Boat Day
10 February 2013 | Bayou Grande
Bob, 58, cloudy, 60% chance of rain
Yesterday Sharon and I set off for the boat and also in search of a small set screw, 1/4 x 28 stainless for the bimini rails. Four stops later we had only located a regular steel set screw which wouldn't do anything except rust so we opted to just use the old one that has lost its grip. Eventually we made it to Great Adventure and put the bimini frame back together and the bimini back on. The next task was a bit less frustrating, but not by much. Our boat could easily be stolen because of the way the ignition panel is set up. I have wanted to have a key to start the boat instead of just flipping a switch and pushing a button, a system that works in the charter system (lost keys???) but not secure in any way. We started by removing the plexiglass that covers the panel, quite a chore because I think they used 5200 to put it on. Then we removed the panel and studied the spagetti mess of wires making sure that we knew which ones needed to go where on the new switch. The switch that I needed to remove was quite a task because the knob had been there since the boat first hit the water and it had to come off to remove it from the panel. Many squirts of lube later we freed the stuck knob and removed the switch from the panel. Ugh, the hole is too small for the new switch but I wanted to move the push button anyway so I took it off and the new switch slid into place nicely but the push button switch was obviously going to be too large. The key fit nicely through the hole in the plexiglass but I noticed that it would be difficult if not darn near impossible to reach the push button. My wife can really surprise me sometimes and this was another of those occasions. She suggested that I just drill a new hole to make access to the button like they did when she was in high school wood shop. I was skeptical because I thought the drill would crack the glass. She assured me it would work and so it did. We brought the piece home and I used a hole saw to make the new hole. It looks great and the plexiglass didn't crack. I love Sharon so much! We stopped at West Marine on the way home and I bought a new push button switch that will fit the smaller hole so I am about to head to the boat finish the installation before the rains begins, hopefully. OK, what's the next thing on my boat list, oh yeah, I got my plywood so I can go home and work in the garage on the new wall panel.