www.iFourWinns.com

@240 Joe; sorry just saw your question about my F264 (months later), and yes I did buy it at Lake Norman Marina. It was used (2003 model) and looked like it had been sitting in storage for quite some time. winterize sticker had 108 hours on it in 2008, and I bought it in April 2010 with only 116 on it.

After a full summer on the lake, its been fantastic! I've only had to do some sound system upgrades (still not 100% done because I'm lazy) and a little LED stuff. A great way to spend time with the family and as you know LKN is a fantastic area.

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

@KDriskel-
I got my H-240 4 years ago from Lake Norman Marina because I was really satisfied with the service dept there for the previous 17 years. Agree that LKN is a great lake. We had wonderful summers with our kids and now are begining to start over with grandchildren. It's just as much fun the second time around.
I am also upgrading the sound system; had Mikes Liquid Audio put in Exile Tower Speakers, Wetsounds cockpit speakers, a 600 watt amp, and a Wetsounds WS420 equalizer but have not tried any LED lights. I must say the pictures of LED underwater lights look cool. Are you doing it yourself?

I've been doing everything myself. I started the stereo work last season when I got the boat, so far I've replaced the anemic Sony speakers with some nice 6.5" MBQuarts a little cutting was required to get them in), built a 12" subwoofer box with an old Hz sub I had from a previous boat, that sits under the starboard rear seat back by the engine compartment and put in 2 amps, a Sony Xplod for the sub and Kicker for the MBQuarts (both sitting in the garage) on a panel in the compartment behind the dash. This season I'll be adding 2 more MBQuarts mid-ship, replacing the 4 channel amp with a 6 channel JL Audio and adding at least one more sub to the other side and upgrading the sub amp to another JL (probably the 100/2). I also need to replace the head unit since the old Sony although it works fine has no way to play MP3's, ipod etc. and I'd like to be able to do that.

I am going to try to tackle the LED project sometime soon as well. The LED's run with a very low amperage draw, so I'm using fairly small gauge copper paired wire (from Lowes) to run around the boat an illuminate the 6 wells where all the drink holders are and another under the dash. Pep Boys sells lots of different LED's for cars, and they are cheaper (and local) than the marine accessories vendors so I know exactly what I'm getting. I'm using a style that has 12 blue lights arranged in a flat grid and are very low profile so you won't see them. I all ready replaced all the cockpit light bulbs with blue LED's. That ws an easy switch. I saw the photos of the under swim step lighting and that looks very cool too, so that's on the radar at some point.

I have to wait until its warm though, since I leave the boat in water and (until this week) its been way too cold to deal with anything.

BTW, I put in one of those BoatSafe engine compartment heaters so I didn't have to winterize the engine and could run the boat whenever I wanted in the winter/early spring, and they work great (so far)!

I have a 6 year old son, so we spend a lot of our on water time at the rope swing in the cove past the big hwy 150 bridge, so perhaps we'll see you there sometime.

Kevin.

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

It's true that LED's require very little power so you don't need a heavy guage wire. If you haven't done so already, there are several websites that can help you find the required guage of wire given load and length. Most of all, I would recommend using marine grade wiring for any boat project. It is usually tinned for better corrosion resistance. When it comes to my big expensive toys, I prefer to take the safe route and not try to save pennies when it may cost dollars down the road. Note I'm not an electrician in any sense of the term, but I have successfully tackled a few auto/boat projects similar to what you are undertaking.

I actually went with heavier guage marine grade wire than I needed on my LED project. This was simply because I wanted to use four-way wire to match the RGB controller for my multi-color LED's and I found a good deal on that particular guage at one of the online marine stores. In my case the heavier guage was cheaper to use than the calculated required guage.

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2005 FW Horizon 250
8.1L VP DP

Well you are a whole lot more talented than I am with all those additions. We have kids in common though. My wife and I have a 4 year old grandson who loves boating with me and an 8 month old grandson who I bet will be a boater too. I'll look for you when I am up around the Catawba River Bridge. We go to Queens Landing and sometimes eat breakfast at that small restaurant (Midway Boathouse Grill?) across the main channel. We have a weekend townhouse on the lake at the #7 channel marker in Denver. Our 240 is black with sport decals, wakeboard tower, and black bimini. Honk if you see us!
Joe

We'll be on the lookout for you! We live off Brawley School road in the Harbour the cove is near the D9 channel marker. We're usually either in the cove near the rope swing or sometimes at one of the islands near the D9 marker (when we're to lazy to go anywhere...)

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

Mike,
How tall are you? I'm looking hard at a 214, 224 and when I sat in it I didn't focus on the sight line.

My 214 came from Lake Norman Marina and in my sig, it's on Norman- been fun so far, but working on mods this winter for better times this season!

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Current Boat:
2002 214 Funship 5.0 Volvo Penta

Tow Vehicle:
2003 F250 Lariat FX4 (7.3 Powerstroke)
Previous Boat:
1997 Bass America