Outdoor build of GA Kodiak, Orange, CA

[json]

I would be really happy with 4500... I bet it's closer to 5k dry once I actually get it weighed (a few of heavy stuffs in it, 400 ah of lithium iron phosphate batteries, 2k watt inverter charger, that big giant drum winch up on the bow, etc)... we shall see!

[Todd j]

Which winch did you get?

[json]

Which winch did you get?

I ended up going with the EZ Rebel 5. My wife and I struggled like crazy trying to get it into the bow. I thought the ladder I was standing on was going to collapse. Thing is a brick.

[Dan Boccia]

Wow, you guys went with the Rebel EZ-5?! I have the EZ-4 with over 600 ft of combined 1/4" dyneema/3/8" double-braid nylon/40 ft of 5/16 chain. I'm curious how much of what kind of rode you're using?

[Todd j]

Me too.  The rebel 4 was a monster. 

[json]

Wow, you guys went with the Rebel EZ-5?! I have the EZ-4 with over 600 ft of combined 1/4" dyneema/3/8" double-braid nylon/40 ft of 5/16 chain. I'm curious how much of what kind of rode you're using?

It's a couple hundred feet over that, I think 700' of 1/4" dyneema with 75' of 1/2" nylon 8-plait, and 50' of 1/4" galvanized links. I don't think I will ever really get skinny on rode, but I am building this boat with overnighting the squid grounds on the backside of catalina and other channel islands in mind, some of which are a couple hundred feet deep or more, as well as being a largely on the hook fishing boat so I wanted to be able to scope out 5/1 or maybe more on a windy night so I can be sure I am not dragging the anchor... It was really a toss up between the 4 and 5 and I just went bigger because at the end of the day I won't really be worried about the extra rope on the spool but I think the reverse could definitely bite me. Of course, there is that little issue of too much tongue weight haha, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dan Boccia]

OK, that makes sense for what you're doing!
In Alaska, we anchor mostly in tight coves, and honestly it's rare to be able to let out more than 3:1 scope, thus the heavier chain which helps keep the hook engaged.

[json]

It's been a short while since I have updated here. I haven't been working as much as I would like on the boat project due to dealing with the fallout from a bad business partnership. Some builders get honey-do kitchen reno projects to take them away from their builds, I get a partner dispute.

In what time I have had to work on it I have been finishing up the cockpit, which I was able to get painted this week. Next up will be to get the bait tank up in there and trim the bottom to fit the sole, then install that and texture the whole cockpit sole.

I have all but given up on my Yamaha digital steering actuator ever coming, and have pretty much pivoted to purchasing a hydraulic steering setup in the short term and using the Yamaha Helm Master EX on level 1 for now, which is just the digital engine control only. That should at least get me on the water. My new (and much more capable and able to handle the tongue weight of the boat trailer) truck should be here in a week or 2, and with both of those things I feel like there just *might* be a chance that this boat will actually see the water in the not-so-distant future. Fingers crossed...

[Todd j]

Looks like you have been really busy. 
   I’m working now for 2 months to get insurance.  Have you started looking yet?

[json]

I haven’t paid the insurance thing much attention other than seeing you guys chase it down. I did a bit of research that looks like a surveyor shouldn’t be that hard to line up, but I know nothing about the actual process or end result. My operating assumption was that I would only need a survey to insure beyond liability, maybe I am mistaken there though. The property assessor I talked to a week or so ago seemed convinced that I would be having a survey done at some point.

[Todd j]

I’m getting really tired of “we can find you something” only to wait days to weeks to find out “we reached out to all our underwriters and can’t find a place for you in the market”.  Get ready for a good time!

[json]

It's been 4 years since I started my GA project as of today, and I was hoping to launch today, but alas the boat gods did not shine their light on me. Very very soon though, probably within a week or 2 if things work out right.

I now have 3 separate sets of steering on order, one is finally showing as shipped and slated to arrive on Thursday. The hoses are run for that so that should be easy to get up and functional, fingers crossed. The steering fiasco has been mind numbing, not only is the yamaha electric actuator MIA for more than a year and a half, I finally caved and ordered a seastar hydraulic system, and a week later the company I ordered it from updated the order as 'on backorder with manufacturer, no ETA'. So then I waited a week or 2 for an update on that, nothing has come or updated, so I ended up spending a couple hundred more to order the same system on Amazon, shown as in stock. Once one arrives I will cancel the other, and will still wait on the yamaha one and update the boat when it finally comes in, if it ever does. I also ended up ordering the wrong hoses (not the kevlar ones for the seastar pro) so I had to return a set of those... on and on it goes, but hopefully things will be cleared up soon enough.

I did end up getting insurance through AAA and pulling out the boat with my new truck the other day because they wanted some pictures for the underwriters and I wanted to see exactly what I have gotten myself into with towing this thing. The whole rig is 58' long, I am currently waiting on my wide load permits from California. It's a big rig to tow, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

[Todd j]

That’s a good looking set up.  I did the truck!   Is it an oil burner or gas?

[json]

We got the 7.3L gasser. My wife and I plan on getting a truck camper at some point, and I don’t think we are going to get anything really gnarly to tow, so the powerstroke just seemed like overkill. Plus I would hate to be somewhere remote and breakdown with all the stuff they pack into those things now, the 7.3 is nice and spacious and simple.

[Todd j]

I've been looking for a Godzilla gasser here. None around.   How long did you have to wait for it?   It really is a gorgeous ride, it looks like what I would pick