Posts Tagged ‘BEER’
Bring on the inshore tuna!
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009Decided due to the holiday weekend and less than favorable conditions to stay at the dock and get some work done on the boat and of course some adult beverages and plenty of snacks and food that accompany bad weather on our dock.
I installed three new rod holders. One just off center in the transom, would have liked it to be in the center but could not due to the transom fish-box. The other two were installed foreword up near the pilothouse. These will be great for the rigger rods.
Also installed the outriggers I picked up last fall. They got installed on the aft part of the pilothouse roof. The poles are collapsible so the poles can be installed and the angle of deployment can all be adjusted while standing in the cockpit, despite them being top mounts. I really like the placement, you don’t have to climb up on the gunwales to deploy them which is great on a narrow beam boat.
The only thing left is to get new release clips and re-rig the lines and I will be all set for trolling this fall. Can’t wait! Now all we need is some decent weather for a change.
Took a lay day…
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009…and it was probably a good move with Hurricane Bill racing up the coast creating quite a stir in the last stretch of summer flounder season in NJ. I had originally planned a BBQ on Saturday for the Admiral’s birthday but postponed it till Sunday due to the potential of bad weather.
The party was a good success, we had hot dogs, burgers, chicken and ribs with all the trimmings. Ribs were slow cooked for three hours in a special marinate and then finished off on the grill for a nice charring with homemade BBQ sauce. Oh did I mention all sorts of imported beer, margarita’s and mojito’s? MMMMM!
This weekend we are supposed to head up to the Boston area and head out to Stellwagon Bank for giant cod, pollock and haddock. Right now the weather doesn’t look good and the weather at home this weekend is no peach either.
COASTAL WATERS FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
857 AM EDT TUE AUG 25 2009
COASTAL WATERS FROM THE MERRIMACK RIVER MA TO WATCH HILL RI OUT TO
25 NM
ANZ250-260015-
COASTAL WATERS EAST OF IPSWICH BAY AND THE STELLWAGEN BANK
NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY-
857 AM EDT TUE AUG 25 2009
FRI
NE WINDS AROUND 10 KT…BECOMING E WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 KT
IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT…BUILDING TO
3 TO 5 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SAT
E WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. GUSTS UP TO 25 KT THROUGH EARLY
EVENING. SEAS 5 TO 8 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
Long weekend roundup
Monday, June 15th, 2009OK…I get down to the marina, unload the truck…forgot my tackle bag. No biggie we go and buy new hooks, leader, swivels, snags, etc for fluking, sea bass and striper fishing for the weekend and pickup bait and Entenmann’s for breakfast. No we are not Norweigan…the bait is for fishing and the Entenmann’s is breakfast!
Go to fuel the boat up…lose forward on the way to the service slip. Figure let’s get her fueled up since I need it and then look at the shift issue. Go to move her back and not only don’t have forward but get stuck in reverse. Luckily the service slip is only three slips away and we float her back to her slip. It’s already dark out so we figure we will just take a buddy’s boat and look at in on Saturday, plus we figured there would be fog anyway so we would probably end up taking his since I don’t have radar.
So now we are down one boat the first day of the weekend.
Saturday…get off to a great start. In the first 20 minutes and less than a mile from the inlet we get on spraying bunker, put a 38 pound fish in the boat and have two other run offs. Then Wayne on his flounder rod gets spooled by a big fish.
The not being far from the inlet it was not long before the fleet of fluke tourney boats runs through the school of fish, puts them down and they scatter. We tried for another half hour and on a few more pods but then gave up and switched to sea bass. Had tons of shorts and decided to go fluking. Ended up putting 5 nice fluke in the boat with two 16″ sea bass and then while moving we smelled diesel.
Shut her down and look for the leak. Tanks look good, lines, everything. Can’t figure out where it is coming from. Start running again and same thing, now we get it down to the starboard motor so we come in on one and after close inspection find a broken return line right in front of the turbo! Good thing we didn’t keep running…could of been a serious problem if the fuel found its way closer to the turbo.
So now we are down two boats in two days.
We had planned on fishing a different boat on Sunday so at least we know we are still fishing tomorrow. Sunday rolls around leave the dock EARLY to get in on the great bite we had early the day before and wanted to be out even earlier to hopefully get a longer shot at them.
First drift we make bait, hookup and drop two fish. Go to move off the beach and again the starboard motor won’t fire. Get off the beach on one motor and start jogging while we try and diagnose the problem. Ignition circuits keep tripping and paralleling batteries doesn’t do much either.
Check the current charts and it is slack at the inlet and slowing in the canal so we decide to run in on one while the getting is good. It is always a good day when you come in on your own power and safe…even it is on one motor.
Get back to the dock and it turns out to be the starboard battery. Voltage was fine with no load but under load went into a dead short and even smoked a bit.
So now we are down three boats in three days.
I make arrangements to be hauled Monday morning and check with the Admiral that it is OK to stay over one more day…good thing I always pack extra clothes.
So in the mean time I run over to Harbor Freight to get a jack and jack stands to rotate my tires. Cashier is ringing me up and the register dies. So now my buddies conclude the hex is caused by me!
Monday…get hauled out and the problem with the shifting is a loose cable clamp, check the cable, no nicks or wear in it, reset the clamp and all is well…or so we think. Decide while it is out to check the drive fluid. Nice shade of light gray. Dipstick was only hand tight and the o-ring on the drain plug was rolled. Only person to blame for that is me since I changed the gear oil.
Run to the gas station get a can of diesel and flush it three times. Fuel was clear after the second, did the third to be safe and also flushed a half gallon through from the top. Filled her back up and went for a test ride and all is good.
Now we just have to wait and see. Everyone was telling me they have seen worse but with my luck I will need a new drive by season’s end.
Hope everyone had a better weekend than us.
Weekend bass roundup
Sunday, May 31st, 2009With a great weekend last week and all the positive reports coming in during the week from those that got out I got a weekend pass from the Admiral and was planning on fishing both Saturday and Sunday weather permitting.
Got down to the marina by 8 pm and unloaded and began rigging up for Saturday. Made plans with the crew to leave a little earlier, hoping to shove off a little before or no later than 5 am.
5:10 Saturday morning just as I am about to call Wayne he rolls into the marina. He jumps aboard and off we go.
Broke the inlet and pretty much steamed right to the spot off Mantoloking I had fish the week before. We had great marks, plenty of bait and conditions looked really good.
We moved from pod to pod looking for bass, each pod looked agitated and unhappy but each time we failed to hookup. Finally about 10:30 Wayne gets a pickup, hooks up and we boat a nice 25.5 pound fish. We continued to work the area but were only able to boat the one fish.
Back at the dock we get cleaned up and the drinks start flowing. Then we all go out for dinner and made plans for Sunday. We would be sailing with Wayne, Danny and his son Michael, again supposedly at or before 5 am.
Sunday morning I was ready to go and had the engine warming up at 4:44…no one was up or ready yet. After knocking on boats and receiving a call from Wayne I figured we would be leaving even later today. Ended up shoving off about 5:35.
Broke the inlet and immediately headed back down to Mantoloking. After making bait and screwing around with a few bunker pods BriTime from Barnegat Fishin’ Hole called me down to off Lavalette. I asked where he was, his reply was you will see when you get here.
Upon arriving at Lavalette it looked like the Tice’s Shoal fleet got lost and ended up on the East side of the barrier island. From the scene today you would never imagine that there was a financial crisis going on. There had to be 300-400 boats converged on this area that was holding bass.
Shortly after arriving we had our first shot at a bass that appeared to be in the 25-30 pound class. It was on the lightest rod we were snagging with and quickly spooled and eventually broke off Michael. I tried to explain to him to loosen the drag as pressure increases when the spool diameter gets smaller but kids never want to listen, they think they know everything.
Soon after that I dropped a fish, there was a reel malfunction. Well, actually someone, I think myself, put the lever to strike and not bait. The fish ran about three feet before dropping the bait due to too much tension on the line.
Then about 20 minutes later we dropped our last hookup as well. Had we left on time we might have had a larger window of opportunity before the boat traffic and full bellies from the bass gorging on bunker quieted the bite down.
We trolled for about an hour after leaving the fleet with great marks but not one knockdown. After that we pod hopped finding some active pods again but no run offs or hookups.
Running back to the inlet we noticed a large fleet and several head boats just North of the inlet so we decided to investigate. It looked like some of the fish coming up on the head boats were whiting with some cocktail blues mixed in.
I quickly handed out small jigs and we proceeded to get in on the light tackle blues action for a few minutes. This proved to save the day and keep the skunk off the boat.
While it wasn’t the mad dog bite of last week it was a fun weekend with fish in the boat, smiling faces and way too much beer and alcohol consumed once again. The weather was great and we had calm seas both days. Hopefully the bass stick around a few weeks longer. Water temps rose a little from Saturday to Sunday but not by much.
April showers
Saturday, April 11th, 2009Some years we have a dry spring and some years you think you are living in Seattle. This year we are having a very wet spring. The forecast from the night before had the showers ending around 10 am so we figured we would be able to get a solid half day of fishing in. Wrong! The raid did not stop until I got into my truck to head home around 5 pm.
I did get cabin straightened out a little more and got some ideas for gear storage which I will implement next weekend. I also picked up a five foot length of 5/16″ BBB or short link chain to add to my rode in what seems to be a never ending attempt to anchor the boat easily. Hopefully this will do the trick.
Once the little chores were done and some other guys showed up it became a boat hopping beer drinking day. Shotting the shit with good friends and making plans for the rest of the season. This coming weekend looks to be much nicer and I may even get out Friday and Saturday which would be awesome!
Winter flounder opening day
Monday, March 23rd, 2009It was to be our first trip of 2009 and we were very anxious to get lines in and bends in the rods. I rigged up four rods, iced down the boat, loaded the second anchor and rode, chum pots, picked up bait, lunch and beverages. I also picked up a bucket of Gulp! chum to give a try.
Tommy and I headed South to the Mantoloking Bridge. While heading out there was a whining noise, we checked and thought at first it was just the new belt settling in. While trying to get set on anchor in our first spot the motor started sputtering and the whining got louder.
We performed some more troubleshooting and determined the noise to be coming from the fuel pump, most likely the low pressure pump. We decided that with a fuel delivery problem and breezy conditions it was best that we scrapped the trip and limp back to the marina. We were able to get back safe under our own power.
I did speak to a few guys that fished catches ranged from not even a bit to about five fish per person.
After clearing the cockpit we dropped the fuel filter and water separator and there were no signs of any water in the fuel. Put new filters on to be on the safe side and fired her up again. The filters filled with fuel so it is not a line or tank issue.
Next I called Volvo to find out parts availability and cost. I also inquired to see if it would be covered under extended warranty, supposedly it will be. Which is a huge relief since on my motor it is one part for the filter mount, high and low pressure pumps and not individually serviceable with a cost of $659.
Now I am waiting for a call back from my local Volvo dealer to schedule the repair, hopefully they will be able to get to it this week or next.
This is just the kind of thing I try to avoid by going in the water the end of February or the beginning of March. Now due to the soda blasters damage and my going in the water just days before our first trip I am now down taking away from fishing time. Going in early gives two to four weeks to run her weekly and work out any kinks if any and get her running at peak performance for the season ahead. In a perfect world our boats would go to bed working 100% and wake up after their winter’s naps running 100%. But after sitting idle for several months there is always something that is not happy about being idle and being exercised during its hibernation. In the end I am sure we will have a great season, we are just off to a slow start once again.
Got wet today!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009Happy St. Patty’s Day! We went in the water today, about a month late but we finally launched for the 2009 season. It almost didn’t happen, when I arrived at the marina at 8 am the boat was not in the condition I had expected and I wasn not sure if I should go in or wait until I could have the boat detailed properly.
The stains were about 60% removed. About half the boat was still covered with rubbing compound that was not buffed out and the residue washed off. There were compound splatters all over the windows, railings and other parts of the boat. Some of the manufacturer logos, pin striping, reg numbers and other decals were burned off or damaged from the polishing wheel. About 3/4 of the waterline had compound and polish along it about 4″ wide, I had already touched up the waterline so it needed to be sanded off and re-touched up.
I spoke with marina and others and we decided to redo the bottom and put the boat in and haul out in a few weeks and have the boat cleaned by a professional. I gave the guy who caused the damage a chance to do the right thing as per his wishes despite my reservations. I am done playing games after waiting almost a month for a less than marginal job.
On to the shakedown run…she was an absolute beast! I had the wheels reconditioned and about 2″ of pitch taken out of each wheel on the recommendation from Jim Anderson of Jimmy’s Marine Service. Pate Whalen at Eastern Propeller did a great job of taking my WOT info, make model, year and spec of the motor and getting me to where I need to be with the boat fully loaded. Previously I only got 4,250 RPM at WOT with full fuel, gear, ice, bait and crew. Now I get 4,950 with full gear, fuel and crew. Did not load ice and bait but shouldn’t loose that much RPM from another 10-80 lbs. The boat jumped right out of the water as compared to before, came out of the water more when on plane. There was a huge increase in throttle response and no more hesitation at all. I also gained about a knot at cruise and almost 2 knots at WOT. The ride and sound from the motor is much, much smoother now as well. According to the scans the wheels were out a little but what a huge difference after being balanced on the computer.
The Pat and Jim also anticipate a big savings in fuel, possibly doubling my 1.5 nmpg to close to 3 nmpg. I was happy with the 1.5 but if we do really see numbers closer to 3 it will make us much more comfortable running off for tuna this year and dipping into the last 1/3 of a tank to come home.
Getting there…
Sunday, March 15th, 2009I got to the marina early and measured for wiring up the inverter. Then we headed down to Lacey Marine to pickup some supplies, including the wire for the inverter project. We got to speak with the Interlux rep and got some good ideas for some painting projects on friends boats in the marina.
From there we headed over to the Lacey Elks Fisherman’s Flea Market. There were some interesting items at the flea market. Met Brian from GarbageFish.com and picked up a sticker. Bought some raffle tickets for the Billy Gale Rod and reel from Lacey Marine. At the door they were trying to get everyone to fill out a pots off the reef card, most were filling them out. Hopefully Roberts will get the message soon.
On out way back to the marina we got a call that the soda blaster that damages several boats had shown up and started washing mine and Tommy’s boats. We had Mike stop them and wait for us since we were only about five minutes out.
After speaking with the soda blaster for a while he said he would produce a proper proof of insurance and would like the opportunity to clean the boats. He pretty much finished Tommy’s yesterday and should hopefully complete mine today. If he does I should be able to get wet on Tuesday.
Tommy and I got the inverter hung and wired. I still need to wire in the breaker/switch at the battery but will do that next weekend. It looks as if I will get in just in time for the winter flounder opener and be serving piping hot coffee and hot chocolate throughout the day.
West Marine Superstore & AC Boat Show
Monday, February 9th, 2009I got to the marina early to try and get some work done before we headed down to the boat show. Apparently this soda blasting company had other plans for me. I have never seen a blasting company setup such a large tent and then not contain the dust and debris that was blasted off the boat. They were inconvenienced by me working on my own boat since I would not let them use MY swim platform as a workbench or portions of MY boat to tape down the tent for the boat they were working on. Then while I was in the boat they moved my ladder and I then had no way to get down from the boat. At this point I was pretty mad and by the way they were setting up I figured it was best to leave and not be present while they were working.
When we returned from the show the mess was appalling. I am going to have a talk with the marina owners over it. Despite my boat being completely covered there is a coating of bicarbonate and bottom paint on everything. Not to mention the piles of it all over the yard. I can’t imagine how these guys stay in business the way they work.
After leaving the marina we headed over to checkout the new West Marine Superstore on the way to the Parkway. The new store is huge! It is well stocked, at least now if you are working on the boat and need a part, unless it is an engine part they should have it in stock. I hate patronizing the big box stores but on a Sunday afternoon there are not too many places to get parts these days. The bridge like electronics display is pretty impressive, they also have a sound proof audio booth for testing out stereos, speakers and amps, a huge fishing section with tackle from back bay to offshore, a much bigger selection of wire, connectors, fuses and circuit breakers that will come in handy and pretty much every other department has been super-sized.
We had heard that on Friday the boat show was very light in attendance and everyone we know that went was able to park in the convention center lot…big mistake. It was closed and we hit tons of traffic getting to it and away from it. So we made our way over to Bally’s to realize my is too tall to park there so around the block through the traffic and back to the Clarridge. It was like driving through mid-town Manhattan at rush hour.
As rumored there were none of the bigger boats due to restrictions on the bridge, wires and the marina that was used in the past being closed. With the limitation of being trailered in the largest that I saw was the 36 Bertram and the Cabo (not sure if it was the 35 or 36).
We did look at several of the outboard powered pilothouse style and express boats. The new Parker is a beast, the cockpit is enormous but trying to fight a fish that takes you around the transom would be impossible with those huge 350’s on the back. I don’t think you would be able to swing a line around them with a 7′ rod. The rocket launcher on the roof of the pilothouse I think Shaq would have a hard time reaching, standing on the gunwale would give you access to end two or three but after that you would need a ladder or have to stand on the livewell to reach them.
The Everglades was impressive as well. The windows on the bridge are huge.
The most impressive as far as interior space as well as layout was the 34 Whaler. The cockpit was not the size of the Parker but large enough four to five anglers. The Verado’s are much more compact than the Yamaha 350’s so fishing around them is quite a bit easier but still not my cup of tea. The bridge was roomy but down below is where they have the competition beat. The wasn’t another boat in the 34-36′ range that had the interior space of the Whaler. The stairs leading down could be a bit tricking in snotty conditions. My biggest concern with this rig would be the attitude at which she runs loaded. If she tends to run bow high like a Henriques then visibility will probably be an issue. But if that were fine and her handling good, this would be at the top of my list for a mid thirties outboard powered fishing boat.
The accessories section was not bad, a few vendors/manufacturers that I would have liked to have visited were not there. I renewed my Sea\\Tow membership with Capt. Sean, got a warm welcome and gift bag from Michelle and was able to meet Capt. Kermit form Sea\\Tow Manasquan…hopefully the boat shows are the only times I run into Capt. Kermit.
There was a booth for ShamWow but Vince was no where to be found. I am not sure if this was actually the real product or not. It seemed like a knock-off to me.
I was hoping to maybe find a great deal on a auto Garmin GPS unit, I remember seeing them last year but did not find a single one.
There was a booth that had some very interesting LED lights. There were spreader lights, drop lights and some were hard-wired and others were rechargeable. They referred you to the Consumer’s Marine booth for purchase but I did not feel like fighting the crowd around the booth. I am gong to get one of the spreader lights and give it a shot though, it seemed pretty bright at the show.
The guy with the soft-side coolers with the ice under halogen lamps was of course there. I might just have to get a small one to try them out. A couple of years ago they were next to us in the JCAA booth and it really is amazing how well they retain ice.
PlasTeak was helpful. I am considering replacing my carpets with a synthetic decking. I did not realize how expensive that product is though. For them to make the mats would be upward of a $1,000 for a very small area. I think I am going to have to measure better and do the math and see if it really does come out to that much and also compare the cost to the DIY materials they offer.
SeaSuckers were there. I got to talk to John about the issues with mine and he is going to replace them under warranty, I just need to ship him out the suction cups and the vacuum pumps. Will have to get on that later today.
All-in-all it was a pretty good show. I would have liked to drool over some larger boats that I can’t afford but I think they managed to pack in a good amount despite the issues they had of getting the larger boats in.
Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008As we grow up we are handed down traditions from our parents and close friends. One that was passed on to me from my best friend’s father, Dave Sr., was slow cooked spiral ham on the grill slathered up with honey mustard all over and in between each slice. As times change we are forced to change our traditions. I am still making the ham for Christmas dinner but am forced to make it Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. My mother has moved into a condo now and they have no terraces so they cannot have a grill. I don’t think it will be a huge let down as everyone loves the ham left over cold, so it will still be enjoyed but not entirely the same.
A new tradition has been the addition of cheesecake to the dessert menu. I posted the recipe a few days back and it should be ready to come out of the oven by the time I post today’s entry. It took some refining and everyone was happy to sample each version as I honed my recipe. We have even figured out the optimal transportation method for winter and summer so it will not run after being carted from our house to our destination.
In recent years it seems we have less and less time on our hands to do things. This time of year make time for your friends and family, and make time to keep your traditions alive and create some new ones you can pass down through your family.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
Bass & Fluke
Friday, October 24th, 2008We headed out a little late due to my getting out of work late. It would have been nice if the crew readied the boat but they started cooler diving early. We broke the inlet about 3:30 PM, just as it seemed the action was breaking up down off Seaside.
We had some small areas of bird activity but nothing to write home about. Had a couple of knock downs on red and black tubes. Snagged bottom letting one rig out in an area I had no idea had any structure…marked that spot as it seemed to be holding some small fish…will have to stop on it in the future when we have bait aboard.
Switched over to jigging and had a few blues in the 8 lb range and some short fluke also on both bucktails and iron. They must be really hungry, some of them were barely twice as long as the jigs.
It wasn’t the numbers and species we were looking for but we had a good time, burned very little fuel and got to test my new LED lighting on the way in.
Bertram Rendezvous 2008
Sunday, July 20th, 2008Ah, The Gathering of Eagles. This year was my first year at the Rendezvous. I was invited by Mark to attend with him on the Tigress, a 37 Bertram. We left at about 9 AM on Friday from Pt. Pleasant and had slightly sloppy run south to Absecon Inlet into the wind and sea. We didn’t make bad time though arriving shortly after noon.
We got the boat and ourselves cleaned up and immediately the drinks from our boat and others started flowing. The Rum Runner was churning out frozen drinks by the dozen for the welcome dock party along with hot and cold hordevours.
We tried to have lunch but the patio bar was very unaccommodating. My being vegetarian sometimes makes for finding a good meal a little difficult. They had hamburgers and cheese burgers along with chicken sandwiches with and without cheese but could not make a grilled cheese. I even tried for a mushroom Swiss burger, hold the burger patty but the waitress could not figure out how to enter that in the computer. I reciprocated with not being able to figure out more than one percent for the tip.
At this point I am thinking, oh great if this is how the rest of the weekend is going to turn out…I am taking car service home now!
Luckily that turned out to be the only real issue of the weekend. We headed back to the boat for more of the usual festivities…more drinks and finger food.
After dinner we headed over to Trump’s for a little gambling. It is not one of my favorite casinos and we didn’t spend much time there since no one seemed to be winning. Back to the docks for more drinks it was. Do you see a trend happening here???
We had discussed fishing on Saturday the week before but had figured none of us would be up and were uncertain of the weather. As luck would have it Mark, myself, Mike, and Wayne were all up before 6:30 AM and ready for action. We contemplated on heading out over coffee, then breakfast, then beer. At that point we figured it was a little late and settled in for more drinking and finger food. We did hear later there was a pretty good blue fin tuna bite on the AC Ridge-figures. There is always next year.
Pretty much the rest of the weekend was drinking eating, a little gambling here and there and oh did I mention drinking?
We took a look at the new 41 but I was not impressed at all. The salon seemed cramped with the raised floor are for the dinette. This did create a pretty decent size second stateroom though. The cockpit was also a little strange…the gunwales were very wide, about 18″ wide. Plus with the higher freeboard of the cockpit you would probably need another 2′ on your gaffs in order to be able to reach the fish. For the roughly $900k price tag I was not impressed. Even less impressing was the cruise speed. I did not go for a ride but was told that at 75% it is only about a 20 knot cruise and 26 wide open.
Saturday night’s dinner was a pig roast on the rooftop of the patio bar. There was also lobster for an additional fee. I think there were two pigs but not sure as I did not investigate too well. I had a salad, some corn, a $10 Coors Light and headed back to the boat to eat and consume alcohol that was already paid for.
Sunday morning was just spend getting the boat ready for the ride home, breakfast and refueling.
The run home was smooth and downhill despite the 3-5 foot seas. We left around 10:30 AM and arrived home about 1 PM. There was however pea soup fog where visibility at times was maybe 50-75′. About 5 miles offshore visibility increased to about a quarter mile for most of the run North. A few guys ducked into Barnegat, not really sure why. They all complained that you could not see the jetties till between them and that there were dozens of boats all over the place. The fog did clear for them once inside the bay though. We decided to keep running north and go in through Manasquan and deal with the canal again. Once we hit the bathing beach on Island Beach State Park the fog pretty much lifted and all we had left was haze.
Other than the fog the trip down and back was uneventful for us, we did hear on the radio one boat seemed to have blown a head gasket and another boat had and engine shutdown while running but never hear what the outcome of that was. All-in-all it was a great weekend with pretty good weather and good friends. Can’t wait for next year.
I should have walked around with the camera more as there would have been some very interesting shots but this is what I ended up with…Bertram Rendezvous 2008 Gallery.
Dock party report
Saturday, April 26th, 2008Got down to the marina at about 6:30 and unloaded the cooler and bag, and new rods to the dock. Went and got the bait out of the freezer, stepped aboard to unlock her and got a real strong whiff of gas. Opened the engine hatch to discover gas in the bilge. I am quite sure the auto censor on this site would not stop all of the obscenities that were probably heard in Barnegat from Point but will leave it at that.
Got out a few diapers, got the fuel absorbed, let the bilge vent for an hour and vacuumed up all the bilge water. After further investigation we could not find any leaks on the motor side. Started her up, let her idle for an hour and then let her cool off. Still no leaks on the motor side.
Best we can figure is a bad weld in the tank. The fill, vent, and senders are all on the top of the tank, nothing wet on top, and only a half full tank so the likelihood of it sloshing out of the top is low. Tried pulling the deck cover off but not only were the joints siliconed but they put a hefty bead under it before it was put in.
Poked around with a Rigid SeeSnake micro camera best we could. Below the tank on the hull liner it was pretty nasty looking…stained pretty bad. Looked like rust on the camera but hard to tell for sure from it. Going to call the manufacturer before we finish pulling the deck hatch to find out if there is any warranty on the tank itself.
On to the title of the post…at least at the dock the weather was not so nice and the forecast a bit off making me feel a little better about not getting out today. Since a few of us did not feel like working on our boats too much with the SE wind in our faces we turned to the next best thing to fishing…complaining about our boats, drinking and telling fish stories. The beer and vodka flowed, tons of snacks and pizza were consumed as well. In the end each of us limited out on slight tans, wind burns and buzzes. Hopefully soon they will finish up the dock work and we can move our tables, chairs and BBQ out onto the dock and get our after fishing and party grounds back in order.
But at least since a line was not wet we did not get skunked!
Two week catchup
Monday, January 28th, 2008I know its been a while…just been doing small odds and ends on the boat and around the yard waiting for a good weather window to do the glass work and then install the through hulls.
The hailer is in and working very well. Definitely wont be able to use it to talk to whoever is anchoring the boat. Even on the lowest setting it will blow you off the bow. At lest the talk back will be a welcome addition and I will at least be able to hear what the anchorman is saying.
I also removed the battery trays to give us more room to do the raw water intake conversion and also round over the edges of starboard so we don’t have a rerun of a Joey Fingers episode. Also I will be replacing the trays with battery boxes and will install starboard rails around the boxes for added security and to prevent them from sliding.
The outdrive is off and serviced and in fine condition according to the Volvo-Penta dealer. Zincs are in pretty good shape but since they sat out of water for a period of time are now oxidized and will be replaced prior to launch. There is no sense in taking chances with corrosion, they only cost about $30 and well worth the investment on new ones.
This past weekend was more of a social outing than a working weekend. Pretty much everyone on my dock showed up and since we have not seen each other in a few weeks we spent most of the day catching up and at lunch.
I did however finish putting the headliner back up and all the electronics hangers. Only items left on the interior task list left are a thorough cleaning, shelf/hanger for ditch bag, replace and relocate interior stereo speakers, and install a cup holder for the captain.
Holiday Weekend PM
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007It has been a while since my last post and I will try and piece the summer back together and fill in the gaps as best I can in the coming weeks. But as many of you know I typically avoid the holiday weekends as much I as I can. So this Labor Day weekend I decided to get some mid-season work done myself instead of having the marina do it.
I got down early to avoid the traffic and began my running around. Stopped at the boat to pickup the bad light bulb so I knew what model to buy. Then stopped at the Volvo dealer for oil and filter. What a rip off marine grade synthetic oil is at $29.99 a gallon. I know this has been debated before but unfortunately marine grade oils are slightly different and worth the extra cost in prolonging you motor’s life. After that it was off to West Marine for light bulbs and then to Mark’s station to pick up the oil change pump.
After changing the oil I then replaced all my dock lines with brand new lines since the old ones are now almost four seasons old. The few bucks the new lines cost is a small price to pay for piece of mind in the event of big blow this fall.
In between the maintenance I set out the killie trap and a recently purchased crab pot. The killies were quite large for the creek and quickly showed up. Crabbing was a little slow. I ended the day with 7 nice sized males, a dozen or so short males and females and two short fluke. After a little break and some food I moved onto the domestic water system. It had seemed like the system was sucking in air but after careful inspection and a little help from Tommy it was was determined it was a clogged filter that I had overlooked. Cleaned the sludge out of the filter and the system was back to normal.
With all the repairs and maintenance done it was now time to relax, enjoy the beautiful weather, good company and case of Sam Adams!