aplumma

Yea before you do anything check out the site mentioned above and look up this topic: Basscat7's Post (Fixing Gelcoat). If your boat is just oxidized forget all the other suggestions you have heard about cleaners and other methods. read the post and follow it to the letter.

 

It took me 2 years to get up the nerve to sand my topcap but i did it this spring and it looks just like new and it's over 20 years old.

 

send me a pm if you want to talk details

Kind of a bold statement for some one who has not used the 3M system. You may be getting the same results with wet sanding but the ability to burn thru the gelcoat is much higher using paper. The 3M system uses a lubricant base in their wet sanding process along with chemicals that suspend the sanding particles between rinses. The time were it is better to wet sand is after you have painted something because you need to remove any "paint flashing" and "block out" any minor imperfection. With the blessings of someone who restores boats and cars for a living the 3M products wins hands down for the novice/semi professional to get the restoration they want .

Art

The formula is amps X volts = watts.

Watts X 1.5 equals start up load.

Add all possible combinations of electrical items used at the same time = watts needed to not run in a low wattage (brown) condition.

a 10 amp 120 volt a/c uses 1200 watts to run after a 1800 watts start up ( example:roughly equal to a hair dryer). You can burn out if you are lucky or start a fire if not by running a generator in a brown condition.

Art

A blaze orange collar with a pressure release tab and a riveted I.D. tag with your cell #.Attaching a bell is a plus both for finding them and prevents them from sneaking up on animals. Ask your vet for a list of medications, bandages and wound closure items to have on hand. I keep a kit on all of the boats for man and beast just in case it is to far for immediate critical care.

Art

it is an air lock issue if the pump is higher than the water level or back sloped then you have air around the impeller which does not compress and draw the water in. When you shut it off it is enough of a bounce to get enough water in to the impeller and it compresses the water and draws more in to fill the livewell. See if you can lower the pump or change its angle from what it is to the opposite (if it is slooped forward the wedge it back or vice versa.)

Art

I asked my auto detailer buddy and here is a link to his answer.meguires 3 step fiberglass restore

Be forewarned their is a lot of elbow grease needed to do this and a buffer is a must.

Art

Glad to see yaa on the board. I hope you learn alot of the in's and out's of fishing.

Art

I would rather see 100 people checked than 1 person that should be checked get by. When we had the shooter terrorizing our area 5 years ago he was thought to be driving a white van I was stopped twice that day by the police. The only words I had to say were good job officer and thank you for doing a job that is above my means to do. If you are not helping the police then in my book you are a criminal.

Art

while I am not a lawyer but I do play one on T.V. disclaimer.

A verbal contract or statement can not override a written contract or statement. Salesman will as others said promise the world but only need to deliver the contract.

Art

who are you kidding if we kidnapped Brook you would come to get her and never leave Faux Farm. It's like Disney land on crack down here.

Art

I've run boats up to 50 feet and never come any where near running someone over. Even when running home in the dark after doing charters for the old symphony of fire, fire works shows. After the show is over there are hundreds of boats heading home and never had anything close to an issue.

It's all common sense and courtesy for others.

 

Last year I was heading up the channel back to the dock after a day of fishing and there was a boat exiting the area. He was on the wrong side of the channel and I had to evade by leaving the channel. I ripped a strip of the guy, as it turned out he had a pack of rug rats on the boat that got an education in swearology that day.

The guy had no clue, I can only hop he ran a ground on a rock and no longer owns a boat.

I agree that common sense ,education and courtesy is the answer for a safer boating environment if one party has the ability to avoid incidences by his extra caution and superior knowledge that's a plus. Your second part though illustrates once again you can be the best driver of one boat but without the cooperation and knowledge of the others around you trouble can be found in the most unlikly/timley manner. A lot of what makes an incident dicey is when a scenario is set up by incompetence versus incompetence or in the above case incompetence versus inability it can have tragic consequences.

Education to ALL boaters either small or large should be mandatory with the same standards of education that match the waters they boat in. If you are on a large body of water were you will encounter barges or commercial vessels then you should know the rules they are held to so you know how they will react. If this is not required by law then by common sense it should be information you need to learn.

Even though a boat with a head and bed give you the privilege to serve alcohol to all none essential personnel it is still illegal to operate the vessel under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I still firmly believe that it is not the size of the boat that is lethal it is the knowledge of the operator.

Art

I am not offering a defense for the person driving the boat but it now makes sense why he had a blindspot for the other boat to be hidden. If you have a 34ft boat and you don't look before coming up on plane (the negligent part of this story)even with your trim tabs set back to neutral it can take over 200 yards before your bow drops down far enough to see directly ahead of you. A mistake that thankfully did not cost a life for sure. If you haven't driven a large boat then you have never felt the handling characteristics of one. They are as different as shooting a 22 and a 50 cal rifle both are guns but neither will prepare you for using the other. Large boats need twice as much attention to run as any of the smaller boats and until we can get the schooling and the practical information to both the smaller boat operators or targets as you should think of them as. Along with the big boat operators or jackasses playing with dynamite their will always be issues between them as we try to use the waters together. I by the way have a canoe, jetdrive outboard, bass boat and a 28ft cruiser and drive them all as though someones life is on the line.....because someones LIFE IS.This is not to inflame or cause an argument it is a view that some people are blind too because they have not seen this from all angles lacking the availablity or access to driving large vessels.

Art

I hate to say it but LIMITED lifetime warranty... key word limited is a legal definition that is exactly what they are fulfilling. They are also correct that if a blank is defective then it will pop sooner than 7 years at that age the breaks are due to use and abuse not a defective rod. Even without the word limited if they enforced the defect rule stringently a 7 year old rod would rarely be a true warranty issue. Most of them if replaced are as a good faith replacement to keep the squeeky wheels happy and not bashing the products. If to many rods are replaced as a warranty rightfully or not then it is an overhead issue that will cause the rods price to go higher. It's a tight rope walk for sure keeping both the purchasers of new and the faithful of old both happy with service and price.

Art

Nice pictures.....

Where was GCD?

Are Joey and Roy fighting?

 

Is that Art posing like a poser in that chair?

Anything DIET is not good for - stick with the the real thing or not at all.

 

Thanks for posting.

Nope real Pepsi all the way I look fat on the camera all slouched over... I am not posing we don't sit in campin chairs here much boy are they uncomfortable.I was much more comfortable in the bass boat. Thanks again to all for the wonderful time and if you can make it to the Lak Air G2G next year it is well worth it.

Art

John F I purchase my first handmade rod from Spiel a few years ago and have not found a shelf rod that matches it.He has since built me two more as I slowly replace my St. Croix and Loomis rods. The differences mainly was the attention to detail and quality of the material. I found that the reel seat and blank were hand bedded in epoxy which made for incredible sensitivity. The guides were spaced not for economy like most of the lower end rods but were spaced for strength in the blank.The corking that I chose was a burl cork which was a pain to work but the end result was excellent.It addressed my issue of most handles were to thin and made my hand go numb. The final rod while more expensive than a Loomis is a rod that is exactly what I want and feels like an extension of my hand which is how every tool should feel like. I can also say that I would not have been able to create this rod with out the guidance of Chris and this type of expertise is worth the price paid.

Art

Well be sure to pop the top... so I can see the runway lights as I'm coming in over the bridge.....

Just in case Joeys not their How rr you at landing by moonlight???

Art

I guess I will be notching the tails on MY fish again....

Art

I am pretty sure that the trophy wants to spend some time in the South soaking up the sun......

Art

hot water pressure washer will not hurt it....it is what I use.

Art

Wayne what if you powder coated them is that to much of a film or will it screw up as you assemble them?

Art

cool deal congratulations on the overgrown goldfish I am glad to see that you and Dave got up to seeing the goldfishin crew if anyone was going to get you a fish it was them.

Art

So that car in the background is a two stroke, eh? what's there to learn, put gas in tank, prime, pull and how cum therz no stinkin blue cloud to follow you around all day, impregnate your clothes and lungs. At the end of the season you change the oil&filter, just like your car, oh ya, forgot it's a 2 stroke..

It actually is a hybrid it is a diesel. I am much more comfortable in the old technology as in carburetors,instead of EFI, reeds instead of valves,no timing chains etc the amount of moving parts to break is less than a four stroke. I am sure their is alot of advantages to the 4 strokes but in the case of a small portable motor that he wants to carry out on a four wheeler in unusual positions two is a better choice. If I had to repower any of my big boats (40 jetdrive 150 outboard)then a four stroke will definitely get my vote.

( the two strokes verus four strokes is a play on words if two strokes takes you 1 second then four strokes takes you 2 seconds) alas another joke that missed it make....such is the life of a hasbin comedian....

Art

Cliff

If you need some help on your fishin I will gladly give you lessons Sat. on how to fish Southern Style up at Lak Air.

Art

O BTW pick up about a half a pound of alligator tail for bait please.

The big difference between two strokes and four strokes is one takes twice as much time.

Since I have never owned a marine four stroke outboard I am partial to the two strokes only because they are simpler mechanically and I have learned "old school" and don't have a desire to learn four strokes yet.

Art

Sometimes it is hard to understand why someone you love has such a hard battle before going to their rewards. I am sure the people touched by her have gained strength from her will as she battled cancer. I am sorry for your lose.

Art

Always check the main plug-in on both ends from the motor and the control lever. Vibration and corrosion can work them loose and cause all kinds of gremlins. Keep your answers simple for now after eliminating the simple answers then go for the complicated ones.

Art