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With crime on the rise, these small trackers could be a life saver, small and made for luggage !! Something like these in your boat, tackle box, luggage and truck might save you a headache if you luck turns bad. Hope you have a great trip!!

If you were only charging one battery you might get away with solar, but on multiple batteries it doesn't work well !! These folks that choose to live in there fancy housing editions can keep them, I choose to live out in the country among hard working tax paying citizens that help their neighbors nd work hard to get along !! Being stuck in an apartment really sucks, I remember those days well !! Perhaps you could look at renting a small house or duplex that has a garage. With the criminal element on the rise, I would never trust my boat out in the open in a public place. Paying for a secure storage are might be your best bet, not only for charging batteries but for security as well !! I know that I get a healthy insurance discount for keeping all my toys in my locked barn !! Good luck... I don't care for the appearance of some folks cars either, as they never wash them, choose weird colors or let the rust show thru.. I also believe it is extremely selfish to impose your ideas and beliefs onto to others, if people would learn to mind there own business, we would have far less problems in the world !! In my area, we dont need no fancy HOA or whatever it is called, if someone's yard gets trashy we simply get a few neighbors together and go talk to them, if there is a problem, we help them take care of it, no lawsuits, no courts, no police, no problem !!

The prior post is about right and you need to get a " factory service manual" not an aftermarket manual as the syc service is critical !! The only issue other than that, running on high speed with the throttle closed could be a very lean fuel issue !! Check you fuel supply, hose and fuel pump etc etc. If your fuel supply is not restricted then look carefully at the syc issue..

Many bilge pumps on the market with the float switch built in, no extra wires needed. On my previous boat I used the Sahara model with built in float switch, worked great for all the years I owned it...

Think you made the right call !!! For future reference you might consider looking at aluminum hulls, the only wood is in the transom, easy to see and easy to replace if needed. Outboards can be tricky, find someone with motor experience to go with you...

Glad you are OK and can joke about it...

Well....are you a gambling man ?? Your call, boats can be a very expensive hobby !! Read up and do your own testing for wood rot, you can find anything on the internet nowadays... Good luck !!

That is the stuff I was refering to, all reviews have been good. There is another product out there that I used on my jon boat about 5-6 years back. Called " leak stopper" sold thru home depit and tractor supply. It is a clear roofing sealer for all materials. That stuff is tough, fairly thick, will plug small cracks and holes. Put it on my hon boat years back, it gets dragged over sand and rocks and stiil no leaks. No sign of peeling up or comming loose so far.. Lots of products out there, take your pick !!

Unless your boat lives inside, I would be sure to have an automaric bilge pump!!

Cleanup the acid and add more soda and water until all signs are gone, as much as possible. If any damages to the cables, replace them, you do not want to reuse anything with corrosion from that acid. Battery should have been in a battery box, if not, make sure the new one has a box... Once everything is cleanup, just get a new battery and hook everything back up. Did your old battery freeze over the winter?

The big question is...is the boat worth repowering? Known fact is the motor is questionable, so just how good is the boat really !? Looks dont mean much, if it were an aluminum hull then you know it isn't rotted, but something to seriously consider. At 20 years of age, that is about the time it would start if there were any. Very carefull inspection is needed!! If your serious about it, mabey even spring for a marine survey, could be the best few hundred ever spent !!

Have read alot about " goop" having a Marin epoxy coating with fiber for aluminum hulls as an exterior and interior coating for older leaky hulls. The fiber is supposed to dill small cracks and holes. Sounds good..?

My Lawrance unit shows a power cable extension in the accessories availiable book. Try contacting your mfgr. Mine shows plugs on each end for a plug and play...

If you pedalistals that keep getting stuck are tapered going into the base, the clean them with some fine energy cloth both male and female. Clean real well then spray with silicon spray every so often. Mine go in and out easy by doing this. Most seat bases have a weight limit on them, mine are 250lb max recomeded...check on whatever bases you like. My neighbor is a big boy as well, 330 lbs and yes he has issues with his seats/ bases as well.

Glad to hear you came out ok !! It does suck to have to carry ins on people that dont have it !! About your truck decision, many years back I decuded to buy a PU truck to haul my firewood for our woodstove...worked great for a while until I realized I had to unload it so I could drive to work the next day...in fact, no matter what was loaded in the back had to be unloaded before goung to work the next day! After a while, I bought a trailer and soon realized I could unhook it and leave it while I went to work the next day...soon realized the trailer was much less work in the long run....insurance was cheaper on an SUV with a trailer than on a PU truck....never looked back and never owned another PU truck. But, I do have some nice trailers !!

Often bass eggs are brought into ponds on bird legs as they wade in shallows, then drop them in the next pond. Many highway ponds are stocked this way. Unfortunately your never sure what kind of fish you might get !! Toss any bullhead, carp etc out as they can take over quickly !! And the bass wont eat them.

When I wascready to put bass in my pond, I caught vass from otger private ponds with the owners permission and a letter in case I would be stopped. Talked with a local sheriff and got the ok. I used a large cooler with an aerator and made the half hour plus drive with no issues. Only 4 bass per trip, about 8"-12" avg length. Made 3 trips. Bass are over 16" now and quite a few 6-8" home grown bass over the past ten years. Not looking to grow monsters, just a healthy population.

How deep, when I put my pond in, I was tokd at least 10' deep. If the bluegill population is established and not over run you can start with bigger bass. I worked with a number of guys that had ponds, so I put in small bluegills and minnows, following year started to add bass from other private ponds. Varied in size from 8" to about 11 or 12 at the biggest. Bluegills and bass fed on minnows until the gills started to multiply and after a couole years so did the bass. 20 years later, I have a great population with none over run !! I do watch and thin the small gills every so often. Neighbor had a pind company stock his at a big$$ and his is over run and not well managed. Just use common sense and remember what eats what...

My neighbor weighs 325 and tried a kayak a couple times, borrowed mine.. found it much to akward to maintain his balance, moved into a canoe and a small jon boat, with much better sucess. Just food for thought here...

You belly boaters are a different breed, that is something that I find interesting but no interest in trying...heck I wouldn't venture out with just one rod, more or less three!!

Back when I had my Kayak, I carried a couple of outdated flares from my big boat. In one close call a flare was ignited and made myself very visible !! My kayak was brite orange and a neon green vest with brite yellow paddle blades, but....still hard to spot by a boat traveling 30 plus mph.

Would drive me crazy, why not set up your trailer so the boat can only go on one way? Plenty of items aailiable out there so boat loading should not be an issue..

Spent numerous trips to the launch ramp making adjustments and adding and moving rollers until the trailer was set correctly !! I dont think my boat could go on crooked if it wanted to !!

If I had a three hundred lb or more outboard on my transom they might be worth it, but for my 40 hp 2 stroke,I wouldnt bother spending the money. Have used various products over 60 years of boating with both good and bad results. My current motor has a power trim and tilt, now think about this...this is designed to hold back 40 hp, while lifting a thousand pound boat out of the water doing 30 mph...look at the leverage dissadvantage the trim needs to overcome in order to trim the boat out !! My boat is rated for 80 hp but only has a 40 so the transom has no issues with the weight and pressure supporting this motor. I have never had a trim issue supporting the motor or outdrive on any of my boats. Now..with that said...if my boat was maxed out with the biggest possible motor and I were stressing everything to the max, then a much better reason for going to a premium support system. Consider your application carefully then decide what is safest for your boat and motor...bottom line is, the bolts, clamps, and transom all are stressed no matter what device you do or don' t use. Consider carefully !!!

It pays to inspect thoroughly before leaving the dealership !! Never ever fall for the "bring it back and we will fix it later"....unless you deduct that from the cost, then you can pay it in full when fixed properly !! Consumers need to get smart and use the same tactics the dealers do...and not be afraid to walk away!!