bhrickard

Well I figure its time to get the pics of the boat with the tower posted, sorry again for the delayed post but I've been too busy enjoying the boat.

Boat looks great!! I also used the 3M material for the graphics on my boat and have not had any issues for two seasons now, it may come off tomorrow but I've been super pleased with it so far.

Thanks again for all the positive reply's!! I talked with Jordan @ h20sportswarehouse.com yesterday about the Aerial K2 tower. And looks like it will finally be available in black powder-coat come late April. I've been patently waiting and hoping that they would offer it in black. I hope the pre-order list isn't too long.

@ DFR, sorry for the late reply but my bimini is one I ordered from sunbrella, hope it still helps and again sorry for the delayed response.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and information others have shared on this thread. I'm hoping to get my tower ordered this winter as of now I'm leaning towards the Aerial K2 tower, I've been holding out thinking they might offer it in black power-coat. I have a few more little things I'd like to do to it over the winter; Interior lighting(1/2" plexi-glass back lit with LED's) under ski lockers, seats and open-bow wrap around, underwater transom lights, fat sacs, and of course the tower. And as for how satisfied I am with the boat thus far, I couldn't be happier, I mean I don't have push button ballast, or perfect pass, but the entire family can fit comfortably and we tried our best to wear the thing out this summer, we had it out every weekend. I have had Zero problems, other than loading it on the trailer which I finally figured it out, turns out loading an inboard was nothing like an outboard, and I wasn't backing the trailer deep enough into the water. The paint holds up a lot better than I'd originally thought it would, but it does requires more attention than the original gel coat, the interior gets warmer than I thought it would be but I went with Wake Doc's advice and keep a spray bottle with ice water and it does the trick. And as for gas this thing is awesome no joke I expected it to keep my pocket book cleaned out for me, but I'm very surprised with how great it does just cruising around, and its not bad pulling tubes and boards either. All in all I'm very satisfied with it, it was a true budget build yet I don't go to the river with out someone asking me if I'd sell it, or wanting to check it out, but more importantly the whole family enjoys getting to go out and play on the weekends, plus my 5yr daughter was able to get up and ski all by herself on her "big girl" trainer skis.

Here are a couple shots I took when I got home from the graphics shop, which I highly reccomend!

kriskussee, nice link with a lot of usefull information that I could have probably used, but thats what this was all about hopefully someone else like vdriven and others can learn from this thread and maybe save their pocket book a little money, I'd much rather spent money on a tower than a paint job, however my faded gel coat wasn't my main problem it was the stain from their boat house that had been spilled on the boat. I wish I'd taken more detailed photos at the beginning so I could post them, but I wasn't really planning on needing them.

Desoto, the reason for not just sanding and buffing is the shop that I'd taken the boat to tried to sand the stain from the boathouse out of the gelcoat but it had apparently absorbed the stain, they sanded as deep as they felt comfortable and called me to come check it out before they went futher because the stain was still evident. Now wither they could have went deeper with the sanding I'm not sure, as I've mentioned before this is my first rodeo and I went with the professional's opinion, now was it an honest opinion?? They seem to be honest people, but from a $400 sand and buff to a $2500 paint job they could put on a good front, but they do not have a reputation for doing that, and they do a lot of boats however they're mostly big boats. I told them I wanted to keep the boat and wanted an opinion on which would be the best for the long haul and they assured me that going with the two part exopy style paint would be more than durable enough to last for years with out issues, where the gel coat would be more hassle. As for the interior, I got a feeling it will get a little more warm that I'd thought it would be while I was in the upholstery shop picking it out, I liked the look of the charcoal and I didn't have my interior with me to compare the difference of my original gray to the charcoal, and he had some of the charcoal left from a big job he'd just finished, so it was also going to save me some cash also.

I finally got around to installing my new interior and carpet all the gauges are back in also, I still lack graphics, tower and LED lights. Here are a few of the pictures I took when I finished installing the interior. I'm ready to have this thing in the water!! I plan to de-winterize it this week, and change the oil again and trans fluid, all that good stuff.

I've been looking into the Aerial Assault and the Freeboard also, but I'm kinda in the same boat you are as to not knowing feedback from people who've already tried them out. Good thread, hope you get more input, I'll like to use some of the advice myself.

I finally found a little time to work on the boat this weekend, I got the floor prepped for carpet also got my bumprail on, dash installed with some of the gauges, and picked up my interior from the shop. I'm excited too get this project under my belt, but trying not to get in a hurry and cut corners.

Sorry for the abandoned thread I've had a couple additions to the family and the boat has taken the back burner for past couple weeks. But I'm now the proud father of two little girls and a new baby boy!I guess I will start back on the boat as soon as things calm down on the home front a little. Promise to post pics asap. and the fact that I traded my waverunner off for a Aprilia SXV supermoto hasn't helped production much either, lol.

Don't be afraid to rock the teak, just make sure to keep the terminix on it to keep the termites out.

Here's the pic of the graphics I'm looking to have made, I think I'll end up going with the first one, the second looks too much like the 2007 Tornado's.