Sorry about not posting lately. I had my appendix taken out the Tuesday after the Gunpowder tournament.

I was feeling queezy at about 2pm during a meeting at work on Tuesday. I thought it was the meeting that was nauseating me, but when I got home the pain set in in the middle of my stomach. The pain moved down to my lower right region by dinnertime. I went to lay down with a heat pad on my stomach, but that made it worse. Everytime I touched my lower right it hurt like hell. Cheryl did a search on appendicitis and learned that I wasn't supposed to put heat on it because it would cause it to burst! I really started to feel nauseous and diarrhea set in. I went to the emergency room by myself since I wasn't sure what I had. It wasn't worth waking up my kids for my wife to take me to the hospital. I was admitted at 9pm and at around midnight they confirmed it was my appendix. They did a Cat Scan to make sure at about 3am and I was in the operating room at 5am. I woke up at 6:30am in the recovery room and in my hospital room by 7am. What a crazy 12 hours!

I learned later on that Cheryl's aunt Patty had an emergency appendectomy at about the same time I was having mine; what a coincidence!

Anyway, I owe you what happened at the Gunpowder tourney on 10/17. Well, it rained... and it was cold. I could handle one or the other but this was a double whammy! The day before, I was stressing out about the forecast and went on a shopping spree. Thank god I did because it rained the whole time we were out. I probably could've stayed a whole 8 hour tnx but we all agreed to fish 5 hours. I didn't get a single bite... but at least I got to test my gear and what I bought. Most everything did pretty well considering. The neoprene gloves I got kinda sucked. Advertized as waterproof, but they were anything but! They kinda absorbed the rain and the water pooled in my fingers. Everytime I raised my hand it poured water in my sleeve.

This past tnx at Conowingo was tough. I was feeling pretty exhausted by all the yanking I did to unsnag lures. Again, it rained for about half the tourney, but at least it wasn't cold. I think I really need to invest in a good rainsuit, or at least get good pair of bibs. I've been using athletic warmup pants which happened to repel water. These don't do a good job when the material is stretched while kneeling and sitting. Anyway, a lot of people got skunked. I'm thinking getting the boat fixed and going to the power plant during the winter.

Redemption

"Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning. Red skies at night, sailors delight".

Despite that morning's omen, I finally caught a keeper at the Suskie tournament! Thank God I'm not going to end the season a complete ZERO!

Mike and I were up at North East in the rip-n-rap. When Mike told me "rip-n-rap" I thought he meant to throw a Rat-L-Trap. I tied on a sexy shad crankbait and started fishing. I looked over and Mike was still tossing a texas rig. I'm thinking "hmmmm... why is Mike still on a worm"? I got hung up and Mike moved the boat close. I freed the crankbait and then all the sudden I see this bass on the end of my line. I'm like WTF!?!?! I just stood there dumfounded for a second before I snapped out of it and pulled the fish on board. The best I could figure is it was a reactionary strike when I freed the lure off the rocks . Since I was so close, the bass bit my crank right at the boat and I pulled him up without feeling the bite. I was ESTATIC!!! I was sooooo happy I was finally on the scoreboard! I would've liked a fight, but ya know what? I don't care!

After that Mike wanted to see what I had on my line. He tied on something similar and shortly he caught his first bass on a crankbait. After that the bite died. We stayed for another hour then we left.

At the weigh in, it felt so weird because I wasn't used to bringing a fish to the scale. I can't believe there is a number next to my name, instead of "0".

Well, yesterday's bass tournament was a bust. Half of us didn't catch anything, not even a bite! I think I've got some bad mojo about bass fishing. I can't catch bass even if the damn fish was in a tank. Something weird is definately going on. Last time I fished was out on Tom's boat with Mark. I was fishing between them and using the exact same frog that they were using. I only got one blow up. Meanwhile, they were getting hits all over the place. Yesterday, Billy even gave me the exact same rig he was using. I cast to where he was casting and followed his instructions. Dave and I are the only ones in the club who hasn't caught a legal fish yet.

Shoot!

Well, I decided to put a new deck on my boat and now the front is all torn out. Found some ACX at Lowe's and decided to try painting the wood with exterior paint. I don't understand why people say that's a bad idea. They're recommending I epoxy coat the plywood. I think it's overkill.
I think I'm transitioning back to shooting. I spent one morning with Tom handing out flyers for the September Open Tourney and we got to talking about guns and reloading. I pulled out my Dillon reloader to sell it to Tom but then I changed my mind. I just had too much fun with it to let it go. Then I stumbled onto MDShooters.com and it was all over! I can't seem to stop thinking about reloading and shooting. This is probably not a good idea at this point in my life. I mean, I've got 2 young kids, and a mortgage that I'm barely making payments on. I can't really spend money on anything. But I'm just hooked on the MDShooters forum. I'm looking at what the IDPA competitions are like. I'm being sucked into a money pit and I can't seem to look away! HELP ME!!!

Launch

I finally launched my boat this morning. It was calling for rain later on and I took the opportunity to get the boat in the water. I just couldn't stand another weekend with the boat sitting idle in my driveway.
I'll tell ya, I was a bunch of nerves. With all that's happened to me in the past, with the trailer flying off the hitch, and almost being run over by my own boat in my own driveway; I was thinking "what's next?!?!?"
I ended up launching at Flying Pt since all the parking spaces were full at Otter Pt. I launched the boat with some minor hiccups. After I got the boat in the water the motor wouldn't start right away. I guess not running it a few weeks made it harder to crank. I pulled the cord without much luck, then I turned the key and started right up. Whew! I found out later that the motor will not go in reverse. It probably would've came in handy loading the boat back on the trailer. The other thing I found that didn't work is the livewells. The well on the starboard side fills up but the other one doesn't. In addition, I found that the wells don't automatically fill. The only way to get water in them is to use the aerator pump. If the pump stops, the well drains. I guess I would have to plug up the drain, but then if I keep the aerator going it is going to overflow. Hmmmm.... I'm probably going to have to redesign this. As it is, the livewells are too small for largemouth anyway. So I had been thinking of getting another livewell from Fishmate Pro. This is probably the way to go.
Anyway, I rode around the Bush for about an hour and got to a blistering 25 mph at wide open throttle. The motor was pulsing like there wasn't enough fuel getting to it, but it seemed to get less and less as the motor was running. But it was a blast riding on the water!
I've got to figure out how to load the boat better. I missed the rollers on the trailer. Because I couldn't back up I couldn't have another go at it. Thankfully, the boaters behind me helped out. I'm going to try to get the reverse fixed on the motor. I know it worked before when I first tested the motor, so I hope it isn't something too complicated to fix. Sorry, no pics. As I said, I was too nervous.

The boat is just standing by to launch. I'm beginning to realize that this boat may not get any use. I've been trying to find 3 to 4 hours to launch and enjoy the boat. I just don't have the time to devote to boating. I do weddings on the weekends, wife works weekends, bass tournaments once a month, the weather has to agree, etc. Also considering to use the boat primarily for crabbing. But I'm thinking that maybe I should sell the boat since it would probably be used only a few times a year.

I think I really hurt myself while working on the boat. I was trying to install boat cleats to tie off the boat. I had to make like a contortionist to put the nuts and washers on inside the boat. I had to lay sideways with my ribs on a ledge. Now my side hurts real bad. I don't think I fractured any ribs, but I probably bruised the muscle pretty bad. I hurts like hell when I cough, or take a deep breath.


My computer died after 6 years of hard use. This economy is killing me. I can't seem to get a loan, refinance, or get credit for anything. I settled on a Compaq from Best Buy since they were at least offering 6 month financing. I tried to get a sweet deal from HP, but they wouldn't give me financing since I've got too much debt.

A good part of my time now is thinking about the River Ratz website. I had worked out some ideas to make it easier to add stuff and navigate, but now its pretty much gone unless I could put the hard drive in another computer. I tried to trade the drive on the Compaq but it has proprietary connections. I should be able to recreate what I lost without too much time.

We had our July River Ratz tournament on the Bush yesterday. I have GOT to learn how to pitch/flip...WELL! Every tournament I've done the boater was fishing the docks and under trees. Yesterday, the only fish caught on the boat that I was on was caught by flipping. I was just outside with my spinning rod and I think I figured it out. I can't seem to figure out how to flip with a baitcaster effectively. There is just too much resistance on the spool for the lure to go very far. But people do it.

Tennesseeeeeeeeee!!!

We just came back from our week at my FIL lakehouse. Man, that was the best fishing I've seen so far in this small patch of the Watts Barr Reservoir! My son caught his first fish on this trip, then he was like, "OK, been there, done that..." after he saw the 2nd one wasn't immediately forth coming. As for me, I was catching bass left and right mostly on this little gem from the orient, the Yamasenko! I was using other rigs like, the shakeyhead worm, frogs, etc. I caught a 17" on the shakeyhead, and I kept missing with the frog. It seems they'd strike next to it all the time, I'd count 2 seconds, then yank hard, only to launch the frog at 2000 mph towards me. I finally lost this frog. You know the loop that you tie the frog to your line? The loop wasn't totally closed on the frog that I was using. Well, there was a strike, waited 2 seconds, pulled back to set the hook, but no frog rocketing towards me. In fact, the frog was totally gone! That MF'ing bass made off with my frog! That frog is probably still sitting in that bass' belly.
Anyway, back to the Senkos. I was just about catching bass every half hour. Most were in the 7" to 12" range. On 2 separate occasions I had a big fish on the end of my line, but each time they broke my line. The first one I hooked I didn't really see, but he felt pretty heavy. When I got him within a few yards from me, he made a dash to the side and he stayed there. He felt he was making a run for it so I just stayed put until he calmed down a bit, then all the sudden the line went slack. I learned later on that he ran my line across a downed branch and that weakened the line enough for him to break free. I was pissed!!!
Number 2 came the next day. This time I made sure I stood free of any submerged structure. I had this bass within 3' of me and had plenty of fight left. This bass looked huge. His mouth was wide open the whole time he was in sight and I swear it must have been at least 5" in diameter! It was probably in the 20" range. I was letting him tire himself out, then "SNAP!!!" The 8 pound test line broke in the middle of my rod. I was really pissed! This taught me how important it is to have a landing net close to your side.
The whole time I was at the lakehouse, I was sick. Not just a little sick. It was cough up yer guts, infected phlegm, sore nose sick. But as soon as I got into the van to go home I felt much better. We're thinking the house is infested with mold since TN also had a long bout of rain like we did, and it wasn't occupied most of the time. The AC could've been left off and that made a perfect setting for mold to grow. It's going to be a hard sell for my FIL to fix the problem since they're not allergic to mold.

Refinancing

Well, with B.O. handing out stimulus packages and programs to help people pay their mortgages, I figured this is the time to refinance. First people I spoke to was Lending Tree. These people remind me of car salesmen. They ask for money up front to lock in the rate, and me. So they charge my card before I faxed them a signed statement. I decide that want to look around some more and didn't sign the form they sent. Now they're not giving the money back. Beware people! The guy that I'm going to lock in with seems pretty cool. He won't lock in the rate until he sees paperwork from me. So I'm gonna be saving quite a bit of money monthly from this, and with Alex starting kindergarten in public school, I'll be saving even more money. Mo money!!! I'll finally be able to enjoy life.

What's going on with the boat? I'm figuring out the aerator electrical circuit. Turns out the aerator switch in the front of the boat is kind of messed up. The way its hooked up now is the switch up front does not operate until the aerator switch on the console is turned on. Even then, the front switch doesn't do anything; it can't toggle the pump on/off. I'm thinking I might have hooked up the console switch wrong.

I also installed some tiedowns for the gas tank, and got boat cleats so I could tie my boat up to the dock.

As far as launching is concerned, I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to do that. The thing is I'm working on the electrical right now and if I re-install the livewell/seat behind the console, it will hinder the working space I have. The livewell must be in place or else I will have a major leak in the boat. In addition, with all the rain we've been having, it limits the time I could spend with the boat and when I could launch. I doubt that I could launch before the TN trip. I'm almost thinking about doing the first launch in TN. But that just seems like a long way, and I'm not confident in my skills to deal with the boat and trailer.

Stuff

Club Jerseys: Well, I guess I over stepped my bounds and started to takeover where I had no idea how things worked. The club is working on ordering tournament jerseys. The designs look real slick. But then I started tweaking. Long story short, I strongly suggested there only be one design. I started a poll on the club forum. That didn't go over too well. I forgot that the reason we were going to get one design was to save on costs, but since we weren't going to get the numbers anyway we might as well order our own designs. I'm on the fence now whether I want to order at this point or not. I'd like to get new boat seats. Anyway, the prevailing design is the stock flames shirt in white, with the RiverRatz jersey logo on the back, front right with full name on the left.

Boat: I ordered some new push button circuit breakers for the aerator and accessory circuits. On a hunch, I figured the switches are probably still good. I was right. I installed the breakers in last nite and the switches lighted up. Another thing I noted is I probably bought the wrong size breaker for the navigation lights. It has a 20A breaker for it when it only really needs about 3A or 5A. At the time I was under the impression that this breaker served the master power. Oh well... Been looking around for boat seats too. Ones I'm looking at are on sale now at Cabela's.

What's next? I'm gonna try to get the front aerator switch working, and put the starboard side (right side) livewell in. Then I'm going to hook up the float switch and aerator pump.

The Open

River Ratz were busy setting up for the Open. The club forum buzzed about flyers being handed out, sponsors, etc. At the meeting I got voted in to redo the club website. Mostly because I talked too much about it on the forum. I need to keep my mouth shut. Actually, I'm psyched for it. I'm just hoping I could do it justice.

Tournament Day: I brought my photo gear this time because there was a lot of complaining going on about the last tournament photos. We were doing a crunch this time so I was going to take pics for our club and for the Open winners. I was half thinking bringing it onboard but I was kinda nervous because last time I got bounced around pretty bad and I didn't want to risk exposing my wedding gear to any damage. But my boater, Josh, had a slower boat so it wasn't bad at all. I didn't know it but the start of the Open was a spectacular site. Boats leaving into the sunrise marking the beginning of a biannual event for the club. This would've made a great website photo! The bad part about a slow boat is most of the spots were taken and we were going to the 2nd and 3rd choices, actually what was available. Josh was getting pissed off. The morning was slow but at least Josh put one in the livewell and I caught a shorty; 13 inches. After 9am, there was nothing! The only thing that made me feel better was everyone else was having a rough day too.

It was another story for the Open anglers. Most of them went south to the Bush River and were showing good numbers. I was trying to take pics but most of them didn't want it. Although they were appreciated, I felt the pics were kinda boring.

Today, I was thinking of using my boat as a platform for me to shoot the tournaments as they happen. I'd just chase the other members around and shoot them on their boats holding their catch. Or even action shots of them casting, driving their boats and, if I'm lucky, shoot them as they're reeling in a lunker. This would actually be a cool project. But I don't think I have to time with all the other stuff going on, and to be honest I'd rather be throwing a 'Trap.

Getting close...

Sorry, I haven't posted lately. Got lots done. I finally got the nerve to cut the floor so I could get to the leaking rivets. I was right about the aluminum plating under the plywood floor. This limited me to cut openings that were about 6" to 8". It was really tight in some places to get my arms in to get to the rivets. I couldn't find Gluvit locally, and settled on this "Capt. Tolley's" stuff. Sounds like it will seal the leak... temporarily. It is super thin, runs like water, and fills any hairline cracks with a few applications. It seems to work pretty good to find leaks. I found some leaks where I thought was watertight. I got as far as behind the front fishing seat. There maybe some leaks in that area, but I didn't do any testing on it. It will be really tough to get under the fishing seat, and I'm sure there is plate aluminum all around it.

http://www.captaintolley.com/

I tested the bilge switch and it was actually working. I got the bilge working, then my neighbor asked me if I had a float switch; what a great idea! If I had a float switch, that would set my mind at ease when I've got the boat in Tennessee. I could leave the boat in the water for the week while I'm there. I also found out that the hose to the side bilge discharge was still connected. I don't know why George didn't reconnect the bilge but it seems the hose is free of obstruction. I reconnected the line with the hoses available. I will probably have to revisit this since one of the hoses seems to kink too easily. This could be fixed by getting an actual bilge hose. Back to the float switch. It seemed pretty straight forward wiring the float switch, however, I didn't count on routing wire to the console. I will revisit that later on after I return from TN.

I reattached the portside livewell. I'm going to hold off reattaching the starboard side livewell so that I could still work on the console panel. I'm beginning to think that everything on the right side of the steering wheel has been blown to bits. The switches and breakers don't seem to work at all. This would be the aerator and accessory switch. The aerator switch is on a SPDT switch, as well as the second aerator switch up front. I only ordered breakers to replace the ones that are bad. I should've ordered the switches as well, just in case. The aerator pump actually works. I hooked it up direct to the battery and ran pretty good. All I have to do is replace the switch and breaker and I'll be in business.

Started the motor up for the first time. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I tried to pull start it but for some reason I couldn't get it to go. I found out that the starter battery that came with the boat isn't any good. It'll charge up OK but will lose it in a matter of hours just sitting. The trolling motor is also gone. Good thing I had a deep cycle battery ready to go. Hooked it up and turned over the motor. I forgot to turn the choke off on the motor. That made a lot of smoke. It ran rough for a little bit but steadied out. It still runs rough on high idle.

The trolling motor and mount actually works OK. I just had to push it the rest of the way down.

Let the Sun Shine!!!

Finally, a day without rain!

Got off to a late start Sunday; had a wedding Sat which lasted 'till 1am. Anyway, I woke up late and my wife was waiting for her Mother's Day breakfast, made by yours truly. After that I started working on the boat. Patched all the holes I could find and now I only have the ones on the keel guard. That is gonna be a PITA because I'd really have to get in under the deck to fix it properly. I'm thinking of cutting access panels in the floor to get at the rivets so I could whack them or put some Gluvit on.

I tested out the navigation lights. Found out that the bow light socket was installed crooked. With the light in, it faces slightly left, or port. How drunk was the prev owner when he installed it? I don't know, but he must've had 4 Buds in him for sure. Anyway, I straightened that out.

I went to Boater's World and got a new fuel line, anchor light bulbs, and a motor cover. So now I'm good with the lights for nite time or foggy weather.

I tried out the trolling motor for the first time. I'm not sure how this is going to fit in or used on the boat. If the seat was on a raised deck I think it'd be OK, but the power line is too short. I'm thinking of moving the TM socket lower to the bulkhead closer to the floor where my seat is. Also threading the trunk line through the bulkhead somehow to make it easier to set the pedal straight without having it move. Also, I'm not sure if the TM and mount are matched since the motor doesn't seem to sit right when its raised and resting on the bow.

The bilge pump seems to work but is not wired to the console. The only switches that seem to do anything are the Master and the Nav Lights. The Bilge, Aerator, and Acc doesn't seem to do anything. I'm probably going to have to get a new aerator pump. I'm wondering if Boater's World would still have one left. I'd have to get the info off the one I've got and match it up. I'm not critical for this part.

I'm going to have to get to Harbor Freight to get a step drill bit. That'd be really handy for installing stuff in the control panels.

Doing what I can...

This rain has got to stop! If I'm going to take the boat to TN I'm going to have to go basic with the boat. Just patch the hull as best I can and just make sure the motor and trolling motor runs. I'm going to have to install everything back the way it was, which is going to be a pain since I've torn out a lot of stuff; the livewells/seats, part of the console, bulkheads, etc. I was hoping to switch out fishfinders, but I think I'm going to have to use the one that's already installed. It's an old Apelco/Raymarine unit. I don't know anything about this fishfinder and there's no manual. I'm hoping to launch sometime soon so that I could assess how safe/operational this boat is. Sorry about not posting photos, I just get so caught up that I forget to take some.

Rain

It's late so I'll cut this short.

If it weren't for all this rain that we're getting, I'd be working on my boat on one of my days off. If its not one thing, its the other. Between the weddings I've been shooting, my son's T-ball, and the weather, I've not been able to work on my boat. The deadline for this boat has been moved up to the beginning of June. My father-in-law owns a lakehouse and I was planning on bringing the boat.

First Bass Tourney

I went on my first bass tournament down in Potomac. I didn't know what to expect since the lottery paired me up with Tom, the club president. I woke up at 2:30am to meet the guys at 3:15am. I felt kinda small seeing all the glass boats with at least 150HP motors; meanwhile I've got a dinky tin boat with a puny 25 horses. These guys are hardcore! Tom said I was going to freeze my ass off going 50 to 60mph in 45deg weather. Well we got down there at about 6am and launched from Smallwood Park. Everyone seemed pretty nice with no attitude at all. This day would be my first time for many things; 1st time in a tournament bass boat, 1st MD bass, and 1st VA bass. Going out to our first spot, we were going 50mph. The ride was rougher than I expected, but I didn't feel cold at all. Tom was following Mike and Paul around. I guess Mike and Tom go back a ways and are real close friends. We were fishing at this one spot on the VA side that had over 50 boats fishing the same area. Tom was getting pissed because everyone was catching fish but us. He caught one keeper and I caught 2 shorts. Finally we moved to another spot on the MD side. On the way, we were going 60mph. The ride was very rough and a few times we were airborne. The ride was so rough that my nuts were bouncing on the seat, which was nauseating. I lost my cap too while trying to hold on with my hands full; I was trying to hold a net, a bottle of Gatorade, and my sunglasses. Tom caught another keeper and I caught another short. Finally at the weigh in, most everyone caught 1 to 2 bass. But Mike and Paul caught a total of 9 fish in the last hour and a half. Tom was pissed off that he didn't have the patience to hangout.
Getting home I couldn't stop thinking about the day and I can't wait to get back out in a boat. I've bought more lures and a 5.1:1 MH baitcast combo. I'm looking at tourney bass boats and figuring out how to get the most speed out of my boat. I think what I may have to do is fix up my boat and trade up. I guess I'm onto my next obsession. One last thing; don't pass up wearing sunscreen on a boat!

More holes

I took out my pressure washer today and started to spray my boat. The boat was so encrusted in mud that I couldn't get all the mud off. Not sure if Sears repaired my washer right or what, but I could still rub mud off with my thumb in some places after I was done. Washing the boat uncovered more holes in the bow. I'll look at the bottom sometime later. This weekend is pretty busy. My son is in the little league parade tomorrow and I'm supposed to take him to his first game on Sunday. Supposed to be great weather next week so I'll work some more on the boat. In the meantime, I might order Cabela's Aluminum Boat Patch. Might be easier to use than the Marine-Tex, maybe better overall.

Leaks

Well, after two full days of rain I was psyched to get working on the boat again. Last time for some reason, I put the drain plug back in and forgot to take it back out. Anyway, with all the rain the boat filled up with water. This was a good thing, because it exposed a number of leaks on the bottom. Looking at it closer it looks like the boat had a lot of bad patching done to it. The leaks aren't too bad, some are loose rivets, and some are pinholes, 5 in all.


Now that my pressure washer is back from the shop, I'm going to wash'er down and see what else is hidden. BTW, if you don't, you really should winterize your pressure washer for the winter. This was the first year I didn't do it and it turned out to be the coldest winter in 10 years! The pump valves went on it and cost me about half what I paid for the washer in the first place.

while i'm waiting for the deadliest catch premiere

Some other things I want to tell you about...

While tearing apart my boat I needed a specialized tool to take out the livewells. This would be in the form of a spanner wrench, which I probably will never use again once I get the livewell tanks back in. This tool costs about $30 at Sears.com. So I found one on eBay and saved $20.

Once I got the livewells/seats out I realized the deck was divided from the front and rear; probably the only way to get a 9ft continuous deck. This is great news. All I have to do is just take out the rear 4ft to gain full access to all the stuff under the deck. I'm expecting the seat mounting plate hardware will need to be replaced. I tried to take out the bolts but I think the nuts, or whatever is holding the bolt in, is rusted thru. Once I take out the rear deck I'll find out.

The other thing I found is the chair pedestal doesn't fit in the forward mount. I'm gonna have to open it up somehow. What's annoying is that it's on the forward deck which is longer and more of a PITA to replace if I can't open up the hole.

The Homecoming

So I actually got my boat home on Mar 27. It has been in the shop since the 7th having work done on the motor and trailer. This whole thing has been one surprise after another. I'm used to the way cars are handled; same day service and the labor rate is not $100/hr! I swear, if I could help it, no one else will ever work on my boat; I'm impatient and just not that rich!

When I got it home I nearly got run over by my own boat. So I planned on driving it halfway up the driveway, unhitch it, and finesse it into my garage. My wife was busy and my 5 y/o son was eager to help. So I had him take the tire chocks out with me ready to push the boat up the driveway. Well, gravity works! The boat pushed me back so hard that it pushed me out of my shoes and I ended up fighting the boat all the way down the driveway in my socks! I ended up just having the boat sit in my driveway because it won't fit in my garage afterall.

I kinda felt overwhelmed after having the time to look over the boat more closely. I found holes in the transom and I think the guy I bought it from tried to patch them up with Marine-Tex-White, which is the wrong version for aluminum. There are a lot of holes, like about 10! Carpeting needed to be replaced and the electrical is mess! I really didn't know where to begin. Also needs to be painted. ugh!!!

So I figure to get this riverworthy I'd have to patch the transom, make sense of the electrical, put new carpeting down, and paint the front end enough to get my registration stickers on. On second thought, forget painting. I'll do that next year.

Hi everyone!
Just got a new (to me) boat and fixing it up in time to hit the summer bass! I really want to have this boat with me when I go to my inlaws lakehouse in TN. Tennessee has got to be the bass capital, at least in the US.

More to come, plus pics of the boat as it progresses to a bass huntin' machine!