New guy, Newish Boat

10 Hours in and going strong.

Added some board racks to the tower and checked all the nuts and bolts July 4th weekend. Spent a few hours on our home lake as the road to the ramp was finally usable sunday right before we left. Ended up at another lake this past weekend for a buddies bachelor party and the boat was great all weekend. Only bad part was the neighborhood ramp was steeeeeep and that was a challenge. Especially when my set time in a direct drive boat is pretty limited.

Headed to Possum Kingdom this weekend with all the wifes family. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures now that she's pretty spruced up.

I've got a pretty good list of honey-doos for the boat when the weather cools off down here in about 3 months ;)

I need to get off my rump and get this thread back to up to date...

I think we ended up around 30 hours for the summer which is pretty good all things considered.

Ended up Painting the Windshield Frame and Tinting the Glass Before I put it up for the cooler months here in texas.

This Springs Projects:
-New Bimini. I am going to order a towerbimini in the next month or so. I'd just like something with a little more coverage. Any thoughts on color? I'd love black for aesthetic appeal but I'm afraid it will fade fast and transmit more heat than a lighter color.
- Tune Up. I have a whole pile of parts from when I was going to build a motor that could find there way onto my new to me GT40. I have belts, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. Part of me thinks if it isn't broke don't fix it. The boat ran great all last summer.
- Stereo- I know they aren't for everyone but i like a nice sounding boat. I'm not into tower speakers but I like good in cabin sound. I've got a JL 5 channel AMP and 10" sub that need to find a happy home.
- Little More Gel Love and Polish. The Bow Roller area is rough to say the least. I need to get started on it.
- Depth Finder. I picked one up and need to install.
- Hook Up Perfect Pass. Came with my motor but I still haven't messed with it.
- I've got 2x barefoot booms now, I need to figure out which one works best and get ready to teach my boy to ski.
- Trailer Add-Ons... I need to fab up a spare tire basket for the trailer. I've got room under the bow and I've never cared for the ones that clamp onto the rail.

Last Picture Before I took it back to the lake and put it in the barn.



Fits Good... This is actually the first time in the barn since we bought it. Rebuilt in my driveway at the M-F house and sat under the carport all summer.


And cleaned up the rafters to get all the equipment off the floor. The Lakehouse has been somewhat of a catch-all for the last 24 years.... Plenty of junk in the barn :)

Wuss. Any open water froze over again serving as a reminder it's still winter.

This boat has come a long way, glad you got to enjoy it a bit.

Well the water warmed up and then the lake flooded to 17' over for the better part of two months... :(

Finally got down to the ramp sat and had a few issues. First it ran up to 180 or so i opened the engine hatch and putted back to the dock it cooled down to 165 on the way in. I had a new impeller ready to go (didn't swap last year since I only put 25 hours on it) so I swapped that out sunday morning. The one I pulled out looked to be in decent shape. Drove it again and it got up to 170-175 but never any hotter than that. Looked like it was pulling plenty of water through and the risers never got hot enough to not touch them. Since I'm in a warmer climate with warmer water is 175 acceptable? My of the hoses are new, the trans cooler didn't have any blockages, and the thermostat is the one that came with the motor.

Noticed when I pulled it out sunday that it had quite a bit more water in the bildge than it usually does when i pull the plug. Maybe a gallon or so. I was in a hurry so i had to cover it and go. I'm headed back this weekend and will look for leaks. The rudder and shaft packing are new as of last spring. I wonder if I have a leak somewhere in the cooling system? I will double check all of the hose clamps and take a flash light. I only ran it for 20-30 minutes and there were any wet people boarding so that shouldn't be the cause.

And pictures. Our dock washed up on the road and was in sad shape so we spent most of the weekend repairing and re-launching.