CONTINUOUSWAVE

Jefecinco

Why are there three pads? Are they for a Super Sport with a backrest? Their existence is very interesting and the condition is surprising. It's also interesting that they are intended for lacing beneath the thwart and behind the backrest. Boston Whaler would use snaps for mounting the cushions on bo...

Jefecinco

This is not intended to answer your question but simply for information. I doubt any hull changes were made to the 180 Dauntless through its production life. Minor changes to the interior or console were more likely. Were I in the market for a 180 Dauntless ,the model year would be of far less inter...

Jefecinco

After looking at the photographs I can see the wood featured is not plywood but it does not look solid. Rather it seems to have been made up from thinner planks side glued together side to side and it does not look like the same type of mahogany used on our 1981 Sport 13. Perhaps that's a characteri...

Jefecinco

A 32 year old freshwater trailer would have virtually no value to a saltwater boater. If the trailer has any welds they would all be suspect for salt or freshwater use. If I were interested in the trailer because of a bargain price I would insist the paint be removed from the welds and perform a dye...

Jefecinco

Thanks for the information. I was unaware that RVs now use EOH brakes. When we were towing a fifth wheel RV the brakes were straight electric. The drum brakes were actuated by solenoid if I remember correctly. Solenoid failure was not uncommon. Disc brakes for RVs were unknown. I understand new pick...

Jefecinco

Although jet drives are much safer than standard propeller engines for swimmers there are some downsides: ⋅ Low speed maneuverability can be less precise; ⋅ stopping distances can be longer, and ⋅ maneuvering in reverse can be more difficult. Propeller guards are availa...

Jefecinco

I believe Texas has no income tax. The state needs income to operate thus there are a lot of fees and other taxes.

Jefecinco

I will claim ignorance of capacitors. In the 1980s we used them in the military when a strong surge of power was needed. An experimental laser weapon was under development for use on aircraft. The device required a lot of power to fire and a generator of sufficient output had too much mass for the a...

Jefecinco

Given the tidal range in the North Atlantic coastal areas I imagine taking up the slack in anchor chains a mile or so long as tides lower requires tremendous power due to the weight of the chains. Reversing power flow as the tide rises in a highly efficient electrical system would possibly recover a...

Jefecinco

I remember seeing those type steps on transoms a few decades ago. The were used to board the boat from the water.

Jefecinco

Off shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico generally have multiple generators to ensure redundancy. This allows generators to be shut down for maintenance without interrupting operations. It also allows rotation of generators for greater longevity. Generator controls adjust fuel supply to cylinders de...

Jefecinco

Electric over hydraulic brakes are used on some boat trailers but usually on larger, heavier boats. An advantage is being able to use the electric brake controller to actuate the trailer brakes whenever desired. Disadvantages include much higher cost, adding an electric brake controller to the tow v...

Jefecinco

Fishing the Lights is legal as is flounder fishing using on-board lighting to reveal the flounder. Boats with a very bright bow mounted light array and a small generator to power the lights are used to hunt for flounder on sandy bottoms. Gigging and bow and arrow hunting for flounder at night is ver...

Jefecinco

In our Gulf waters night fishing is common. Owners of piers seem to keep them well illuminated. Many anglers, or fishers as they are being called these days, "fish the lights" as they seem to attract bait fish which in turn attract predator fish which are target by the anglers. My single a...

Jefecinco

Do underwater transom-mounted lamps serve a purpose other than cosmetic? They are pretty and will look nice at night.

Jefecinco

If you raise the console in order to steer your Sport 15 you may need to install a railing to hold onto when crossing wakes or whenever the water becomes rough. Raising the console 18 inches may also make it more difficult to steer when seated. An alternative could be to change your steering control...

Jefecinco

Changing the mounting height of the engine on a Dauntless 16 takes approximately a half hour, requires no special skills and costs no more than the price of a tube of caulk. A higher mounting height is often the best single performance enhancement possible for your boat. As a former owner of a Daunt...

Jefecinco

I would check the McMaster-Carr website: mcmaster.com.

Jefecinco

I have not tried it but I read that a rubrail can be brought back to almost new condition by sanding it with a very fine abrasive followed by a couple of liberal applications of 303 Protectant. It may require more overall effort than replacing the insert but, Winter seems to be a period where time i...

Jefecinco

Yes, I'm aware that Boston Whaler has had more than one owner but as far as I know the business has been in continuous production longer than any other mass production boat builder. Certainly there may have been short interruptions now and again such as when production moved to Florida.

Jefecinco

The best and least expensive way to avoid dunking a tow vehicle in water is to have a longer trailer tongue. It is an easy DIY job to attach a longer tongue to a boat trailer. If that is too much of a job inexpensive tongue extenders are available. If trailer storage space is limited a folding tongu...

Jefecinco

We have a "transom saver" we bought for a few dollars at Walmart. We use it for travel out of town. When trailering a previous Dauntless 16 with an OMC 115 HP engine we used a two foot long scrap piece of 4X4 inch lumber as a transom saver and it did just fine. I don't know if a transom sa...

Jefecinco

I always wear the lanyard when boating alone. When boating on our previously owned 190 Montauk I only wore the lanyard when alone or in heavy weather conditions with others. On our Sport 13 I wear it at all times.

I also wear a belt inflatable PFD most of the time in either boat.

Jefecinco

Duane - Not yet. Between various periodic medical appointment and getting vaccinated against Covid we have been busier then we like. We are about to have our garage attic insulated so may be forced to use the Park It. Who would have known retirement provides so little spare time. Truth is I've slowe...

Jefecinco

In the early 1980s the US Army Corps of Engineers began specifying vacuum epoxy impregnation of windings on large portable electric power generators in the 750kW range. I suspect state of the art of protecting windings from salt laden air has improved over the past 40 years. I doubt corrosion will b...

Jefecinco

For the past few years I've been keeping a micro booster battery aboard rather than try to install a second starting battery on our Sport 13. I've never had to use it as the "big" battery has never failed to start the engine. Three days ago the original battery on our 2014 Ram pickup faile...

Jefecinco

In the 1960s I used a "Uni-Syn" tool to synchronize multiple carbureted Porsche engines. As I recall the tool was not expensive in Germany where I was living at the time. Amazon sells them for about $23. I must have paid for that tool a hundred times over synchronizing carburetors. Disclai...

Jefecinco

The aft seats on our 1999 Dauntless 16 were simply cushions held in by snaps. They were removable in about one minute. Under the bottom cushion was the lid to an under seat storage area. That whole area is too small to add a cooler unless it is perhaps less than a cubic foot in size. The console or ...

Jefecinco

I like milk crates for their open construction. Anything wet in the crate dries easily. I put things like registration certificates in a zip lock type bag to keep them dry.

Jefecinco

We see radar installed on many small boats of 18 feet or so here in Coastal Alabama. Fog is seldom a problem on this part of the Gulf Coast. Consequently I asked a small boat owner if he found his radar useful. He told me it was often useful for spotting flocks of birds feeding on the water. Birds f...

Jefecinco

That Tracker boat is a huge departure from other bass boats which typically have the capability of much higher top speeds and longer ranges. One of the characteristics of bass angling is the frequent moves to locate fish. It is uncommon to find bass in schools although a few may be found in the same...

Jefecinco

Interesting. Our Gulf Shores, AL MarineMax dealership continues to have only one or two Boston Whalers on display. They have at least ten Grady White boats on display. Our local dealer is a small sub-outlet for a much larger store in Pensacola, FL, a few miles away. The website for both stores shows...

Jefecinco

One more minor point on the use of a poling platform on a Dauntless 13 is that the Dauntless has a much more "V" shaped bottom than most skiffs making them more "tender" or prone to lean to the side whenever weight in the hull is shifted by occupants moving about. The motion woul...

Jefecinco

We see a lot of "bay style boats" in our area of South Alabama. Many are equipped with poling platforms but I have never seen one in use after boating and angling here for almost 30 years. My experience when angling in very shallow water with our Dauntless 16 was that a poling platform wou...

Jefecinco

I would route the power cable as directly as possible. Generally shorter is better. I have seen products used to route cables across traffic routes or walkways that both hide and protect the cable and lower the trip hazard presented by naked cable laying on a floor. It is often made of a resilient m...

Jefecinco

I assume you'll want to be able to look at the mirror comfortably at a glance while on plane. If that's the case mounting a mirror to the steel tube just above the windscreen may be the right place. A highly polished or chrome plated stainless steel mirror may be appropriate for longer life. Ski boa...

Jefecinco

Does 7/8-inch OD tubing for bow rails come in a standard wall thickness?

If not, I would think wall thickness is an important factor to consider.

Jefecinco

Many dealers, especially in the Northern US, are busy this winter servicing engines and performing off season repairs, and they fail to respond to email. A telephone call is usually a better choice.

Jefecinco

Visit your local Boston Whaler dealer and talk to the service manager. He may know of someone he can recommend. During the slower season, if there is one in Bradenton, some boat technicians do private work during their free time. You may not want to choose one person or firm to do all the work you w...

Jefecinco

Did you apply the primer with a spray gun? Could the result be "orange peel" in appearance? I would want a perfectly smooth final primer coat before applying finish coats. If sanding the primer smooth removes too much of it and you need to reapply it consider changes to your application me...

Jefecinco

Another option is "bean bag" seating. When you plan to have guests aboard you can put the bean bags aboard and when it's to be two aboard leave them in the garage. It's an inelegant solution but may meet your needs much more economically that the OEM seating option.

Jefecinco

Unless [there is] repaired damage, there is no reason to suspect a hull problem.

I believe the fuel tanks on the Dauntless and Ventura models of that era were made of "poly" and have been extremely reliable.

Jefecinco

Not including a trailer with a 13 foot boat will make buying it much less attractive to a non local buyer unless they have a trailer already fitted for the boat. A major attraction for small boats is their easy transportability.

Jefecinco

If, when we owned our 135 HP Verado powered 190 Montauk, the Verado required replacement I would not have hesitated to replace it with the new Mercury 150 HP Four Stroke. Some hesitate to do so out of concern that insurance coverage will be denied or that in the event of an accident they would be fo...

Jefecinco

I haven't looked at the "Build a Whaler" web site recently but the last time I checked aluminum trailers were listed as optional. Galvanized steel trailers were standard.

Jefecinco

There is no shortage of stories of boaters doing incredibly stupid things. I'm certainly a member of that club. I was lucky enough to survive all the stupid things and learned from them. The stupidest was walking around the tops of gunnels in socks when applying wax one day. The boat was in it's sli...

Jefecinco

Duane - Thankfully we foresee no need to use the Park-It on dirt or grass. We have the same trailer brake feature with a receptacle for the trailer connector (RV type). I'm looking forward to a full test on an upcoming fair weather day. It's been chilly here for a few days. This AM we had so much fr...

Jefecinco

He may have been sleeping while drifting unless he had deployed a "lunch hook" intending to take a nap and resume his cruise. If we know the water depth where his boat sank we can determine if the water was not too deep for anchoring. Off hand I did not see his position when rescued. In fa...

Jefecinco

He was indeed a very lucky man. The photograph shows the bow rail and anchor pulpit above the water in a way that provides a ladder-like arrangement so he could hold himself out of the water by standing on a stanchion. It also appears the weather conditions were favorable which was also a major cont...

Jefecinco

I remember the joys of using a porta pottie aboard our SeaRay Sundancer is the 1970s and 1980s. I'm sure they are much improved several decades later. Finding a marina with a functioning pump out was also fun. Once the thing was full it was really fun. I have, for the years following that experience...

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