Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Dang, these forums are addictive...I have read so many different threads/rebuilds etc that I'm not spending anytime working on my own boat.

Raining today, but I still ran out in-between down burst to tick a couple of things off the to-do-list
1) GPS would not pick up signal last time out and I forgot to bring my portable antenna with me in case the external one quit working
so, got it working at home on the portable antenna and then again on the mounted external one too..yaaa!!
Sometimes in the fjords/inlets up here the mountains are too tall and block out the satellite signals which can be problematic

2) I'm finding that using the back tie-downs straps from the boat to the trailer is causing them to slacken off when bouncing down the road. So, I added a belly strap, much like on my 14' tincan, as it will keep the boat better secured to the trailer.

I attached 2 shackles to each side of the trailer to run the rope through

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

I still need a quick coupler from the rope to the shackle on one side, that will allow me to completely remove the belly strap from the trailer. But it is a holiday today and...well I have been reading all these cool thread from everyone

I used this belly strap for years on the tincan and feel much more comfortable about trailer the rig now

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Oh yeah, I just noticed from the pics that I swapped out my stern cleats on both sides and installed one on the bow too. I found the OE cleats were too small for my liking so I installed these galvanized ones instead.

starboard side

port side, you can see the blue over-spray from the PO on the end cap

EDIT: I added larger washers underneath to help spread out the strain from the cleats and used galvanized bolts and nuts. I installed the old cleats midship and they are handy when tying up or to wrap a rope around to help guide the boat on the trailer

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

I mounted the bow cleat sideways as that is how they were always mounted on the commercial vessels and it makes sense when tying up to the dock from either side.

I also mounted a Scotty rod holder for bottom fishing too

This pic is shot under the tarp as it is raining today

here's a better pic

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

I installed one board to screw the rod holder into and a cross board to spread out the strain from the bow cleat. I used some long galvanized bolts that go into the support board to tie all 3 sections of wood together

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

I've already anchored and tied to the bow cleat several times and feel confident that it will hold alot better that the port or starboard front side cleats

 

[barato2]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

i love everything you're doing but i wince at the word "galvanized" for a boat that seems it will mostly be used in salt water. at least the hardware, i'd replace with stainless now. that way if the cleats start to look carppy down the road, you won't have a rusted-bolt battle to change em.

but overall the mods you and your talented girlfriend are making to that boat are some of the best "idea fodder" on here.

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Hey B2,
I appreciate the compliments... yeah the saltwater is pretty hard on most metals that's for sure. Overall the galvanizing products hold up alright, but seems like mixing aluminum, stainless, and saltwater creates a white powder that is probably electrosis eating the aluminum. I have used most metals on this boat including brass, stainless, galvanized bolts/nuts, and coated deck-screws mostly due to cost and availability.
The quality of galvanized and stainless products has diminished since overseas companies have started shipping cheaper supplies to our markets. Bummer

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

My Gal and I got away for the weekend to relax, camp, do some fishing, and exploring with the SS. Where there are normally 10-15 units stuffed in here to camp, we had it all to ourselves Here are some quick pics of what we use our Starcraft for:

1st photo...arriving to the campsite with our rig, late of course just after midnight
Edit: I snapped this pic 1st thing the following morning

the SS doubles as a pack mule, loaded up with fishing tackle and camping supplies

Does this look like your boat loaded up for an camping/fishing trip?

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Next day the weather was perfect, so we headed out hit a honey hole for our one each yellow-eye red snappers and then jigged in the shallows for some ling cod. I caught 3 lings and only kept the last one as that is our daily limit. My Gal hooked a good size ling that beat mine:redface:

This was her largest fish to-date and she was stoked. That was it we were limited out in just over an hour, all that work on the boat, trailer, fishing gear, and packing everything up and we done fishing for cod

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

As it was early in the day, we put a ashore to explore and these pics show the beach we stopped at...man we had the whole area to ourselves, no other boats fishing, no other campers...

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Ummmm, midnight...It barely looks dusk in the tow rig & SC 1st pix. Are you that far north and it's already that time for the almost 24hrs of daylight?

Either way, better to limit out in an hour then get shut out for 3 days Now for some quality motoring & exploring with the SC

Great to have that whole sheltered bay area to yourselves!

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

We spent the rest of the day exploring narrow inlets, large straights, hidden coves, and stopped to watch a pod of porpoise (150-200) playing and swimming right beside us. The Yammie 60 hp burned a 5er of gas going one way and we fueled up at a gas dock about 20-25 miles away. There we found they had camping available, so we could stay there and explore even further into mainland BC inlets that are only accessible by boat or aircraft.

The weather kicked up to 25 kts and gusting by the time we headed back across open water, but I watched my throttle and kept a pretty good eye on the steering, and the SS handled it ok!!

The following day, as we didn't need any more fish to take home and eat, we just drove to another camping spot to visit with old friends who are hosts of the campgrounds.

I'm curious what some of you fellas do with your Starcraft boats, as we absolutely love our

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Ummmm, midnight...It barely looks dusk in the tow rig & SC 1st pix. Are you that far north and it's already that time for the almost 24hrs of daylight?

Either way, better to limit out in an hour then get shut out for 3 days Now for some quality motoring & exploring with the SC

Great to have that whole sheltered bay area to yourselves!

Lol, no the 1st pic is the following morning, we just crashed as soon as we got there. We slept in the back of the Zuki, just push the front seats forward and there is a foamy already set up in the back on the rig. Yeah, there was nobody fishing for several miles on either side of the inlet, but later on in the summer it gets busy though.

 

[dozerII]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Wow, it looks like you had a real good time, those are some nice fish. You are a brver man than me heading out in the ocean in a 16'boat.
Glen

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

This was her largest fish to-date and she was stoked. That was it we were limited out in just over an hour, all that work on the boat, trailer, fishing gear, and packing everything up and we done fishing for cod

This may be a Starmada first! Complaining about limiting out in an hour. Me, I'd keep fishing just throw 'em back. Sounds like you and the gal had a nice few days on the water.

 

[InMotion]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Looks awesome! Really love the views you have out there --- priceless! I am about to e-mail my wife the photos of your adventures... really neat stuff man!

Jim

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Wow, it looks like you had a real good time, those are some nice fish. You are a brver man than me heading out in the ocean in a 16'boat.
Glen

Morning Glen, its actually pretty good where we fish, because we live on the inside of Vancouver Island and it offers more protection from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. The Island is about 300 miles long and has larger bodies of waters like Georgia Straight to shorter crossing and inlets like Johnston Straights, Call Inlet, Knight Inlet, Bute Inlet, Jervis Inlet, and Howe sound.

I suppose though growing up on commercial boats that I have lost some of my fear or just become accustomed to different weather conditions. I just plain love spending time on the water.

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

This may be a Starmada first! Complaining about limiting out in an hour. Me, I'd keep fishing just throw 'em back. Sounds like you and the gal had a nice few days on the water.

No, no..no complaints about the fishing, lol. We were fishing the tide change and that's when the fish bite the best. The tide changes every 6 hours from flood (the water rises) to the ebb (water drops). Those lings will just look at your lore and not bite, but on the tide change they are more apt to snap at our jigs.

The Red Snapper can't be thrown back to keep on fish'n more as they are a deep water species that we target from 180-450 feet deep. The gases in their bodies expand just like a diver's who suffers from the bends and apparently their swim bladders rupture from this expansion. he fishing regs only allow one rock cod or snapper per day possession of 2 while away from home. We are pretty happy to catch them and stop fishing the deep water once we limit out.

The lings don't suffer from this expansion of gases or a ruptured swim bladder so they can be released without any harm to them. But we do love our time on the water

 

[FishNmemories]

Re: Our recent purchase of SS 16 ft Starcraft

Looks awesome! Really love the views you have out there --- priceless! I am about to e-mail my wife the photos of your adventures... really neat stuff man!

Jim

Morning Jim, I must admit I was thinking about you and Glen when we were out there fishing, both of you fellas have completed some stunning work on your perspectives vessels. It gets me thinking that I should have stripped our boat down and rebuilt it too. But with camping/fishing season already here, there's no way I wanted to miss it as we enjoy it too much. Not to mention the up-coming replace the roof project....not looking forward to that one.

Glad your enjoying the photos, Pal, I have had my own health issues to deal with over the last decade and have re-evaluated my life to high-light what is the most important aspects that I cherish so much. Boating, camping, spending time with family, and friends are on the top of the list!!