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.