www.iFourWinns.com

Admiral K you may be right. The dreaded cognitive dissonance strikes deep. I just think it's peculiar.

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2006 348 Vista
"some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield"

Has anyone T'd the galley sink into the overboard drain from the sink in the head instead of putting another through hull? I will be going down to the boat today to leave my mooring cover for the detailers that will uncover my shrinkwrap this week and will check it out. I Splash on Good Friday the 10th. Less than a week away!! Can't wait. Brand new dock awaits as the Marina completely replaced the outer dock where I tie up. Looking forward to a season of lots of Sun. Planning a trip from the Jersey shore to Southampton this summer.

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2008.Fourwinns V358
1999 SeaRay340 Sundancer
1989 SeaRay 260 Cuddy

There are two downsides to tying into the head drain.

One being gravity. The head sink and drain are usually a little lower than the galley. This means water draining from the galley sink might come up through the head sink drain. Especially if the through-hull can't keep up with the amount of water draining. Get the galley sink full after washing up dishes, pull the drain and then have some stray particles of food cause the through hull to slow down, or get plugged. You then have all that water seeking it's lowest point... out into the head sink, overflowing onto the counter and floor. Not exactly a fun way to end a delicious meal...

The second downside being how to get to the through hull fitting and hose. This varies from one model to another but some do not make it easy to access the head sink drain hose. Then there's the potential problem of there not being enough length in the hose to allow for a wye (not a tee) fitting to be inserted. Combine a short hose with a tight space, along with the typical rough fiberglass edges in all the places you don't usually see and, well, it's a hassle. Oh, and finding small diameter wye fittings is a bit of a hassle too.

Thus while properly installing a through hull seems like a hassle, it's less of one than the other choices.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I definitely agree with Bill. Removing the frdige seems like a hassle but it is the better way to to the job. The thru-hull will then be able to be placed in the exact spot you need it to be to get the right gravity feed and no chance of back up into any thing else tied to the line. I will have my job completed by week-end and let you know how it went.

My new out drives were installed today. I hope the now defunct dealer is to blame for the improper installation of the struts which were installed backwards and not FW themselves. I am not sure how my boat was delivered to the dealer, drives on or off but there was some bearings or struts placed backwards which under full throttle could have caused the supports to crack. Thankfully that didn't happen to us. When I have more technical data and proper identification of the parts they were talking about I will post.

Anyone want to take a guess at how much it should be to have a canvas fitting to go over the bow sun pad should be? I want to have it covered to help fight bird poop and to secure it better in bad weather, as last year we lost half of the sun pad in really rough seas. I am guessing $ 350.00 and think that is high, others I have asked think more like $600.00. I hope I am right!

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

I seem to recall someone else mentioning the $300 figure. I too would like to get one for our 348. As you move forward let me know what quotes you receive. I may want to order one. Since we're talking more or less the same thing (I'd want one in blue) perhaps they'd work a discount.

I wouldn't be too optimistic about how plain snaps would hold down in rough seas (and the wind that comes with them). For that I'd think you'd have to be using the Common Sense or Lift the Dot brand type of fasteners. The Common Sense ones have the turning peg. Regular spring snaps tend to work loose too easily, and this gets worse over time. Of course then you'd have the problem of those little stud fasteners sticking up on the foredeck surface. That'd be a bit uncomfortable for barefeet or someone's backside to sit on accidentally.

I've gotten caught in really bad weather and, honestly, your better solution is to take it all down REALLY QUICKLY and stow it. You'd be surprised how fast you can do it during an adrenaline rush. All it took was the requisite offering of sunglasses to Davy Jones' Locker.

Back to the through-hull, the fridge comes out really easily. Just a bunch of screws along it's face frame. Then it just slides right out, leaving you an adult-sized hole into the whole area under the galley. It's well worth the effort to pull the fridge for a job like this.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill, Thanks for the comments on the galley sink drain. I agree it will better to just add the additional through hull drain. How is the wiring for the fridge set up? is there enough wire to slide the fridge all the way out? does it have a disconnect plug on the wiring?

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2008.Fourwinns V358
1999 SeaRay340 Sundancer
1989 SeaRay 260 Cuddy

Yes, there's definitely enough wire to get the fridge out. There are two connections, one for 12vdc and the other 120vac. The AC connection is a typical AC wall outlet cord. Both have enough slack to pull it out, but are just short enough not to be too much of a pinch risk on putting it back.

Be aware that the fridge is L-shaped at the bottom. This to accommodate the upward sweep of the hull. This means when you pull the fridge out it will drop down along that L. I found it's useful to put a large beach towel under the fridge to protect both it and the various surfaces nearby. You will not want to remove the fridge if there's anything in it. Otherwise it'll probably just all fall out. Oh, and you will probably need to remove the fridge door, but this is easy. There's a pin at the top, acting as a hinge that unscrews and comes up and out. Once that's out you can slide the door up and off the bottom pin. This will make it easier to get to the mounting screws along the hinge side of the face frame. As I recall there's around a dozen of them. A ziploc baggie is your friend for storing all these screws so they don't get lost. As with any screws on the boat be sure to avoid over tightening them when you reinstall the fridge. Just securely tight with a hand screwdriver, or one of the lower settings on a cordless driver with a clutch.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Steven, See me before you have a bow cushion cover made so I can show you how not to have it done (and it wasn't cheap). Ours was made in such a way that it wrapped around the cushions and used the existing snaps. During a high wind condition at the marina, the wind got under the cover or billowed it up like an old convertable top (we don't know which) and pulled the cover and cushions up and off. We found each cushion (the 378V has a two piece cushion) in separate parts of the marina. The cover has been folded in the cabin ever since.

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Jerry
2004 378 Vista "Escapade", T-Mercruiser 8.1 SHO
2003 Maxum 3300SE
1987 Wellcraft San Tropez
1991 Chaparral 2550SX
1987 Bayliner 2150
!967 Caravelle 1751

Thanks for the tip Jerry. I was hoping that Brian my canvas guy would do it with new snaps that completely cover the cushion. My main concern is exactly what you said was the problem. I want to add a layer of protection from wind getting underneath and us losing the pad again. And to find out your issue happened while parked at the marina confirms my idea that I need additional protection.

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

Steven, Brian is the one who made my cover. We noticed when running with the cover on it would billow up quite a bit. The day the cover and cushions blew off was a very windy day at the marina and the "suction" pulled everything off. I think something that didn't utilize the existing snaps would work a lot better. Bill Kearney mentioned "lift the dots" but as he said, that might be rather uncomfortable if stepped on. Maybe using the kind of fastener with the twist toggle mounted close to the cushion would work better. Ours seemed pretty ingenious until everything ended up in Leo's slip.

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Jerry
2004 378 Vista "Escapade", T-Mercruiser 8.1 SHO
2003 Maxum 3300SE
1987 Wellcraft San Tropez
1991 Chaparral 2550SX
1987 Bayliner 2150
!967 Caravelle 1751

That's why it's great to hear from others. I've been thinking about this for a while and still haven't made up my mind. I really don't like the idea of leaving little pegs sticking up on the foredeck surface, or down along the sides of the gunwale walk. So the pegs, while probably the best holding, aren't what I'd prefer. It's bad enough tripping or dragging toes over the existing snaps and slide channel (personal pain experiences). I never really planned on traveling with the cover on the pads. The admiral greatly prefers riding there during our departures and arrivals. So, for us the cover would be purely for protection. I wonder if adding a few more snaps would work? That might serve to better spread the load and avoid as much pulling tension on so few snaps. I could live with an extra couple of snaps down along the sides of the cushions and then copy your 'snap under' idea for the ones up near the hatches.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

wow, you guys had the pads come off even with that sliding channel?!? I thought for sure having that up front would eliminate it from flying off. Guess not huh? I like how that same channel works on the radar arch with the cockpit cover..

We had the same problem with the pads a couple of times last year. They don't come off while we are moving. But had them come off 2 or 3 times during bad storms. And we had them slid into the groove up front also.

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348 Vista ( Last Call )
Raystown PA

Here is where FW does things to different boats that make no sense. The 378V doesn't use the channel type hold down on the foredeck for the bow cushions. It is just snaps around the edge of the pads. We never had a problem with the cushions themselves using only snaps. It is only after wrapping the cover around it and resnapping it did we have the problems.

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Jerry
2004 378 Vista "Escapade", T-Mercruiser 8.1 SHO
2003 Maxum 3300SE
1987 Wellcraft San Tropez
1991 Chaparral 2550SX
1987 Bayliner 2150
!967 Caravelle 1751

They must have made a change on the V358 in recent years. The pads only secure with snaps. I've never lost one at the docks but I did have one sobering incident where a pad came loose while underway. I was getting up on plane in a nasty head wind and as soon as she leveled off one of the pads flew aft in an instant. Miraculously, a crew member in the cockpit with lightening-fast reflexes caught it while it was flying over head. Man, do I wish I had a camera rolling for that!

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards