It always seems to happen. Rain baby rain! Total washout, boats stayed at the dock, and the fish survived to be caught another day! Wow, that sounded pretty “Perfect Storm” one of my favorite lines … George Clooney “The day will come again when the fish gather for the Andrea Gail!”. Then they sunk … 😦
Low key weekend. Paul took me shopping and I filled a new tackle tray with hooks and goodies … he had too much fun spending my money!
Made a fuel run and filled my never ending supply of jerry jugs. Still no on the water fuel for us on Big Pine since Irma. So I haul fuel in 60 gallons at a time. The Valero in Marathon has the best price for Rec90 (non-ethanol) fuel by far that I have found in the middle and lower keys.
Skiff maintenance time. My large posterior keeps busting the lag bolts attaching the helm seat on the skiff. Great excuse to break out the resin and glass…
I epoxied in the Swiss cheese of holes I put in the deck over the years, and then glued in a couple boards I cut and routed. I wanted more purchase for the lag bolts to bite into and stop ripping out.
Then glassed them in with chopped strand matting, a layer of cloth and polyester resin.
Filled the weave with gel coat and bolted the seat back in.
I only had Parker gel coat, and the color drove me a bit nuts. So I sanded things down better, picked up some white, and tried again … much better!
Attention switched to the Woody Too. It is new anchor time. Ever since I put the tower on I have had trouble holding anchor in wind. I spent a lot of time studying the right anchor type for this area, and also knowing I needed a “break away” setup to help get the anchor out of a rocky resting place. I decided on a 22 pound “Bruce” style which is a modified plow design with a claw foot. I drilled a couple holes and rigged it as a break away.
Notice how I have the anchored shackled at the foot with wire ties on the shank. The theory is under normal load the anchor rode pulls straight along the shank pulling the plow fluke into the bottom. If it gets stuck, you pull the rode straight up, breaking the wire ties, and the anchor pulls out backward by the foot. Pretty slick .. and works well.
Here she is on the bow
Last weekend I noticed that the splice between the anchor line and the chain rode was in pitiful shape. So I channeled my inner Boy Scout and re-spliced it.
I enjoy splicing but don’t do it enough to keep in practice. This came out pretty well though.
Notice how the splice tapers back into the line at the end, that little touch is needed to get the chain and line transition through the winch without hanging up. Hopefully this will hold out another 5 years.
Last up I installed a cradle for my autopilot remote (left of the wheel) and a horn button (right of the control) in the tower. Pretty lame I know, but I keep chipping away at the rigging! Looks pretty good up there! I am still thinking about trim tab controls up top, will see jury is still out.
That is about it … except … he is back! 8 o’clock croc has returned! He showed up last night. he is a big boy – solid 8 to 10 foot long. exciting eh??
Later … rather be fishing!
Gorham Fishing Team 