So now that many of us cannot use our boats due to the weather, what have you got planned for off season projects? For me, I have so much to still do that I am hoping to have everything done by spring. I saw a very nice Simrad GO5 XSE GPS unit today that I can flush mount in my new instrument panel It has full touch screen interface and the list of features is impressive. All for $420. How about you guys? What's in the works before splash day next spring? Shawn
If I get approval from the Admiral/CFO (aka my wife), my major upgrade will be to replace the entire interior and flooring. My interior is super clean and virtually flawless but it's dated. I think the lines of my boat are timeless and not too much different than newer Cobalt's so I want to upgrade every stitch of vinyl including the dash and give it a modern look. While I'm at it I want to add SeaDek to the cockpit and swim platform and get a new cover. I have a friend who owns an upholstery shop and does amazing work.
Im hoping to pull the drive at some point this winter and sand/paint it and pretty it up with some new stickers. Also buy a buffer and really bring back the shine to the gelcoat.
At some point I have a few loose screws - need to re-glass the holes and re-drill. I have a rusty strut (air spring) to replace. And it's about time to release the fuel filter again. And my usual spring polish and wax. I'm thinking about getting new tires for the trailer too - they are 5 years old.
Sounds like some major winter projects Rob. Somewhere down the road I plan to completely re-do the upholstery in my old Cobalt. Until now I wasn't sure what I would do. The old '80's Cobalts had beautiful upholstery and I always felt they maintained the class of the boats. I never really wanted to get too far away from the vintage classiness of the boat....until I saw the upholstery in the picture below.... This was posted on the Club Sea Ray Forum and is the recently updated cockpit upholstery of Larry Strum's 2003 420 Sundancer. You can't see it in this pic but Larry has the Navy Blue hull on his boat so the Navy accents here really look great. I have always felt Sea Ray's cockpit and bridge upholstery to be a bit "Vanilla" but this is stunning! This took the boring off-white to a level never seen in a Sea Ray. This has given me some great ideas and while I may not go this elaborate I can say I will be using some contrasting color somewhere. Shawn
I plan on updating the front seats on mine. Been traveling so much lately I haven't had time to pull and take to my Upolstery guy.
Winter is my busiest time with work. Don’t even have the opportunity to connect to the outside world via my electronic device. I have a list of demons that I need to address but I am afraid that will have to wait until next spring. Sounds like the 2018 summer is going to be a busy one so I hope our schedule allows for plenty of time on the water.
