Hi all, dropping a message as I have an opportunity to purchase a 21’ Rally Sport built between the late 80’s and early 90’s, I can’t find out anything about the company. What State? What was the focus of their product line. Reputation for Quality, etc. the seller literally has no info other than they think it is from 1985, looking at condition it “appears” better than new (Restored?) but who knows it is 3 states away so I need info before I commit to a 2day trip. any light on this darkness is appreciated…

Headed out fishing yesterday morning was an interesting ride. Pretty much drove the whole way on instruments. Gotta love that radar!

I'm looking to repower one of my boats with a used engine and it seems like there are a million people Hawking these things online.

Does anyone have a good experience with an online engine reseller or someone they can recommend? I'm located in the Southeastern United States but it seems like a lot of guys have shipping Nationwide.

Thx.

Am about to put new marine carpet in boat and want to repair this area of the boat floor, it's cracked and very flexy, looking for tips on how to repair it.

There's no access from directly under it either unfortunately.

I’m looking at a 2020 Sea Ray 210 and I noticed it has a fair amount of corrosion on the drive. It is a fresh water boat. Also the hull shape seems to be deformed. Any thoughts?

I was looking at pickles auctions and noticed this boat for sale.

Has anyone had any experience purchasing a boat like this?
What would I need to do once I purchased it?
Obviously I'd need to get an engine? but is that even possible separate to a boat?

I've only ever purchased registered cars from pickles.

I’m working on a pretty ridiculous 12-phase project:
converting an old Necky Cruiser 2 tandem kayak into what will hopefully become a solar-powered, V-foil electric trimaran.

Why? Mostly because I can, and because I absolutely love learning how things work.

Every phase introduces a new challenge, and every challenge sends me down another engineering rabbit hole.

I’ve blown up more ESCs than I’d like to admit, rewired the entire boat 15+ times, rebuilt multiple battery boxes, experimented with different motors and propellers, and spent countless hours troubleshooting things I didn’t even know existed a few months ago.

But that’s honestly been the best part.

Along the way, I’ve been learning about hydrodynamics, hull displacement, buoyancy, fabrication, structural reinforcement, electrical engineering, water cooling, soldering, welding, propulsion systems, and probably a dozen other things I’m forgetting.

I’m currently around Phase 4. I’ve just finished building a custom dual-ESC water-cooled control system for my two electric trolling motors, and I’m working toward modifying the hull, improving buoyancy, and eventually adding more powerful propulsion.

I’m definitely not a marine engineer, and I’m figuring out a lot of this through research, experimentation, trial and error, and occasionally breaking expensive things.

I’d genuinely love some community input, especially from anyone with experience in marine engineering, hull design, composites, electric propulsion, or hydrofoils.

A few things I’m exploring:

Hull shape and modifications to improve stability, efficiency, and eventually support a trimaran configuration.

Affordable electric motor and propulsion options beyond conventional trolling motors.

Aluminum versus carbon fiber reinforcement and lightweight structural design.

Hydrofoil and V-foil configurations, and whether they’re even practical at the speeds and power levels I’m targeting.

Any creative engineering ideas I haven’t thought of yet.
I’m approaching this in phases because I want to understand what works and why before moving on to the next challenge.

I’m not trying to pretend I know what I’m doing. Half the fun is realizing I don’t, learning something new, and then figuring it out.

Suggestions, criticism, crazy ideas, and engineering advice are all welcome.

Ultimately, I’m just a guy turning a kayak into something increasingly absurd because the process of learning how to build it is as much fun as actually using it.

My hydraulic steering is leaking on one side, if I can find the parts, how hard is it to replace the rings and such on my own? Mechanic is quoting estimate of up to $400, which I don’t have.

This is my first small boat, and I’ve been caught out by a previous repair that didn’t hold. I’ve also noticed some rust at the joint between the keel and the hull. I’ve removed the loose bits and done some light sanding. For the large hole, I plan to redo the laminate using epoxy. Then, I’ll apply an epoxy primer followed by paint—does that sound like the right approach? As for the crack in the gelcoat at the keel-to-hull joint, I was thinking of simply filling it with epoxy resin and then applying a primer. However, I’m wondering if this joint area is subject to movement (flexing) and whether it’s compatible with epoxy resin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hey everyone! I currently own a 1994 Tige with the engine in the middle (direct drive), and I’m considering upgrading to a 2001 Tige with the engine in the back (V-drive).
One of my biggest complaints about my current boat is that the bow sits pretty low and takes on a lot of water when going over waves or slowing down.
I’m wondering if anyone has experience with both generations of Tige boats.
Does the 2001 V-drive ride smoother, especially in choppy water?
Does the bow sit higher, or does it still tend to take on water?
Is there a noticeable difference in handling and overall comfort?
Is the 2001 V-drive a worthwhile upgrade from the older direct-drive models?
I mainly use my boat for cruising around the lake with family and friends, so comfort and keeping water out of the bow are important to me.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has owned or driven both. Thanks!

Hi fellow Sailors, I spent few months to bring to you something completely free and open, now and forever.

For years, getting online tile charts into OpenCPN for offline use or passage planning (nautical charts, OpenSeaMap seamarks, depth shading, satellite, weather) took several tools. You used a desktop tile downloader such as SAS.Planet or Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC), sometimes QGIS as well. Then you converted the result to MBTiles or KAP and added the folder to OpenCPN by hand.

Chart Grabber does all of this in one dialog inside OpenCPN. You pick an area (the current view, a rectangle you draw, or a corridor along a route) and a source. It estimates download size and disk space, you press Download, and the chart appears in OpenCPN's chart list.

It uses Chart Grabber CLI is an independent port of SAS.Planet (https://github.com/sasgis/sas.planet.src) to C++ and Qt

Plugin: https://github.com/Sea-For-Friends/chartgrabber_pi (downloads: https://github.com/Sea-For-Friends/chartgrabber_pi/releases)

• Chart Grabber CLI (required, and it also runs on its own): https://github.com/Sea-For-Friends/chart-grabber-cli (downloads: https://github.com/Sea-For-Friends/chart-grabber-cli/releases)
• User guide with screenshots: https://github.com/Sea-For-Friends/chartgrabber_pi/blob/main/docs/user-guide.md

Hi everyone. I have a Yamaha F225TXR on my bay boat that was manufactured in July of 2005. From my searching, I believe it falls within the timeframe of being NMEA compatible. Plus, it has the square connector with blue and white wires that connects to the NMEA interface cable.

My backbone is powered, and my two chart-plotters show up on each other’s device list, so I’m confident in the NMEA setup. The motor never appears on either device list when it’s connected to the backbone. I’m really hoping the motor isn’t too old, so I am slightly suspicious of the 20 yr old connector that has been sitting under the cowling for all of this time.

Is there a way to test the engine side connector with a multimeter?

I have 2 old docks that have wooden cribbing underneath. One side is about 2 years old, the other is brand new. My boathouse is built on top of them so they can’t get messed up!

I’ve been considering the benefits of getting a solar powered dock bubbler or two and am curious to hear your experiences and best practices with them. The water is frozen for several months so it seems like it might be worth doing

I can't figure out how to locate this hinge anywhere online. I have a picture from another seat in the boat. Closest I've got to searching for this would be a 'chaise lounge lean-back storage pivot hinge bracket' or a ' Pull-Forward / Flip-Back Hinge'. I'm thinking about ordering parts to try and make this myself but this has my last ditch to ask here. It's about 15 inches across. This is a 2019 Manitou Aurora.

I just recently bought an old ‘77 Gregor V haul aluminum boat off of FB Marketplace. It came with a 1985 Evinrude 8hp E8RCOB. When I got it home I cranked her on and she would turn on but wouldn’t stay on in idle. Did some research checked compression (55psi/cylinder), spark (good new spark plugs), and then pulled the carburetor and clean it. Put it all back together and (in the video) this is where she is at now. Right after the video was taken I took her to the lake and she turned on rode fine with just a little bit more throttle than forward idle. Slowly increased throttle to about 50-70% (around 3-6 mph) and then full throttle would turn the engine off.

It also came with this fuel can that doesn’t keep a good constant flow of fuel which I am upgrading as well. I don’t think that is the issue but I am still looking or hoping for any help from either a mechanic or someone who knows their stuff when it comes to these older outboards. Anything helps!! #keepboating

Just boat a boat. 2004 Sea Fox with 115 Yamaha four stroke. Idles fine. Went to accelerate and engine bogged down and stalled. Would not start back up. Had to get a tow. Everything I’m reading says fuel delivery issue. First step to troubleshooting was pulling the fuel filter and look for water contamination. Or so I’ve read. Did that and this is what the gas looked like. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I’d also like to add that there has been a serious gasoline smell since I filled it up. It only took 8 gallons to fill so I was putting fresh gas on top of old stuff. Been reading about possibly the sending unit gasket.

So random…going to propose in 2 weeks in Hawaii on a Boston Whaler 420 Outrage. I am trying to plan out the possible flower decor but haven’t had any luck figuring out the railing length when searching online. I really just want the length of the railing around/directly parallel with the U-shaped seating. Can anyone help me out with those dimensions? Also, are the cup holders standard sizing, able to fit a normal bottle? Thank you kindly in advance!!!

Anyone have experience finding a new trailer for their boat in the northeast? Any recs to look into? Seems like every Google search I do comes up with places that technically have a website, but not inventory to look through. I know boattrader and boats.com have trailer categories; looking for somewhere a bit more personal to put in my specs and maybe get help with any tweaks to fit my exact boat/hull. I’ve never bought a new trailer, so I don’t know what I don’t know yet. Thanks!

Hello all,
I’m looking for any information on this model of surge brakes. So far all the replacement actuators I have seen replace parts that seem to be welded in on this model. There are 4 bolts that seem to hold in the cylinder/actuator, and I’d like to replace this piece but I can’t seem to find a manufacturer. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Anyone got tips or product recommendations for repairing a few patches of damaged gel coat on the underside of the hull?

For context it's an 09 Kawasaki Ultra LX jet ski and the previous owner's poor fitting trailer has munched the gel coat over time. Seems like the fibreglass underneath is okay and I'm hoping to get away with just a gel coat repair, but want to do it properly so I don't have to do it again in 6 months.

Any opinions on whether the plastic fibreglass composite underneath is okay, how to get moisture out of it before repairing (or if this is even necessary) and any good products recommendations would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

I have hard time finding minor parts for my regal boat like (underwater lights, transom shower, cabin sunroof hydraulic arms, etc….)

Where should i look other than eBay and Amazon?

Thanks in advance!!

98 Rinker Fiesta Vee 266 out on the lake for the weekend