Intentions

[tsubaki]

Figured I***8217;d try the boat to see how it performed with the few additions to it.
New wheel.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/002-5.jpg
Might as well throw a couple of poles in also for the meanness of it.
I intended to try the boat at various speeds to compare the rpm***8217;s and fuel consumption. NOAA reported 10-15 north winds, 2***8217; seas and cloudy (yeah right) so we headed toward a couple of reefs that were 10-15 miles offshore. Immediately I recognized the GPS portion of the depth finder wasn***8217;t on and played with it till we got to the sound with no luck.
Not being real sure of everything on the boat (fuel consumption, engines performance, etc) we decided to fish the sound.
The moon was full, the tides were flood tides and negative tides, meaning inshore fishing would be next to pulling teeth. Still we anchored and caught undersized Trout, Blackfish, Shark, Croaker and Whiting. This is the second week of the season the Whiting have started in and they were small 10-12***8221;. Shamelessly kept a few to screw up some grease (hey this is the first fishing trip owning this boat).
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/001-7.jpg
One addition was the cutting board (inspired by Shawsee).
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/003-3.jpg
I exceptionally enjoyed it and the darn thing floats.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/004-3.jpg
And stores easily.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/005-1.jpg
While fishing the wind changed from North to West, then a little later from the South, then the East over a 4 hour period and the whole time varying from 15-30 mph. Heading back in the sound there were 3 foot swells so probably a good thing we didn***8217;t go offshore.
I normally bring a handheld GPS for a backup and figured might try to get some performance numbers with the new prop.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Prop3.jpg
The old one was a 14x19ss, this one is a 14.8x17al. The stainless prop would turn about 5100rpm at 42mph lightly loaded; the aluminum prop turned 5000rpm at 41mph in rough water and wind and loaded to a normal fishing trip capacity, being bait, fuel, ice, etc. At about 3900rpm and 32mph it consumed just under 12gph. The whole trip was about 30 miles and burned about 12 gallons of fuel.
Couldn***8217;t take pictures of the instruments hold a GPS and operate the boat at the same time so sorry, no pictures of them.
Got back to the dock and turned on the VHF to find it not working, the display showed -8 (?) and none of the buttons worked.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/008-1.jpg
Then it dawned on me ***8220;must have been lightning***8221; hit near the boat and damaged the radio and external antenna on the GPS. Gotta see if that was the case or not.
I never liked the idea of bow rails getting in the way so I don***8217;t plan on reinstalling them on the boat plus I couldn***8217;t arrive at a good navigation light setup so ended up doing this for the meantime.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/006-1.jpg
The one thing I always wanted (for no particular reason) was a bow mounted transducer in addition to the normal depth finder. Here is both of them at the dock reading 11***8217; in the rear of the boat and 5.8***8217; at the front.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/009-1.jpg
Got back home wind burned, checked the NOAA site and they said the same exact thing (liars), cleaned the boat and fish, then thought ***8220;what a perfectly wasted day***8221; (I***8217;ll have to repeat it again soon, real soon).
Really did enjoy myself, first real trip out.

[chumbucket]

Nice report. Nothing wrong with bringing home a few feeshies small or otherwise. It was the first real fishing trip. :clap:
Electrical problems are the bane of a boaters existence. :sad:

[randlemanboater]

Nice report. Glad you got to get out on your "new" boat.

I hope to be on the water in the next 36 hours myself.

[lumberslinger178]

You Guys down south like rubbin it in:bat: takin you v's out .....mines still in the shop but winter flounder opens next week so hopefully soon... there will be a week of just cleaning scrubbing waxing and buffing:love:

[bradford]

Nice report Tsubaki! Have ya thought about mounting the individual port and starboard lights below the side windsheilds? If I ever get around to putting a pulpit on mine thats what I plan to do. Did you turn fewer RPM's with a 17" prop than you did with the 19"?

P.S. nevermind, I re-read your post about the boat being loaded differently.

[Hammerhead]

Gotta love those shake down runs. Glad ya stayed inshore,...jus in case. I got rid of my railing too. I added a few no skid pads around the hatch for added safety.

[Blue_Runner]

Way to go Tsub. Those little whiting have alot of meat on em to be small. I fuss at people who throw the small ones back.

Nice trip.

[Sean]

:clap:Nice going!!! Over all productive trip:clap:

[Shawsee]

Love the new wheel and the bait board is outstanding. After seeing yours done up, I may have to invest in some starboard. The pressure treated plywood I have is ok, but I know starboard cleans up much easier. Great job and way to go on the fishing!

[tsubaki]

The material for that came from Sams and/or Walmart.

[willy]

Good job Tsubaki, like the bow mounted transducer idea.

And it ain't just southern boys getting out, I took the "G" Spot out yesterday with two buddies for winter flounder, the bite is fading out, they have our season set up on purpose to catch just the tail end of it.
Picked up six nice fat ones 13-16 inches and froze our nuts off in the morning between 5am and about 10am. After that was tolerable and then the wind layed down and it was actually pretty nice in the afternoon.
Picked up five apiece and the bite just stopped,plenty of us Jersey boys out on the water and all catching about the same.
No pics, forgot my camera and cell phone. Which the CEO was not happy about but what the h@ll.
Nice day.

[C YENSEN]

nice report.....so did you see lightning strike near the boat? just wondering how you guessed that was the problem?:head:

[tsubaki]

In this instance it is the only thing that makes sence, both the units were working correctly the last time I had the battery switch on.
We have had many thunderstorms, power outages and at least 3 tornados in the last month (within 5 miles).
The shelter is metal framed with a canvas top, one of the legs actually rests on the rubrail and the leg is 4" from the radio antenna which has the GPS antenna 6" from it.
Only way to tell is a disassembly, which I haven't done yet.
Normally you'll see an exit location for lightning, however I have also seen no evidence of it and stuff will be fried.

[spareparts]

i had a customers boat that wouldn't start, Lightining hit a boat, 6 boats down, it fried both ecms(no exit wounds) froze the MAP sensor to one setting(it was within spec so no codes, took me a while to stumble onto that), took out all the electronics on board, and even wiped out the generator. It could have been worse, the boat that got hit, the exit was thru the transom plate bolts, it melted them and let water come back in thru the holes and sunk the boat