Fishing Rhino

Hey Scrutch. Think about plugging the hole. Find a carpet that is an acceptable match and buy a small piece, or remnant if you can. Place it over the damaged area, line up the nap, and secure it in place. Small screws or brads should work. Use a straight edge and a sharp utility knife, and cut through both carpets. You might need a few passes with the knife to cut cleanly through both pieces. Remove what you used to hold the "patch" in place, then set the patch to one side, keeping its orientation the same. Remove the damaged piece, and clean any remaining adhesive. Apply carpet adhesive according to directions, then fit the patch into place, and use something like a wallpaper roller and press the patch securely into place. To give it the weathered and worn look of the old carpet, scuff it with a wire brush until it's has the slightly worn appearance of the existing carpet. It's not likely that you'll get a perfect match, but it will be preferable to a crispy melted area, and will only cost a few bucks and some time.

It's strapped down whenever I'm not fishing. I remove the strap when I get on the water, and strap it down before it's loaded on the trailer.

Here's something in your price range, if you are willing to "settle" for a leftover, and can find one. I got this 2011 Nitro Z-8 at the BPS in Foxborough Mass for just over 28,000 dollars. It's sticker was 32,000 and change. It was reduced by 3,000 dollars and I got a one thousand dollar BPS gift card which brought the net price down to the 28 and change. Powered by a 200 horse Optimax Pro XS, hydraulic steering, lighted front compartments, boarding ladder, 55 gallon fuel tank, two live wells with separate controls for each. It only had three options, a custom ratchet cable cover, trailer brakes on both axles, and retractable tie downs. The only difference between it and the 2012 version is that the '12 has a 68 gallon fuel tank rather than the 55 gallon in the '11. I traded my 2009 Z-7 and got three thousand less than I paid for it two years earlier.

Good advice.

Every brand has its devotees and detractors. Some ride better, others are faster, while yet others have more storage space. Quality varies, as do prices. What satisfies me may not please you. The most important part of any package, and is likely to need the most maintainence is the motor. Mercury, Evinrude/Johnson, Yamaha etc., are all similar in price, performance, and reliability. Most of the boats come with one of these models. In some cases, you may be able to choose your powerplant, while others come with a particular brand. Unless most of your fishing is done on the larger bodies of water, most of your time on your boat will be at the bow using a trolling motor. On the small ponds and lakes around here, I can fish for eight or ten hours, and burn no more than three gallons of gas. Fill up the 55 gallon fuel tank on my boat and I can fish for a couple of months, and that's three or four times per week. The important thing to keep in mind is that the fish do not know, nor do they care if you're in a canoe, kayak, float tube, or a full blown 80,000 dollar bass boat. In the end, it will depend on your wants, preferences and finances, not necessarily in that order.

If "wildest" means unusual or unlikely, and fishing includes commercial lobstering, here's my entry. We were hauling lobster trawls in Buzzards Bay which leads to the Cape Cod Canal. We hauled in a sail for a 42 foot Hinkley sail boat that was wrapped around our ground line. It was in perfect condition, and we assumed it had fallen off a boat that was traversing the bay. The next trip out confirmed our assumption when the sail bag for the sail came up, wrapped around the ground line. The sail bag was about four feet long, yet manged to get hung on the ground line. What are the odds of that?

If the seat is high enough for you, but the problem is you're scrunched up, consider removing the deck with the seat post, and mount a longer post on the deck below. You'll be in the same position as far as the center of gravity is concerned, but you'll be able to sit with your legs at a comfortable angle. You don't have much margin for error on 12 foot aluminum boats. I've hauled the occupants of two of those boats to shore, then gone back and towed their swamped boats to shore. Fortunately the water was not bitterly cold, and I happened to be on the water to assist. Those 12 foot aluminum boats were not designed to be stable with someone sitting on high pedestal seat.

What's good for the goose is good for the dander.

Looking in the mirror offends me.

Sixth down on the right side of the page is Raymarine, unless it varies, but it has been there since Roadwarrior's first post.

My answer would be three or four times per year, and two or three of those would be long hauls of about 1200 miles each way. A couple of times a year to our daughter's home, plus the road trip.

You and your Johnson. Better than you and your I know. I had one of these babies.

I remember when they were Raytheon. I recall them being among the leaders in marine electronics for the commercial fishing industry way back in the 1960s.

Sounds like you need to cutback on the amount of tea you consume. There is a plan that has worked everytime it has been used. Drink tea only on the days of the week that end in "y".

It has been asked if Griffin was afraid that Cousins might pose a threat. Here's something to think about. Drew Bledsoe was the superstar quarterback of the Patriots, having a great 1998 season, 'til he went down with an injury. And with that one stroke of luck, good for Brady, bad for Bledsoe, the door was opened for Brady. Initially the Pats fans were dismayed, in a state of depression. They were well on their way to winning their division and then on to the playoffs, with Bledsoe at the helm. He was one of the top quarterbacks in the league, 'til Brady had to step in. Brady took over, and they got to the Super Bowl when Bledsoe was cleared to play. But the Pats started Brady. Bledsoe turned into a so so quarterback, or maybe even less. It was all downhill after that. That injury was effectively the end of Bledsoe's career. It gave his understudy a chance to show his wares, and Bledsoe was suddenly expendable.. One can only wonder where Brady would be today but for Bledsoe's injury giving him the opportunity to step up.

Congrats on your "new" boat. It should give you many years of troublefree service if you treat her right. All that is left for you to do is take her out and make many happy memories.

I'll only offer a couple of thoughts. The worst ship to sail on is a partnership. It rarely works out as initially envisioned. It usually ends up with one of the parties doing the bulk of the work while the other shares in the rewards. Is the risk worth a friendship? Basing a business on something you enjoy doing is a two edged sword. It not only affords you the opportunity to pursue an interest, but it can also cause that interest to dwindle. When it becomes a job, with responsibilities, it can turn into drudgery, rather than fun. When I got out of commercial lobstering in 1997, I didn't care if I ever went on the water again. I really enjoyed lobstering, but it is a labor intensive job, even in the offseason when you have to go through all the gear, repairing damaged traps and hand over handing 15 to 20 miles of line cutting out knots and splicing the line together, not to mention getting the boat ready for the next season. I didn't get on the water again until 2008, on a small pond in one of my canoes. I still have no interest in getting back onto the briny deep for stripers or any other fish. I do get out on the river once in a while and scratch up a few quahogs.

Are you sure? The media is still flogging Brent Musberger's comments about Katherine Webb, made during the broadcast of the game. In fact, his comments seem to have a longer shelf life than the game itself.

It depends on the condition of the batteries that are "just lying around". If they haven't been maintained, they could be about useless. Batteries that are not kept up to full charge will sulfate, and ruin an otherwise good battery.

When Musberger started prattling about Miss Alabama, I thought he was having "an up close and personal moment" a la the Olympics. He sounded like a dirty old man, drooling over the young babes.

I don't know about the relay switch, but the filter is usually seen from the outside below the door. You may need to remove the black plastic grille beneath the door, or it may have a circular opening in the grill which allows you to change the filter. It may look like this.

I would hazard a guess that most fans do blame the owners, for a couple of reasons. Fans root for the team/players, not the owners. The second reason is that owners are commonly vilified as being greedy. But, consider this. Everytime an owner agrees to more of this or that for the players, one way or another, it's the fans that foot the bill. I read quite a bit about how expensive it is to attend a pro sporting event, which prices it out of reach for the average working stiff. Years ago, many years ago, something like 55 plus years ago, every year the Boy Scouts from our area would attend one of the Boston Celtics games. We went in school buses. I cannot remember how much we paid, but it had to be reasonable because most of the kids were from blue collar families. I can remember when Ted Williams got a contract for 100,000 dollars per year, in the early 1950s. It was almost scandalous, twenty to twenty-five times what the average timeclock punching worker made. Today, with the average family income at around 60,000 dollars, 25 times that would be 1,500,000 per year. Alex Rodriguez makes 32,000,000 per year, more than twenty times what Ted Williams got paid relative to the average family incomes of his era. No wonder the average Joe cannot afford to take his family to the game.

Filed for future reference, extortion, or blackmail.

Maybe he's cultivating them for future use as hair plugs on a receding hairline.

Unfortunately, there is not an abundance of hockey fans in the U.S. when compared to football, basketball, and baseball. I lost interest in pro sports years ago when the NFL tried to have a season with the replacement players. Got tired of the privileged owners and players whining about how tough they had it. Prior to that, I rooted for the football Giants, the NY Yankees, the Celtics, and the Bruins. I can honestly say that my life is better than when I lived and died by how my favorite team was faring. Having said that, I have known when the big three, football, basketball, and baseball, were having labor/management issues. I hadn't seen or heard anything about the hockey season until the recent announcement that a settlement had been reached and needed ratification by the players.