Wiring the Whaler

    The little Whaler is awesome in its simplest form but I needed some updates to make it suite my needs. One of the main things was the anchor light. I had purchased a battery-operated clamp-on style light to get me through my Bear Island trip in October. all-in-all it was way too short and I had to rig it to clamp it on. The previous owner gave me a standard anchor light with the boat so I purchased a receptacle to accept it and fabricated it onto the boat. I would have loved the original style light and may swap it out one day, but they are way more than I want to spend on a light right now.

    Of course, I had to get my Helix sorted out as well. I went ahead and put that on a switch as well. I bought a transom block and mounted that as well as a new transducer. (I am using the original transducer on my G3 with a splitter into the Helix 9). I took the boat out with my bubby (previous owner) and got ok readings but I feel they could be better. I think part of the problem is the transom is curved and that cocks the transducer a bit. I suspect it will only really affect readings while moving along.

 

    Of course, I needed a way to charge my phone and run 12-volt accessories so I installed a lighter plug. I may change this out later for a USB lighter combo.

    On the trip in October, we got a bunch of rain overnight and I had to hand bail water from the boat so I installed a small bilge pump. I just ran flex hose to the back and zip tied that on. My goal has always been to have a few holes as possible.

    Lastly, I put in green LEDs for night fishing and white lights for seeing in the dark.

    All of this is tied into a 6 gang switch box and a ground lug. The only thing I do not really like is the red light that glows constantly while connected to the battery. I will either put a switch on the battery to turn off power to it or go in and disable the light.

    I put this over on my Facebook Group page but not here so I will include it now.....

   I added some rod holders and I also moved the fire extinguisher under the front hatch. I wanted the hatch to have more weight so I would have to worry less about it blowing off going down the road.

I went with two since three would have been tight.

I added the YETI opener as well.

    FYI, YETI clip-on accessories for the coolers fit the side clamps like a glove. You can hang the cup holders or the cooler rod holders right on. They fit nice and tight. You could screw them down if you were concerned with theft.

    I think the last thing I want to do is get a battery box for the battery and I will be done.... for now....

Got Wood?

    I got the new wood interior installed in Lil' Salty today. Overall it is not a hard job. Once you get the holes spaced out and drilled, the rest goes pretty smooth.
    Normally everything would sit about a foot forward from where I put it but since this is a tiller steer boat I moved it all back.

Here is the before picture. There were two thick, warped boards just laying in the boat. I would have to put them in the truck when towing to prevent them from flying out. I'm not sure they would but better safe than sorry!

Here is everything all mocked up before I started drilling any holes.

Here is the completed project. I have not mounted the fish finder yet. I just have the cover for effect.

Close up of the console...

    The console would normally hold the steering wheel. I wanted the console so I could mount my fish finder and maybe a phone holder. The wood looks so good I am going to hate to drill into it!



Now I have an urge to take it to the lake!