There are different style brackets but w/this type the center section is a box that seals to the transom giving 3 to 4 Cu.ft. Of buoyancy/flotation.

He should probably drop the price for ya, he did already take the drive and motor out..... it went from a complete boat to hull only.

Wait a minute......😂

I meant same purchase price as his old Sonic is listed for

Pipe down when I’m negotiating on your behalf....I’m tryna getcha a deal ova heayer! Lol

A. It sounds like you’ve been talking to my wife. She says the same thing.

B. You’d look great in that Sonic.

C. If you have to have the Checkmate, wait until he gets closer to finishing it, and find him another project.

Let me invest some money for y’all....


I remember totaling the recpts for that project a yr before it was done.
Never done it since.

That sale is a great story but one for over beers and not the internet 😎

It started w/a shoe box full of rubber banded rolls of bills.

Not only does it float and your drain plug worked but the bracket didn't fall off. Looks very nice in the water, The '7 P's' are paying off....Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance. :)

RR

Congrats! Nicely done!

That wedding band must be on very tight....




Oh wait up, here's more proof........

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...501f9a1cb6.jpg

We all have to prioritize things, 'happy wife, happy life'. :)
Good man.

You are correct sir.

Laid it out last weekend just in time for my 60th b. day party.
Paint outlines but it worked for the party 😎

Did sneak a bit of work on the boat in engineering the Bimini top and slides for it.

Next is to pull the motors and bracket back off so I can finish glassing/gelling the bracket before reinstalling for initall rigging layout.

Picking up boat stands tomorrow so I can pull it off the trailer to install the pad.

Slow but sure......

Happy Birthday mate. :bestwishes: (belated)

Slap some paint (or marine mat) on the deck then get back to work on the boat! I'm really looking forward to reading how she performs.

RR

I’ve been a big fan of your thread. Coming along so nice and I love the bracket. A great job and big thumbs up!! I patiently await your updates!

Thx guys.
Is much appreciated.

Plan is evolving into, mock up/bolt together for the season/testing then strip back to bare hull and paint it before reassembly.

Initial Plan in paint was only for faded deck stripe.
Rest of boat is coming out so well that it needs to be right.

The cabin entry will be a huge part of project too.
Now that I’m 60, and the Mrs is 62, only way this will work as a true weekender as the 24’ Sonics did, is to add a hatch above the entry door.

That means:
pull the windshield
reinforce aft section of deck
totally re-fab the helm/dash
fab entry door and hatch
etc......

Again, this was a large part of not doing this project 20 yrs ago.

On the motors, someone commented on another thread, about them smoking.
Being carbed two strokes.

The last era of OEM carbs on the OMCs were very good.

If, the powerheads are solid, the ignitions are strong (both are new) and I do a good job tuning them........, they will only smoke when started cold.
After warm up, they are virtually smoke free.

I figured this out after docking in groups of sailors 20 yrs ago and them asking me if I wanted a pair of the new Honda’s 🤓

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1dbfacbed.jpeg
Baby steps (pool/deck).....

Heres what I come up with for my Bimini.

After having the frame apart, cut, reassembled a bazillion times, and one size smaller canvas cover for it....., I think I’m satisfied.

I need more slide/track to get it to the back (protection for bench seat and sun lounge) but you get the idea.

The aft supports replace the two aft straps.
Theyre pretty trick and also mounted to the slide.

Y’all may be used to these but are my first set.
They also allow you to collapse the top, install the boot and run w/the up, out of the way.
May 24’ Sonic didn’t have this feature so if the bimini was on the boat it was stowed laying down either on the windshield or the aft part of Sun lounge.
This way you can have the top with you and not trip over it.

If you do want to lay the frame down you detach the deck mount to the app supports and they pave it up and clipped to the main poles for storage.

I hate Bimini tops on sports boat but that said, I have one on mine. :rolleyes:
Looks like you've got it well sorted. Mine is full stainless supports (no straps) fittings all thru-bolted and it suffered a failure at speed and bent the frame. After some design tweaking and paying for the shop to do it all again, it's now very expensive but holds well up to about 50mph before starting to flap a bit.

I hope you've got yours right (the first time). :)

RR

You Tube

After living in Fla for 9 yrs, you either were on the boat for 2 hrs max or had a bimini.

I agree w/u RR, they are ugly on a sport boat.
But, if weekending on it like we do, it’s mandatory here in the mid west too.

At anchor in sun, on the slides, I can put shade/sheltered wherever u want it.

At dock/anchor, overnight w/no AC/shore power, having the door (and bow hatches) open is mandatory.
We weekended on the 24’ Sonic in Fla, in 85/90 temps w/no AC/shorepower.
No one believed us but, w/shade and a breeze...,cake.
You have to pay attention to dock w/bow into wind to get breeze through hatches.
At anchor, bow always spins bow to wind.
Sleep like a baby.

The bimini shelters the cabin entry, helm, and driver/co-pilot seats from dew and rain.

We carry one duffle bag each, which come off the vee birth at night and stow under driver/co-pilot seats.

My Sonics really started getting happy at 45 MPH and made a great cruising speed.
If I can run that w/boot on bimini, in up position, I will be happy.
The top comes down for calm water.

What always made me nervous in the Sonic was, top up and get passed by a noisy I/O.
Stop to drop the top and never catch him or, destroy the top and take one for the team 🤓

On the O/B conversions, I think if it was cheap and easy everyone would have one by now and look for that market to explode.

I am an O/B guy but not a fan of the quad+, O/B powered boats.

Thr big power O/Bs go up in weight w/power.
The Merc V-8 looks to be the bench mark at 400 HPs and flyweight.
Rumors of more power to come.
500’s????

IMO, twins on a 35’ vee would be decent, triples would be right.

Any bigger than that, you need torque not HPs.
Big blocks or diesels.

That’s a nice boat! Congratulations!

Congrats. Great looking boat. Enjoy.

Thx!

like button won’t work on your post.

Thank u brother man!

Gotta agree with the wife! Have to have a running boatwhen working on a boat project.. I learned that real quick with my scout. Congrats to the both of you!

Friends and us reserved docks at Huron for the weekend.

Saturday we sat at the tiki bars on the river and played Lake Erie Derby gambling on the boats that went past towards the lake.
Bet on who would turn around.
We watched a 50’ cat turn around.
Watched a 40’ Outlaw go out and not return 😉

We helped in a 23’ Searay that came from Kelley’s.
He was overwhelmed, blasted the dock and she was sea sick.
Asked if they were 6’s and he said at least.

Sunday I said I’m going the fk out in the new boat no matter what.
The Mrs chose to ride in the friends 25’ cruiser and her brother rode w/me.
First time in the boat,and had to be in that crap!
Ugh.

We agreed to head for Kelley’s for a couple hrs before weather moved in.
Took a few mins to get used to the new boat but w/the throttle pinned, the tabs set, I saw 50 on the way there.
Last couple miles I’d say they turned to 5/6’s.
12 or 13 mls each way.., yee hah!

Saw 55 on the way back.

For a 25’ boat, it is bad ass.

Not close to my O/Bs, but for the wife’s ride, it is a nice ass boat.

Were you out there???

We saw one just like ours, w/teal leaving Huron when we pulled in to the boat basin.