Its no secret that we have fished my boat hard for the past 5 yrs. That and the fact that me and Maintance are usually not mentioned in the same sentance. I will say that although i haven't kept her pretty I have put lots of attention to her motors. But the time has come to pretty her up, redo the electronics and basically make her new again.
I have fished on a boat called the Darlin out of OC for the past couple years. The boat is a piece of art. Absolutely perfect. I thought it was a new boat but then I heard her story. Doug Rollins bought her out of salvage. The boat had sunk in the bahamas and her took her down to basically bare bottom and rebuilt her to perfection. I told Doug of some of the ideas I had for my mirage and he said when can we start. So Squidnation now sits sequestered in a shed in an undisclosed location and the project has begun. I will be documenting all of Doug's work from start to finish. Hopefully she will be trolling the pacific off of Guatemala this time next year.
We are gonna start by pulling the AD41p's on monday. They are gonna get a check up from the neck up. They have preformed wonderfully over the last 4.5 years. I couldn't be happier with the reliability, efficiancy and speed that she has given up. Its just time for a little TLC on these babies. While they are out we are gonna paint the engine room and install a grated floor as well as add some sound proofing.
The engine lift pumps are going to be relocated to get out of the way of any water that may make it into the engine room as well as the raw water pump.
One of the very few complaints I have of the 32 Mirage is that the fish boxes can only be drained while underway or when pulled out of the water. So we are also going to install macerator pumps in the fish boxes.
The battery switches are not very accesible. So we are going to have remote operated battery switches on the guage panel for ease of access.
The trim tab motor is situated in one of the only spots that can get wet on occassion. It also needs to be moved
Its time for single lever controls. I am not sure if I want electronic controls in another country. Spares and repairs may be tough to come by. we'll see what the budget allows
Doug is going to get rid of the electronics box and build a new angled console to flush mount the new electronics.
We are gonna move the guages to the radio box. Just another way to get everything out of the elements.
The bow rails stayed because Nico was a young boy when i bought the boat. Its time or them to go. They are ugly
Time to make her into a cabin again. You pulled out the bathroom for tackle storage and removed all the cushions because no one ever used it. It was basically a large closet. She will be an interior again.
That a new paint job and we should be good to go.
I will update this thread as Doug makes progress. I think you guys will be amazed at the work he does.



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