This was taken shortly after purchasing her in 1998 when she was 20 years old.

She is a 1998 Sea Ray "Weekender, 240V".
Powered by a 350 cubic inch, 260 HP, Mercruiser.
Over the years I have repowered to a 330 hp engine, new outdrive, added tons of goodies and set her up pretty well for sport fishing and scuba diving.
 

When I first bought the boat I re-upholstered the interior and replaced all the teak in the cockpit

I bought this boat to re-sell it as I had many bought.
I would find boats online at a good price, bring them back to Scottsdale, do minor cosmetic work and sell them.
 

But this boat I really liked and decided to keep for myself.
 

Of course that meant I would really customize it to my needs.

Hauled out and ready to dismantle.

Beginning to build an anchor system that will have the windlass mounted below deck and have a "self launching" anchor roller system.

At this point I had been using the boat for a number of years.
It was not unusual to leave San Diego, Ca. at night and run down to the Banks off Baja some 40 to 50 miles to fish for tuna.
These were usually pretty comfortable runs down. But on occasion the return trip got a bit rough pounding into head seas.
Little did I know that the hull-to-deck joint was nothing more than a series of rivets holding the two pieces together.
On the left I am preparing to fiberglass the hull/deck joint permanently.

This boat was always difficult to get back on the trailer. So I decided to install a Bow Thruster

When these boats were originally built, the entire floor and bilge was filled with foam flotation. I remove all of this, remove a lot of rotten plywood and now had access to install larger tanks and the bow thruster.
 

Here we have moved the boat inside and the AwlGrip paint has been applied to the deck, fly-bridge and cabin.
The anchor system is finished and the opening in the deck is ready for the new hatch that will open in either direction.

Sanding the first coats of Blue AwlGrip and getting ready for the final coat.
Teri uses the roller and brush tip method here because we cannot spray at this facility.

Nice finish at last.
 

Adding the 22k gold leaf logo and stripe

Matching 22k Goldleaf name on transom

The REAL "Shortdog" . He has been threw everything with us.

On the left is a photo showing Shortdog on here new trailer. Still not completed, she will have to wait until Flying Cloud is finished.

Note the 1978 Alaskan camper on the truck. That too was another restoration project. It was nearly a total loss when we found it in Aspen, Colorado.
Campers are much like boats. Except a boat needs so much more strength to keep her crew comfortable and safe.

More to come about the Sea Ray

December 30, 2012

I was checking on "Short Dog" a few days before we left for Christmas, when I detected a rather nasty smell coming from inside the cabin. Further inspection revealed a small puddle of water and what appeared to be gasoline in the front bilge.
I cleaned up the mess and checked again the next day.
The puddle was back and smelling worse than ever.
So i decided to clean it up again and lower the trailer tongue as low as it would go and check again when I returned after Christmas.

Well today  I checked again and found a much larger mess than before. I decided to remove a section of the floor in the v-berth only to discover that the floor timbers were seriously rotted.
 

I was surprised to find that everything beneath the floor in the entire boat is filled with foam and glassed over.
Before the day was over, the entire interior of the boat was removed. The foam, once exposed, is taken out with a shovel. With the starboard side nearly cleaned out and the v-berth completely cleaned out, I filled five 50 gallon garbage bags with foam.
Then came all the rotten plywood and fiberglas. Enough to fill the bed of my one tone truck half full. And there is still the port side to do.
Another project that will be completed in conjunction with my on-going work on Flying Cloud.

The nasty smell from this gasoline turned varnish and a ton of dry rot.

After hours of destruction to the interior, the leaky tank is exposed, but still not accessible.
 

I had always planned to re-do the interior. But never thought I would go this far.

In a little over one day, the complete interior has been ripped out.
Compare these photos to the ones near the top of this page to see the before and after.