got a 25 blackfin in the shop,it's getting worked on for the new owner...pics to follow...

Cool Jimmy...can't wait for that one to come...I will monitor
this thread closely...
Simong.

let's show everyone exactly why a blackfin gained such reputation as a great sea boat...
it's called "weight"...

here's the thickness of the hull...pretty impressive...








and ya wonder why this rig weighs as much as a house

this is why these old school rigs ride so nice,the combo of the deep v hull and all this weight...these rigs will not pound...

these are solid glass,just about 1" thick...it's as thick outside of the keel too...this isn't overlap...

this is the aft cockpit deck,the "lift out" section...the core was bad,it was recored,the hatches,these were unusable,i made new ones...it's all been glassed back together...epoxy primed and awlgripped...

nice huh ?







wait till you guys see the inside of this rig...woo woo !!

Jim, always love to see your work, keep it coming man,
I'M sure when you all done the owner will be very happy.

It would be nice to see the completed pictures

completed pics will be posted...boat's not completed yet...

i lost my camera-and man,i'm really sick over it.i couldn't care less about the camera-it was a real hunk of crap kodak digital,it's the whole memory chip thing...i lost alot of pictures of this job and others...it really chaps my azz !!! someone made a great "find" when they picked it up...

any way,i do have a few update pics of this boat,only pictures i found were from the spray rails i made...

i made up a set of spray rails,for the far end of the bow,and for the aft section of the bow,these will cut down the water thrown up by this beast...the rails are made up from a mold i have,these will not break,these are thicker than some boat hulls,grady white would be one of those,the "pocket drive" shamrocks would be another.the rails are laminated onto the hull using a mixure of west system epoxy and west system 403 adhesive fibers-these are now part of the hull-these will not come off.
i've seen some of the other spray rails available-didn't like 'em...the ones i made are a much nicer product...check it out...







i will have more pictures of this rig,it's alomst done...installing electronics next...

Jawz, Looks like you take a lot of pride into your work....Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.....

thanks capt al,thank you,i really appriciate that

I just love reading about your projects - I know nothing about this sort of work and am fascinated by your skills.
Keep up the good work

here's a little update on this rig-spray rails are on,bottom's done,'ducers are installed,thru hull for washdown is installed,all the fiberglass work needed on the deck has been completed.the tower has been "cut down",owner decided he wanted to keep the tower,to provide a little shade,and a place to mount the antennas.the hydraulic steering has been completley replaced-helm,cylinder,lines-the boat had the old school hynautic 3 line pressurized system-all that's gone...
all the above has been done-what's left: paint the remaining deck,install electronics,service the engine,test run and sea trial with the new owner...
i pressure washed the entire boat,to get the dust and the dirt off it before going any further on any modifications.
due to the amount of equipment the new owner purchased,i had to get a little creative to mount everything...it's "layed out" the way it's being installed...if all goes as planned,the boat will be ready for sea trial next weekend-if the new owner would stop calling and texting me about the boat,that would help...hint hint...
here's a few pictures...








and,the official sponsor of jimmy's marine service :
red bull

gonna weigh this rig at the transfer station when it's on it's way to the dock for sea trail...

still hard at it...wiring,well...gotta little carried away in the wiring,took much longer than i expected,with that,and a few boats that almost sunk,we're still not done yet,getting there...
check out the progress pics...







bilges are cleaned out-pressure washed...





this is what's being eliminated...messy stuff here...

Cool Jimmy Cool , I always was a fan of your work quality.
just a question,with the running attitude of the Blackfin which is bow high,you think the radar will have a good reading without a radar tower?
Simong.

bow high ? if the boat's running bow high,the boat's not on plane fully,trim tabs will change the "attitude" of the boat...owner of the boat supplied all the equipment,"equipment" being electronics,he didn't supply a radar mount.the radar will operate just fine with the mounting as it is.
let me add something about radar:
a common mistake people make with radar is to believe the range,example "24mile" radar,mounted on a t-top,or a hard top like this,that radar will "see" approx 6-8nm,max.another common mistake people make is to run at nite with the radar at a "big" scale,like 6mile,using a lower scale will show much better definition.and the last point is "information overload",that's what i call it,this is when you're using the radar to do too many different things-like it's displaying the boat's speed,distance to waypoint,cross track error,sog,bearing to waypoint,course to steer,water temp and water depth,get the point here those features are nice,but,when you give it a glance it can and does cause a "confusion"
enough about radar...
back to work...

here's some updates on this rig-in between sinking boats-i'm working on this...

made a battery well,out of the forward fish well-made up some "cleats" for the sides and epoxied them into place,then cut a "shelf" outta some marine grade ply-glassed it up,laminated it to the cleats...presto !! battery shelf...

this is the end result of all the woring i've been doing on this rig...
hooked up power to the boat,everything powers up and works as it should...
check it out !!!

Wow Jimmy great progress,Jimmy what would you estimate the cruising speed going to be considering the clean bottom,most of the tower is gone, and reconditioned prop?
BTW I'M sure you got a gigantic headache after all the info I sent you,sorry
Simong.

here's a few updates on this rig...

the electrical system is completed,a high bilge water alarm was added,as well.i used a single d8 battery and a pair of 27series deep cycles for the "house/12volt" system,the d8 is dedicated to the engine only...the 2 are recharged via the sense relay-the blues seas "acr".this is what's referred to as a "seperated and dedicated battery system",the 12v/house system is seperated and electrically isolated from the engine 12v system.this is the set up every boat that runs offshore should have,if you're not set up like this,i reccomend you do it.if your electrical system is controlled by a single switch,your system is not seperated...a high bilge water alarm should be standard equipment on every boat heading offshore as well-without these things,you're asking for trouble...

can't upload pics ? "my fish pix.com" is telling me "data base error" ?

***Jim, I agree with you 100% and what people try to do with Radars, but If your looking for a storm and want to track it, the Radar will reach out your 24 miles.....I know you probably know this but maybe others don't....Good luck with that boat man it sure is starting to look good....

we got a bunch of updates on this rig,i'll post up some pics later today...

We waiting on you Jimmy don't forget us here...
Simong.

let's try again with the pics shall we

we had a set back,the oil cooler sprung a leak,had to repalce the oil cooler...customer also ordered a dripless packing box...tough job getting the coupler off,had to cut it off...some fun huh

my fish pix is still down...pix gotta wait...sorry guys...

boat's done...sea trailed last week...
here's the deal...
it topped out @29.8kts
and it cruised @ 2,100 rpm 23kts...this thing flies !!!
the spray rails,the right spot for sure !!!

Am I the only one getting the red Xs in the boxes instaed of pix ? Also, could not open either URL:
http://www.myfishpix.com/gallery/data/500/HPIM0983_Small_.JPG
or
http://www.myfishpix.com/gallery/data/500/HPIM0983_Small_.JPG
Problem at my end

BobJ, I can't open the links...

Also can't open.....

apparently,the picture hosting site i use,it's no longer valid...the site is gone...that's the reason for the dreaded red x...sorry guys...


this ol' rig came out nice...i can't believe how well it rides and performs,the speed is really surprising

i would bet this rig will get in excess of 3 nmpg

best part is,@250hp,this cummins 5.9 isn't really breathing hard,not like the 5.9 that's making 370hp,this engine will live a very long and happy life...

should've never sold this rig...

Try www.imageshack.us

That is what I use for the site.