Not a Parker.........It's a Steiger Craft!

[TunaJoe]

A few of you may remember me from my 2007 Parker 2520XL, "SeaSniper". I bought my Parker new, rigged her just how I wanted her, and used her frequently for several years. It was a GREAT boat.
About a year and a half ago, with a growing family, I started building a new house.
Knowing I wouldn't be able to use her that often, and frankly, concerns about the cost of building a new house, I sold the SeaSniper.

Fast forward to November 2012. House is done. Things have settled. I find myself looking at boats again.
I stumbled across a 2008 Steiger Craft 23 Miami that had never been commissioned, with no engine. Out here in California, we have one Steiger dealer in Northern California. This dealer had ordered this boat and for whatever reason been unable to sell it.

I made the phone call after thinking about it for a few days, and negotiated a price for the boat and trailer.

2 days later, with cashier's check in hand, I loaded the family up in my truck and we made the trip up to San Francisco to stay with my in-laws. The next day I made the drive to Oakland, where the boat was located at the dealers and picked her up.


The next day, with family and boat in tow, I made the long drive back to So Cal.

 

[TunaJoe]

Now, I know what you are thinking.... Wait a minute! This is Parker forum! We don't want no stinking Steigers!

But, I did clear it with Dale :lol: , and I feel I am in a unique position to critique and compare the different boats since I've owned both.
Quite often on other boating forums, I see individuals posting "Steiger vs Parker" type threads.

I'm hoping people can perhaps utilize this thread to help them decide what direction they want to go in terms of which boat they want.

And make no bones about it, they are very different boats.

Ok, so, first order of business is to determine what motor I want. My options were Yamaha, Suzuki, or Honda.
I decided to go with the Honda BF250 since I've always seemed to have good luck with Honda products, plus we have an excellent dealer that is local, and they offered a 5 year warranty.
Here is the boat after the motor has been installed.


Hooked up, and done with the rigging.

 

[TunaJoe]

Next order was to determine what electronics I wanted.
On my Parker, I had Raymarine, and they worked flawless.
I decided to go with the new Raymarine e97 with built in GPS and sonar. I purchased the Platinum chip, along with the HD radar, transducer, Standard Horizon 2150 VHF with AIS receiver, Lewmar Pro700 with wireless remote control, 2 Lowrance LMF-400's,
and a BlueSeas ACR add-a- battery kit.
All electronics were purchased from BOE Marine.

I installed the radar first, utilizing a SeaView universal mount.
Pretty straight forward with the exception of the funky grommet and I somehow ordered the 30 foot cable (which was waaay too long)




Next was to measure and cut my dash for the RM e97


Unit fit like a glove!

 

[TunaJoe]

After installing the MFD, I needed to install the twin LMF-400's.
After spending alot of time trying to figure out where and how I wanted to put the gauges, I stumbled across these cool angled gauge bezels. They are Livorsi 22 degree billet aluminum that are powdered coated any color you want. I like them because they angle the gauges just enough to correctly view them. Plus they look cool!

I used 3M 4000 to adhere them to the dash. you can get them in any diameter you want and they are inexpensive at around $18 each ( I think)





I added the Lowrance EP-65R and the EP-85R for fuel data to my Lowrance NMEA network backbone

 

[TunaJoe]

Oh, BTW, did I mention I ran into Linwood Parker at the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach?

I couldn't believe it! I actually found myself a little starstruck!

He was incredibly gracious and charismatic. I asked if I could have a picture with him and he obliged.

For me, the highlight of the show, by far! You could tell that he loves boat building by talking to him.

 

[TunaJoe]

Next install was the VHF radio.

On my Parker, I had an Icom 504.
For some reason, I decided to buy the Standard Horizon 2150.
After mounting the radio, I noticed the cord exited the opposite side of the radio than my Icom.
The significance of this is that the cord hangs down right across my field of vision.


I drew a up a rough design and then asked my buddy to fabricate it for me out of stainless.



Works great!

More to follow............

 

[camron]

Boat looks good. Looking forward to reading your review of both. Is the Steiger a 25 also? They are also a well built boat.

Camron

 

[DaleH]

Holy cow Joe, that looks great!

Whaddya trying to do ... have more posts w/ detailed project photos than Megabyte or Warthog ?

Just kidding you! Welcome aboard - again - and we look forward to hearing about your rig!

 

[camron]

Oops re-read the post 23.

 

[TunaJoe]

Thanks for the kind words Dale.
Hey, to equal Warthogs thread, I only need about 15 more pages!

 

[TunaJoe]

More pics....
The power feed from the factory was 10 gauge wire. I ran a new #6 wire and left the 10 as an extra/spare.



I ran these back to the old Perko switch which I changed out with the Blueseas add-a-battery switch.



I then installed the ACR in the battery compartment along with the breakers.

 

[TunaJoe]

After I installed the ACR, I wanted the little LED light to let me know if it was working or not. So I drilled the hole above the key switch and
installed the LED above the little battery emblem.


I wanted to make sure the ACR would isolate the house from the start battery when starting the motor. I'm sure everyone knows about this feature, but I never hooked it up on my Parker because I didnt know how. Here's how I did it on my Steiger.
I ran a wire from the ACR to behind the dash panel. The ACR has a place to connect the wire utilizing a spade connector.


First thing I did was to take the cover off the motor. Then find the starter.


I then found the power feed to the starter and removed it.

Confirmed that when I turned the key, the motor DID not turn over.

The Honda ignition harness made things a bit easier as you could unplug it.


Using a voltage tester light, I found the hot wire with the key turned on. My probe tip was too big, so I stuck a piece of wire into the female portion of the harness to find the hot wire with the key turned on, but not turned like you were starting the motor

 

[TunaJoe]

Once I determined which wire was hot, I matched up the wire on the one side of the harness to the other side which went to the key switch.


I then used my multimeter to test for continuity when the key was turned to start the motor.
One end of the probe from the multimeter was placed on the hot wire that I previously had found. I knew that one of the 3 other wires would complete the circuit when the key was turned all the way to start. When I found the wire that was hot with the key turned to start I spliced in the ACR isolating wire to it.
I hope this makes sense. I know it works because the LED had a slow flash when it's in "start isolation".

 

[TunaJoe]

I also installed a Lewmar 700 windlass with a wireless remote control.
I installed the same windlass on my Parker and also had the wireless remote for it.
Lewmar seems to have improved the remote control. It's much sturdier and has a nicer feel to it.


I found a surprise when I cut the hole for the windlass. It appears the bow pulpit is sort of an "add on".
There was a compartment between the pulpit and the deck. I didn't want to leave it like that over concerns about water being trapped in the space, so I needed to somehow sleeve it with something.
I couldn't find any PVC piping with a 3" O.D. at the hardware store. So I went to the local chandlery and explained to the gentleman what I needed and he found me some sort of fiberglass exhaust tubing that was pretty darn close to 3" OD.
After a bit of grinding on it, it slipped right into the hole. I used West Systems epoxy to stick it in there.

 

[TunaJoe]

I added a NMEA2000 thru hull temp and paddle wheel along with a thru hull transducer.

I can tell you guys this: Steiger doesn't believe in giving you a bunch of room in their bilges. Plus, in an epic design fail, they designed the boat so that you can't open the bilge hatch all the way!!!

PITA!
So I drilled the holes into the bottom of the boat.


Lathered on some 5200 onto the ducer, and then went to work trying to tighten the nut down. All the while trying to somehow keep the hatch open. Thank goodness for this mystery tool I found in my garage. I've had this little hummer for at least 20 years and never once used it.......till I absolutely needed it for my thru hull transducer. I had no tool that would fit into the bilge and allow me to work and try and tighten the nut. I was starting to panic with 5200 everywhere, but this cheap wrench really got the job done!


I had to notch the bunk for the transducer. I was so dizzy from the install fiasco, I notched the wrong side of the bunk the first time around!

 

[TunaJoe]

Anyways, I know it's not a Parker, but I wanted to share my electronics install with you guys.

So far everything seems to work!

 

[Megabyte]

Sweet project post!
Congratulations on the new ride, and welcome back! :wink:

 

[TunaJoe]

Thanks Kevin!

Had her out today trying to figure out how to dial in the fuel management on the LMF 400 and breaking in the motor.

 

[Pescadorrr]

Dude I just saw a fifty pounder!!

 

[TunaJoe]

Dude I just saw a fifty pounder!!

Prove it with a picture Tim!