Project Ebbtide

  Classic boats are great, but I recently came to the conclusion that I needed a more practical boat. A family sized boat that we can ski out of, put up the top when the sun gets too hot, have plenty of room for storage, etc. I don't care for the cookie cutter design the boats of the past 20 years have had, mainly because if you've seen one you've seen them all, but there just comes a time when practicality steps ahead of coolness. This is one of those times.

  

 

  So, I loaded Kristen and Casey into the truck and we went to Smith's Marine in Minden and started walking through their junked boats. What we found was this 1984 Ebbtide DynaTrak 179 fish & Ski. It had plenty of room, sleek styling, and was rated for a 140hp engine which I just happen to have. We struck a deal and I picked it up the next day. Follow along as we turn this drab, worn out boat into a vivid red weekend cruiser for the entire family. It should be quite an adventure!

 

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As found on June 22nd, 2005

 


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Waiting to go in the shop. The boat originally had live wells front and rear, pedestal seats front and rear, trolling 
motor, fish finder, and an ugly carpeted front bow area. Notice the square windshield. We'll get to that a little later.

 


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The live well in the rear will remain, but the front live well will be converted to an ice chest. All the gauges will be tossed except for the speedo and fuel gauge, and a CD player will be installed in the dash. The front bow area will be cushioned and upholstered, along with a new storage compartment being opened up in the nose.

 

 

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The transom is fairly solid, but we'll be replacing it anyway. There are no stress cracks in the deck, hull, or motor well area. The aluminum rub rail has seen better days so I will probably replace it with new. Other than a hole punched in the top of the deck on the nose the fiberglass is all in nice shape.

 

 

(June 26th)
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The work begins... First thing I did was rip out the 400lbs of wire that we would NOT be putting back in once all the fishing accessories have been removed. Kristen and I removed the ugly square windshield and installed a late model curved unit that I had on hand. It fits great and the sleek design helps bring this 20 year old boat up to date.


 

(June 28th)
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After installing the windshield, Casey and I removed the steering, gauges, and dash. While I removed some exterior trim Casey pulled up the carpet. What we found underneath was bare, un-fiberglassed plywood screwed directly over the old floor. We knew we had to replace the floor, but had no idea we had to remove TWO floors to do it!


 

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Sometimes it's hard to believe what some yahoos will do to patch a boat. After pulling up the rotten plywood we
could see the original floor. It was rotten also, but I was pleased to see that the boat had originally come with ski
storage in the floor since I had planned on installing a storage hatch in the new floor.

 

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