Post by Pete B on Feb 17, 2008 14:50:00 GMT
Brace yourselve's, its a long one but maybe handy for those doing up a raider or any other boat.
Following the sale of our old boat ‘Fish-a-Holic’ in early August 2007. Dan, Ad and myself done a deal on this rather sorry looking Raider 18 moored at Littlehampton and were towing her back to Portsmouth by late the same month.
The thinking was that we were solely after an original Eastbourne built mark 1 Raider rather than today’s new Polish built one. The reality was that getting hold of a mark 1 and refitting her was more than likely going to cost us the same money as a shiny new Polish one.
Although the boat was tatty, she was solid. Once out of the water, we checked the hull which looked good. We hadn't bought her blinkered, we knew a full strip out and refit was required. The previous owner Phil was a decent bloke and gave us as much history on the boat as possible. I met with Adrian Cronk who was the engineer that had serviced the engine and he reassured us that the Mariner 75 was problem free, he even offered to buy the engine if we ever planned to changed it, that was reassuring!
Back at the yard the strip out began. We were surprised how solid the boat was. There were no stress fractures and none of the fixtures that were bonded to the hull had shown any movement or even the slightest of cracks.
Other than a fishing boats normal wear and tear, the only cause for concern was where the resin used to fill the deck fixings had loosened in parts. Maybe they were filled when it was a little damp or the smooth resin beneath weren't etched enough beforehand. We removed the loose back to a sound edge and also thoroughly prepared the deck that had been badly painted in some cheap and nasty coating and was peeling off all over.
At the same time the internals of the boat was prepared and painted from the top down to the deck and the from the cabin out in white two part Bradite marine paint before coating the deck. The grey console was primed before painting white
After priming, the deck was base-coated in grey, an anti-slip aggregate was sprinkled all over and then second coated to lock in the aggregate.
The rewiring began. We decided to go for a twin battery set up and to locate the batteries up the front of the boat. Speaking to other Raider owners we knew that with the size of engine that we aim to upgrade to (115 / 135hp) and the added weight of a four stroke made the nose pointed skywards so the added weight of two deep cycle batteries would help combat that and made the batteries more secure. Because of the batteries new position we opted for two AGM sealed batteries so the slamming of the boat would not effect their performance.
We added two x five gang switch panels, one either side of the steering wheel. The switch boards work in the same way as a domestic consumer unit with trip switches so no more carrying or changing fuses at sea.
We installed LED lighting strips around the boat for our night fishing, these work really well. Each light is independently switched so that if we want just the under gunnel lights on for baiting up we can do so without having the wheel house or cabin lights on at the same time. Photo’s taken at night.
We done our best to conceal the miles of new wiring that had gone in by using trunking and conduit. The only fixed electrics that we kept were the wiper motor and float switch to the bilge.
A new bilge pump, nav, anchor and search lights were fitted. On the roof we done away with the big stainless mast and added new VHF aerial and GPS antenna on the opposite side.
So far we had tackled the jobs that were essential to do. The outside cosmetic condition was poor. The antifoul looked as though it had been applied with the back of a shovel and seeing as though she would be trailer launched we thought it would be a good idea to take it off, unfortunately this started a chain reaction!
The clean white bottom and the pure white spots of gelcoat filler to all the old fixing holes forced us into compounding the rest of the boat. Then the damage to the red stripe showed up like a sore thumb so we ended up blowing in the front section of the stripe and feathering it into the rest.
A new torneau cover was bought and fitted
Here’s how she’s looking as of 16th February 2008. She just requires a wax and some trailer work before she’s ready.
Adam's photoshop picture of the boat name graphics, we weren't brave enough to re-name her!
Following the sale of our old boat ‘Fish-a-Holic’ in early August 2007. Dan, Ad and myself done a deal on this rather sorry looking Raider 18 moored at Littlehampton and were towing her back to Portsmouth by late the same month.
The thinking was that we were solely after an original Eastbourne built mark 1 Raider rather than today’s new Polish built one. The reality was that getting hold of a mark 1 and refitting her was more than likely going to cost us the same money as a shiny new Polish one.
Although the boat was tatty, she was solid. Once out of the water, we checked the hull which looked good. We hadn't bought her blinkered, we knew a full strip out and refit was required. The previous owner Phil was a decent bloke and gave us as much history on the boat as possible. I met with Adrian Cronk who was the engineer that had serviced the engine and he reassured us that the Mariner 75 was problem free, he even offered to buy the engine if we ever planned to changed it, that was reassuring!
Back at the yard the strip out began. We were surprised how solid the boat was. There were no stress fractures and none of the fixtures that were bonded to the hull had shown any movement or even the slightest of cracks.
Other than a fishing boats normal wear and tear, the only cause for concern was where the resin used to fill the deck fixings had loosened in parts. Maybe they were filled when it was a little damp or the smooth resin beneath weren't etched enough beforehand. We removed the loose back to a sound edge and also thoroughly prepared the deck that had been badly painted in some cheap and nasty coating and was peeling off all over.
At the same time the internals of the boat was prepared and painted from the top down to the deck and the from the cabin out in white two part Bradite marine paint before coating the deck. The grey console was primed before painting white
After priming, the deck was base-coated in grey, an anti-slip aggregate was sprinkled all over and then second coated to lock in the aggregate.
The rewiring began. We decided to go for a twin battery set up and to locate the batteries up the front of the boat. Speaking to other Raider owners we knew that with the size of engine that we aim to upgrade to (115 / 135hp) and the added weight of a four stroke made the nose pointed skywards so the added weight of two deep cycle batteries would help combat that and made the batteries more secure. Because of the batteries new position we opted for two AGM sealed batteries so the slamming of the boat would not effect their performance.
We added two x five gang switch panels, one either side of the steering wheel. The switch boards work in the same way as a domestic consumer unit with trip switches so no more carrying or changing fuses at sea.
We installed LED lighting strips around the boat for our night fishing, these work really well. Each light is independently switched so that if we want just the under gunnel lights on for baiting up we can do so without having the wheel house or cabin lights on at the same time. Photo’s taken at night.
We done our best to conceal the miles of new wiring that had gone in by using trunking and conduit. The only fixed electrics that we kept were the wiper motor and float switch to the bilge.
A new bilge pump, nav, anchor and search lights were fitted. On the roof we done away with the big stainless mast and added new VHF aerial and GPS antenna on the opposite side.
So far we had tackled the jobs that were essential to do. The outside cosmetic condition was poor. The antifoul looked as though it had been applied with the back of a shovel and seeing as though she would be trailer launched we thought it would be a good idea to take it off, unfortunately this started a chain reaction!
The clean white bottom and the pure white spots of gelcoat filler to all the old fixing holes forced us into compounding the rest of the boat. Then the damage to the red stripe showed up like a sore thumb so we ended up blowing in the front section of the stripe and feathering it into the rest.
A new torneau cover was bought and fitted
Here’s how she’s looking as of 16th February 2008. She just requires a wax and some trailer work before she’s ready.
Adam's photoshop picture of the boat name graphics, we weren't brave enough to re-name her!
