dhype Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) Hi Raiders - I just recently sold my beloved 3.8m Seajay Nomad that i had for a few years... i bought the boat as a bare bones unit and fully outfitted the rig myself. Its was one great boat that will be missed.. He is a few picture of my old boat which has gone to a great bloke in the ACT. With the sale of my old boat i managed to get my new toy/project! I choose the Polycraft boat because I read many posts about how well they ride and trouble-free boating they provide (swordfishman posted a few great threads on this matter- thanks mate!) A Polycraft 455 CC .. the boat hull and Honda 4 stoke motor was in very good condition but it was DIRTY. The electrical, lights, gauges and the rest were very poorly put together and most did not work! (the cleaned cushions you see in the first picture below was a result of 1/2 hour of scrubbing + a can of degreaser.. the thing came out like new!) The underfloor 70L fuel tank with dead sender + 5 years worth of crap underneath the floor HEAPS OF WORK to be done but the boat had heaps of potential! Aiming to get everything done in time for the Botany social. Here we go! ( i'll post progress as i go...) Cheers Trung Edited December 11, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) My first task was to strip the boat down and then hit the whole thing with a Gernie and more degreaser.... I stripped ALL the electric and wiring out as it was shocking... nothing was soldered properly or heatshrinked/taped.. worst that i have seen I sold the old Navman sounder that was on the boat and replaced ALL the screws with marine grade stainless steel one.. Threw the old fuel gauge and sender in the bin and picked up a Lowrance HDS 5 + fuel sender. Installed a new switch panel and relocated the radio at the same time all with marine grade wiring. Installed a knife/pliers holder, compass and drink holders... Added a few touches to my live bait tank switch! (tank yet to go in .. still thinking of what to do!) After this, heaps of LED lights found new homes... LED Strip under the front rod holders Front led and NAV lights on LED Strip around my pedestal chair (not installed yet) LED inside the pedestal seat box LED install center console.. wiring to be placed in loom + zipped tied Thats it for today.. continue next weekend! Cheers Trung Edited August 29, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 You will be thrilled by a Poly ,Trung My hull is 6yrs old and I have never had to do one bit of maintainence on it Cheers Stewy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy888 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 the boat is looking awesome already i cant wait too see what you will do to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deek Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 You will be thrilled by a Poly ,Trung My hull is 6yrs old and I have never had to do one bit of maintainence on it Cheers Stewy You can't go wrong mate. Mine's a 2002 model and I haven't had any probs either Deek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 hey mate, i've got a pretty pimped out heavily modded Poly if you want to get some ideas your free to have a look. its also the 455. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 You will be thrilled by a Poly ,Trung My hull is 6yrs old and I have never had to do one bit of maintainence on it Cheers Stewy thanks stewy .. looking at how dirty my boat was I think the last owner never did any maintenance or cleaning either!!! Looking forward to get the thing into the water! Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 the boat is looking awesome already i cant wait too see what you will do to it hey bassboy - i'll be adding a few more thing on the weekend > 2 x live bait tanks, esky/kill tank, 2 x downrigger, bait board, 10 x rod holders, home made recessed tackle box storage.. After this.. looking at adding a homemade 10 watt underwater LED squid light/s + font mount electric motor... Let see how it all goes! Cheers Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosan Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Nice Dhype! Honda 4 stroke too.. New boat for the summer hey? Where are you going to put the pool noodle? We are hitting the bay with a new rig this summer as well so seeya around Molly point . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 Nice Dhype! Honda 4 stroke too.. New boat for the summer hey? Where are you going to put the pool noodle? We are hitting the bay with a new rig this summer as well so seeya around Molly point . Hey mate - great to see you are also upsizing! See you out there in a week or two! Cheers Trung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 (edited) Progress continues... Added the spare wheel which require a little messing around with some large plastic shims (chopping boards!). Installed the Lowrance Electronic fuel flow sensor and a large U bolt to retain the outboard motor cables.. Started work on the live bait tanks... I wanted to install a large 60L+ tank but was not able to find a place to put it in the polycraft.. so instead settled for 2 x small tanks out the back of the boat pods. ! x tank for the live squid and 1 x tank for the yakkas.. so it not too bad. Had to make up some level platforms to mount the tanks... used a few plastic kitchen chopping boards again for the task! They came up pretty good! Will mount the tanks and plumb it up to 2 x 800 gallon per hour RULE pumps tomorrow. Got a large icebox seat, a few downrigger, rod holder and Lowrance StructureScan to install also tomorrow... Slowly getting there... Cheers Trung Edited September 3, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy888 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I love watching your progress trung And you cant go wrong with an eleccy and structure sound its a killer combo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 (edited) Did a few more things over the weekend... Plumbed up the bait tanks and finally settled on a method to mount and secure them to the boat via canopy bungees/button which makes the whole bait tank removable if required. Tested the whole setup and worked a treat! Have also installed a few LED lights behind the bait tanks to light it up so we can see all bait inside at night. Next thing was to apply a few stickers to the boat.. Before After Currently building a high powered 10 watt underwater squid/prawn LED light. Going to use some adhesive to stick the LED to the heatsink then expoy the whole thing to keep the water out.. the single 10w LED is very bright and should attract the squid from a mile away! A few more storage compartments, bait tank timer, bench seat icebox to go.. not far now! Thanks for looking Cheers Trung Edited September 13, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helliconia Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Nice work, I'll put you to work on my boat next! My hands were shaking taking a hole saw to my hull to install my live bait tank feeds. Admire your confidence in the rebuild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prawn* Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 well done mate nothing better then having the satisfaction of doin your own custom rig to suit your style of fishing!! i am thinking my next rig will be a poly i have nothing bad to say about them! cya at the social! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 Nice work, I'll put you to work on my boat next! My hands were shaking taking a hole saw to my hull to install my live bait tank feeds. Admire your confidence in the rebuild Not a problem mate.. give me a call and ill charge you by the hour !! As for drilling holes.. with a polycraft if u make any mistakes just hit the Boat with a heat gun and some sandppaper all she is all good! Cheers Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 well done mate nothing better then having the satisfaction of doin your own custom rig to suit your style of fishing!! i am thinking my next rig will be a poly i have nothing bad to say about them! cya at the social! hey mcfishin yeah i actually enjoy working on the boat and getting it the way i like it.. For this boat, fitting it out to tackle the inshore kings with jigs/sluggos and also for flicking plastics at flatties + bream in Botany Bay. Looking forward to the up coming Bay social to meet you and the other raiders of a chat and fish. Cheers Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) Hey Raider Getting towards the tail end of the Polycraft rebuild so I thought i'll share some photos. One of my biggest beefs about the Polycraft was the lack of storage for all my lure boxes... spent a few hours walking around Bunnings and found a solution to my problem. Found a stormwater drain pit that fits 4 x tackle trays perfectly, as its made from PE it is strong and weather proof.... cheap as chips and no need to pay $200 the boat shops want for something similar! Next was to install my 2x downriggers. Installed a new Scotty's unit and re-used my old walker downrigger from my last boat. Installed some extra heavy duty stainless steel to replace the plastic factory unit. Installed and wired up the Lowrance Structure Scan - took it for a run on Saturday but so far have not tuned it so did not see much from the unit. Looking forward to getting the thing tuned! Next was to address the compolsory esky/icebox... i followed the same path as my last boat and bought the largest icebox that was practical... I used aluminium angles and canopy bungies/buttons to secure the icebox to the fron of the boat. This allows me to remove the icebox for cleaning but is very secure during normal use, As the icebox is the same hieght as the main front deck the whole thing works like a massive sundeck! Great for lazy man fish,,! Found a place for the landing net, gaff and other fishing tools... hate have things flying around the boat! Re-arranged both the center console and seatbox by fitting a few marine doors and shelving (bloodly large door cost me $120 each- what a rip off!) Fitted 6 x scotty rod holders for the rare instances when I go bait fishing and also fitted a SE Sports hydrofoil to help with my boat's problem with porpoising (helped a little). Also installed 2 x LEDs to light up the live bait tanks for the night time Jew sessions. Underneath the floor I went with 2 x 800 gallons per hour beige pumps rather than just one large one for redundancy purposes... dont put all your eggs in 1 basket as the saying goes! So after a few weeks of work the boat is almost complete.. have been out 3 times and everything on the boat works great (will use the DR for the first time next week- can wait!). Good thing about building a boat up yourself is that you can have thing exactly the way you want it and save yourself a heap of money at the same time. The Polycraft is a VERY easy boat to work on. I just need to finish off a few more home made storage holes and the 10w prawn/squid LED in the back for the boat and a few bit and peices.. Overall everything has worked out as planned and the boat has turned out better than i thought it would.. cant ask for more than that! Hope you enjoyed this long read! See you all on the water, come say hi if you see me around Botany Bay. Cheers Trung Edited October 3, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunc333 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 thanks heaps dhype top rebuild and luv your stormwater pit solution well thought of and as you said the boat is how you want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Trung The work you have done is very impressive. Having the boat set up to your requirements makes evey outing more enjoyable. In looking at the photo's , two items you may want to consider, The "wing" type hydrofoils have been known to tip boats on their side which can be rather scary. Replacing this with a Permatrim or SE 200 foil could be worth considering. The other item , the anchor light needs to be not less than 1 mt above the navagation lights to comply with current regulations. Other than that , it looks great Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) Trung The work you have done is very impressive. Having the boat set up to your requirements makes evey outing more enjoyable. In looking at the photo's , two items you may want to consider, The "wing" type hydrofoils have been known to tip boats on their side which can be rather scary. Replacing this with a Permatrim or SE 200 foil could be worth considering. The other item , the anchor light needs to be not less than 1 mt above the navagation lights to comply with current regulations. Other than that , it looks great Geoff Hi Geoff Thanks for your comments The "foil" I have now is a SE SPORTS 200! I did read about other foils being dangerous so i refunded the original foil and replaced it with the SE Sports 200. - all good so far ! As for the Anchor light.. the unit i fitted is fully retractable and pulls out to close to 1 meter when full extended... great unit as it is out of the way most of the time (i dont do much night fishing). Although the rule state that the anchor lights should be 1m above the Nav lights it is very hard to get that sort of height in a runabout... Cheers Trung Edited October 4, 2011 by dhype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Hi Geoff Thanks for your comments The "foil" I have now is a SE SPORTS 200! I did read about other foils being dangerous so i refunded the original foil and replaced it with the SE Sports 200. - all good so far ! As for the Anchor light.. the unit i fitted is fully retractable and pulls out to close to 1 meter when full extended... great unit as it is out of the way most of the time (i dont do much night fishing). Although the rule state that the anchor lights should be 1m above the Nav lights it is very hard to get that sort of height in a runabout... Cheers Trung Trung Well done , I think that makes a perfect score card & your all set to go. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosan Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 So many accessories Great build. Can I ask if those rod holders on the grab rails stay put? I had ones before like that and it always slips. How do you secure it so it don't slip or is it dependant on the brand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhype Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 So many accessories Great build. Can I ask if those rod holders on the grab rails stay put? I had ones before like that and it always slips. How do you secure it so it don't slip or is it dependant on the brand? Hey mate The rail holders are secured purely by tension of the screws+bolts.. i tighten mine with a small socket set with a screwdriver bit as you can tighten it up heaps more compared with a screw driver. I have tried a few brands of holders and there is none better than the scotty's rod holders... (the rail mount kit is sold separately), with these there is no slipping even when a kingfish hits or when a lure is taken in the troll. The holders are very adjustable, tough and removable when you don't need them... if you get them from the states they are very cheap! Get some .. can't go wrong with them. Trung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaulpang Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hi Trung, I've been following your build and enjoying watching your progress. Im thinking of starting on my first boat and was wondering how you got started, ie where to get info about boat customising, maintenance, wiring ect. Thinking of starting with something similar to you savage 3.8m. If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for your first boat? Paul PS keep posting as I really enjoy seeing the progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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