Adam Lynch’s dash panel project started the way most big boat projects do — with a smaller boat project. His wife had bought him a new VHF radio as a gift, and it was too big to fit in the same cutout as the old VHF. “So,” Lynch says, “I decided that instead of just cutting a bigger hole, the prudent thing to do was just rearrange everything.” The result was a major aesthetic and functional upgrade to the console face of his Sailfish 218 CC.
The Project Boat
Lynch purchased the 2010 Sailfish center console about five years ago in Jacksonville. The previous owner was an avid angler, but Lynch and his wife, who have an eight-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, use the boat mainly for family cruising on the intracoastal waters of east-central Florida. They also occasionally trailer to the Gulf Coast, especially to scallop.
A longtime DIYer who also likes working on cars and home renovation projects, Lynch had already made a few upgrades to the boat, including designing and installing a clever storage box recessed into the top of the console and adding an enlarged door inside the console to improve access to the back of the dash area.
The existing dash area consisted of a large fiberglass electronics mounting panel with a dark gray faux wood panel below. The primary electronics displays, a pair of 8” keyed-interface Garmins, were flush-mounted to port in the main panel along with the VHF.. Engine gauges, switches, and the audio head unit were mounted in the lower panel.
The Planning Phase
So why didn’t Lynch just cut a bigger opening for the new VHF? Mainly because he thought he could make the console layout both more ergonomic and nicer looking.
After looking at numerous custom dash configurations on Sailfish owners’ forums, he started drawing plans for different layouts. “I was thinking in terms of the flow and symmetry,” Lynch says, “that nice clean look.”
After looking at numerous custom dash configurations on Sailfish owners’ forums, Lynch started drawing plans.
In terms of function, Lynch’s biggest complaint with the existing dash was the location of the engine gauges, just in front of the wheel.
That made them difficult to see while running the boat when the wheel was in the wrong position.
It also meant reaching around or through the wheel to switch modes.
The layout Lynch finally settled on places the two engine gauges on the main electronics panel between the Garmin displays, where they’re easier to see and operate. The audio head unit is just below the gauges — also readily accessible. The Garmins are positioned symmetrically, improving aesthetics. A single row of 10 toggle switches replaces the previous stacked rows of four switches each. The new VHF, which triggered the whole project, is mounted low on the starboard side.
The Build Process
Lynch’s initial plan was to cut the new panels himself. He even bought acrylic sheets from his local big box store and shaped plywood templates. But while he was working on the templates, he started having second thoughts. “I realized that if I wanted it to really look professional,” he says, “my driveway cut job wasn’t going to work. I saw pictures of a lot of DIY jobs that looked good but didn’t look great. I was also thinking about resale value down the road.”
So he contacted Boat Outfitters to see what would be involved in getting the panels cut professionally on a CNC machine. When the quote came back, it made the choice easy.
“It was a no-brainer,” Lynch says. Although the price was obviously more than he would have spent cutting the panels himself, Lynch also factored in opportunity cost.
Every hour he spent in the driveway was an hour he couldn't spend boating with family. Plus, he reasoned, there was still plenty for him to do installing the panels, the electronics, and the switches.
With the decision made to have the panels pre-cut, the next step was delivering cardboard templates to Boat Outfitters for digitizing.
Lynch lives within an hour of Boat Outfitters and was able to visit in person and talk through the design with project managers. But customers in other areas can send in templates and refine their designs remotely.
Material and Mounting Choices
Custom dash panels can be made from acrylic in various colors and finishes as well as from Starboard. Acrylic is generally preferred, since it flexes less than Starboard. Starboard is a good choice if there aren’t large openings in the fiberglass or aluminum behind the panel. But with large cutouts, the extra rigidity of acrylic is advantageous.
Gloss black acrylic is the most common choice for custom panels, but matte black is growing quickly in popularity
Gloss black acrylic is the most common choice for custom panels, but matte black is growing quickly in popularity with both DIYers and boat builders.
Although matte costs somewhat more, it has several advantages. It cuts glare and doesn’t show fingerprints, smudges or water spots as much as gloss. Lynch went with matte for those reasons, as well as a personal aesthetic preference for matte finishes.
For mounting, Lynch chose hidden studs. A clean, minimalist look was important to him, and stud mounting hides the fasteners completely. “It was a little more work,” he says, “but the way it came out in the end was exactly what I wanted.”
The Installation
Actually installing the panels was relatively easy, Lynch says. Stud-mount panels are generally supplied with CNC-cut plywood templates — basically exact plywood copies of the actual panel with hole locations marked. The customer then positions the plywood template where they want the panel and drills the mounting holes right through the template and into the console. “The templates were-spot-on,” says Lynch. With the holes drilled, the panel is put in place and then the fasteners are installed from the back.
Stud-mount panels are supplied with exact plywood copies of the actual panel with holes locations marked.
One peculiarity of this particular project was the fiberglass overhang above the lower panel. Boat Outfitters engineers determined that the overhang would make it difficult or impossible to get the panel in place with the mounting studs already installed and protruding from the back of the panel. So the panels were shipped without the studs in place, allowing Lynch to position the panels and then install the studs himself from the back.
The Results
As soon as the new panels were in place, Lynch installed all the electronics and wiring needed to run the boat. That involved extending the wiring harnesses for the engine gauges and some additional rearranging, all of which was made much easier by the larger access door he had previously installed. He’s still working to complete wiring on some of the switches for non-essential accessories.
The console not only looks better but makes it easier and safer to operate the boat.
Overall, Lynch is very happy with both the experience and the outcome. The console not only looks better but makes it easier and safer to operate the boat.
“Throughout the entire process,” he says, “everyone I talked to or collaborated with was very professional, understood my vision, and did what they could to make it happen.”
But what about his wife, whose gift of a new radio had the unintended consequence of launching the whole dash makeover? “She likes it too,” Lynch says. “She loves doing crafts and woodworking, so she understands the excitement and why I wanted to do it myself.”