Lake Champlain boater - new to Wellcraft (1985 3400 Gran Sport)

[mccarthyej]

Hey all!

I got pretty lucky and decided to buy a boat this past February, pre-Covid. I didn't know that travel would be restricted and how much time we would actually spend out on the water this summer, but man was my wife happy! Anyway, I am new to Wellcraft and am going to be bringing this vessel back to its former glory!

Finished projects:
1) LED lighting in cabin. Replaced existing and ran new in-cabinet lighting for storage areas.
2) LED courtesy lighting topside. App-based and multiple colors.
3) LED transom lighting. App-based and multiple colors.
4) Group 31 battery installation. Four (4) group 31 batteries replaced the two (2) group 27 batteries.
5) Refrigerator replacement. Newer, cleaner, larger.
6) Upholstery replacement in cabin. Almost done, with the exception of the mid-cabin.
7) Replacement of hinges in interior cabinet doors so they hang square.
8) A/C Drain installation. I cannot believe that the A/C was installed and had it's drain running on the sub-floor to a hole that drains to the bilge.
9) LED indicator switch replacements for helm area. To know when each accessory is running.
10) Cabin door. The old sliding cabin door was cracked in two (2) places. The previous owner shored it up by mounting a few metal plates to the door, but this limited sunlight coming in to the cabin. I had a plastics company, here in VT, fabricate and new one and I installed it.
11) Starboard motor fuel lines. I had an issue with the motor and found out that I had a cracked fuel line. I thought it was the fuel pump, but whem I went to install the new one, the fuel line shattered. It was then I realized this was the issue, not the fuel pump, though I ended up replacing the pump anyway since I had it.

2020-2021 Winter projects:
1) Transom Walk-thru - This will be installed in the center of the transom, where the current ladder is. I have spoken to many marine structural experts and they all assure me that there will be no issues in doing this. I will be removing the rear bench seat, and having a few storage hatches installed where the seat used to slide in.
2) Larger swim platform - Simple enough, but I am not sure how large I will go. I will be raising up the platform a little bit so I can extend it out further but will need some testing in order to determine how large to go. My hope is 60" off the transom, but only because the transom juts outward about 2 feet above where the platform will be. I may be limited to 48", based on how the vessel planes.
3) Cockpit redesign - I had the passenger side seat break on me this past week. The wood was rotted out, and I assume that most of the topside wood needs to be replaced. I would like to install a few swivel chairs and a new bench. I would also love to remove the carpet that is topside, as all it does is hold water. I would then like to paint the deck with a non-skid that is pet-friendly. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? The full design is still in progress but if anyone has photos of their layout, or has done this before, I would love to see them.
4) Vinyl wrap - As the boat is a 1985, it needs to be freshened up, but having a boat professionally painted is pretty expensive. With the other projects I have going on, I would rather wrap the boat, for about 1/3 of the price, and get about 7-8 years out of it. I was thinking a simple light gray or dark blue? Has anyone here done this yet?
5) Motor, and fuel line, inspection. I have had a slight fuel smell in the cabin and would like to resolve this. I have also completed a project to replace the starboard motor fuel line that was causing engine issues (see Finished Projects for more details).
6) Replace cracked mirrors in head and forward v berth.

Below are some photos of the boat in it's current state. I have been working to revive a classic, and show what this boat would have looked like brand new! Any advice is always welcomed!

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[LMK]

Beautiful boat!! You have already done some very nice work on it. keep it up!!

[CptBill]

welcome and that looks really good Keep it up

[daveswellcraft]

Very nice.
By chance did you do anything with the windshield and gaskets? I would like to gasket my windshield.

[mccarthyej]

@daveswellcraft - I have not yet done anything with the windshield, but only because it's lower on my list. My seals all need to be replaced, not because they leak, but because it looks like a 5 year old replaced them last time. Just sloppy.

[daveswellcraft]

All the windshield gaskets on my boat have shrunk. Someone filled in all the corners with silicone. Looks like the same 5 year old did it.

[Chank]

I’m in Vermont on malletts bay as well. Need my forward hatch and companionway hatch replaced on my Monte Carlo. Both made of acrylic. Who did you use for yours?

[johnm]

mccarthyej, Have you worked on lowering the opening in the transom yet and if so can you give us some feed back +