aplumma

An escape 4wd has been a very good vehicle for my wife with only normal maintenance to keep it going. Art

1. Tape 2 pieces of string to the old wire and pull it back out of the floor. Then take one string and fish the new wires thru the floor. Leave the other string for future string pulls. 2. Garmin writes their programs only for Garmin products so I don't like it because it has a small clientle to update for. Navionics writes for 4 different brand names including lowrance so they will spend the time and money to keep their maps updated. The maps come on a chip that might be able to be read on your computer but I have not tried it. 3. I am a cable fan the remotes are slow to turn when you have it cranked up due to speed or current. Besides what do you want another thing to break on it for. Transducers in 30 ft deep water you are reading a 20 ft circle the rear transducer will give you all the info you need. Dont get confused and think that the object that is on the screen is under the transducer. 4. On big water you want the best you can get that is a mounted vhf with a 8-12 ft antenna. Their is nothing worst than finding out the batteries are low on the handheld and you cant get a message out. Besides you should always have a vhf radio on (here in the states) on channel 16 to monitor for maydays. Art

You can expose the inside of the area and drill a small hole at both ends of the crack and have it welded inside and out. Then have a stress plate welded 2 inches larger than the crack on the inside of the boat. Their is no molecular bond between any of the goops and creams that you buy they will fail from the movment of the hull as it flexs from the water pounding and the cooling and heating from the sun and water. A marina is the best place to start or someone who builds metal for a living. If their was not any goop on it to start with then their is just as good a chance the previous owner did not know about the crack. Their is no point in head hunting after all it was sold as a used boat with all of the high and low points that go with the used price. Art

It's easy just don't keep it lit. The cigars are more for show than smokin most of the time. We had a great day on the water and the fishin was hot and heavy with calm seas and a nice blanket of fog to keep the tag along fishermen from following us into the prime fishin zone. Art

So let me get this straight if some one is unhappy with ART you will pay them right. Well you should see the check you are going to have to write to make my WIFE ....... ( a little light humor here that is not meant to take away from your generous offer). ART

good luck bud hope everything goes as planned. Art

That looks like a great early season trip TJ. Their was plenty to catch you just were not fishin for the right thing......ICE. I am glad you got a chance to unwind. Art

They make medicine to help you get rid of them worms........... Art

The deep cycle battery has an amp rating on it that is like 600 or more amp hours. Divide that by your power draw and you have more than enough power to run the depthfinder for a long weekend without charging from the motor.The problem that some people have is the charging circuit from some outboard motors will give you feedback on the depthfinder and create clutter and false signals. If you want to see how well your motor is chargng the battery it should read 12.65 volts at full charge charge it till it is then take it out for the day and then check it again at the end of the day if should still read 12.65- 12.00 volts at the lowest. Less than that means you are pulling more out of the battery than you are putting in. Art

Well Team 8 I would post my picture of the Cats I caught but ahhhh welllll yea the camera was broken!!!! yea that it.... it was broken by a really big cat that ummmmm jumped in the boat and then it ummm punched me in the stomach and then left. All in all a great day in the boat and a few places checked out and 1000's more to go to on the river. Sorry Joey I'll try to get more than an arm in the picture after we get rid of the winter whiteness ...a Cajun without a tan just ain't right. Art

Your find out your GPS software was a trial version and the 30 days expired while you are out of sight of land. Art

The term is called Hooking and that is were the transom cups at the back edge due to transom not being supported by the trailer. It will cause the boat to plant the nose more than it was designed for and it is a weakening of the transom. Not only support the transom with the bunk boards but the bunk boards need to be supported to keep them from warping from the weight. Art

Not only did I forget it but now I am a day late.... Owell Happy Birthday bud. Art

Just kind of jerks at your heart to see a boat and his Dawg....... Art

Lets see my female beagle was named George, My brothers wife's dogs were named Butch and Spike both females. My brothers female dog is Called Dude Roy works for me.....Congradulations on the new pup she looks like she will give you a handfull. Art

Their is a second part to how well a truck is built and that is how well the company is to fix the warrentee issues. So far on my Nissan Titan it has had 2 recalls in 2 years one was for the paint in the bedliner and the other was to replace the brake pads and rotors due to high speed brake jutter. Both done without complaint and a free rental car. As painfull as it is the imports are building better products and giving better service the domestics are playing catchup and I hope they will someday be back on top but they have got their yet. Art

You should have called me Gary I would have "unclogged you". Get well soon Art

Nice boat Roger looks like you will be fishin in style. Art

As Joe has mentioned if anyone is passing thru the Washington area give a shout and with alittle time we can sneak down to the river and get some fishin done. I have a little more homework to do now with the big boat I have alot more water to learn as far as were the big Catfish and Stripers are hidding. Art

Well here I am awake at 4:00 am packing to move the boat from Deale Maryland to Occoquan Virginia a 160 mile trip on a boat I have never driven. To do this feat Joe volunteered to be the wheel man so off we go on a 1 hour drive to pick up my cohort Mike Smith to help me drive the boat around. After getting Mike who was feeling alittle under the weather but still game we drove 1.5 hours to Deale were we dropped off Mike and I to get the adventure started. Joe had the sad duty to drive home in the car but their is always more trips to take and someone had to be the wheel man. (thanks Joe) We fired up the twin 318's and they were murmuring and rasping ready to get underway at 500 rpms they were just hinting at what they could do if given a little more fuel. We cast off the lines and started out of the slip using the twin levers like the skid steering of a bobcat for 28x11 this boat turns on its own dimensions. We rolled out of the marina and the 2 miles of no wake and cleared the point to be greeted by flat water and a sun peeking thru the clouds.][ We bumped it up to 3,000 and the nose popped up and flattened out to about a 2 degree angle and we were doing 27 miles an hour. I backed the trim tabs all the way off and the nose raised to 3 degrees and lost 1 mph so a little trim down and we were off to the races. At about 25 miles out smoke started coming out of the hatch and the port engine was louder so we shutdown to find what had given out. We found that the exhaust hose had steamed because the water flow to the header was blocked by rust. With a pick and a few choice cuss words we cleared the water passage and it was 1/4 roll of duct tape and a beer can to the rescue. We rolled on up back on plane and checked for other issues but we were clean and green to go so we rolled up to 3200 rpms to get us up to 29 mph in a 1 foot chop. The weather was good and Mike was feeling better so we decided to give the motors a break and troll for Striper's for a little while as we came over devils hole a known stripper hangout. While the hole did not pay off we found that one motor at 500 rpms gave us 2.75 mph as a trolling speed so we were happy to shutdown the port motor and give it a breather. With no fish in sight we figured it was time to get back to motoring so it was light off the port motor and get back on plane....... With one small problem the port motor would backfire at 2000 rpms and hesitate so we shut down to solve this mystery. The fuel filter was clear with out any water so we looked to other answers and found the choke (Bi-Metal) sticking so we moved it to the open position and fired it up to test. We are back on plane and rolling up the river into some nasty clouds and rain with the wipers going and the trim down to plant the nose alittle better between the 3 ft seas. The boat is cutting very well with not as much slamming as I expected but we backed down to 22 mph to make it easier on the humans in the boat. We refueled at a place called Aqualand that has some very special memories from our Jet skiing days involving alcohol and wimmins and being first at the finish line. We idled out and back into the main river $ 266.00 poorer but glad they were open and had fuel for the early seasons boaters. We fell in behind a 38ft boat running up the river and had them iron out the waves for us and we were doing 28 mph. The Lowrance 525 was one of the best investments we have made and it was showing all of the buoys and reading depths at all speeds. We finished the run pulled into Occuquan river and idled up to the new home for the boat. After tieing the boat up at slip 16 and shutting down all the systems we put on the weather top lowered the antenna and called it a long day. Thats how I spent my Saturday and with a short list of things to repair after a 160 mile run the boat has been deemed fit for the Summer fun. Art

Its time to get you into a bigger boat Bud lets go for a 16 ft for $500.00 this year. Art

Very nice intro I hope you get lots of invites to fish this summer. Art

Interesting read thanks for taking the time to post the stories Chris. Art

It appears I spoke to soon the information that the Crazy Canadian Cajun gave me must be bad. Maybe I can pay someone .75 cents to give him a nasty hangnail or such. I have pleaded with the local officials and so far they have responded with " What the he** are you talking about". Talks will be resume next week after CrappieSteve stops telling me stories. Art

douGlys getting older.... douglys getting older sure beats the alternative sorry I am a day late but I hope today is as good as yesterday too. Art