96 2300DVCC Rebuild

[SaltCreek Chris]

I guess I'll share my hatred for spare time here. This boat was originally purchased with an 06 F250 and handrail delete. The build is still on going so bear with me as I am also renovating 3200sq' of our house, and building a marine electronics business (Salt Creek LLC). Here are a couple pictures of what the boat started as before the rebuild.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

Some of the first changes made were removing the captains chairs and replacing them with a leaning post to provided additional rod holders and storage. I also closed in the electronics cubby in the center console to flush mount newer electronics.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

The last addition before all the cutting began was the repower. The Yam 250 spun a bearing at around 1400 hours, and I had some cracks in the stainless T-top frame that contributed to some moisture getting into the floor. After putting around 1200 hours of sea time on this boat it was time to either sell for an upgrade, or build something that checked as many boxes as possible for my needs. A Suzuki DF300 was bought, and my hatred of spare time began. Stringers were replaced and are one continuous board from the transom forward. New fuel tank box was glassed in, and a new aluminum tank was welded up to fit. Tank is 116 gallons which replaced the old 150gal tank. I had to sacrifice some fuel capacity to get the desired console space. The larger the rigging tube runs from inside the center console, and the smaller rigging tub is for the fuel line from the tank pickup to the motor.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

Floor was raised up an inch from factory to help with height inside the center console, fuel tank capacity, and handling fish boat side from the washboard. Console, floor, and rigging channels were all replaced and made from coosa.

 

[tomc585]

You picked a great hull to start with!

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

After most of the fairing was done on the console and leaning post the boat was moved over to get T-top supports, and rocket launchers fabricated. As you can imagine from some of the pictures getting this idea from my head to paper and then fabricated was tricky. Huge shoutout to Any Bloodsworth at Punch Island Marine who did all this aluminum work! He took my seemingly insane ideas, and turned them into functional pieces of art. The T-top was set up above the console with 2x4's to set the height and rake. The support legs were mocked up along with the ladder rack angles and spacing. Rod holders were welded on along with making the rocket launcher. 16 rod rod holders total between the ladder rack and rocket launcher.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

After the aluminum work was completed the boat was brought back to Tar Bay Boatworks where Justin Yinger prepped and painted everything. Huge shoutout to Justin as well! He was awesome to work with and does some amazing fiberglass work. He shares my passion of creating completely custom boats and was a huge help to bounce ideas back and forth with. We used Awlgrip to paint the top cap, washboards, console, T-top, and floor. Non skid was added to the floor and cap. The underside of the T-top and topside of the center console was finished in matte to reduce glare at night. The clearance from the floor inside the console to the top is 6'3" meaning most people can stand up straight without hitting their head. This also helps with rod storage as most trolling and jigging rods will fit standing up inside. The front floor fish box was shortened slightly, and the front bench/cooler drain was designed to drain into the fish box. Both are insulated, and hold ice extremely well. The inside of the transom was closed off and a step was added in both corners. Two more 0 deg rod holders were mounted in each step which are great to set a gaff or rod in once a fish is pulled over the gunnel. Eventually I will design a removable chair to insert into the rod holders for days at the sandbar.

 

[warthog5]

Hard to tell..... I don't see a rigging tube between E-Box and console.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

Hard to tell..... I don't see a rigging tube between E-Box and console.

Rigging from inside the console up to the electronics box is run through the pipework. You bring up a good point as it is impossible to tell from the pictures. The inside edges of the pipework were rounded out prior to being welded together, and then all the wiring was pulled up with wire loom to ensure chaffing would not occur. I outlined in some pictures where the wire runs are. Both port and starboard sides of the pipework are used as wire runs. There is also a channel carved out in the coring of the T-top that is used as a wire run for the rear spreader lights and Sionyx camera up front.

 

[SaltCreek Chris]

With the boat finally back home and ready to be rigged I mocked up the helm layout and built a self for the batteries to sit on. I didn't get pictures before the battery self went into place, but there is access to the fuel tank pickup, fill, and vent line from underneath the shelf. The shelf is removable in the event access is needed in the future.

A piece of starboard was cut and used as a backing panel for the dash. This provided extra support for mounting electronics, and will keep the acrylic finish panel flat across the width of the console.

I made a flip up rear bench for the back of the leaning post. This folds down for extra space while fishing, but provides extra seating in the back of the boat when running or rafted up at the sandbar. The idea is to run this bench for a season or two and see how I like it. If it ends up working well I will glass up a piece of coosa and mount a gimbal rod holder in it for a fold down fighting chair.