So the last few weeks have been hectic trying to get the Miss Irene in the water. Added rod holders, Oars (just in case the electric & gas motors give out) securely fastened everything down, and adjusting the mixture and idle settings on the 15 Merc.
Took her out on Lake Lanier and she wouldn't start, there was gas leaking from the connector at the engine. Turns out the Mercury fitting that I had added to the new line shouldn't have been Mercury at all, but a Yamaha fitting. So we went around all day using the electric and the deep cycle batter worked fine for about 6 hours. The 65LB electric motor really pushed the boat and we were able to cover a lot of water, and even caught some fish. I added a piece of Cedar after the initial trip to the front left and bolted a piece of carpet to it for a more secure electric motor mount.
The boat floated great though, which I was a little concerned about after adding all the extra weight. It was really stable for such a small boat, but we were able to walk around on the decking with no problems at all.
I covered almost every empty space underneath the decking with pool noodles, after all this work if we took on water I would hope to not lose her. Also got the motor tuned up, added a tool box in the back in case we have any problems, new fire extenguisher, float cushions, and wired the electric motor beneath the decking making it neat. Added a lock line to the merc so it wouldn't sink if it came off, Took her out again and she ran great. Lots of spashing from the front though so we took this video to see what was happening. Turns out that we were a little front heavy, I tried to balance everything out, with the added flooring and deck weight, centered battery compartment, and the motor etc. Not really sure how to correct that but I'll work on it. This video was taken after my son got out and just me.
Now to add a bilge pump, an electronics panel and all lighting etc. Will update after all that is done with some clearer pictures of details. Now to fish a lot and really test things out.
