Originally Posted by nglauer (Post 45009)

Hope I don't insult anyone.. but as a reminder

Measure ten times, not twice... this is a Mariah!!!..... you may need a small thing of tissues - cause drilling her may make you cry or have cold sweats.

If you have a Whale Tail - quietly remove it before posting "before photo's" to the forum.. or moving onto the next step. Also, you don't want to be "that guy"... the one responsible for giving MikeyT a stroke, high blood pressure, or any other number of debilitating boat picture induced coma's.

Mask the area to be drilled to help stop any spidering of the gelcoat. - also, it's sort of like blind folding your boat so she doesn't know whats about to happen until it's already over.

Reverse your drill and run it slowly allowing the backside of the bit to burn through the exterior gelcoat - then turn the drill the right direction to drill the actual hole (if that made sense lol). Run both directions at a mild pace and check the shavings for moisture etc. (one of my holes actually had water run out... this may be normal but I panicked immediately )

Have some 3M marine adhesive handy (just don't buy a semi expired tube of it like i did - It wouldn't come out with my gun, so I had to slice the side of it and dip it out.. man was that messy.. but it worked and was only $2.00 for a big tube of 4200 and 5200)

Have a pair of pliers, a flat screw driver, a small handsaw, a utility knife, and some stainless staples and a stapler handy in case you have to go all Dexter and cut back any of the bunks on your trailer. (I had to cut two of my bunks so they were flush with the transom - if not they may have interfered with the Smart Tab's when loading/unloading).

Also, have a cooler with your favorite beverage on standbye - not because the installation will take long... but because you'll want to have a cold one while you admire your handy work.. and possibly one of the single best mods you'll ever do to your beloved Mariah!

Originally Posted by rhinoz (Post 45044)

Thanks (sarcasm)..there I was all prepared with tools at the ready, now I'm reaching for some jumbo towels to wipe the sweat off. I think I need another coffee LOL...I'll post my results a pic of my handiwork later on my first attempt to breach the hull :sweat: