It Starts Today

[catalinajack]

7mm socket. I just replaced all of my engine hose clamps with embossed-drive grove clamps when replacing my heat exchangers. A 1/4 drive socket worked easily.

I started my clamp kit with an AWAB kit from Defender. It came with a flexible driver to tighten the clamps since they are metric.

 

[JohnEasley]

Congrats on your first successful cruise. You did the right thing, practicing the way you did. Ignore the guy who yelled at you. You nailed it.

 

[rgano]

Yes of course. A full inventory is pending.

I am glad you are having fun and gaining confidence in all your endeavors on your new-to-you boat. I am into a new-to-me boat experience here with the 1500-mile delivery for a friend. In our third day aboard after a day and a half of orientation by him before he left us on our own, I am into my usual "product improvement" mode. He believes in a FULL inventory, but I have only a vague recollection of where a few things might be. There are duplicates of tools hither and thither, boxes of bilge pump and actuating flippers (my today project to replace one), spare turbo, alternator, filters galore, but where in the heck would I find the metal link to allow the mast to lay back for running under bridges, or for that matter a spare windshield wiper blade. It's all here, and he answers the phone in Florida to tell me where, but sheesh, it gets tiresome roaming around looking through his idea of an organized and full inventory.

Lying Coinjock, NC and hoping to get to warmer weather soon.

 

[BDofMSP]

Ah yes. The PO kept an inventory too, but it was simply a list of things (like "filters") but no model numbers or location. But more importantly there is no log of maintenance so I don't know when said "filter" was last replaced. Fortunately there's a book of service invoices so much of it's knowable, but you gotta do the leg work. Spreadsheet will be created soon.

BD

 

[rgano]

The new custodian of my 42 Grand Banks and I got on well, and ever since 2015, there has been a regular dialog about plans for maintenance, mods, and improvements. There, "where is stuff" questions went away pretty fast.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

BDofMSP, Congratulations on how well everything is going so far. Silvertons are very nice boats, there are quite a few of them at my marina and tons of them in Sturgeon Bay, there must have been an aggressive dealer there at some point in time. My only gripe with Silvertons is the lack of a walkway around the boat. A very close friend has one and he and his spouse have become very good at docking so I imagine it is just a matter of practice.

I probably have 100 various hose clamps on board. I even save used clamps when I replace. One of my bucket list items is to replace every clamp in use with a high quality SS clamp and then build a good inventory of spares. High quality clamps are expensive, worth it but expensive.

FINALLY.. We love Chambers island. We spend numerous nights in the bay on the north side of the island. Please do make contact with us when you get to Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Also Washington Island, Sturgeon Bay, Door County, etc.

pete

 

[rclarke246]

Congrats on your first successful cruise. You did the right thing, practicing the way you did. Ignore the guy who yelled at you. You nailed it.

Amen! When folks start barking instructions to me when in close quarters I DO NOT listen.
You're doing things exactly right and learning how to get her where she needs to be.
Congratulation!

 

[JustBob]

One of my dock neighbors has nearly the same boat and loves it. His third Silverton. It seems well built and feature rich. Well done!

 

[aevdg]

May I offer you my compliments and I hope you enjoy your boat.

 

[Mischief Managed]

It's been fun reading this thread. Congrats! I love your can-do attitude and spirit of adventure.

 

[Seevee]

BDofMSP, Congratulations on how well everything is going so far. Silvertons are very nice boats, there are quite a few of them at my marina and tons of them in Sturgeon Bay, there must have been an aggressive dealer there at some point in time. My only gripe with Silvertons is the lack of a walkway around the boat. A very close friend has one and he and his spouse have become very good at docking so I imagine it is just a matter of practice.

I probably have 100 various hose clamps on board. I even save used clamps when I replace. One of my bucket list items is to replace every clamp in use with a high quality SS clamp and then build a good inventory of spares. High quality clamps are expensive, worth it but expensive.

FINALLY.. We love Chambers island. We spend numerous nights in the bay on the north side of the island. Please do make contact with us when you get to Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Also Washington Island, Sturgeon Bay, Door County, etc.

pete

Ah, Chambers Island brings back memories. They used to have a airport there and the girlfriend (pre wife) and I landed there to roam the beach and look at you boating guys. Circa July 4, 1971.

 

[Art]

Ah, Chambers Island brings back memories. They used to have a airport there and the girlfriend (pre wife) and I landed there to roam the beach and look at you boating guys. Circa July 4, 1971.

I'd be looking at the boating gals!! LOL

 

[Baker]

I love your strainer story!!!! Sorry if I took some sort of twisted joy out of it...because that is sooooo me!!! How something so simple can turn into a major CF is beyond me. And also good job on handling the guy yelling at the dock. I brief my crew to always disregard instructions from people on the dock. I tell them you do not throw that dock line unti I TELL YOU to throw it....that is the moment hou relinquish control of your boat to a total stranger.

Congrats on the boat. I just bought a new to me boat in the same class....what kind of engines???

 

[BDofMSP]

Thank you very much! I've been consuming SO much from TF for years. It's nice to contribute for a change.

Today I got the radar install finished. I hated the bush league wiring that was in place under the radar arch, so that all got redone. Got rid of the automotive connections and the power distribution that was just laying in a basket. Wish I would have taken a "before" shot at the beginning but here it is after I already relocated 2 sets of wires. Sorry - forgot to do landscape photo!

Anyway, it was incredibly satisfying to have all of the proper tools and materials on hand for probably the first time ever. Every crimp was with a proper ratcheting crimper on a adhesive heat shrink connector, which was shrunk with a proper torch instead of a lighter. Amazing how less frustrating this work is with the right tools. The Ancor automatic wire stripper paid for itself 10 times over so far!

Anyway, this is the new wiring with distribution, strain relief, and labeling. [/ATTACH]

 

[BDofMSP]

I love your strainer story!!!! Sorry if I took some sort of twisted joy out of it...because that is sooooo me!!! How something so simple can turn into a major CF is beyond me. And also good job on handling the guy yelling at the dock. I brief my crew to always disregard instructions from people on the dock. I tell them you do not throw that dock line unti I TELL YOU to throw it....that is the moment hou relinquish control of your boat to a total stranger.

Congrats on the boat. I just bought a new to me boat in the same class....what kind of engines???

Well you bought the 411 which was #2 on our wish list! The 410 we bought was #4 but definitely still checked all the boxes. The thrusters, the super nice dinghy with the console, and the excellent provenance, all made it worth the step down. Oh and the price obviously. We saved $100k over the comparable 411 on the market right now. You got yourself a sweet boat.

Ours has Cummins 450hp 8.3 CTA diamond series engines. Engine room access is nowhere near as good as the 411 but certainly just fine on one side of each engine! I'll be getting a lot of maintenance done before our trip home (assuming that's allowed by May/June) .

Speaking for ER work, I tried to swap out the Racor handles with Dent vacuum pressure gauges last night. No luck. Not enough threads caught to tighten them. Bought male to female adapters today so I'll fit those tomorrow night. I hope.

 

[BDofMSP]

Ummm. Did anyone else just notice that I connected the red to the negative and the black to the positive? Maybe I should have tested that before I posted that! Idiot.
BD

 

[Baker]

Well you bought the 411 which was #2 on our wish list! The 410 we bought was #4 but definitely still checked all the boxes. The thrusters, the super nice dinghy with the console, and the excellent provenance, all made it worth the step down. Oh and the price obviously. We saved $100k over the comparable 411 on the market right now. You got yourself a sweet boat.

Ours has Cummins 450hp 8.3 CTA diamond series engines. Engine room access is nowhere near as good as the 411 but certainly just fine on one side of each engine! I'll be getting a lot of maintenance done before our trip home (assuming that's allowed by May/June) .

Speaking for ER work, I tried to swap out the Racor handles with Dent vacuum pressure gauges last night. No luck. Not enough threads caught to tighten them. Bought male to female adapters today so I'll fit those tomorrow night. I hope.

Very nice. I actually found a 411 with 450C Diamonds...quite rare but tickled pink(or white). Quite possibly one of the finest "smaller" marine diesels out there....although I am a bit biased. I swapped out Racor handls with drag gauges....they areon Racor 900s. I dont remember what model but if you need, I can check. I bought on Amazon so I can see history.

 

[Seevee]

Just curious....


I was looking quite seriously at a 411 Meridian. The major deal killer was it didn't have a lower helm. Do any of the Meridians have a lower helm?

 

[BDofMSP]

It was an option but extremely rare. I've only seen one listed and it was west coast.

 

[ranger58sb]

Just curious....

I was looking quite seriously at a 411 Meridian. The major deal killer was it didn't have a lower helm. Do any of the Meridians have a lower helm?

The 540 Pilothouse and the 580 Pilothouse models are listed in the Power Boat Guide, newer designs but successors to the 5288 and 5788 Bayliner models. There was a 490 Meridian Pilothouse, too, but it looks pretty much exactly like a Bayliner 4788, i.e., no styling changes, looks like a straight re-badge.

The PBG also describes the previous Bayliner hulls as fully cored; doesn't mention that about the Meridian models. Specs suggest the 540 and 580 Meridians are much heavier than their predecessor 5288/5788 models, though -- 52 and 59K versus 48 and 49K respectively.

-Chris

 

[Baker]

Just curious....


I was looking quite seriously at a 411 Meridian. The major deal killer was it didn't have a lower helm. Do any of the Meridians have a lower helm?

It was actually a fairly smart solution the way they did it. It was incorporated into the dinette and only took up a small amount of space. There was one recently listed on YW....PNW boat as you would imagine. During this search I found 4(maybe 5) boats for sale with lower helms. All on the W. Coast and two in the PNW. So not as rare as one would think...although rare outside of the west coast.

Edit for a link that I found...this boat also has the 450C....what a treat!!!:
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2006/meridian-411-sedan-3597113/

 

[ranger58sb]

Very nice. I actually found a 411 with 450C Diamonds...quite rare but tickled pink(or white). Quite possibly one of the finest "smaller" marine diesels out there....although I am a bit biased.

I'm surprised to hear the 450Cs might have been rare in a Meridian. Wasn't that all about the Brunswick/Cummins-Mercruiser Diesel tie-up? Would have thought Cummins diesels would be almost all they offered.

?

-Chris

 

[Baker]

I'm surprised to hear the 450Cs might have been rare in a Meridian. Wasn't that all about the Brunswick/Cummins-Mercruiser Diesel tie-up? Would have thought Cummins diesels would be almost all they offered.

?

-Chris

Most certainly!!! It was just rare to have the C series Cummins in the 411. The vast majority are Bs....370Bs to be exact although I have seen some 330B. I have 3 friends with the 370Bs in the boat. It goes pretty well with them. 2600rpm nets about 17 knots. So you are running them a bit hard...although not at MCP. By way of comparison, my Carver with 330Bs at 2400RPM did a solid 18+knots and really wasn't that much lighter.

 

[BDofMSP]

It was actually a fairly smart solution the way they did it. It was incorporated into the dinette and only took up a small amount of space. There was one recently listed on YW....PNW boat as you would imagine. During this search I found 4(maybe 5) boats for sale with lower helms. All on the W. Coast and two in the PNW. So not as rare as one would think...although rare outside of the west coast.

Edit for a link that I found...this boat also has the 450C....what a treat!!!:
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2006/meridian-411-sedan-3597113/

We never even looked at west coast boats so I'm not surprised I missed those. Never saw one outside that area.

 

[BDofMSP]

Figured I'd add the pic of the radar install that I finished yesterday. Had to also replace the mount because the radome sits lower than the open array. Of course there's no way that the two mounts could use the same bolt pattern to the radar arch. Because everything has to be hard.

Plotter finally arrived today and did a quick dry fit of all connections. Everything, including the new AIS, worked - except the autopilot

Haven't even started troubleshooting that yet. Only thing I could think of is that I swapped the two NMEA 0183 wires, but I was pretty careful. I'm sure in the light of day something will come to me.

Either way tomorrow is cutting the dash and mounting and tying up loose ends. Fingers crossed that I have a fully functional nav system by this time tomorrow!

Oh, side note. My wife has spent the past two evenings with a clear vinyl polishing kit trying to clear up some hazing and clouding. I've told her it looks great but it really hasn't changed much at all. Stupid snake oil.

 

[Comodave]

For eisenglass polishing, I have found Sumner 210 spray cleaner/wax is awesome. A canvas guy in Cape May turned me onto it and it did an incredible job on the old clear vinyl on the boat. I had spent hours using Flitz and a drill polishing wheel. Didn’t do much. The 210 took less than an hour and did wonders on the old vinyl. I get it from Amazon.

 

[ranger58sb]

Most certainly!!! It was just rare to have the C series Cummins in the 411. The vast majority are Bs....370Bs to be exact although I have seen some 330B. I have 3 friends with the 370Bs in the boat. It goes pretty well with them. 2600rpm nets about 17 knots. So you are running them a bit hard...although not at MCP. By way of comparison, my Carver with 330Bs at 2400RPM did a solid 18+knots and really wasn't that much lighter.

Ah. Bs more common instead of Cs. Got it.

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

Very nice. I actually found a 411 with 450C Diamonds...quite rare but tickled pink(or white). Quite possibly one of the finest "smaller" marine diesels out there....although I am a bit biased. I swapped out Racor handls with drag gauges....they areon Racor 900s. I dont remember what model but if you need, I can check. I bought on Amazon so I can see history.

The 540 Pilothouse and the 580 Pilothouse models are listed in the Power Boat Guide, newer designs but successors to the 5288 and 5788 Bayliner models. There was a 490 Meridian Pilothouse, too, but it looks pretty much exactly like a Bayliner 4788, i.e., no styling changes, looks like a straight re-badge.

The PBG also describes the previous Bayliner hulls as fully cored; doesn't mention that about the Meridian models. Specs suggest the 540 and 580 Meridians are much heavier than their predecessor 5288/5788 models, though -- 52 and 59K versus 48 and 49K respectively.

Baker, et al...

What IS the Meridian hull construction? Seems odd to see PBG says fully cored. I might expect hull topsides cored above the waterline, but wouldn't have expected coring below the waterline...

?

-Chris

 

[BDofMSP]

OK! So after discussions with Raymarine Tech Support I learned that the "autopilot" function in the MFD only works with their Evolution autopilots. Which doesn't mean that my autopilot can't follow a course on the plotter - it just means that I have to hit "go" on the autopilot instead of the MFD. So according to that, the autopilot PROBABLY is working just fine - I just need to get the boat out to test it.

Last night we cut the HUGE hole in the dash and today I installed. Here are a couple of pics (because it did happen). The radar may need some tuning, but it works great even at super close range. In the one picture (1/8th mile range) you can clearly see the slip directly across from me, and I really like how the targets moving toward me are red and away from me are green. Pretty sweet.

Incredible sense of satisfaction. I've been planning this upgrade for a month (since the day I found the boat) - I love it when a plan comes together.

One more conference call and I'm throwing off the lines and checking that autopilot!

BD

 

[Baker]

Baker, et al...

What IS the Meridian hull construction? Seems odd to see PBG says fully cored. I might expect hull topsides cored above the waterline, but wouldn't have expected coring below the waterline...

?

-Chris

Pretty sure it is solid glass below the waterline. I will do some research to confirm.