What have you done for your boat lately?

I sold it!

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Owned it for 3 years, great first boat down here in the SC Lowcountry. Did a full rewire, trolling motor setup, lots of trailer work, in addition to the typical annual maintenance stuff. Learned a bunch and it put me on my fair share of fish. Although mostly used solo, my last 2 trips on the water were to bring my brother “birding” and to bring my wife on a dolphin cruise, which were extra special.

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As we prepare for our move back to the PNW this summer, I’m already on the hunt for my next boat. Bittersweet.
 
MarshRat said:
As we prepare for our move back to the PNW this summer, I’m already on the hunt for my next boat. Bittersweet.
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I'll soon be selling the boat I set up for fly fishing the near shore waters in Puget Sound, Hood Canal etc. And I will be without a boat for the first time in over 50 years. It will be a sad day but it is time to admit you can't defeat age. Let me know if you want info.
 
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albula said:
I'll soon be selling the boat I set up for fly fishing the near shore waters in Puget Sound, Hood Canal etc. And I will be without a boat for the first time in over 50 years. It will be a sad day but it is time to admit you can't defeat age. Let me know you want info.
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Kind of the opposite for me ,my last boat I bought new in 1987 , had for three or four years , sold ,and never had another boat ,other than pontoon boats until January of this year . Bought a Lund Tyee 1750 , sold my pontoon boats . Being 78 , wanted a bit more comfort, grew a bit tired of the pontoon boat process . Have had this Lund out several times now , and fly fish pretty much the same way I did in my pontoons .
 
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Easy squeeze said:
Do you still have the Sealaker? My son just bought one and we are looking for any information we can find.
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I sold my SeaLaker when I moved but it was a fun little boat. Well made (Auburn I think) with fiberglass stringers and some great features.

Feel free to send a PM if you have any questions I might be able to answer.
 
albula said:
I'll soon be selling the boat I set up for fly fishing the near shore waters in Puget Sound, Hood Canal etc. And I will be without a boat for the first time in over 50 years. It will be a sad day but it is time to admit you can't defeat age. Let me know if you want info.
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Can you share a photo of your boat please!
 
I broke mine! At least the trailer.

As I was backing down the boat ramp at a close by lake, I dropped one of the wheels off of the side of the concrete slabs. I spent years being careful and worrying about doing just that, and I finally did it. I launched and pulled the trailer up the ramp and parked. No problem.

Or so I thought. As I pulled into my neighborhood, I heard a sad dog sound on every wheel rotation. Ruh roh... I backed in, got out, and rocked the boat from side to side. Sure enough, there was a ton of play on that hub. When I disassembled it, the bearings had grenaded. All the bearings had left their cages. Plenty of grease. Just 40+ year old bearings.

So, I ordered a new axle and hub assembly. I also cut new bunk boards and covered them with new bunk carpet. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring it to the swap and shop again. One hour at 70MPH should make those bearings sing (or scream).
 
BriGuy said:
I broke mine! At least the trailer.

As I was backing down the boat ramp at a close by lake, I dropped one of the wheels off of the side of the concrete slabs. I spent years being careful and worrying about doing just that, and I finally did it. I launched and pulled the trailer up the ramp and parked. No problem.

Or so I thought. As I pulled into my neighborhood, I heard a sad dog sound on every wheel rotation. Ruh roh... I backed in, got out, and rocked the boat from side to side. Sure enough, there was a ton of play on that hub. When I disassembled it, the bearings had grenaded. All the bearings had left their cages. Plenty of grease. Just 40+ year old bearings.

So, I ordered a new axle and hub assembly. I also cut new bunk boards and covered them with new bunk carpet. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring it to the swap and shop again. One hour at 70MPH should make those bearings sing (or scream).
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Wow Brian, how lucky can you get.
I am amazed those bearings exploded when you could see home. Usually, they explode halfway into a trip of a lifetime.
Drive anywhere and you see trailer skeletal remains shoved onto the right of ways.
Costly repair but replacing the axle and hubs is a solid solution.
 
BigSplashTom said:
Wow Brian, how lucky can you get.
I am amazed those bearings exploded when you could see home. Usually, they explode halfway into a trip of a lifetime.
Drive anywhere and you see trailer skeletal remains shoved onto the right of ways.
Costly repair but replacing the axle and hubs is a solid solution.
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Yeah, I am kind of surprised I made it the one mile home without the wheel coming off. Those bearing cages were SOFT. I guess 40+ years of sitting in a grease and water slurry will do that. I've been good about repacking them, but never really considered replacing them since they "looked good". The new hubs have Zerk fittings on the inboard sides. Time to get the grease gun lubed up.

Last year, I drove it to and from Mayfield lake at freeway speeds and made it. I'm glad the bearings gave out before I tried to make that trip again this year.
 
My goodness, round trip to Mayfield Lake last year and they choose to blow up a year later at your home.
Brian, Drop everything right now and please go purchase a Powerball ticket and a Lotto ticket.
Stop at the casino on the way home and place a $1.00 bet on anything.
Simply Amazing.
 
The grease was relatively fresh. I pulled over once or twice and felt the hubs. Nice and cool. I think the shock and impact of dropping the wheel off the ramp did them in.

Once in a while the Luck O The Irish smiles upon me. 💚
 
Been meaning to post this for a couple of years actually. I had it out to move it and finally took a pic of it. When I was looking for a tray, I looked into all sorts of options, including bread racks, but bit the bullet and paid the premium. Just not a lot out there. I believe NRS makes one now too, but I think this flycraft version is larger and it is just as expensive. Anyway, used an NRS seat clamp and clamped it onto the anchor arm going out behind me. Dramatically improves cargo capabilities of my NRS slipstream 96 and I have even put a pad on it so the dog can hang out on it when we don't have a lot of stuff. But when we are casting and blasting, this really helps because i can haul everything I need now quite easily. Really pleased with it.
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When I got my boat, a former tug boat captain friend told me that, after the motor, a boat's next critical component is a good dependable anchor. I would argue the bilge pump is not that far behind, so when mine was a bit sluggish after a big multiday trip last weekend, I took it apart as soon as I made it back. Should have done it sooner! The base grill did not look that bad, for a bilge pump, other than some bilge gunk, the impeller had some gunk and hair like stuff plus bits of miracle thread. Took apart the impeller cover, removed a piece of clear plastic bag, small feather bits and cleaned all the gunk off with a toothbrush and vinegar/soap water. Manual switch was working fine, automatic not so much, changed the brown cable 3 Amp fuse and fixed it. Peeing like a horse now! Good idea to service it sooner, last time was forever ago it seems. Space is limited in the bilge, but I am thinking about adding a 2nd pump, self priming so it can be both back up pump and live well circulator (well, bucket or small cooler). Any recs for a small self priming bilge pump?

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Been using a trailer over a year for my pram. Yesterday, while launch my pram, as I was dropping it into the lake my coupler popped off the ball as the weight shifted to the backend. The latch was locked when I left and I drove over 35 miles on the freeway. It was a pain to pull it back up the launch incline, but finally got it back on and the latch locked. Thank goodness the chains were on. After fishing I double checked after loading and it appeared tight, but when I got home I tightened it up a lot to make sure it was smooth and tight. Yearly thing to put on my maintenance check when repacking the bearings. Glad it didn’t pop off going over the multitude of speed bumps 😡 along Lake Washington Blvd or the freeway potholes.
 
Mark Yoshida said:
Been using a trailer over a year for my pram. Yesterday, while launch my pram, as I was dropping it into the lake my coupler popped off the ball as the weight shifted to the backend. The latch was locked when I left and I drove over 35 miles on the freeway. It was a pain to pull it back up the launch incline, but finally got it back on and the latch locked. Thank goodness the chains were on. After fishing I double checked after loading and it appeared tight, but when I got home I tightened it up a lot to make sure it was smooth and tight. Yearly thing to put on my maintenance check when repacking the bearings. Glad it didn’t pop off going over the multitude of speed bumps 😡 along Lake Washington Blvd or the freeway potholes.
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I have a cheap brass padlock on my latch. I use it to keep some miscreant from quickly driving away with my trailer/boat, but it would also prevent the latch from bouncing open.
 
Zak said:
I have a cheap brass padlock on my latch. I use it to keep some miscreant from quickly driving away with my trailer/boat, but it would also prevent the latch from bouncing open.
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So do I, but for some reason the latch did not pop. After I lock it I always give it a couple lifts to check to make sure it’s good. Just needed to tighten the nut and make sure the nut lock was set correctly.
 
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