270owner

that rotary switch on back of the tachs seems to lose its position over time on my boat -- so, every couple years I need to do the same removal and adjustment -- not difficult, just a bunch of screws to get the dash cover off to get access to back of tach gauge.

I bought all my LEDs from marinebeam.com, and one of their claims is that they are built for marine use, and will not cause RF problems. I've been happy with their products and called their owner who gave a very good explanation to me about why their lights are better (I'm not technical, but he sounded helpful/legit to me).

I run the tv that came with my 2005 270 sig off the dc lighter socket in my galley. tv is flat panel zenith (came with boat new), and it was originally plugged into ac. I noticed the cord to ac had a brick on it, converting ac to 12vdc. So, I just went into junk drawer and found a 12vdc lighter socket adapter cord... and it works! A more electronically-smart friend says I should install some sort of filter, but it's a 15 yr old zenith and it works... my zeniths that came with the boat were wired for cable (input in the transom trunk) and/or arch antenna. I never did get cable to work at a marina... and the built-in DVD in the zenith, or kids' ipads are easier movie solution for the kids than messing around with marina cable for me... I bought cheap digital box that also had a brick and can run off 12vdc -- so it feeds digital signals to my 2005 zenith analog and also plugs into 12vdc lighter socket... As flat panels are cheap these days, I'd consider buying a new flatscreen tv rather than messing with the converter and an extra remote. I would guess some new tvs still have bricks and others only accept AC. I just bought a 49" Samsung for home and its input is cord -- no brick, so no dc option. As one poster suggested, I'd guess you can always get a cheap dc/ac converter since the new tvs don't have a ton of draw.

I've purchased oem replacements from rnr-marine.com. often have specials of 5% off. easy-to-use website can give you their price.

I went with a Garmin echomap 94sv (9" screen, great resolution for mapping, buttons, and included transducer for fishfinder that includes side looking). It was about 900 deer; awesome unit! I've seen them at WestMarine on various sales at different times as low as 7-800 deer. I bought the extra chip for Chesapeake Bay, and it includes all kinds of port info features, including the navigation feature where you just pick destination and it plots the route -- awesome, imho. it's compatible with fusion stereo, though I haven't hooked it up. It can accommodate optional forward scan transducer (expensive transducer -- 1,000 deer?). Only downside to this series is it can't add radar and it doesn't have wifi. For me, these were not an issue, so for me there's no need to upgrade to more expensive units. I'd pick 9" screen or larger -- always helpful to have it bigger in terms of seeing where you're going, context-wise. I've used Raymarine on in-laws sailboat, and it's fine, but I didn't see the route plot feature and my research on the units found they cost a lot more than garmin. I figure I'd rather pay less since this tech changes quickly and I'd rather replace it sooner rather than pay so much that I feel obliged to keep using it 8 yrs from now. Touch screens might be fine, but I prefer buttons. In the salt water, touching the screen all the time would seem to leave a lot of annoying fingerprints on the screen that I'm trying to read. I often need to change map view while in waves, so for me a button is easier to find by feel, while my attention/eyes are on the water ahead. Plus, touchscreen menu takes up screen space along the bottom or side.

I mounted my flagpole on the aft rail behind the aft seat -- the steel flagpole just slides into Taylor Made steel rail mount and thumbscrew keeps it tight. No holes in fiberglass, takes 2 mins to install. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/taylor-made--rail-mount-flag-pole-socket-for-7-8-1-rails--10094282?mrkgcl=481&mrkgadid=3076579609&cm_mmc=PS-_-Google-_-GSC%20-%20Vendors-_-10094282&product_id=10094282&adpos=1o5&creative=108421554364&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgL-TqbDE3AIVRUSGCh2UHgehEAQYBSABEgLzCfD_BwE

might be worth contacting Cecil Marine to see what the Chaparral OEM full vinyl price is. I'm betting it's a lot, but might make you feel better about any future price quotes!!

thanks for your note! I'm headed out today to Annapolis, and planning to stay in Severn River -- good to know that there's debris out in the Bay! Also, thanks for sending the link about beaches/water quality -- I didn't know this existed!

for bcboater, we use a dinghy...

looks great! I've had good luck with marinebeam.com, if you're looking for another source.

I have Magma Chefsmate, mount for rod holder, with an additional plate I crafted of aluminum to hold it outboard of the boat. Chefsmate has fold-out legs, so can be used on shore, too. awesome grill!

my flip up bolsters on 2005 270 sig gave way last year. screws had stripped out of the wood or whatever is underneath the vinyl. I replaced the #10 1inch screws with #12 and/or #14 screws, and it is solid again. Much easier than I feared. #12 was sufficient if screw just worked loose, but in some holes I needed the bigger screws to get it to hold well.

my OEM bimini wobbles a small amount, but makes a lot of noise! so, for me the solution was nylon washers -- quiet as a mouse now!

has anyone found a cooler that fits under the cockpit sink, like the igloo oem arrangement? From just looking at dimensions and design, it seems a yeti, rtic or other hard coolers wouldn't stay put like the igloo that is held in place by handle bracket.

I've spent some time over the years figuring out best arrangement for our crew -- sometimes overnighting for 1 or 2 nights, mostly day. I replaced the original igloo which fits under cockpit sink with a new one, since original was looking beat up and had a sharp edge. New one is called igloo ultra -- better handles but I'm not sure how different... Drinks in this -- using frozen 16oz water bottles to supplement the ice For food, I use a norchill 24-can soft cooler and keep it under table in galley (below, out of sun). Soft cooler is easier to manage down below than hard coolers, imo, given small space down there. I'm going to try the idea of making an ice block from the cascade container, but to-date, I've always just used 16oz frozen water bottles. I tried some of the blue cool packs, but prefer frozen water bottles since we can drink them in the end! Also, I freeze the food beforehand if applicable. https://www.norchillcoolers.com/product/marine-cooler/. norchill has a deal where they give some 25% trade-up discount if you send in a pic of your old cooler; I've not done it, since I've found good promo discounts around holidays.