Waldershrek
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- Apr 2, 2014
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We have a late 80's/early 90's (I'm not sure on the year) family fishing boat my dad bought a couple years from an old guy. It's in good shape but used. We've used it the last couple years but now it's time to make some changes. Last year my cousin talked me into a walleye fishing trip on Oneida Lake and I had a blast so I'm back this year and I want the boat to be ready by opening weekend for the trip (first weekend in May) so I don't have a whole lot of time.
Quick overview of the boat. It's a 16' Starcraft with a Johnson 28 SPL (electric start) outboard. It currently steers via stick which I absolutely hate. It has two seats, bow mounted foot controlled trolling motor on a quick release plate, basic Humminbird fish finder (screen is on the bow although the transducer is on the rear) and no livewell. there is a home made glove box type storage thing in the bow but in order to open it it requires the key which is usually in the ignition so it's a pain to access while on the move. Other than that the boat has no storage. The battery for the trolling motor and fish finder sits about in the middle of the boat along the right side, the cranking battery sits in the back of the boat on the floor. We've had a problem with both sliding around as well as the five gallon gas can. The carpet is pretty faded and thin in spots
To do list:
1. Add a livewell. It currently does not have one
2. New carpet.
3. Add storage to side compartments that are on either side in the rear. Currently they are filled with foam and hide cable for steering stick.
4. Add stereo. Gotta have my tunes.
5. Add battery boxes and relocate them to the rear of the boat.
6. Add console and convert to steering wheel. Here is the console I ordered:
Some before pics:
General shot. Note the stick, ignition and killswitch on the left side and the throttle on the right.
Glove box thing in the bow
Trolling motor is on a quick mount plate.
Stern/Bilge
So I started tearing into her:
Started pulling carpet up. Boy was it nasty, falling apart everywhere.
Got everything out. I unhooked the steer stick and removed that side piece right after this was taken
Since taking the floor off and after discussion with some folks on another forum about the weight of such a thing I decided to go with a smaller livewell (16 gallons): https://greatlakesskipper.com/standard-16-gallon-black-boat-livewell-tank-w-drain
That will go right in the middle of the boat between the rails even with the front of where the console will be. About right where the rear piece of plywood edge is:
Let me know your thoughts guys. I'll take some more pics when the stuff I ordered gets here.
Quick overview of the boat. It's a 16' Starcraft with a Johnson 28 SPL (electric start) outboard. It currently steers via stick which I absolutely hate. It has two seats, bow mounted foot controlled trolling motor on a quick release plate, basic Humminbird fish finder (screen is on the bow although the transducer is on the rear) and no livewell. there is a home made glove box type storage thing in the bow but in order to open it it requires the key which is usually in the ignition so it's a pain to access while on the move. Other than that the boat has no storage. The battery for the trolling motor and fish finder sits about in the middle of the boat along the right side, the cranking battery sits in the back of the boat on the floor. We've had a problem with both sliding around as well as the five gallon gas can. The carpet is pretty faded and thin in spots
To do list:
1. Add a livewell. It currently does not have one
2. New carpet.
3. Add storage to side compartments that are on either side in the rear. Currently they are filled with foam and hide cable for steering stick.
4. Add stereo. Gotta have my tunes.
5. Add battery boxes and relocate them to the rear of the boat.
6. Add console and convert to steering wheel. Here is the console I ordered:
Some before pics:
General shot. Note the stick, ignition and killswitch on the left side and the throttle on the right.
Glove box thing in the bow
Trolling motor is on a quick mount plate.
Stern/Bilge
So I started tearing into her:
Started pulling carpet up. Boy was it nasty, falling apart everywhere.
Got everything out. I unhooked the steer stick and removed that side piece right after this was taken
Since taking the floor off and after discussion with some folks on another forum about the weight of such a thing I decided to go with a smaller livewell (16 gallons): https://greatlakesskipper.com/standard-16-gallon-black-boat-livewell-tank-w-drain
That will go right in the middle of the boat between the rails even with the front of where the console will be. About right where the rear piece of plywood edge is:
Let me know your thoughts guys. I'll take some more pics when the stuff I ordered gets here.