"Blackbird" 23' Billfisher

[Blackbird]

Thanks Mike,

Yeah it seems alot bigger because of its oval footprint, although I think its only 5 gallons larger than the Blackman tank. Nothing like a little bit of elbow room to keep the bait alive for a couple days and with the window it will be cool to have a "fish tank" onboard. I have heard of the window stressing the bait out so I may make a snap on cover to use during the day and remove it at night to keep an eye on em'. As for the name, She's called "Blackbird".

Good talking to you at the BBQ, post some pics of the Royal Hook, I wouldnt mind checking her out.

Scott,

Good eye! Yeah, thats the Dr. LED Neptune. I did a little research and it seemed to be a good buy. The two main reasons were that it was close to fitting the hole I had and it had enough threads to go through the transom. Don shure didn't skimp on material. The transom is over 2" thick. I did have to enlarge the hole about an inch in diameter. I used a die-grinder to go 1/4" deep to start a hole saw then ran the saw home. I like the idea of the aluminum hosing to conduct the heat quick too, just have to keep wax on it. Almost forgot to mention my buddy with the marine supply hook-up helped me out so it wasnt that bad. They claim the L.E.D.'s are made in the U.S.A., but I have a feeling that the housing was made in China. The box was stamped with those words and the instructions were stapled on the right side so they read back to front. Dont know on the light output. I was letting the 4200 set up all week before putting the heat to it. Might be a couple more weeks before it gets wet.

I would say that if I did not have the hole to plug anyway, I would have gone with a "Kman" light. Kurt (Kman) is a guy on B.D. that makes custom transom mount L.E.D.'s. He makes them with the latest/brightest L.E.D.'s available. If you are going for light output, his can't be beat, even by the big names in underwater lighting and he makes them for half the cost. He made his first set for my Century and they have been working just fine. Really easy to install, I made an install guide for him, you guys can check it out here:

The forth post down is the install, further down are the pics on the water.

http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/el...g-along-4.html

See ya, J

[Blackbird]

Hey Fellas,

Been waaaaay too long since I came around and just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and New Year!

I was going through the pics of last months BBQ, looks like I missed the best one. Glad to see all having good times, I had to wipe the drool of my keyboard. What a feast! Sorry, couldn't make it. Hope to make plans for the Summer-kicker-off'r BBQ next year.

This year had to be the roughest one I can remember. Between having to take a second job, helping my g.f. that was involved in a serious car accident, and countless hours looking for the damn family pet Iguana that escaped, I am glad its almost over.

Finally, with some time off, I was going over the photos of the progress I have made on the Blackbird over the past months. Not too much action, but some is better than none.

The varnish on the teak trim had seen better days:



Taped everything off and sanded smooth:





Ready for oil:





The money shot:

[Mac Attack]

Nice work!!!!!! It looks fantastic

[DOGHOUSE26]

Very Nice! It's on my to do list this year!

[Libre]

Looks great! Happy Holidays!

[LABRISA DEL MAR]

Nice Work!!!

[Blackbird]

Thanks fellas!

Here's a few more:

Hull had a small drain plug fitting with an extra large flange that no one seems to have anymore. The old one was shot. Some of the glass and wood around it needed attention. Opened up the hole all the way through to fit in a new Perko setup. Filled the gaps, lined the hole, blended in new gel coat.





Polished out the old trim tabs, cleaned out the joints. Replaced both rams with new. Anybody try these ping pong ball scuppers? They looked cool, the holes lined right up with the old flapper mounts.

[Zarco]

wow! nice work. makes me feel lazy... got minor stuff to do. and keep putting it off until recently.