Boating the Upper Chesapeake

[Edko]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Gonna be 80 here today Bowman.

Opening day! Go O's!!!

 

[skargo]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Got into the 80's yesterday so I decided to take advantage of working for myself and took off. Started doing my teak!
I need to replace a section of floor where my in floor cooler was, as it broke. Any ideas how to close the hole? I'm thinking I will have to cut it op to the nearest stringers for support.

 

[Edko]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Looks good. Oh and happy birthday Skargo!

 

[bowman316]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

so you have a square hole in the middle of the floor?
try screwing wood underneath the edges of the hole, so that it sticks out an inch or 2.
Then cut a piece of wood to fit the hole.

 

[skargo]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Looks good. Oh and happy birthday Skargo!

Thanks!

so you have a square hole in the middle of the floor?
try screwing wood underneath the edges of the hole, so that it sticks out an inch or 2.
Then cut a piece of wood to fit the hole.

I was thinking along those lines, but I need to make sure it will hold up to my fat butt. It's either that, or enlarge the hole to the stringers, and cut the new piece to fit and actually lay on the stringers.

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Skargo - Looking good! I have the same square cooler in my floor and though i don't use if for that purpose, it is a great storage area! Are you thinking about sealing it off completely or making the new lid removable? I would go removable if I were you!

Sadly, I have not even uncovered my boat from winter yet! We recently moved so that has taken all my time. We are currently wrapping up a few last minute projects from the house we moved out of as our new tenant will be moving in this weekend!

On the plus side, I am closer to the bay now!! About 55 mins instead of the 90 mins. Come on summer!

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

I summerized my boat last weekend, including the addition of Smart Tabs, and hope to splash this Sunday. Unfortunately I'll be splashing in the Delaware river, not the Chesapeake.

Here's hoping for warm weather! Maybe this year I'll get to meet some of you.

 

[Wingnutt]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

I've got to find a power steering fluid leak and then paint the bilge then it's splash time! With a little luck, I'm hoping for the third week in April.

 

[CaravelleCaptain]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

I Finally had a chance to uncover the boat today and start it up.. She started up with no problem at all, but I decided I wanted to do some preventative maintenance before the time comes to drop it off at the marina. Here's a list of what I am going to replace; both belts, crank pulley, water circulating pump, spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap, thermostat, anodes, fuel filter, oil filter and I think that's about it.

Last summer was my first summer with the boat and it ran beautifully, it never broke down or gave me any trouble. However, since it is a used boat I don't know how recently anything has been replaced.

 

[Edko]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Happy Rock Fish season guys! Best of luck. Remember to check and update your safety equipment and all. Looks like today is a pretty crappy day to get out there but better weather is ahead.

 

[arks]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Guys- The new launch ramp at HdG Tydings Park is just about done. I took these pics last weekend at high tide. New concrete, nice aluminum floating docks- and check out those handrails!
They tell me it's scheduled to open first week in May- and the fee is going up to 10 bucks.

They also dredged the entire marina over the winter. Their spec mandated 5' at MLW so maybe I won't be making chocolate when leaving the slip .

Is it me, or was this winter AWFULLY long?!?
I haven't done any de-winterizing yet but did get the boat A/C re-installed (took it out last fall for PVM). Hopefully I can get down there in the next few weekends to prep for the season and start cleaning up.

I WILL be on the water next Saturday for RiverSweep (using the Jonboat), and I understand Blackwater NWR will officially allow participants to tour Garrett Island on that day.
Here's a post from a coordinator about it: The good news is that we now have permission to tour the island, which is part of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and has multiple No Trespassing signs posted around the island. So I am planning a two hour tour for anyone interested after we complete the cleanup. I am hoping someone from the local archaeological society will agree to lead the tour. Garrett is a fascinating place with a long human history and an interesting geological past. Some say the hill on the island is a remnant of an old volcano. It is also a great place for wildlife.

I need to replace a section of floor where my in floor cooler was, as it broke. Any ideas how to close the hole? I'm thinking I will have to cut it op to the nearest stringers for support.

I don't think you'd need to make the hole any larger. I'd brace the perimeter vertically and build a sturdy lid. You could use aluminum angle to make a lip for the lid. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with it!

On another note, over the winter I was able to score a REALLY nice tandem trailer for the Nova project.
It's got torsion axles, disc brakes, SureLube hubs and has never launched a boat. All I need now is some decent weather and time to work on the Wellcraft here at home.
Maybe by the END of the summer she'll be ready to launch!

 

[arks]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Happy Rock Fish season guys! Best of luck. Remember to check and update your safety equipment and all. Looks like today is a pretty crappy day to get out there but better weather is ahead.

This one was taken from the Flats 2 weeks ago, near the stone barge. Amazing!
Scott should recognize the guy.

 

[Edko]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Great news about the landing. Thanks for those pics.

That is a WHOPPER! Very nice catch!

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

What a storm last night! I will let the pics speak for themselves... (These pics are from North East MD)

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Well, I tried to splash today. I drove to the Westville, NJ ramp to find it closed due to flooding. Several docks had washed away overnight. Maybe next weekend.

 

[skargo]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Rob,
that's Mr Al! What a nice guy, and what a nice fish!
I might try using some aluminum angle. I can probably still use the teak cooler lid. I re-oiled it just in case. It just needs to hold up to my 260# stepping on it as it is right in front of the cabin door.

Wow Brandon, that flooding was worse that I thought.

Can't wait to meet up with you guys again soon!

 

[arks]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Yeah, the HDG area was hit pretty hard, too. The promenade was completely choked by debris . Today the marina office was surrounded by water and my pier was 6" underwater. Boat was just fine.
The launch ramp here IS NOW OPEN! I saw 7 or 8 people launch their boats.

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Glad to hear that the boat was fine Rob, we ended up with a lot of water!

Can't wait to meet up with everyone again this summer!

 

[bowman316]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

yea, i reconize that fish. That's the one i caught last year.
lol

i went o garret island last year in my 16 ft power boat. And it was really hard to dock. I had to get in next to a bunch of rocks, and tie off to a tree. Or maybe i just anchored right next to the rocks. But stepping foot on that island is harder than you think.

you can easily get to the beach on the cecil county side, but you have to walk thru a swamp to get to the mainland.

I heard that there used to be a building there for boats. something like a place to eat and hand out.
That storm must have been real bad, Was it just a bad thunderstorm?

It hit me in TN, and it was just really really heavy rain for about 24 hours.

 

[Edko]

Re: Boating the Upper Chesapeake

Got down to Rock Hall today to change the Manifolds and risers. Damn Risers were stuck to the rubber hoses. Had to cut them off and of course they are 70 bucks a pop at the marina. Ended up hammering the risers out of the pipe. They literally would not come off without a serious beating. I guess it was heat related.

So next time down I will get the new stuff on and gas her up. Hopefully sometime soon.