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That boat looks aluminum to me. To the best of my re-collection, the company originally called Astroglass, later re-named Astro when Brunswick Corp bought it from Maidencraft, never made an aluminum boat. It's seems obvious that there was a aluminum manufacturer called Astro at one time.

The new President is on there, the LP version of the Patriarch. New Purist spinning reels. 8-) The rods look interesting. muddy, I'll anxiously await your review of those rods when you go out and try one out.

Not a whole lot of use for parts out of a set that old. Come February of next year, when the world as we know it ends when TV broadcasting goes completely to digital, there won't be a whole lot of desire for anyone to spend any kind of money to fix those old klunker big screens up. Besides, most of the manufacturers are starting to make the parts for those sets unavailable anyway.

Apparently they're losing the weight in their face. Everyone of them has a black hole for a mug.

The pinkish/purple flowered trees look like eastern redbuds. In this neck of the woods (mid-Missouri) they're one of the first to bloom in spring. Often in late March into very early april. I'm probably wrong about the dogwood (the white blossums). They would not be blooming when the redbuds are. That may be a crabapple or a cherry tree.

i don't get it, how do you sell a boat if you don't have the title to it? If someone could explain how that works. I don't know how it works in all states but in mine I would have the title even if I had a loan on it. On the title though, it would have the banks name and address as the lien holder. In order to pass that title on legally, I'd have to settle with the bank to get them to release the title. In the event I was selling the boat for less than the note I had secured by the boat, I'd have to make up the difference.

If the baits don't tangle on the cast you'll have problems on the retrieve. In order to keep the buzzbait on the top you'll have to reel so quickly that the spinnerbait will rise up right at the surface and probably get it's blades tangled in the buzzbaits drop line. IMO

: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1206322448

Drakes coffee cakes were also a long time running gag on the Seinfeld show.

I would never buy a boat with a long term loan on it for 10-15 years. Boats depreciate...FAST. If something happens within the first 5 years that would make you need to sell it, you're going to wind up owing money after you've sold it. A lot of money. If you wind up not liking it and want to change, the same thing. Due to the economy right now, there are plenty of used boats out there that are going for bargain basement prices. Many are relatively newer models the owner can't afford the payment on anymore and need to get rid of it.

That's the newer, or 80's version of the reel I had. Mine had the spool tension adjustment knob on the palm plate. I can't imagine the reel being much more than a 5.3:1 ratio. Check the Garcia 5500 C3 for line capacity as the 2 reels are very similar.

You may have a Millionaire from the late 70's to early 80's. IIRC, the Millionaires came in 2 versions. The blue ones were the slightly cheaper ones and the silver ones (or maybe they were bronze??) were the more expensive ones by around $10-20. At the time, a friend and I were Garcia 5000 series round reel users. The Daiwa reels came out and we each bought one of the Blue ones to try them out. They weren't the best of reels. They lasted about a season and a half when they both became rough to reel and noisy. Lubing only partially helped. I think my friend still has his blue one stuffed away somewhere. Or It could be a later version made in the late 80's and beyond. A picture would really help.

If you pull the head off the top of the motor you can make adjustments to the gearing to change the TM position according to the foot controls latitude to the boat as well as aligning the Arrow with the lower unit's direction. Generally it's four screws from the underside and the top comes off.

I just saw this thread and something seems odd. The post date is Aug of this year yet there are no leaves on the trees, there's a Redbud in bloom and a Dogwood about to bloom. This looks more like April in Oklahoma vs August.

In virtually every graph manufacturers instruction manual comes the disclaimer that the fish ID feature cannot actually make the distinction between a fish and just about anything else underwater. That alone should tell you to just turn the thing off all the time.

Dude!! 8-) Now about that mini-van.

It's like they always say It ain't over till

Usually smaller plastics. I've got a 6'6" Platinium Med/xfast that I love.

My advice is to get yourself into a boat with an experienced boat driver and learn. I can't teach someone how to drive a car over the internet anymore than I could teach you to drive a high performance bassboat capable of speeds in excess of 70mph. And I definitely wouldn't be taking that boat out onto a large body of water like Erie or St Clair unless you know what you're doing. Those lakes will eat a boat that size unless you've had some training and experience in rough water boat handling.

What's at issue is a boat that's dragging through the water at WOT throttle vs. a boat that's running with a true rated engine for the size hull it's mounted on and the gas mileage you get compared. There are video's on the web of the 176 in action, with either the 50 or the 75 mounted on them. The boats aren't technically running at their maximum efficiency because the smaller OB is being forced to run at WOT throttle just to keep them from plowing water. This not only makes for a rough ride but any OB having to run at WOT is burning fuel at a rate of non-efficiency just to keep the hull up out of the water. If I take the same 176 boat, slap a 135hp motor on it and run it at WOT I will burn more gas but I'll have lifted the hull far enough out of the water that drag becomes less of an issue. Hence, the gas mileage wouldn't be as bad with that larger motor vs smaller. Going a step further, I have the option of running that 135 at 2/3 - 3/4 throttle, running the same speed as the 75 at WOT and actually burn the same amount of gas or even less. Let me say this though. These boats have a time and place. I definitely wouldn't suggest either model for any lake that can get rough. They run a wider, flatter hull with less V in it which is what provides the great stability and all the storage. My only issue is this new gimmick of underrating the hp on these boats (and others) to create the impression that the motors being sold with these boats will provide the maximum performance the hull is capable of. They don't. It would be just as easy to sell the same boat at the same prices but simply list the true hp rating of the hull. That way, if a person likes the boat and wants to upgrade the motor to a larger one they can.

I have an 18 1/2 foot Champion. I pull it with a F-150 supercab with the 4.2 V6, auto transmission. A V8 would be better but as my everyday driver, the gas mileage back and forth to work is better with my V6.

With $5-10k to spend you're really going to be looking more for condition than brand. I think I'd also spend some time between now and then partnering up with somebody that already has a boat and get some instruction on usage by them. Trying to explain to a newbie how to operate a boat over an internet forum is nearly impossible. Your safety is at stake.

- Here's an arm. Here's a leg. Here's a wing. What do you like, the leg or the wing? Or you still prefer the hearts and lungs? ;D

I thought for sure the middle singer was John Hiatt but apparently not. Nice rendition of that song.

uppermost forelimb bone You mean like this?