Cracker Larry

Jeez, I hate to hear this. Tim was always one of the good guys and always class act.

Same here, but I only answer questions that I know the answer to. Sorry, never tried either on. I just keep my prop sharp and give it more gas

Humminbird makes a fine one too

WOW God bless America!

I thought this was a boat forum.

How about Boca Grande? This place is pretty swank, with lots of flats fishing. Or deeper water too. http://www.the-gasparilla-inn.com/

Wow! That is crazy

Borrow the wife's hair dryer It only takes a little heat to lift them.

Mint is correct, don't sand through the gel coat, you just want to smooth and scuff it so the paint or primer can get a bite. 120 is about right for that. Different paints and primers have different requirements for the grit size and it's usually printed on the application instructions.

That's pretty good, but I like this one better Sorry, I don't know how to imbed the video. http://www.youtube.c...p?v=d2gIdMRwfuM

That's fantastic work, Mike She is really looking good! That is a monumental project and you are staying on it. I know what it takes to do work like that. Check out this video if you have time, I think it's relevant to the project

Well, if you lived in Georgia it would probably mean shrimp to you But in the NE, sea scallops are taken by trawlers

Sure sorry to hear that

That makes me want to puke. Who elected these clowns?

It uses a 50/1 mix. 1 pint to 6 gallons or 1 quart to 24 gallons. That's actually 48/1, but close enough.

Nice work Rick!

Yep. His spelling is at a 3rd grade level also.

Good job Tim

Test

I wish you the best of luck. Let me try to be more constructive. I would first contact Albemarle and determine where the designed CG was. Usually this will be between 40 and 45% of the total length,in front of the transom but they should be able to tell you exactly. Mark this spot on the hull. Next, if you have access to a big fork lift or a travel lift, put the boat in the lift and rig it with one wide strap in the center. Pick up on it just a little and see where it balances. Adjust the strap to the balance point of the boat and mark that location on the hull. Now you know where it is, and where it needs to be. Add your weight, do your mods, move the tanks, then hang the boat again. Keep making weight modifications until the boat balances on the designed CG. You can correct it like this, but it will take a lot of weight to do it, which will make the boat run even slower and burn even more fuel, but at least she will balance. With 250 HP on that boat, she is already a little underpowered so it's not a great solution, but the best one you have.

Tim, it doesn't have to be photo bucket, it can be any site that will host your photos, but the pic has to exist somewhere on the internet before you can link to it from here.

The fact that it was originally in I/O further compounds the problem, as the weight of the engine was much closer to the CG. If you add a bait well in the transom it's going to make it worse. Sir, I hate to be negative but I can tell you that it's not feasible, no matter who you find and what program you use. You cannot change physics. As I mentioned, the time to hire a naval architect or designer is before starting a major engine relocation project. I am a marine surveyor, boat builder and restorer. I could run all the numbers, charge you a bunch of money, show you some fancy graphs, but at the end of the day the answer would be the same. Save your money

Look at it like a kids see-saw or teeter totter. Pretend it is as long as your boat was as built. The engine it was built for probably weighed 375 pounds, so lets put that much weight on each end. Call one end bow and one stern. The board is balanced. That's how it was designed. Now replace the weight on the stern with one weighing 600 pounds. Engine plus bracket. Whop. To balance this, you would have to add 225 pounds to the opposite end. That's a good bit, and about the possible correction trim tabs might provide. Now, take a 3' long board (the bracket length) and nail it to the stern end, and move that 600 pounds to the end of the extended board. To balance that, you would have to move the same extra weight the same additional distance forward, or twice the weight 1/2 of the distance forward, or 4 times that weight 1/4 of the distance forward. It's that lever/ fulcrum thing. If it was designed for a bracket, the console, main people area, tanks, batteries, everything would have all been further forward. It's not an easy problem to correct after the fact. Some sandbags in the extreme bow maybe, but then you are just hauling extra weight and burning more fuel. Better sandbags up there than kids though

Please don't do that. I'm not the boat police, but that isn't safe, or legal That was really when you needed the marine architect, he probably would have talked you out of it. It's going to take more than just moving the fuel tank to correct the trim. Here is the problem. The boat was designed to perform best with the CG in a specific location. It was designed in the early 80's for 2 stroke engines mounted on the transom. 2 strokes are much lighter than 4 strokes. The entire structure of the boat including tanks, console and cabin are all designed to balance with the expected 2 stroke engine on the transom. If I remember right, that Zuke weighs about 480 pounds! So you've added a few pounds have moved 480 pounds about 3' farther aft of the designed CG, plus the weight of the bracket itself. So you will need to relocate something that weighs about 600 pounds the same distance forward from designed CG to compensate for it. That's a lot. If you use the weight of fuel, you should plan on the weight of a half tank. It's not a great ballast because it forever changes weight.

All the Wahoo were caught trolling big Yozuri S diving plugs. That is one fish catching SOB of a lure! It's the green one on top. We only caught a few dolphin while trolling, a couple on that same Yozuri and a couple more on ballyhoo with a Sea Witch type skirts, Same chartreuse color and hot pink. Didn't find many big dolphin, I think we were a little late for them. Found plenty of schoolies in big weed patches. We would ride the weeds until we spotted a school, then I'd stop the boat, throw out a couple handfuls of chopped squid and silversides, 12 lb tackle and a bare hook with a silverside minnow or piece of squid, and it was on