Finn-Tastic Home
2009
Most recent activity displays first...
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Oct. 25, 2009
Finn-Tastic is winterized and under cover for the remainder of the season. Check back in the spring of 2010 for updates... thanks for joining me on this journey!
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Sept. 26, 2009
Well, it's nice to post fishing information for a
change instead of boat updates... although...
Lenny and I got a late start on Saturday morning, which was OK because it was
pretty chilly - my thermometer said 39 degrees when I woke up.
We both rode down to South Yarmouth and planned to launch at the Bass River ramp
and run down to the typical albie spots. The forecast was calling for N to NE
winds 5-10mph, but I took one look at the Sound and didn't trust it. Good
thing.
We opted to trailer to Great River in Mashpee and run out through Waquoit Bay.
Once through the jetties, I opened her up and something sounded funny. The
motor had a varied high pitch. Hmmm.... 5000rpms but only 21mph...??? Ran
great at lower RPMs, but under load, it whined.
Spun prop hub... bummer. I suspect the hub dried out while sitting for so long
before I bought it.
So, we kept it under 3000rpms and looked for fish, but that entire area was
DEAD. Cell phone calls to other friends on the water confirmed the same from
areas like Wianno, Centerville, and Poppy. I think that front that moved
through on Friday really put the fish down.
Len and I packed it in and trailered home, but it was a gorgeous blue day out
there, so no regrets. I pulled the prop when we got back and NE Propeller in
Plymouth said they could press in a new hub for $90, and turn it around in 1-2
days. Not bad.
As a side note, my plan is to fish through Columbus Day, then drag the boat to
Newport to have the bottom paint taken off by soda blasting. Then, I'll start
the arduous task of buffing out that gelcoat to the original white.
2009 - Not a good year for fishing.
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Sept. 12-14, 2009
2009
McGovern Classic - Waquoit Weekend - Washburn Island
Each year, my brothers and I spend a weekend of freshwater fishing together
along, with a few choice friends.
This year, the 23rd
Annual McGovern Classic was held at a new saltwater venue: Washburn Island on
Waquoit Bay. Most
of the crew braved the torrential thunderstorms and headed down on Friday to set
up camp.
By all accounts, the rainy trip across the bay to the camp
in 12’ aluminum boats loaded with gear and firewood was “sporty” against a stiff
east wind.
Our longtime family friend Scott Bradley of
Tide Hunter
Charters motored over in his 22’ Triton center console with Deion and Butch,
who fly in for the event each year from Oklahoma.
On Saturday afternoon, I trailered Finn-Tastic down
in the rain from South Yarmouth and met up with the gang.
From that point forward, I was
sand-covered and wet until I went home on Monday night.
Saturday was a complete washout, and we sat around the fire under a tarp eating,
imbibing, and catching up.
Having
a brother who is an executive chef certainly has its advantages.
Later we watched band after band of thunderstorms
pop up on live radar feeds to Butch’s iPhone.
That brought out the Tullamore
Dew, straight from Ireland.
Sunday morning showed a promise of clearing skies, but not before one last
sneaky dousing as we prepped for fishing.
We launched late morning and found a wall of boats
stacked up at the mouth of the Waquoit jetties, looking for false albacore.
I never even stopped to check out the action – my
game plan was to stay clear of the fleet.
I had my oldest brother Tom and my brother Paul on
board, along with Tom’s lifelong friend Bob.
My goal for the weekend was to hook each of them up
with their first false albacore.
We ran east of the jetties, and found a small slashing pod
within five minutes.
Five more minutes later, Tom hooked up with an
albie on a 6” silver metallic
RonZ and it was off to
the races.
There were some tense moments during the fight, but Tom
hung tough and we boated a nice fat albie a ½ mile from the nearest boat.
I’m guessing it weighed
somewhere around 8lbs.
The action died off shortly after that as the tide went slack, so we headed west
to one of my favorite hardtail spots.
The small, sparse pods actually turned out to be a
blessing in disguise, as the small amount of action wasn’t enough to attract
birds, which kept the boats away.
Once the tide turned, the random slashing returned,
and Bob’s line went tight on another RonZ.
A short time later, Bob landed
another one, roughly the same size as the other two.
These fish were keyed in on VERY SMALL (1”-1.5”) bay anchovies and butterfish,
yet they smashed the 6” RonZ – go figure.
There
were dozens of anchovies and butterfish on the deck after the fight.
Tom rounded out the day with a
tiny black sea bass, and all fish were released unharmed and healthy.
Waquoit Bay looked like a mirror when we woke up on Monday morning, but the
first task was to pack out and clean the campsite.
By the time everything was back on the mainland,
the crew lost interest in fishing.
I talked my brothers Paul and
Marty into going out for an hour or so, and we ran out the Childs River and into
a stiff southwest wind.
Spotting fish was difficult, but within minutes I found a small pod in front of
South Cape Beach, and Paul and Marty both hooked fish immediately.
Marty’s fish turned out to be a bluefish, while
Paul’s line screamed out towards the Vineyard.
Paul has been a bit cursed when it comes to
saltwater fishing, so the fight was intense.
There were a lot of high fives
when the albie finally came aboard, and it was roughly the same size as the
others we landed.
In the end, we ended up with four albies, one bluefish, and one black sea bass,
and all three of my brothers landed fish.
The boat ran very well and handled the conditions
beautifully.
With the exception of the rain, the McGovern
Classic 2009 was a success.
Click the Gallery button for a slideshow of the weekend
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Sept. 7, 2009
Tuna Hunting with Greg
Today is the day when we take our annual family photo on
the beach for our Christmas cards, so I sucked it up and headed to the beach
with the family around 9:30am.
When we arrived, Vineyard Sound was like GLASS
without a breath of wind, and I could hardly wait for the photos to be over.
Back at the house, I made the
call:
Chuckster:
“Hey, whattaya doin’?”
Greg:
“What are YOU doing?”
Chuckster:
“It’s like glass… let’s go”
Greg:
“I’ll be there in 20 minutes – let’s go find tuna.”
Remember the issue where I couldn’t get the new 4208 to power up?
Why, you ask?
Because I (Mr. Know-it-all technical writer) did
not READ THE MANUAL!
The GPS requires a 12-volt feed to the unit AND a
12-volt feed to the network.
My knee-jerk reaction was to avoid feeding two
sources of power to one device.
Note to self: RTFM, you bonehead.
Not to worry – the guys on The
Hull Truth set me straight.
So, Greg and I wired up the GPS, and within a few minutes we were running north
across Cape Cod Bay at 44.2 mph, headed for Provincetown.
The bay was flat and the boat ran flawlessly.
I send my thanks again to Paul
at Ipswich Outboards for his work on the outboard.
The RPM gauge does seem to work, and it topped out at only 5200 RPMs at WOT,
with a half-tank of gas and 2 guys.
The manual recommends 5500 RPMs, and my friend and
fellow Stratos owner Kevin White suspects I may be over-propped with a 19-pitch,
3-blade prop.
He has a stainless 17-pitch,
4-blade prop that I’ll do a test run with and we’ll check the numbers again.
The gas gauge doesn’t seem to be working, so I’ll have to investigate further to
see what’s going on there.
As for fishing, we found tuna around Fishing Ledge, just south of P-town, but
they wanted nothing we offered.
We headed into Wood End and the surrounding rips
for stripers and blues but came up empty there as well.
We ran into more tuna on the way back, but no dice.
It didn’t matter much to me because I was so
pleased with the boat’s performance and so intrigued by the new Garmin 4208.
Greg was just happy to be on the water, so it all
worked out, despite the fishing.
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Sept 6, 2009 - Labor Day Shakedown
Finn-Tastic Officially Hits the Water!!
After battling with my conscience, I
decided to get this thing in the water!
My friend Greg from Chicago was visiting his home on Cape Cod
and he was itching to fish.
He’s been jabbing me about spending too much time
fixing the boat and not enough time using it.
So, I caved in and decided to give it a go with a
short shakedown cruise from Sesuit Harbor.
I called Lenny to come down
for the maiden voyage; I wanted him there since he made the long pickup trip with me to South
Carolina.
We gassed her up with only 42.5 gallons (half tank) to check the function of the
new Wema sending unit.
I thought it would be a good idea to run the motor
back at the house to prime the fuel lines and warm the engine.
I used dual-feed earmuffs, but the temperature
alarm sounded after a few minutes.
I remembered Dale Hubbard warning me that even the
dual-feed muffs cannot supply enough water to keep that motor happy, and it will
trigger an alarm.
So, we launched anyway, and motored out of Sesuit
once the alarm reset itself.
The temp gauge in the dash is
wacky and pins at mid-throttle, but I trusted the motor alarm more than that old
gauge, and pressed on.
Seas were 1-2’ with a decent breeze and she handled nicely.
The hydraulic steering takes a little getting used
to, but soon it should be second nature. We only ran a few miles out in front of
Dennis/Brewster because it was late afternoon and I didn’t want to push my luck.
I checked the bilge frequently and tried to check
some performance numbers, but most of the gauges don’t work and the GPS hasn’t
been hooked up yet.
We did cast a few lines but that was
just a formality, so we headed back in as happy men.
Greg offered to jump off at one of the docks and
snap some pics of the event:
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Aug 29-30, 2009
I finally got a bilge pump delivered that wasn’t smashed (long story), and
getting that installed with a new float switch was priority number one today.
I opted for a Johnson 2200 GPH pump in place of the
Rule 1500 GPH, for roughly the same price and it’s only slightly larger.
I also decided against the traditional lever float
switch and used the Johnson sensor switch instead.
It was simple to wire and it piggybacks on the pump
itself, so there are two less screw holes in my bilge.
Installing the 1-1/8” bilge discharge
hose wasn’t easy through the round access hatches, and installing the short
1-1/2” livewell overflow hose was a downright mother*%#&%.
A
heat gun and a lot of swearing helped finish the job.
I still need to find a sturdy rectangular hatch to
replace those two round hatches.
Next up was the temporary fuel access
panel…
First, I cut the hole for the new 8” Rabud pry-out access
hatch, drilled all of the mounting holes, and then epoxied the entire panel with
Raka epoxy (which I like very much BTW).
After it cured, I gave it a light sanding and a
coat of West Marine non-skid paint.
Done
While everything was drying, I shifted my focus to wiring the GPS, which didn’t
go so well and I ran out of time.
I can’t get it to power up along with the network,
so it’ll have to wait. I also discovered a bit of bad news: both of the
plastic thru-hulls that drain the deck are cracked, which is a little unnerving.
They sit below the waterline, so if one breaks, I'm sunk - literally. I'm
not a big fan of plastic or Marelon fittings, so I was planning to replace them
anyway. I'll order some stainless thru-hulls with scuppers and install
them when this season is over.
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August 22-23, 2009
Family commitments, construction projects, and vacations
have kept me away from the boat for a while but I was back at it again this
weekend. This summer is slipping away fast, and if I'm lucky enough to
launch this year, it won't be long til I have to wrap her up for the winter.
It's a bit depressing, but an ounce of prevention...
The previously mentioned Rule bilge pump was smashed during shipping - not once,
but twice. Both have been sent back and I'm now waiting for a Johnson 2200
GPM pump from a different vendor. This will be coupled with a
non-mechanical sensor-type float switch as the primary bilge setup. During
the off-season, the existing Rule 1500 and the new Rule float switch will be
step-mounted as a high-water backup, and I'll probably throw in a high-water
alarm unit as well.
The first order of this day was to fabricate the new temporary fuel tank access
hatch that sits behind the helm. I trimmed out a piece of 5-ply 3/4"
tongue-and-groove underlayment, and a piece of 1/2" ply, then sandwiched it with Raka epoxy and glass mat to achieve the stiffness needed, and to meet the deck
thickness. I did some creative SkilSaw work to form a tab that accepts the
remainder of the existing hatch inside the console (see pics).
The
Dremel Multi-Max is the perfect tool for cutting glass skins, and
it made short work of the jagged skin under that existing hatch. The
variety of blades really help to get into some tricky spots. My only
complaint is that the motor gets HOT, and I had to shut it down a couple of times to
prevent another flaming power tool incident.
While the epoxy on the hatch was curing, I used the remainder of the batch to fill the bored-out transom holes with epoxied
hardwood plugs. These old holes were from the swim platform and the old transducer.
Although all of the holes were less than 1/4" in diameter, I bored them out to 1/2" to get to clean core.
I then moved on to mounting the electronics up inside the
box. First, I scrubbed the entire box clean, then cut some rubberized
shelf liner. Once again, this is another area where the work is temporary.
This box will eventually be sandblasted and painted this winter, and a Starboard
panel will be built for flush mounting the VHF and stereo.
Finally,
I mounted the new T-bag PFD storage bag, and it's a nice addition to the top -
although I dislike the big white "T-Bag" lettering all over it. Wish they
made a plain black version. It holds 4 adult Type I PFDs.
Here's this week's pics:
On deck for next weekend (barring
impending Tropical Storm Danny) is to:
~ glass, paint, and install the fuel access hatch
~ wire the 4208 and test it out
~ trim out and glass up the new core section for the leaning post, then
re-install it.
~ dump some gas in and FIRE IT UP!
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August 9, 2009
No work this weekend since we stayed on this side of the
Canal, but some new parts and accessories were delivered this weekend and are
waiting to go aboard:
~Rule 1500 bilge pump
~Rule float switch
~T-Bag t-top PFD storage bag
~2-1/2" x 24 winch strap
~Cabelas 2XL drift sock with float harness
~100s of new 316 stainless nuts, bolts, and screws from
McMaster Carr
I tried out a friend's Dremel MultiMax oscillating
tool for cutting fiberglass and gelcoat, and I was impressed. I picked one
up this weekend and we'll see how it carves up that soggy access hatch.
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August 1, 2009
Only managed to sneak one lazy day of work in this weekend
due to family commitments, but it was fun to spend the day one-on-one with my
little guy on Sunday.
Started off the day by mounting the two new antennas on the t-top. The
original installation was not performed correctly back in the day; you simply do
not mount clamshell vents on a 1/4" aluminum t-top plate with 1" self=tapping
screws. I had to drill them out and replace them with machine screws and Nylok nuts. Once they were out, I spun on the Digital Antenna 4' black
antenna on the starboard side, and the bran' spankin' new Garmin GPS-17 antenna
on the port side.
I was pretty impressed by the NMEA connections for the Garmin 4208... pretty
cool and this unit is a far cry from my old grayscale Garmin 162. However,
that little 162 never let me down and always got me home. The 4208 has
some little shoes to fill...
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July 25-26, 2009
Juice... we have JUICE!
This Saturday's task was to cut that flexing access hatch at the helm.
I've been procrastinating about this, mainly because I had planned to cut the
hatch with my Ryobi (Dremel-type) multi-tool. That tool promptly
crackled, smoked, and then literally burst into flames two weeks ago as I cut
the bottom skin of the rotted leaning post - it was clearly not up to the task.
For this hatch surgery, I opted for a simple Norton 3" abrasive cut-off wheel
for the main cut, and my elderly Makita "mini-Sawzall" to finish the corners.
The end result is remarkably straight and smooth; I took my time, kept a steady
hand, and it paid off.
The hatch core was absolutely soaked! It weighed a ton, and nasty brown
water leaked out immediately. I scraped out the remaining couple inches of
core up against the stepped-up section, and it was just a pile of mushy pulp.
The short-term plan is to build up and glass a piece of 3/4" ply, then paint it
with some non-skid. The long-term plan is to cut the bottom skin away from
the original hatch, and re-core
it with a tabbed edge to accept the section inside the console. The tab
will serve as a receiver for a row of screws.
Sunday was a big day... we now have JUICE aboard!
Once the hatch had been cut away successfully, I turned my efforts back to the
wiring system. The previous owner had done something wacky with the leads
from the outboard, but I rewired everything back into the battery switch (a
Guest 1-2-Both-Off config.). Once everything tested out OK for
continuity on the multimeter, it was time to drop in the new batteries.
Bear in mind, all of this battery-related work is temporary; everything
will be rewired this winter when I move the batteries up into the console.
But for now, they'll stay put in the stern boxes. I mounted the new
battery brackets as far forward as possible for weight distribution, then
remounted the oil reservoir with clear access to the Racor for changing the
filter.
Once everything was hooked up, it was time to
throw the switch...
Surprisingly, nothing blew up. In fact, most things worked out fine: horn,
tilt/trim, bilge pump, livewell fill pump, anchor light, and power to the
sub-panel up inside the electronics box. The washdown pump and livewell
discharge pump have been removed. The bow nav light doesn't work, so I'll
have to address that before I splash. Getting the fuel and electrical
systems up and running is a huge leap for me, and I'm stoked to get this baby in
the water. Cosmetics will come later.
Check out the pics - the boat's namesake has been spending some time aboard
lately, playing pirate with things like bilge hose, pull line, and the
telescoping boat hook.
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July 19, 2009
Back at it again...Today's plan was to wrap up the fuel
system and move on to the battery system.
I sleeved the new fuel lines for chafe protection and secured them in the bilge,
which was no easy task through the 8" round access plates. Lots of cuts,
bruises, scraped knuckles, and some epic swearing. I'm currently looking
for a nice, sturdy rectangular hatch to replace the two useless round deck
plates.
The lines were piped into the new Racor, and the sending unit wires were
connected to the gauge wiring. I used my new favorite connectors for the
wiring - Raychem SolderGrip connectors. They're clear connectors made of
thick heat-shrink material with a ring of solder in the center. Put the
two wires in, overlap the stripped ends inside the sleeve, hit it with a heat
gun, and the solder ring melts while the heat-shrink makes everything
watertight... way cool. The connectors were then covered with two
additional staggered layers of heat-shrink material, and the entire line was
covered with split coil for chafe protection. Revamp Fuel System: DONE.
Time was tight, so I was only able to pull and secure the cables for battery #2
through the bilge - also sleeved against chafing. I scraped all remaining
knuckles and fabricated some new interesting words while contorting myself to
remove the ShureFlo washdown pump, which looked like it suffered some sort of
blunt force trauma inside the port stern box, next to the new Racor. Then
it was time to dry-fit the new Garmin 4208... looks like I may mount it in the
electronics box temporarily, then design a new dash using black Starboard.
That's definitely a winter project, but it was nice to see that new unit on the
boat!
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July 11-12, 2009...
Installation has begun!
Well, I did still "remove" stuff this weekend as well... I removed old wires, grease, and bad gas!
Then the installation began, starting first with something
that's sorta important - the fuel system!
I pumped out the 4 gallons of gas/PRI-G mix that had been sitting for a week,
and almost moved on, but noticed a little more debris in the tank. I
rigged up a siphon with an old fuel line and bulb, and managed to pump out the
half gallon of crap shown above. Just plain nasty... the bottom layer is a
thick, rusty goo, but I feel confident
that I got 99% of it out before the new installation began.
I installed the new Wema sending unit first, and that went very smoothly.
I prepped the Racor ahead of time, and spent a LOT of time cleaning the
port stern box where it will live - it was filthy. It's sparkling
now, with the exception of a stubborn rust stain from the port stern eye (I'll
get it off there somehow).
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July 9th, 2009...
The Garmin 4208 arrived today! It's BIG!
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July 5th, 2009...
More progress...
After a 4th of July weekend full of
music (The Lemonheads at the Wellfleet Beachcomber), fireworks (Chapin
Beach), parades (Chatham), and other family commitments, I had
Sunday all to myself. The plan: uncover the boat, put the Sox on the
radio, and get intimate with the bilge.
Here's a quick list of what I tackled this weekend:
~ Rinsed the fuel tank with a 4-gallon mixture of fresh gas
and PRI-G. Letting it sit for a few days to dislodge any sediment.
~ Removed the wiring for the old transducer, radio, GPS, and
GPS antenna. Pulled in a new set of pull-lines for new installation.
~ Removed the rotted 1-1/2" reinforced discharge line for the
livewell.
~ Removed the rotted 1-1/8" reinforced bilge pump line, and
cleaned the Rule 1500 GPH pump and float switch.
~ Removed the battery cables so I can install new terminals
and heat-shrink. Left a pull-line.
~ Prepped the gunwale rod racks by removing some sections of
foam that were blocking the cutouts.
~ Removed the rust stains on the transom from the old swim
platform. Used MaryKate On/Off, then a ScotchBrite, then a quick wetsand.
~ Re-installed the combing pads and the front cooler seat and
backpad.
~ Spent a good 2 hours on my stomach trying to clean a 1/4"
thick layer of grease and oil out of the bilge, through an 8" round deck plate.
Not fun.
You'll notice that the recurring word
here is "removed"... I hope to be using the word "installed" a lot more from now
on. Cleaning the bilge was essential because I needed to see exactly what
I was dealing with down there. Replacing the rotted bilge pump and livewell
lines were crucial for safety reasons. I'll check the integrity of the
thru-hulls next.
The battery cables will just get a quick fix for now, then they'll be replaced
this winter when I move the batteries out of the stern boxes and up into the
console. The plan is to install new cables and a Blue Sea battery bank
management system. New battery hold-down brackets are waiting for the
install.
Moving the batteries out of the stern boxes accomplishes two things: (1) it
keeps them dry, and (2) it takes some significant weight off the outside edges
of the ass-end and places it in the in the center and centerline of the hull.
Logic says this should improve the ride.
And, at the request of my wife, I've installed a head in the console:
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June 30th, 2009...
Today is a good day! The budget committee (a.k.a.
my wife) approved a new
Garmin 4208 GPS Chartplotter just in time to take advantage of Garmin's $200
rebate. This is a sweet unit - a full-color 8" screen with BlueCharts g2
charts, expandable to fish/depth finder, radar, and it can be networked to XM
satellite weather. It can also be upgraded with the g2 Vision card for 3D
views.
I bought the unit from Jim at
BOE Marine, not only
because he had the best price, but because he is a sponsor on THT and his
customer service is second to none - thanks Jim!
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June 26th, 2009...
Bought two new Nautilus Series 24 batteries. Best
price was from BJ's Wholesale Club.
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June 18th, 2009...
The UPS man was busy today delivering packages to "fuel" my desires!
All of the new goodies I ordered online were delivered today:
~ Racor water/fuel separator filter with the clear
drainable bowl
~ Spare Racor filter cartridge
~ Barbed fuel fittings
~ Black grommets for the gunwale rod racks
All of the items
above were ordered through
Surplus Unlimited.
~ The 20' of Shields 3/8" alcohol-approved fuel hose was
ordered from
Jamestown Distributors.
~ The Wema vertical sending unit was ordered directly through
Wema USA.
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June 14th, 2009...
This weekend's progress was hampered a bit by some chores at home and, of
course, the weather. You guessed it - cold and rainy... again.
I was able to deal with some nagging issues and take some much-needed
measurements.
First order of business was to remove the swim platform - I hate it. It's ugly, bent, and
rusting, and even though it helps me to get in and out of the boat while
working, I had to remove it. The scary thing is that it wasn't even
through-bolted; it was just lagged into the transom. I suspect there's some rot
damage, so I'll open the holes up a bit before I dowel and epoxy them. Here are the
before and after shots:
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May 25th, 2009...
I made some good progress on the boat over this long Memorial Day weekend.
I set some attainable goals and had some success. However, much of the
good news was tempered by some bad news.
Goal #1 was to empty and clean the fuel tank, since I had no idea of the
condition of fuel. I know it's at least 2 years old, maybe older.
The tank holds 85 gallons, and the fuel gauges indicated an empty tank, but
suspected a bad sending unit. Well, I was never so happy to be wrong.
I pumped out exactly seven gallons of bad fuel. I plan to replace the fuel
lines and the swing-arm style sending unit. Not sure if I'm going to go
with the Wema vertical style or stay with the swing-arm type (I like the
gauge-on-the-unit feature).
Goal #2 was to assess the soft access hatch at the helm. This is where the
bad news enters... the soft hatch extends up inside the console, and all
controls and wiring pass through it. It's solid as a rock inside the
console, but very soft under foot outside the console. After some head
scratching, I determined that the best course of action will be to cut the hatch
just inside the console, then glass in a tab. This will essentially
resolve the original design flaw by creating a two-piece hatch. I removed
the sliding console doors and frame for better access and a better view:
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May 9th, 2009...
Picked up Finn-Tastic at Ipswich Outboards today and trailered her back to the
Cape. In general, Paul said the motor is in very good shape and was
running like a champ.
The completed work included:
~ Full tune-up
~ New water pump
~ New lower shift rod
~ New lower unit seal and oil
~ New tilt/trim switch
~ New fuel filter
~ New OMC primer bulb and fuel line to bulkhead
~ Drained and refilled oil reservoir
~ Repaired leaking hydraulic steering
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April 25th, 2009...
Took a long truck ride and towed the boat up to Ipswich Outboards in Ipswich, MA
from Cape Cod. Close friends assure me that Paul is THE BEST mechanic for
Johnson/Evinrude motors, so the 225-mile roundtrip is worth the peace of mind
for me. I gave Paul a laundry list of items to repair or replace before I
splash. We'll see how it all turns out...
_________________________________________________
April 3, 2009...
Good news -
After some dicey registration issues with the trailer were resolved, I was able
to register the trailer and the boat today. The trailer VIN number was
faded beyond recognition, and to complicate things even further, South Carolina
does not require owners to register or title their trailers so I had zero
information on the trailer. After endless scouring I was able to locate a
second VIN sticker up inside the tongue of the trailer.
Finding that sticker was key . . . EZ-Loader owners take note
of the location here.
As for the boat registration, it went pretty smoothly and I was even able to get my son's birth date and initials as my registration numbers, which is cool since the boat is named after him...
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March 15, 2009...
Of course since
I have a new boat, we've experienced one of the longest and snowiest winters on
record. But we did get a little break today with temps pushing 50 degrees,
so I zipped down to the Cape and snuck in a few hours of tinkering. The
new $80 tarp I bought back in November did tear in a number of places but the
boat stayed dry and ice-free. I squeezed under the tarp with a droplight
and it was downright comfy... right around 70 degrees in the sun.
One of the things I noticed back when I picked up the boat was that it was
loaded with
mud wasp nests, in nearly every remote crevice of the boat: up
under the console, around the wiring, in the electronics box, etc. Well,
today I found out that 70 degrees is right about the perfect hatching
temperature for mud wasps! Nothing like being trapped inside a tarp with
pissed-off wasps!
Between ducking and swatting, I was able to take some much-needed measurements,
and to remove some more items for rehab. This winter I picked up some
small items for the boat: a new ACR Rapid Ditch Bag, a nearly-new Danforth
anchor, and also some structural fiberglass tubing to shore up the flexing
deck hatches:
Also, my family was nice enough to buy me a new
Sony AM/FM/CD/XM/iPod marine stereo (with remote!) for my birthday. I'm not a
big fan of blaring music out in nature, but I guess it will be pretty cool to
listen to Sox games or play some iPod tunes while hanging out.