Fishing Rhino

There's no doubt about it. I am very fortunate. My garage is heated and air conditioned. It doubles as my fiberglass shop, so I do have to pull the boat out from time to time. When I do, I put the cover on it. Then it goes back in at night. The lowest it gets is 45 degrees in the garage. When I'm going to spend some time cleaning and organizing I turn it up to sixty. When I'm doing fiberglass work it gets cranked up to 65 degrees.

I was just curious as to whether or not, you had a decline in city fuel mileage, or it has been this way since you got the car. I used to love working on cars, but since they have switched to full on computer control they went beyond my capacity. Back in the day, you could pull things apart. If the points were pitted you replaced them. If the distributor cap and rotor were shot, you could tell by looking at them, and then replace them. No more points, condensers, rotors and caps. Heck except for the wires that come out of the coil packs to the spark plugs, ignition wires as I knew them are now a thing of the past. They are now too technical for a shade tree mechanic. When a fuel pump when bad, you'd go to the parts store and get a kit which included a diaphragm, and a few other parts. Remove the fuel pump, undo the bolts to separate the two main body parts, replace the diaphragm, and other components, bolt it together, and you were back in business. Now the things monitor air temperature, air flow, and regulate the fuel injectors accordingly while determining throttle position. Having said all that, I would not want to return to the good old days when cars were made of solid steel and other metals. If you got a hundred thousand miles out of a car that was exceptional. Today's cars, with proper care and maintenance can be expected to do two or three times that. Problems are a rarity. Exhaust systems last the life of a car. I don't understand 'em like I used to, but I like today's vehicles better.

Did you ever get better city mileage, or has the 14 - 15 mpg city been what you have been getting from day one?

2011 Nitro Z-8, bought new. Steering cable pulled out of the steering rack in the Motorguide trolling motor. Covered by warranty. I've made seven 3000 mile round trips with the boat in tow. Replaced the leaking brake actuator in the trailer last year. Still on the same batteries that came with it, though I'm watching them closely. I plug the charger in once a month, and within a minute, it indicates all batteries are fully charged. I installed a battery switch for the cranking/electronics battery and always turn it off when I'm not on the water. If there are any leaks in the system, they cannot drain the battery. As for the boat and motor, no problems. Get it serviced and winterized. When I brought it in for winterization I had them put in a new impeller . Cheap insurance. The only time it's in the sun is when I'm on the road or on the water. It's kept in a garage, and the hatches are open to allow plenty of air circulation. As the saying goes, "Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you."

Since we are on animal behaviors, and the impact of the seasons, temps, tides, currents, etc., here's an interesting tidbit. Emus and ostriches. Birds in the same family. A friend of mine had both, and for a few years made much money breeding emus in the early 1990s. A breeding pair of emus was worth over fifty thousand dollars at their peak. Then the developing market crashed, and they became nearly worthless. There is a big difference in their breeding habits. Bring them to the Northern Hemisphere from Australia and/or New Zealand, and the Ostriches will adapt their breeding patterns. They will change to breed in our summer. The Emus on the other hand, breed according to the calendar and continue to breed in what was their summer months, our winters. The Emus that are born here will continue the breeding pattern of their parents and ignore the seasons in favor of the calendar. They would build a nest and breed in freezing weather. My friend had to go out a couple of times every night while they were breeding to gather the eggs before they cooled too much, and put them in an incubator.

Nah. A fathom is six feet. It has only risen a third of a fathom.

There's a saying about drivers in auto racing. There's a butt for every seat. But, there's not a seat for every butt. Hmmmm, seems to fit here too.

There are three ponds in Westport which can be clearly seen. The white line which follows the shoreline of two ponds is the MA/RI border. The three ponds to the right of that line are totally or partly in Westport. The larger, top center is South Watuppa. It is in both Fall River and Westport. The two ponds to the left of our home are Devol, which is private access only, and to the left (west) of Devol is Sawdy Pond, Both are within the town of Westport.

And here I thought that this was another thread about Big Bill.

It says that on a tag in the pocket where the ratchet device is stored. I've seen some dispute it, buy I'm not going to tow with it on regardless. At least, not for long run, high speed towing.

To own all those records, and to have a long career you need a good/great offensive line protecting you, and giving you time to pass. You also need receivers who can make the great catches, and do not make a habit of dropping the ball. A good ground game doesn't hurt either. It's not a punt, pass, and kick contest where none of the above factors enter into the equation. You also need a defense that can get the ball back for the offense, while not allowing the opposing offense to stomp all over them. It's kinda like auto racing. The driver is the most visible, and credited member of the team when they are successful. But he/she does not do it on their own. The driver needs good equipment, and a team that can back him up on pit road. Chicken parm you taste so good.

I've been diligently doing that for over 13 years, but the deposits to our checking account are still coming.

Speaking of aerodynamics. I guessing that towing a boat with the cover on, and stretched tightly would improve gas mileage. It seems to me that the open cockpit, trolling motor, consoles, rear seat, etc., all create turbulence which increases drag. It also occurs to me that a cap on a pickup would tend to allow air to flow more freely above the surface of the boat, much like the deflectors you see on the roofs of trucks that ease the transition of air over that large flat panel that must be dragged through the air.

I hooked a seagull once. Good thing I had a burlap bag in the boat. I used it to keep him/her from flopping around and hurting itself or me. It was hooked in the mouth and it was a fairly simple task. I was in the middle of a bass/bluefish blitz. The birds and the fish were after my treble hooked, mackerel colored Rebel. A long time ago, in a country far far away. Cape Cod, 1971.

Hey, hey, hey. No politics please.

An excellent suggestion. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's safety instructions. The least you will need is a respirator, and possibly an enclosed suit and an air pump. That stuff is quite dangerous. Never, never, never use it in enclosed areas with limited ventilation.

That's a job better left to a professional. The problem with spraying gel coat onto an existing boat rather than into a mold is that you usually get horrendous orange peel. But, here's the process if you are determined to try. Even then, you are going to spend many hours in preparation and many dollars, just in materials. Clean, and sand the hull in preparation. After sanding with fine grit, wet or dry sandpaper, wipe the hull clean, using acetone. Then, apply the base coat (the color behind the flake). After that, clean the hull and apply the flake, suspended in a marine clear gel coat.You will need to determine the ratio of flakes to a measure of the clear gel coat. For the sake of discussion one half cup of flake to a pint of clear. Then, you'll have to apply it evenly and at the same rate per square yard, or you'll have varying rates of concentration in the flake. Spray it on thicker, and the flakes will be denser than an area with less coverage, and the color will vary. Once you finish applying the flake, you are going to have to apply several coats of clear on top of that. Why, because you're going to need to sand enough material from the surface to get rid of the orange peel. The last sanding should be done with a wet or dry paper no coarser than 1200 grit followed by buffing, buffing and more buffing. Oh, and if you get into the flakes with the sandpaper, you'll turn them silver. You need to use marine clear because it has ultraviolet inhibitors which protect it from the damaging rays of the sun. And don't forget, you'll need a gun to spray the gel coat, and you'll need to determine which number nozzle will work best with your flake/gel mixture. Flakes make the substance thicker, requiring a larger nozzle, which makes for worse orange peel. My suggestion. Forget the flake, it's likely to be a nasty mess with an uneven finish. Get a color or colors you like and spray a solid color gel coat . Top it off with marine clear to provide the UV protection, then sand away the orange peel and buff until you are satisfied with the finish. Top it off with a cleaner glaze, and a coat of carnauba wax. Try buffing your existing boat. It's possible it may clean up nicely. Avoid the aggressive buffing compounds. The less you have to do, the better. Start with a small area that is not in a prominent place. I work with fiberglass, and I wouldn't do it on a bet. I make race car bodies, and a lot of them have metal flake finishes. But I spray the clear and the flake into the mold, then spray on the base coat. Orange peel is not a problem. We just laminate right over it. And one more thing for your consideration. There is gel coat with wax in it, and gel coat without wax. The last coat you spray on should be waxed. Gel coat is made to cure sealed away from the air. It can take a long time to cure if exposed to the air. The wax comes to the surface and seals the surface from the air. If you use it on anything but the last coat, you'll have to let the gel completely cure, then remove the wax to apply another layer of gel, or to bond anything to the final coat.

Back to your topic. I prefer the seats tipped forward a little bit, and that swiveling makes a big difference. Another thing I did was to drill the top side of the seat back and the front side of the seat and used 3/16" braided polyester cord to take the pressure off the hinge. I had the plastic crack at the pivot pin. Just too much leverage. Took some monel fishing line, and made several tight turns to contain the crack, then used the cord, making it just tight enough to take the strain off the pivot point. I see you used pop rivets to mount your rod holders. I'd suggest coating them with a bit of silicone sealer to prevent water intrusion. It's not likely to be a problem w/o it, but it won't hurt to keep that compartment as dry as possible. It's where I stow the registration, fishing license, and a screwdriver and pair of pliers in case I have to change a shear pin on the trolling motor.

Okay, I'll try the img code. This is the result. http:// Okay, that worked. I copied the IMG code, then placed it in the page that opened when I clicked the link in the toolbar at the top of the post page. Thanks.

That didn't work. Now, when I click on any of the four options, it highlights them in blue. Cleared the cache, signed out then signed on again. The problem still exists. http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q155/HomarusAmericanus/DSC07131_zpse4132669.jpg

Testing to see if this will show as a photo. http://s135.photobucket.com/user/HomarusAmericanus/library/ Nope.

Well, I have the log out button on the Photobucket page, and no sign in. I'll log out, then sign in again. That might work. Thanks.

For some reason, I'm having a problem posting my pictures from photobucket. The image is fine, and shows in the post, until I try to post it. I get a message to remove formatting. When I do that, the image disappears from the post. I can click and copy other images from other sources, and they appear in the post. Maybe it's photobucket. Used to be that when I clicked on one of the four choices, email & IM, Direct, HTML, or IMG it would highlight that choice in yellow and a message saying image or address copied. It no longer does that. I can left click on a line, which highlights it in blue. When I copy that, and paste it into the body of the post the image will appear. When I try to submit the post I cannot until I remove the format. If I try to drag the files to the paper clip, where it says Drag files here to attach, nothing happens when I click on paste. I've tried using the "link" button in the tool bar at the top of the post and that fails too.

Before you go too far, consider setting the canoe up backward, which will put you closer to the center of the canoe. The canoe in my avatar is rigged "backward". If I fish with it in the "normal" configuration, the stern settles quite low, and the bow is too high. The problem you have with your canoe is that the seats are molded in such a way that it might be awkward or uncomfortable to sit on the seats as they are formed. I'd recommend this type of arrangement. It allows you to fish with either end being the bow. These seats are very comfortable, swivel, and you can tilt them by using various thicknesses of wood along the edges. You can experiment, tipping the seat forward or backward until you find what works best for you. http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q155/HomarusAmericanus/IMG_0148_zpsc82f5c26.jpg For some reason, I'm having a problem posting images, so you'll have to click on the link above. In the image, you can see the spacer below the plywood, to which I bolted the seat. Use a couple of ratchet straps to secure the seat to the canoe. You can easily make changes to the position of the seat by releasing the ratchet strap and changing the shim thickness. The ratchet strap will secure the seat so it cannot move. Once you are sure the seat is the way you want it, you can bolt it in place and get rid of the bulky ratchet strap. Or, you can put the mechanism with the lever underneath the seat, so it does not interfere with the swiveling action of the seat. With your metal fabricating skills you could use aluminum or stainless plate in place of wood.

There is no need to connect the second bank. I'm not an expert by any means, but, it seems to me that if one of the banks develops a problem, it could damage the other bank as well if they are hooked up together..