Dash Modification

Prior to the dash work...we successfully SEA trialed the 233 over July 4th Holiday. We took her out 20+ miles with no problems...no fish either but that was ok. Top speed with 3 x 200+ lbs dudes, full tank of gas and all of the fishing gear was 36 knots in the ICW.

This weekend I made the modifcations to the Instrument Panel that were required for us to re-mount the windshield in the original position (the instrument panel we made sat too high with the electronics mounted, for the angle of the windshield). We had thought about raising the dash (where the windshield will sit) but opted to bite the bullet and cut the instrument panel down, since we were not really using the upper portion for anything other than mounting the GPS and VHF to.

So, I cut the dash about 1/4 inch below the cupholder and ripped out the original piece. Then dug the grinder out of storage and started prepping the area for some cabosil bedding. Next, I reassembled the driver's side windshield to ensure that I did not make the same mistake again and the angles worked. So I cut out a piece of luon to fit, mixed up some epoxy + cab, cut some fabric and put it in...The next day and grinded on that setup, and then attached some 1/4 round to the end to smooth it out and then did the cab, fabric & glass thing again. I actually think this will turn out better, although it sucks to grind off top coat...but that was easy enough to put on. Here is the single pic I took w/ my phone.

Details...Small Details

89 degrees and 110% humidity today in NC.

A relatively slow working day, we hooked up the outriggers, remounted the downriggers, added two new rod holders, replaced the bimini's plastic hardware with stainless, fit the driver side gunnel enclosure, mounted the GPS antenna, finished the install of the cuddy cover, OH Shit handle, installed some trim work and reworked the wench stand on the front of the trailer. We have abandoned the leaning post setup in favor of a swingback seat that has a livewell/cooler/storage in it. This made for a better setup with more room and comfort. We have some ends to tie up prior to the launch, but nothing is a show stopper. Team Hatley is slightly anxious to go fishing. Here are some pics...we are looking at a tower that is for sale on www.thehulltruth.com and if we can acquire that and get the windshield worked out we will be in serious bidnezz.
Ready to fish:

Officially Legal:
Pic of the new cuddy cover and the instrument panel (candidate for change):

Pic of the back...

More Progress, closing in on the Saltwater Launch

We have a firm date of July 4th for the Saltwater launch and have really started dotting the i's. This weekend, we mounted the outriggers, anchor chocks, rope chocks, gps, vhf, rope locker cover, and the cuddy door cover. Recently painted the interior of the cuddy and had a failed attempt to glue carpet to the ceiling (never again). We also received some replacement parts from Bluesea for the switch panel and reinstalled it. We are ready to go fishing.