let's hear it...what do you guys have planned for upgrades over the winter...electronics...add ons,like outriggers,rod holders,down riggers,live wells...what's on the menu for the boat

looking to put an enclosure on my mako looking for a local shop to do it phone booth with wings

Replacing the plastic through hulls with stainless, replace the corrugated bilge hose with smooth wall (both factory installed) and possibly have a mooring cover made, this past winter is the last time I am shoveling snow from the cockpit...plus it would be nice to leave the door open for air when it is raining when I stay over on the boat. Replace the cockpit lights LED lights and install an LED spreader light. And hopefully finish saving up for a raft so I don't have to keep borrowing a friends when we head out to the Mud Hole or fish early and late in the season.

Dave,give Steve from Cilles Custom Canvas a call, he does great work...609/242/9554...Rick

A trolling valve for my zf-220a tranny, hint hint.....anyone got one laying around?

Almost forgot the one at the top of my list...high water alarms, one in the forward bilge area and one in the aft.

Replace all lights with LED's and look to get another set of wind/water curtains. Oh yes, replace washdown/livewell pump, it finally crapped out after ten seasons.

Depending on what you had in mind for LED's, interior or exterior check out the Dr. LED line of lights. I tried a few and had problems with the amount of lighting with a bunch of brands. For the interior stuff the best I found was the Dr. LED brand. Lighting is brighter than I had and barely draws any current. No more dead batteries coming back from the bar when leaving the interior or cockpit lights on.

The dome light with red and white bulbs is great, no more of the crew blinding me on the ride out in the morning.

Going to be experimenting with LED spreaders over the winter to determine which ones I want.

goia sails...do not go anywhere else...the quality will be incredible

excellent choice joe,excellent choice...

LED'S excellent choice...last forever too

10 yrs out of a washdown pump ? you're kidding,right wow !!

thru hulls: grady white is famous for their use of nylon thru hulls on their older boats-shamrock used them to almost the end of them building the boat,other mfg's continue to use them-why...
the nylon becomes brittle and the thru hull breaks off-if it's a bilge pump outlet,the pump runs,and continues to run,water is never expelled.if the thru hull is at or near the water line,in the case of a fish box drain,you've really got problems...smartest play you can make,is to repalce them all with stainless-peace of mind !! replacing the hose at the same time is even smarter...get in the habit of using sanitation hose for bilge pump outlets-it's smooth,and it will not restrict the water flow...i've typed about this before,washdown/live well hose-the hose from the pick up to the pump,and beyond,use strictly engine intake/exhaust certified hose,do not use the cheap stuff-you're asking for trouble.now is the time to check all of this stuff...do not forget to check the drain hoses-if applicable,these hoses are from the scuppers in the cockpit,to the thru hulls,these hoses can break at the worst time,leaving you with a large hole-not good huh...do yourselves a favor,perform a good complete check out of the boat,do it now,if you see something that looks like a potential problem,take care of it now...

fuel tanks:

fuel tanks have a finite life.aluminum fuel tanks,in a sea water environment,in a smaller boat,have a life span of approx 10yrs,that's it...yes,some last longer,and some shorter-10yrs is the expected life span.over the course of being in buisness,i've had a few customer's boats,that developed a leak in the fuel system over the "off season",better for it to happen on land,then out in the water...
listen,if you've got an older boat,you need to check it out before it becomes a big problem.there's no other way to check it out,other than,phisically removing the tank.sorry...the top of the tanks usually look good,problem is down below.i know this isn't something you guys wanna hear."if it's not broke,don't fix it",right- waiting till you have a huge problem,fuel in the bilge,is the choice you're making...your call...smart play is to check it out...if the tank has erosions on it,it needs to be replaced...other's will tell you,this is repairable,again,your call...i've read all kinds of insane things regarding fuel tanks...do yourselves a favor,use common sense,when it comes to the tank...
but,i highly reccomend everyone inspect the fuel system on their boat-inspect it the proper way...

Jim can you pm me the info for the enclosures Thanks Dave

ac for the cabin and the cockpit section under the curtain. and a coffee pot for my pop. he says "that's a must"

then,better add a generator too...

Keurig Mini! Best little coffee pot out there...have one on my rig. Nothing like fresh hot coffee anytime you want it.

http://www.gioiasails.com/

best money you will ever spend...

I'm stripping the bottom paint of five yrs and installing a downrigger. Also plan to change some lights over to led's and transom lights.

I will be putting new risers, manifolds and shift cable.

excellent choice !! man,stiping the bottom paint,it's a project that's well worth it.

search throught here,i expalin the way i do it...

little "pm" here...good...

manifolds and risers,these are good for about 5 yrs in our area,after that,the potential for a big problem is there...

"lower shift cable"...merc alpha drive

Volvo XDP Drive