The year of 2017 brought many changes, some bad as I would lose a lifetime teammate to this project we took on together. Outlays were adding up quickly and while in the middle of our upgrade plan, we had an ownership split that has been the hardest part of owning this boat. A tough, hard life lesson. To any potential partnership buyers that may be reading this, I would recommend you have an agreeable written escape plan signed legally so there are no hard feelings if circumstances change in any of the partners lives. Blackfin 2017 Bill Of Sale Before the split-up, we were looking at renaming the new upgraded and updated boat. So I thought why not name her Split Decision
? This followed previous boats sailed and owned with a gambling card game theme. If your playing BlackJack, basic strategy says always split Aces and 8's right?
After purchasing full ownership of a boat which was completely torn apart, I reevaluated how to get to the finish line with a clear path. The goal was to be finished for in water testing March 2018. This gave me 8 months to get 1 year worth of work done!
Some of the original "Team" list got longer while some shortened up.
- Boat didn't cleanup well, time consuming porous gelcoat, wood and reverse diamond nonskid was hard to maintain. We removed ALL of the wood, diamond nonskid and went to a user friendly Chevy White Awlgrip satin smooth deck non-skid, what an improvement! In fact, the entire boat Hull, Deck, Tower, stripes, and name on stern is the Awlgrip line of Awlgrip HD, Awlcraft, Awlgrip Snow White with a chevy white Griptex non-skid. There is NO shine like an awlgrip shine that lasts. Please e-mail Philip Boyle with any AWLGRIP questions you may have.
- Storage space was minimal and most of our gear was exposed on deck while using boat. Cut out storage areas in IGU of foward cabin which in fact lightened bow also. Cutout/fabricate usable storage lids in v-berth. Old Port Side Storage Old Starboard Side Storage
- Main Cabin interior forward was heavy. With all of the weight saving upgrades completed in stern, we needed to now focus on weight saving in bow area. Windshield was removed, vinyl headliner and wood removed, head door removed, teak folding entrance doors and upper sliding hatch changed to lightweight custom pocket doors, custom folding entrance hatch, and poplight plywood interior replaced much of the 3/4 ply w formica. Poplite Interior Pocket Doors Pic
- Lack of baitwell forced use of a portable 35 gal bait well which was acceptable for about 1 trip. We built custom upgraded fiberglass unit with pump and planned for install in stern with a livewell glass, led lighting, and bait cutting station for a hingable top. No permanent bait/fish cleaning table. Once again, limited storage made this fun for about 1 trip. We designed and fabricated a live well that would part the stern, yet not interfere with platform for diving. The lids of live well would act as bait cutting/fish cleaning station.
- Remove aft IGU splash in cockpit (75 plus lb weight savings plus tons more room now), sand and fair out exposed laminate inside prime and paint to finish with Awlgrip Snow White. Install and change floorheight with proper slope of floor as old drainage went forward, build new upgraded cored 2 piece removable floor. Old floor weight 195 lbs, new floor weight weight with larger sealed hatches 85 lbs. Additional larger scuppers and drains were cut in stern. Picture in middle above.
Split Decisions upgraded dry weight measured on truck scales at exit 10 of I-4 was 9,900 lbs dry. No tankage filled but fluids in the engine and transmission.
The fuel burn rate for this boat is what made all of the upgrades and work worth the outcome. We put in 75 gallons of fuel and cruised 18.5 knts from Davis Islands to Egmont Key, stayed the evening collecting bait and sleeping. The next morning we went 35 miles offshore and spent 5 hrs fishing with a return up Tampa Bay to Davis Islands cruising at 19.5 to 20 knts with fuel burnoff, livewell empty, and freshwater tank minimal. We burned the 75 gallons and gauge was reading exactly what it was before the trip. We do NOT have flowscans, but the point is that if cruising between 18.5 and 20.5 knots she has a very efficient and comfortable cruise.
A full Excel Spreadsheet list of upgrades can found at this link. Excel Upgrade List and Updating Completed to April 2019 Want to Learn About The Volvo Engines?
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