fisher

I just picked up my new smokercraft 172 last week and took it to Lake Ontario yesterday to begin the break in of the 115 and 9.9 mercurys.

(By the way, port credit launch was blocked by fair rides covering the parking lot. What were they thinking? Anyway, I headed to bronte and launched there - for $17!)

So, while on the lake which had a chop due to the 20 km east winds , the big motor would cause the bow to ride pretty high and would only plane out at the higher end of the speed range (this was hard on the boat since at this speed the chop was causing the boat to come down hard on the water every so often). I couldn't run it at mid speed (which would have been ideal) since the boat rode so high and I couldn't see in front of me. I had to stand and that was pretty uncomfortable. Plus the back end was so low to the water it was not comforting at all. It was obvious the boat was not handing well. So I was left having to come in pretty slow.

By the way, I ran into the marine police out there. Nice guys. Just asked me what I was doing and if I was fishing. Asked if I had all my safety stuff and to call *16 on my cell if I ran into trouble. Didn't stop me to check. Instead they only carried on the conversation while they rode beside me. Really good to see them out there with a genuine caring attitude.

Anyway I am going to call the dealer (who is 2 hours away) to get his thoughts and suggestions but wanted some opinions here first.

I have heard the following:

1) move the motor down a notch or two (right now it is in the middle bolt position) but it is already riding low to the water (so I don't like that idea). This was one if the two suggestoons by the marine police

2) I also heard about possible prop pitch issue (currently has a 15P prop according to what is on the prop). This was marine polices second suggestion.

3) I read online that smart tabs might help. I can't believe I have to spend money to make a new boat work properly.

Anyone have experience or opinion on this issue and any possible solution that worked for them they care to share before I call the dealer?

Note the stern appears to be heavy loaded. It has the 2 engines, the gas tank which was half full with 50 litres of gas and one of the two batteries. But the boat is rated for a 140 and it has a 115 and 9.9 (so that appears to be well within the weight guidance that the boat was designed for). Just a frustrating experience to say the least.

I also am curious if you think the chop may have made the issue much worse and maybe wouldn't be an issue in calmer water (I am not sure when I can get out again next to test this but nonetheless, the boat definitely should have handled better in that chop).

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

I just picked up my new smokercraft 172 last week and took it to Lake Ontario yesterday to begin the break in of the 115 and 9.9 mercurys.

(By the way, port credit launch was blocked by fair rides covering the parking lot. What were they thinking? Anyway, I headed to bronte and launched there - for $17!)

So, while on the lake which had a chop due to the 20 km east winds , the big motor would cause the bow to ride pretty high and would only plane out at the higher end of the speed range (this was hard on the boat since at this speed the chop was causing the boat to come down hard on the water every so often). I couldn't run it at mid speed (which would have been ideal) since the boat rode so high and I couldn't see in front of me. I had to stand and that was pretty uncomfortable. Plus the back end was so low to the water it was not comforting at all. It was obvious the boat was not handing well. So I was left having to come in pretty slow.

By the way, I ran into the marine police out there. Nice guys. Just asked me what I was doing and if I was fishing. Asked if I had all my safety stuff and to call *16 on my cell if I ran into trouble. Didn't stop me to check. Instead they only carried on the conversation while they rode beside me. Really good to see them out there with a genuine caring attitude.

Anyway I am going to call the dealer (who is 2 hours away) to get his thoughts and suggestions but wanted some opinions here first.

I have heard the following:

1) move the motor down a notch or two (right now it is in the middle bolt position) but it is already riding low to the water (so I don't like that idea). This was one if the two suggestoons by the marine police

2) I also heard about possible prop pitch issue (currently has a 15P prop according to what is on the prop). This was marine polices second suggestion.

3) I read online that smart tabs might help. I can't believe I have to spend money to make a new boat work properly.

Anyone have experience or opinion on this issue and any possible solution that worked for them they care to share before I call the dealer?

Note the stern appears to be heavy loaded. It has the 2 engines, the gas tank which was half full with 50 litres of gas and one of the two batteries. But the boat is rated for a 140 and it has a 115 and 9.9 (so that appears to be well within the weight guidance that the boat was designed for). Just a frustrating experience to say the least.

I also am curious if you think the chop may have made the issue much worse and maybe wouldn't be an issue in calmer water (I am not sure when I can get out again next to test this but nonetheless, the boat definitely should have handled better in that chop).

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

If you decide to break it, just before you do, borrow from a line of credit the maximum amount prepayment you can apply to your mortgage (usually 15% of original balance) and do so. This way the penalty will actually be less since your mortgage balance will be lower. Then when you get the new mortgage, get an amount just enough to pay off your new mortgage balance plus line of credit. This should save you some bucks.

I sold my boat a few months ago. In the dead of winter. No water test, no start up either (it was winter time and the buyer didn't want to have to re winterized it). The deal was a such a good one that the buyer basically bought it without much look over and didn't want to pass it up as he had done with other deals he lost out on. He asked lots of questions and basically trusted me. Also for the price I sold it, he realized that I felt it wasn't worth trying to rip off somebody and then worrying if they'll seek some revenge in the future.

In my experience I think you can usually tell who might be trying to hide something and who is being honest. Sometime we want to believe that someone is being honest for one reason or another when our gut says something just doesn't seem right.

They guy was at my house and I was vey upfront with any issues it had. Every boat has a quirk or two and I am sure he could tell I was being honest about all of mine. If I were hiding something I would be elusive or vague with my responses. I would meet elsewhere - not my house. I would not give my home number. I would not call him from my workplace. Etc.

Always go with your gut. If something seems off, it probably is. listen to your instincts

Having said all that, Not sure I would have bought a boat without at least a test run.

An important question to ask a private seller is why they are selling. Should be a story. Try to gauge the truthfulness of the response to get an idea of if they are going to be truthful on everything else.

I checked with my home insurance and it was more than twice the cost. Plus been told that you want a separate policy in case you have a claim on one as it will affect the others premium.

I got similar price quotes from ogilvy insurance and north star insurance for marine insurance but I was wondering if they are equally as good when/if it's time to make a claim or is one insurer more preferable than the other. Anyone have any advice/experience they care to share?

Getting standard 15 year no depreciation, $2million liability, towing coverage, etc. on a new boat/policy.

Thanks.

Dash cam with separate hd 270 degree front and rear mounted cameras costs less than $100 on ebay (includes cost of a 32 gb micro sd card). I'd say it is worth it.

I have had one on my car for over a year and it came in handy once when someone reversed into me when stopped at a parking lot exit. He was sticking too far out into a live lane and decided that he wanted to reverse - only I had driven up behind him already. He didn't dispute reversing into me but then again easily could have said I hit him from behind.

I just got a second unit for my wife's car.

Ok. I just got my wife to look over the contract and it's an elpt 9.9 merc pro kicker.

So an internet search seems to suggest that means

E-electric

L- long shaft

PT - power trim.

Please correct me of I am wrong. Don't want to call the dealer if I don't have to. Thanks again.

What if the guy admitted to horrible crimes that sent him to jail for a very long time (like Paul Bernardo) where guilt was 100% known, would you then support the death penalty?

I bought a new smokercraft 16 foot pro angler and am getting a 9.9 hp mercury kicker to go with the 115 main motor.

Should I insist on a long shaft for the kicker or would the short shaft be fine? Not sure if it was specified in the contract one way or the other (I have to check tonight when I get home) but if it's a short shaft that I am getting, would that be okay(and not worth insisting on the long shaft)? Or should I definitely get the long shaft?

I will be using the kicker solely for trolling Lake Ontario for salmon. Never back trolling (I read that may be a consideration for a long shaft).

Thanks in advance for your input/experience.

Thanks for all the replies.

Steve, I will take your recommendation of tiki bar. Read many good reviews online.

Drifter. I am going with my son and I showed him the various you tube videos of feeding tarpon at bud and Mary's. He is both nervous and excited to try that.

Never seen them with a plastic roof. Hopefully someone else will chime in. I have only seen the ones with metal roofs and they seem very sturdy/solid.

Congrats.

I have done the same thing. Went from 205 to 180 since mid-December. Motivation was health issues - high blood pressure.

Now my Blood pressure is back to normal. Feeling better all around - physically and mentally.

My ticket to losing weight was to stop snacking on junk food, limit carbs and here is the big one, cutting back on the salt. Now if only I can get myself to exercise.

Lately I started to cheat a little and noticed that I was gaining some weight back- a few pounds after only a few days.

I found that since I had given up all the bad stuff, I wasn't craving it after about the first couple of weeks But as soon as I started to introduce some of the bd stuff back into my diet, my cravings got stronger. So my advice to you is to stick to your current plan And not change anything. It's so easy to gain it back so be diligent and just concede that it is truly a permanent change. Congrats again

Definitely buy one with a permanent metal roof. The permanent roof is so you are not having to take down the cloth roof every fall and putting it back up every spring. Plus the cloth roof will only last 2 years before it begins to rip at the seems near where it is fastened to the gazebo. It happens from the breakdown caused by the sun and the pressure on the corners/fasteners.

I have a clothed roof gazebo that I bought at Walmart a few years ago for about $400 and it's a bit of a pain to put up and take down every year. It is already on its second cloth roof that cost me $120 to replace. Bit of a racket if you ask me.

Wish I bought one with a permanent roof. I think Costco sells them. I have seen them go for about $1100.

Heading down for a few days in middle of March and planning to bring a rod for some shore fishing. I have never been there before

Anyone have any recommendations regarding places to fish or techniques? Also any recommendations on restaurants would be appreciated.

I have done this in the St Pete's area a couple years ago and got into a bunch of fish. Hoping the same for islamorada.

Thanks

For a $100 on ebay you too can get a dash mount camera and a rear windshield camera combo. I have one and it's great. I bumped a guy one time coming out of a parking lot and he claimed I damaged the opposite side if his car (which the damage was obviously already there). Since then I have had my camera and it's been handy. I had one guy reverse right into me when he was too far into an interaection. While he Acknowledged responsibility, the camera reassured me that he couldn't claim I hit him. Worth the $100. All cars should have this mandatory from the manufacturer if it were up to me.

Thanks again DB. Too bad it won't work.

I am returning them to the guy on Monday on way to work but told him I would repost on kijiji in case I can sell them (and save me from transporting them). I listed them for the same price I paid. Anyone interested?

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-other-8-foot-fluorescent-lights-with-bulbs-347-volts-W0QQAdIdZ561713375

Wow you guys are good. Came home and sure enough 347 volts. They guy I bought them from says he got them from work and didn't realize it but is going to take them back. Too bad because they are nice lights.

Anyone here know if they would still work in a 120 volt outlet or will that ruin the ballasts or my house?

I got what I thought was a good price on it and it pick up was only a few minutes detour on my way to work. It's at home so I will have to check tonight. I'll send a pic of the wires once I confirm the voltage on the ballast.

The guy who sold it says its 120 v. I will check tonight.

Just bought a 120 V 8 foot long fluorescent light fixture from kijiji and it has 4 wires coming out of it. A red, black, green and white.

My plan is to connect a 3 prong plug to it so I can plug it into a times outlet. Anyone know how I need to connect these wires to the plug (I am used to 3 wires, but am confused with the four) .

Does the fact that the fixture has 8 four foot lights have any significance to the number of wires/ wiring?

Great. PM me your email address and I will send you an electronic copy you can print off and present at the door.

OK, thanks. Ticket still up for grabs. I bought 3 tickets in November and only used two of them...so this is an extra for anyone who is planning to go.

Christopher, I havent received your PM. Did you want the ticket?