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wyld3man

Active member
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
42
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24
Location
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Picked up the new boat a couple weeks ago and got use to everything just in time for opening weekend of Red Snapper on the Gulf of Mexico. Took my wife's cousin and nephews out Saturday and then spent Sunday as a father son fishing trip with one of my best friends.
 

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Nice haul! I bet that was good eating.:) How's the sea this time?
 
It was good and calm, trigger fish decided to come up from the bottom and hang around the boat. I tried to get one on my fly rod, they all turned on it and a few took the fly but I couldn’t get the hook set. Think I need to tie a few flies with small sharp hooks for their mouths.

took her up to 5000 RPM and was at 40mph
At 4000 I am cruising at 30MPH, this seems to be the optimal speed to fuel efficiency ratio. Headed to Colorado to do some trout fishing then once I return I need to do the 20hr service (just ordered the kit) then I plan to head further out to see what I can get into
 
Did you manage to catch some? Well, next time will be better.

Finally, you were able to test its power. You must be flying out there. How many hours away is Colorado from your location?
 
I caught a few rainbows and browns. I didn't get pics, it was kind of difficult to manage a slippery fish, phone and fly rod all at the same timeo_O. I did manage to take a pic of one of the trout my buddy caught though.

Colorado is about a 3 1/2 - 4hr flight, not to bad.
 

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I caught a few rainbows and browns. I didn't get pics, it was kind of difficult to manage a slippery fish, phone and fly rod all at the same timeo_O. I did manage to take a pic of one of the trout my buddy caught though.

Colorado is about a 3 1/2 - 4hr flight, not to bad.
That's fantastic. What's important is you caught them.
Wow, that fast?
Nice pic by the way.
 
Good, actually been working on the boat a lot the past 2 weeks so I have not been fishing. I should hopefully be wrapping everything up Sunday or Monday.

It all started when I noticed that the Garmin was not sending way points to the Optimus Cantrak display. I spoke with the dealer and he put me in contact with the Dometic tech guy (the guys who developed Optimus and Helm Master) He had me check a few connections and I found out that I was missing a cable. In the process of tracing wires I started to see a lot of wiring/ workmanship issues.
I am the kind of person that when I see one thing wrong I start digging around to see what else might be incorrect. The worst of the problems I saw was the dealer never sealed or put a through hull fitting in the transom when they put two 1 1/2" holes in it to run the lines for the hydroelectric steering. It was just bare wood, no 5200, no through hull, no splash well boot, nothing. The dealer also wired the network wrong and did the sloppiest wiring job of all my aftermarket electronics I have ever seen.
Most people would probably just take it back to the dealer to make it right, even my wife told me to have them fix it. I thought about it for a few minutes then I decided why would I want them to even attempt to fix everything, in fact I don't want any one of them to so much as step foot on my boat. I would probably get it back with a whole new set of problems. s
I spent the last two weeks tracing, untangling, zip tying, heat shrinking, sealing holes, labeling each end and the middle of every wire on the boat. I re-built the NMEA network and built a private network for the Optimus system. Then I figured well I have every wire harness and cable pulled out and I do not want to do this again unless something breaks so I mine as well go full retard and add everything that attaches to wires that I would possibly want (damn it sure was expensive). Below is the list of the extra stuff I added.

Outlets for electric reels
a fan
an amplifier, better speakers and subwoofer (I like the sound of good music)
a battery monitor for each battery
battery charger
garmin SD card reader on the dash (used the hole for the old hydraulic steering fluid fill on the dash, put it to good use since it was there. Had to use a stepped bit to open it up a bit, but it worked)
USB extensions to everything that has a USB port going to hubs that are easy to get to (I attached them to starboard so when you open the electronics hatch they are right there)
J1939 cable for the Yamaha emulation screen
Garmin marine weather antenna

and a few non electrical things

zero degree rod mount
fly rod holders
two clamp on rod holders for the factory rocket launcher
a handle for the person riding shotgun
cargo net in the birth to keep stuff secure when it gets bumpy

I probably have 20 feet of battery cable that I cut out of the boat when I was cutting everting to size. I pretty much cut everything from NMEA cables to Cat5 cables to size. I have a huge box of cables and NMEA T's if any one needs anything electrical related.

Attached are some before, after and just stuff I added pics


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Still need to tidy up a few things and install the stints for the battery monitors. Also need to figure out where to terminate the breakers for the electric reel outlets and the upgraded speakers. I am counting amps and buss bars to see where it makes sense. Thinking about getting another buss bar for them and wiring it to the house battery turn on switch. Just gotta see if that makes sense as far as staying within limits. Figure the battery monitors will give me some info to head in the right direction.
 
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Also did the 20hr service, but just decided to do everything the 100hr called for. The only thing I did not change where the on board fuel/ water separators. I could not find any Yamaha filters, but I do have a couple sierras sitting in my shop just incase.

Actually called Yamaha up to ask a few questions in regards to the CL5 display and NMEA. I asked since nobody has Yamaha filters what would they recommend for a suitable replacement. He said nothing, well isn't that a conundrum🥸

Well two benefits to me doing all this work are, I begin marine mechanic school in 3 weeks so I did a little pre-course work and Southern Wind (my Parker) will be in the shape she deserves.
 
Wow! That was some work you got there. That was too irresponsible on the part of the dealer, I would say, with those workmanship issues. Going through those wires, cables and all those interesting stuff must be tough but definitely was a good learning experience on your part. You now are the most qualified Tech/Mechanic of your boat.:) Hope you'll be back on the water in no time.

Marine mechanic school sounds cool.(y)
 
Yeah, very irresponsible. Guess they thought I would never know the difference. I told them I was about to retire from the military and go to marine mechanic school. You would think by me telling them that they would understand that I have OCD and check everything and I am interested in digging around the inner workings of boats.

I am gonna wrap things up tomorrow on the boat then take my niece and daughter out Snapper fishing Monday. The Season closes at the end of the month and I start school the first week of August. My plan is to hit it hard this week before hitting the books in August
 
At the of the day, It's your boat.:)

Glad you still have the chance to take your niece and daughter out fishing before the season ends. How long does the marine mechanic course going to take?
 
Its going to be 6 months, from August until January. Classes are from 3:00 to 9:00pm Mon-Thursday. They will certify you on 5 or 6 different manufactures engines (to include Yamaha) and go into electronics rigging. Think I am going to contact one of the local marina's in September about a two day per week position just to get my foot in the door, then turn that into a full time job in January.

I think I might also do part time fishing charters. I have everything set up minus finishing the Captains course, which I need to complete it before the end of next week.

Here is the website for the Charter business, the booking calendar is locked until I get the license in the mail and figure out what direction I want to take that.

www.southernwindcharters.com
 
Its going to be 6 months, from August until January. Classes are from 3:00 to 9:00pm Mon-Thursday. They will certify you on 5 or 6 different manufactures engines (to include Yamaha) and go into electronics rigging. Think I am going to contact one of the local marina's in September about a two day per week position just to get my foot in the door, then turn that into a full time job in January.

I think I might also do part time fishing charters. I have everything set up minus finishing the Captains course, which I need to complete it before the end of next week.

Here is the website for the Charter business, the booking calendar is locked until I get the license in the mail and figure out what direction I want to take that.

www.southernwindcharters.com
Impressive. Are you not retiring in 6 months? Excellent opportunities after retiring. Good luck with your course.
 
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