Just when I thought I was done fixing stuff....

[GoVols]

My mini blinds in my hallway broke the other weekend! And, like any typical boat related breakage, there's no easy fix because it is 1 of 4 total matching blinds in the hallway, so if 1 is replaced, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb. I tried to fix the blinds myself to no avail. Next, I searched for a professional to fix them; again no success. In typical expensive fashion, I succumbed to the inevitable and bought 4 new sets of blinds. Never a dull moment!

[Stmbtwle]

Yeah I know. My depthsounder just went south after 10 years. Of course the new one though the same brand will NOT fit the old mount nor use the old transducer.

[GoVols]

My lower helm depth sounder was missing the transducer when I bought my boat. Thankfully the upper helm's works b/c that's where I always drive the boat from anyway. I dread the day I need to replace that thing b/c the wire runs clear from the front of the boat all the way to the back and sits all the way at the bottom of my pontoon. I don't even know how to get a wire long enough to make that run!

[Fork-lift-king]

I also have a pontoon houseboat that I fabricated a transducer mount at the FRONT of the pontoons. It is spring mounted and works fine. No problems in the last 2 years. It is mounted about 4 feet from the front of the pontoon.

[Stmbtwle]

Well for me it's a simple matter of crawling around in the bilge, knocking the old transducer loose and gluing in the new one. Still something I'd just as soon not have to do. And of course the new "head" mount is smaller and won't cover the screw holes from the old one. GRRRR!

[GoVols]

I found the replacement parts to fix the dumb blinds that broke, but getting them sit and function correctly is darn near impossible. A blinds repairman would charge me $60 to fix them when they only cost ~$30 new. I looked around and found a good sale on some nicer cloth cell style blinds and ended up buying 4 new sets of blinds. I'll post some before and after pics when I'm able to hang the new ones.

[GoVols]

Here's a side-by-side picture of new (left) and old (right). It's hard to tell the difference from the picture, but the new shades look much nicer and more refined than the old 1" aluminum blinds. Since the the new ones have a solid fabric from top to bottom, they help keep the cold drafts down in the hallway.

Mounting them took some engineering work on my part due to the encasement around each window. Once I figured the 1st one out, the other 3 went up in no time.

I'm pretty happy with them.

[Stmbtwle]

Busy repairing dry rot in the superstructure, now that the rains have finally stopped.