Duracraft 18-6 CC Bay boat

Well my fishing season is winding down and its time again to mess with the boat.



So far in the last 2 years I've rewired the boat, have to go back and do some rechecking, tend to get shocked when wet and touching the aluminum and battery together and was getting shocked once reaching in the live well somethings not right.

Installed a Garmin 540 df/gps, mounted a piece of 3/4" starboard to the transom to keep from adding more holes, only problem depth finder doesn't read over 20mph. Installed my old depth finder and transducer to a piece of starboard on the opposite side same problem, guess the starboard has to go, man i hate drilling holes







First trip out in the boat had this huge open area infront of the console with buckets coolers and tackle boxes all in the way of getting to the front platform so i built a deck extension and installed a live well







Used a fertilizer spreader to evenly apply sand to a light wet coat of paint then painted over the sand. Paint was suppose to match the hull color but when i got to the bottom of the can the white was nearly hardened at the bottom thus the color didn't match, Thanks Home Depot.



Ran PCV pipe through the deck for protecting rods



Problem, everything gets wet under the deck from rain, or throwing the cast net so have to use rubbermaid containers to keep everything dry



Installed a jack plate





I have a need for speed, i have a john boat with a Merc 115 on the back what else do i have to say. Jack plate gave me about 2 to 3 mph more was hoping for more. I still can go up higher on the motor but the last test run where i gave up on going up the boat would start wondering when going into any kind of turn, kinda scary. I lost bow lift with the jack plate, I use to could watch the bow rise up alot when trimming the motor up. It also porpoises alot worse now, can barely get the cavitation plate level with the bottom of the boat now. I can run much shallower and a little faster now but gave up bow lift (for really rough water). Boat with deck and empty live well and full gear will run 44-46 mph I was wanting alot more.

The boat rides great (for what it is) with the extra weight in the front. This past summer I managed to out run a couple of glass center consoles in 2 footers back to the landing to be first in line. I took the deck out on a trip this summer and I was seeing 46-48. I've about decided the jack plate is worth it, now trying to decide if I should remove the deck and replace it with a diamond plate tool box I picked up on ebay for $25. The deck weighs in at around 150lbs, don't have a clue how it got so heavy, 5/8 ply wood on top, 3/8 on the back and used 2x2s to frame it. The one gallon of paint applied to the deck didn't help, was trying to make sure it lasted but never went back and painted the holes i drilled out for the rod holders so guess what, I have wood rot. Also the front storage hatch you have to get on your hands and knees to get anything out of it, don't like that. The tool box almost fits in perfectly, gonna have to do some cutting on the ends of the box to get it in perfectly and it will keep everything DRY. If I do replace the deck with the box gonna give up a lot of weight, but........ when i made the test run with no deck and no livewell it was a very choppy day and with out the added weight on the front it just about beat our brains out but with the livewell still up front I can fill it up if needed to add weight to the front for a smother ride. Also I'm gonna give up the added protection of the deck with the side rod holders. Before putting the deck in i noticed when landing fish knees were against the rods, didn't like it.

More ideas and plans to come

Some other ideas, thought about moving my center console back 12" and extending it up 12". Running the sounds and intercoastal it gets rough and I like to stand up in rough water so i don't to so much of a beating, still deciding on this one







Here is where the seats would be relocated to, just not sure about this idea its gonna kill my rear deck





and you also see a sneak peak at the poling platform in the next post

If you want to move the seats to the back deck and keep that space usable for fishing maybe you could look into some seats that fold flush with the deck when not in use. That is how the back seats on my Lund are setup. If you ignore the big guy that is my father-in-law you can see the flip up seats that are folded down. The seat bottoms are also hinged to open to a live well underneath.

Hiya

Lots of interesting stuff here. You should re post this in one of the modification forums.

I have thought about doing a livewell system like the one you have here to avoid drilling a large hull hole. Could you possibly explain it further?

thanks a bunch

Sweet set up......JIGGY

I hate drilling holes too, got lucky and found someone giving away a 25 gallon bait tank I had the option of buying the pump for $15 so i jumped on it. built the deck around the bait tank, live well pump is a transom mount (seen them at Bass Pro I think) just ran a hose up to the tank, installed an areator (found it on ebay) in the bait tank, going to add a 3 way valve where i can either drain the tank over the side or have it recirculate. I bought a 1 1/2 through hull to overflow the water to the side of the boat but there again i hate drilling holes so for now i have it overflow into the floor. Normally I just fill the tank 2/3 and then turn the aerator on and let it run all day. With this set up I keep my shrimp alive for over 12 hours in the summer months. The aerator is adjustable for the amount of air it mixes with the water but i have it set up for maximum air, it will have the top of the live well water completely covered in air bubbles after a couple of hours.

Thats the first time I've seen a bilge pump mounted on the outside of the hull. I would think with your motor, the pump wouldn't last long being out there.

When I originally mounted it, it was just barely below the hull and would pick up and fill the bait tank while running. Got tired of having to shut off the valve when I didn't need the live well filled so I added another piece of starboard and moved it up where its clear of the water line while running.

Hey Bush Hawg, are you still here? What type paint did ya use on your deck extention? You said the deck rotted mostly cause of the rod holes not being sealed. I am doing a deck extention with plywood and wish to match the rest of the color of the existing decks. Marine grade paint is not able to be custom colored. So I'm interested in the paint you used? Thanks Tomm
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