looking boat.

Ahoy David,

Looks good to me. I like the seat covers, allowing you immediate access to storage. What a great idea!

Thanks for the kind words


As a side note, I called florida fish and wildlife today and the guy who was to inspect called me right back and was ready to come down tomorow.. BUT.. they want the mast and boom on the boat for the inspection so I had to put it off for a week or two... More motivation to get the mast in place.. He said he would do the inspection without the mast being painted so it shouldn't be much longer now..

You've done a real nice job there Dave. Not a thing to be ashamed of. So you have to have it inspected in Florida? All I had to do was take in a picture and show it to DMV. Of course you have a lot more boats in Florida and we have here. Good luck to you on your maiden voyage. Hope it goes well for you.

Quote:So you have to have it inspected in Florida? All I had to do was take in a picture and show it to DMV.

Oh my.. Yes we have to get it inspected.. And i'll take a moment to rant about it.

Well, I read on-line that the DMV "may require" a visual inspection but when you call the DMV in my county they say the inspection is mandatory. This may be a county issue, or it may be a state issue... I'm not quite sure.

Recently, within the past 8 or 10 years, they made all the game wardens full on police. They're called Fish and Wildlife OFFICERS.. Gave them guns, and more athority. This was certainly nessecary for these men to do their jobs but like most jobs with athority, it attracts a certain type of individual. When you talk to these guys, you're talking to a policeman. Usually this means they've got the attitude that most cops have... everyone is a criminal.

The whole registration thing really burns me up. Adding to it, interactions with a man who is nice enough, but only by force. The indivuals in athority almost always talk in a language and tone which makes you feel as if you've got done something wrong. I was even assigned an "OFFENCE number" to give to the dispatcher when I called back. I didn't know asking to have your boat project inspectecd so you can be within the laws of your state and country was an OFENSE..

Little things like this, that aren't even an issue for me personaly, usually send me off on tangents about taxes which unfairly target poor people, Im not poor today, but I have been in the past and I suppose I could be in the future. It's unfair to tax someone simply because they wanted to go fishing in a boat. Yes, I understand that it's nice to have registrations and the fees support this, but lets get realistic here.. Is it really nessecary to make people pay this tax every year on all the various pieces of equipment neccesary to catch a fish? The gear is taxed at purchase, the boat is taxed yearly, the trailer is taxed yearly, The car to tow the trailer is taxed yearly, the permits required to fish in a boat are a yearly tax. After all is said and done, the fish I catch on the weekends are probably costing me 5 times as much as the fish in the markets due to the taxes I paid on the gear and vehicles I used to catch the fish. In Florida you can fish for free in the saltwater... but only from the shore. You can fish for free in the fresh water, but only with a cane pole and only from the shore. It's rediculous.

It is also disturbing to consider that ALL laws, no matter how slight, are backed by the eventual threat of death. Don't pay your boat taxes and you get a fine, don't pay your fine and you get called into court, don't show up for court and you're a fugitive from the law... You can see that eventually our small crime of not paying our boat tax may make us elligble for the death penalty simply by not participating in the process.


Oh my, i've strayed WAY off toppic... Oops

Having to register several home built "Z" boats In Florida, before getting my USCG manufactures prefix, I can tell you it's not that bad. I agree the recent changes to the way Fish & Wildlife handles the paper work and inspection can be intimidating, most of these guys will be thrilled to see a boat like yours. The stuff they look to provide a "Z" number for are real ugly, down and dirty fishing boats, with many things wrong, which pisses the Fisk and Game folks off (I've never understood why they take it so personally, it's not their boat).

They see things like car motors or parts in enclosed engine spaces, no bilge pumps, improper lighting (number one reason to fail an inspection by the way), so they expect every home built to be held together with duct tape and rubber bands. I saw a small travel trailer, mounted on several strapped together 55 gallon drums, that didn't get passed, back in the early 90's, so these guys see some ridiculous rigs and are pretty jaded as a result.

One look at your boat and they'll have no problem (assuming all is well with the stuff they key in on), care and craftsmanship can be seen in this boat, which they typically don't see. Your boat will make their day, likely causing them to talk about it back at the office, as the REAL boat they inspected that day.

I have gotten to know my county inspector pretty well over the years, so we're on a first name basis. He hardly does anything now. We run down the check list and he signs off and sends the paper work to Tallahassee. We talk about what's new with this particular boat, features and the like. I put a transom in his 18' plastic bow rider a few years ago. I hope you get a reasonable guy, like mine is.

For what it's worth, it's a state issue, but they wouldn't spring for a budget, so they kicked it on the counties to fund and oversee enforcement. Each county is slightly different about how aggressively they inspect. Broward, Palm Beach and Collier counties are real pricks. I'm not sure about Volusia, but Pinellas was easy when I lived in St. Pete.

Yeah, I must have been grumpy this morning

I didn't mean to sound so down about it.. it's not been a terribly bad experience for me at all, the man was nice.. It's just the terminology of the offense number that put me off... And the way everything is taxed. A big money grab.

We've got some really good programs in florida, the alligator program is a great example. It's run very well and is reasonable in how it operates. Perhaps if as many people were as interested in chasing an alligator as there are people who are interested in chasing fish it would be a different story and it would also turn into a money grab.