Winter Projects?

[cyclone]

What kills me is that all the stuff that came on our boats is now the latest greatest on new boats. They stilll look state of the art, can't say that about a five year old Wakesetter or Xstar.

[cyclone]

Another thing, I know that MC wouldn't use their all aluminum engine without closed loop cooling because of the corrosion issues. I don't keep my boat in the water but that is something to think about. I wonder what those crazy Aussies that are putting car Toyota engines into boats could tell us about that. I mean, do the marine blocks use different alloys or something?

[dawsonr]

Just re-read some of the comments regarding old USN.  I was a nuclear trained machinist Mate , submarine qualified during the Viet Nam war and would not trade it for the world, Wouldn't want to do it again either.  The two things the Navy gave me were how to grow up and most  importantly, how to study.  Before the service I was a C student (on a good day).  Following the service, I get nothing but A's.  Not becuase I am smart, but because I now know how to apply myself.  Cyclone, I am 56 now and still like to bare foot (Yea I know, this is basically a wake boarders site), and one reason I like the Epic is exactly the opposite of why most of you like it, is the smooth wake at 37 mph.  Our boat (USS Tecumseh, SSBN 628) didn't have the speed to ski, but we were pretty proud it was one of the fastest in the fleet at the time.  Now it's a Cadillac bumber somewhere, decommissioned in 1992.  Glad I wasn't a skimmer, either .

[Lakeside]

Gotta agree with Dawson on page 1, you can't get much done on a boat at this time of year.  

Although I'm looking forward to Epic season, winter is not all bad.  In Wisconsin, the World Ice Boating Championships are taking place.  Here's a cool photo from today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper.  This is a blast to do, but there aren't too many of these boats around.  This one is a Detroit News boat that is based upon a design that was originally printed in that paper.  You gotta see how fast these things move... if the wind is right, you can hit 60 mph!

[cyclone]

Well, now that the forum is working again somehow, I'll post these here. It was late Sunday night before I left town when I got my light bar mostly done, here it is. It only cost me about 75 bucks and some elbow grease. I know, I know, lights serve no useful purpose unless you like bugs, but I had extra tower clamps and spare time. I bought the lights on ebay new for 10 bucks a pair with relays and a remote switch. and used a piece of 2" aluminum angle to mount them. It is quick release so I can put the tower down if I have to .

[cyclone]

Here's another pic, off the boat. It fits over the 4" crossbar on the top of the tower. Incidentally, it's the same size as the ones on a Nautiques tower. Our clamps are 1 5/8 or 40 mm.

[phenom_1819]

Nice work Pete! I tried making one but it didn't turn out nearly as nice as yours did. I even mounted mine in the exact same position as yours.

A word of advice, though... mine isn't there anymore.  One of my buddies was driving my boat while I was in the water, and when turning to pick me up, the rope wrapped around the outermost light and ripped the whole thing off, taking a chunk out of my tower.  Just wanted to warn you, make sure it's clear before you "hit it.":
Nice work, oh how I wish I was crafty!  

My new CD player comes today, I'm excited.  I decided to splurge a bit and got the MB Quart  NRA-450 marine cd player.  Has all kinds of really neat gadgets, but most importantly a 30-second anti-skip buffer.  Perfect for those rough Lake Washington days.  It should arrive at home today, and hopefully will get installed this weekend.

Thank god this site is back up...work isn't so boring anymore!!  

[festivus]

does the MB Quart NRA-450 have input jacks for iPod or Sirius?   Is there a link to see what it looks like and the specs?
Also, my light bar hangs under the tower so the ski rope isn't a threat, although my speakers are on the top.  They are tall enough that the rope would have to get really twisted to get in the way.  No problems with that as of yet.

[cyclone]

That is one nice looking tower setup.

http://www.tweeter.com/sm-mb-quart-nra450-nautic-tuner-cd-player--pi-1850509.htm

It says it has 1 aux in according to the list of features near the bottom. l

[phenom_1819]

Yep, one set of aux-inputs.  So that's nice, ipod should plug right in.  Also has 3 sets of outputs, I don't need to fade my stereo so I'm going to use one set for connecting to other boats, like Shawn's set-up.

It's really hard to find reviews on the MB quart deck, but it's identical to one made by Rockford Fosgate (who owns MB Quart).  I've read a couple reviews on their stuff and seems to be decent quality, and a couple guys with the marine deck have told me they love it, and have had no problems.  You can get them on ebay for next to nothing (but hold out for a while, I got mine for $199, brand new!!)

Anyway, I'll let you know what I think of it. It still hasn't showed up on my doorstep...so obviously hasn't been installed yet.

I found a product to hard-wire my ipod into my stock 4runner deck and installed that yesterday.  It converts the cd changer inputs to use as an aux-input.  But my car has been acting really strange since the install... and I can't toggle between the ipod, the radio, and back without turning my car on and off???  I have NO idea why.  But the sound quality is as good as CD.

[cyclone]

lakeside, that is a killer pic too. That looks like a lot of fun, until you run into a fat Canadian with a fishing pole in his hand!

I've just spend a month in Canadia, so I can pick on them now.