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| Push Pole Holders |
With the Christmas and New Years Holidays, having a chance to finish up the work on the Hewes was not to be. Another snag was the delayed arrival of what was supposed to be a Christmas gift from my family, an 18-foot push pole that was delayed interminably but finally arrived on January 7. I didn't want to install the pole holders on the gunwales until I had the pole to use as a guide to help me decide where to bolt the holders in place.
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| Installing the push pole holders |
Using the pole as a guide. I centered it on the gunwale with the same amount extending beyond the transom as the bow. I then opened the rear starboard hatch and felt inside to see how much of the gunwale was accessible from underneath. Eyeballing where I should drill, I drilled a 1/4" hole for the push pole holder bolt and pushed the holder into place. With a 1 1/4" washer and a lock nut underneath, I tightened the nut with a 7/16" deep socket until the holder was firmly in place.
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Push pole secured in holders
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I repeated the process for the other two holders and secured the pole to the holders with the bungee cords that came on the holders. Next up - the cleats to tie up the boat on a dock.
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| Cleats |
I wanted to use cleats that wouldn't be in the way when not in use and I found this style on Amazon. To install them, I only had to drill two 1/4" holes in the gunwale for the mounting hardware.
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| Installation of the cleats |
I chose two locations on each gunwale making sure that the bolts were accessible from underneath the gunwale and used the cleats to mark the two holed to be drilled. I replaced the washers that came with the cleats with 1 1/4" washers to give the underside of the cleats more of a footprint. Once the first cleat was installed I repeated the process for the remaining three cleats.
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| The "bone" fish decal |
Before leaving the marina, I decided to replace the "bone" fish decal that I had applied to the stern of the boat near the Hewes decal. While looking at stuff on line, I stumbled across a pair of bonefish decals that I ordered just to see how they might look in lie of the "bone" fish.
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| The bonefish decal |
Since the Hewes is a "Bonefisher" model, I thought it was only fitting to have an actual bonefish near the Hewes decal and after taping the bonefish decal to the side I liked it better.
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| The bonefish decal applied |
After peeling the "bone" fish decals off, I applied the new decals on both sides.
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| Starboard view |
That pretty much completes the Bonefisher project. I have it set up now that way I wanted and she's ready to take out for the maiden fishing adventure. The specks, reds and mangrove snappers have moved up into the rivers and creeks from the Gulf and I'm chomping at the bit to go after them.
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| Port view |
I do have a couple of small details to finish up - installing some bungee cords on the gunwale rod racks and labeling the electronic switches - but thosewill be easy, quick things to do. I have the hardware and cords for the rod racks as well as the with labels but I just didn't have enough time to do those two things, they will be done next time down to the marina.
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