Well I finally was able to complete a few of the projects I have been meaning to get to on my 248. I went ahead and completed
a windlass install with foot pedal control
speaker upgrade with new amp and subwoofer
Magma grill mount.
The windlass install is my favorite of the three! This was fairly easy to do following Al's guide (
http://members.toast.net/boatguy/proj-14.htm) and mkivbren's post (
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=977&p=6927&hilit=windlass+install#p6927).
Being that my boat is also a 248 I had to be very careful with the placement of the windlass because the space between the lip of my deck and anchor is much tighter than Al's 268. Another royal PITA was that I did not have the 8AWG wiring to power the windlass that both Brendan and Al had so this meant I had to take apart the boat to get from my anchor locker starboard side to the port side of my bilge and run the wiring. It was a blessing in disguise b/c I became very familiar with the boat which came in quite useful for my stereo upgrades.
After bending like a pretzel and looking like I had fought with a dozen cats I finally had my windlass in place.
Here are a few pics....
Here is the breaker which I located in the cooler recess which sits just on top of the batter banks and next to the battery switch.
and the new Delta 14lb Anchor
Like I said earlier this is the best mod I did to the boat cause the new anchor is 1000x better than the fluke anchor I had before and the windlass just makes it cake to drop and lift at the push of the button.
After putting the boat back together I decided why not do it a second time and upgrade the stereo system .... so i did!!
After going through all the awesome threads already on this forum I found a few ideas I copied (thanks powellcrazy and jmikula) and added my own twists.
I ended up replacing the 2 factory 6.5" outside speakers and added a second pair of 6.5" speakers for a total of 4 6.5" Pioneer 6 1/2" Marine Speakers (TSMR1640)
Here is the pics of the 2 speakers I added.
and
After installing the speaker although it sounded pretty good I still felt a subwoofer was missing so I located one under the lounge seating in the rear in the boat next to one of the factory installed 6.5" speakers.
I finally installed an amplifier to power everything outside. I went with a Sony Marine XM-604M which I located in the aft berth locker. This was a PITA to get all the wires to but well worth the effort as it is stowed away neatly away from the harsh elements.
One other addition I made was to add a switch to one of the two accessory ports at the helm. The switch is connected to the amp remote which allows me to shut down all the speakers outside. This is very nice for when we are on the hook and are inside.
Finally my last mod was to install a mount for my Magma grill. I originally had the fishing rod mount which I used on the swim platform but with the grill mounted it was dangerous to move around when that grill was hot so I wanted something that gave me flexibility to be able to install and remove it.
I went with the Flush Deck Rotating Socket Mount (A10-126). The stainless detent pin lets the grill rotate and lock in 8 different positions allowing it to be moved inboard and outboard. It is super simple to remove and has a rain cap for when not in use.
with the rod portion in mount.
Thanks to all of you who helped me out on some of these you have my sincere gratitude. Finally here is a pic of my 248V at a local sandbar here in the sunshine state from this past weekend..
_________________
Walter
2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4
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Love the anchor & windlass. I'm sure you'll be loving the grill mount too - sometimes it's the smaller upgrades that one appreciates the most. How'd you wire up the speakers, 4 6.5's on 2 channels, and the sub on the other 2?
