Finished...

[Shark Bait]

boating for the year!



SB

[spoiled one]

I feel your pain! Looks the same in my neck of the woods. I am not ready for this!

Pete

[JETTYWOLF]

Damn fella's...was watching the weather channel and saw the "LOWS" all through AK and almost fell out my Lazy boy.

Was thinking about ya'll.

Over like a flash of lightning, and then all bundled up for the winter. Damnnnn

Well, I guess you guys can at least feel at rest that your Govenor won't be gone for much longer. But probably home after the 10th snow fall or so, to resume her duties. 8)

Don't you wish you could just take off and go apply for another j-o-b for months, and not get any heart burn about it and a pay check too.

[spoiled one]

The crappy thing, Dave, is that we really had no summer. It was one of the coldest, gloomiest days I can remember in my 38 years here. Usually I am ready for winter...not this year. I only put about 150 hours on the outboards this season, should be double that! Good memories, though.

[AlloyToy]

Time to start planning that Cabo trip guys once the snow flies :D

[peterbo3]

90 deg F down here yesterday.

[jrogers]

Sharkbait,

What's your theory in tarping the back of the boat? I currently tarp my whole boat, but it is only a 24. To tarp the whole thing would be a big tarp, but then there is really nothing in the cockpit that would get damaged bya little snow and ice, right? I have a friend offering indoor storage (at a price) but I think I like having the boat in the yard the best.

Jim

[Ironwoodtuna]

Pete,

I feel the same way...

Saw only one, and got none Black Bear on my hunt...

Breaking down because of my failure to put fuel stabilizer and fill the tank at the end of last year.

Lost a new anchor, 20' 3/8" chain and a pulling bouy ball setup, Then...

Early Hurricane in July blew the Yellowfins out of the entire northeast, Then...

Lots of Engine & Outdrive problems, weeks of down time, Then...

No money in the bank after paying nearly $30K to fix them, plus rediculously high fuel prices, Then....

Lost the best of the big bass season because of the downtime, Then....

Borrowed my old boat and it broke down, more headaches, Then...

No YFT tunas to be caught once the vessel was running, Then...

Many lost trips because of crazy weather, family vacation and super busy work schedule.

WOW! What a sucky season!


2008 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS>>>

Alfred's 49.11oz Striper
My 400lb. Blue Marlin
Cody's 40lb. White Marlin
THe videos Cody made of our few and far between trips.
Not getting smacked by LIGHTNING!
Didn't breakdown again...

WOW! Maybe we will somehow get one more overnight offshore trip... Some BFT inshore...some Blackfish (only four per person this season), some more seabass and hopefully a nice run of Herring with Stripers all over them in late November... Oh Ya, maybe a whitetail buck or two, bow hunting this fall.

God I hope Nov. 4th goes RIGHT,

Are you Moose hunting this year??? Marty

[spoiled one]

Marty,

No moose hunting for me. In fact I was not able to get out this fall at all due to my wife's work schedule. I drank a lot of beer and wine, though. There is always spring bears. You might think about a spring 2010 archery black bear hunt. I might be able to make that one work if you are not chasing their coastal counter parts on the peninsula. Shrimp, halibut, and bears oh my!

Sorry for thread derailment, SharkBait!

Pete

[dave]

It was a bit chilly here Saturday. Wind blowing 15 to 20 MPH, I thought about putting on a jacket on my way out to the Gulf. I just closed the middle window instead.

[Shark Bait]

JRogers asked "What's your theory in tarping the back of the boat?" Well Jim I guess with all of the space I have in the back, including the dry and wet storage areas and knowing it will be full of ice in the spring I don't want to take a chance on damaging the boat. I have heard of boats getting damaged by snow and ice and I don't want that to happen to the Dream Catcher.

What I need to explain is the blue thing over the cockpit is not a blue tarp it is a custom, fitted, cover made out of Vinyl Tex which is almost indestructible. Even though Alaska has more blue tarps per capita in the world I can't use a standard blue tarp because of the winds at my house. Winds of 60 to 75 MPH are not that uncommon (especially when we have Chinook winds early in the year) and I have recorded 106 MPH at my house. Trust me when I say I have shredded many, many blue tarps that is why I have custom fitted Vinyl Tex covers for both boats. (Busters did both of them). It has a brace in the middle to keep any puddles from forming, a vent to let the moisture out and a zippered door so I can get in the boat without taking the cover off. Another feature is the cover has an opening for the heater exhaust so I can run the heater with the cover on. This should be a nice feature next spring. IF I did not have the winds I MIGHT be able to use a blue tarp - but I would still cover the back.

It would be interesting to see what the other folks who live where there are REAL WINTERS do. Pete, Marty, others (Jetty this does not include you - I lived in Florida three different times and I never saw winter!)

The Question is: To cover or not to cover???

SB

[jrogers]

SB,

I did not mean to offend your rear cover, I did not look close and assumed that it was a tarp. In recent years I have tried to class up my neighborhood by using a GREEN tarp. I get 2-3 years out of one. I live on the hillside and get the high winds as well, so it has to be well secured.

I remember hearing a story about someone flying into Anchorage and commenting that it was even more of an affluent community than where they came from in California. When asked why they thought that they said that while there were a lot of pools in CA, here in Alaska there seems to be one in every yard. I don;t remember the exact language of the joke, but the jist of it was what they were referring to was the blue tarps we all use here.

Jim

[Shark Bait]

Jim: No offense taken and from the color (and the fact there are a gazillion blue tarps in AK) it would be logical to assume it was a tarp. I am interested in seeing what the other folks on the forum do/think about covering their boats for the winter.

Since winter is coming on so fast I think all of us up here should think about spending the winter with Jetty!

SB

[spoiled one]

I did tarp the old boat (silver tarp), but was not planning on tarping Patience due to the high winds on the hillside. Your custom deck cover intrigues me, though. Do you forsee any problems with the zipper freezing? I was sitting in the boat, Bob Dylan playing, enjoying a cold Pacifico while watching the snow fall last night...I am not ready for this! Jettywolf's neck of the woods sounds pretty good about now.

[Shark Bait]

Pete: "Do you forsee any problems with the zipper freezing?" No. Willy, Busters son who is mostly running the business now, repaired a large Motorhome cover for me many years ago and he installed one of these BIG zippers after the original small one failed. Absolutely no problems - and I get in the MH several times during the winter. I have to tell you when I got the cover and braces on the boat last Friday it was 33F with mixed rain and snow. I sure was nice to be able to work under the cover with the cabin door open. I did not have the heater going but next spring when it is still cold and perhaps raining I will be warm and dry while getting the boat ready for the season.

SB

[spoiled one]

SB,

Sounds like a winner. I would like to mosey over one of these days and take a peek at her. I'll have to grab "Too Loose", he can show me the way.

Pete

[Shark Bait]

Pete: Sorry I did not answer sooner I just overlooked your last post - Too Loose let me know I had not answered. You are welcome to come look at the cover, anytime this weekend shold be good. Just get with Too Loose and we can make it happen.

SB

[spoiled one]

Will do SB. I will see what the weekend brings. My wife works a lot and would rather head your way with out my two little ankle biters in tow. It is snowing like crazy right now! I am not ready for this.

[Shark Bait]

I guess we will see how the new cover does in the wind. Winds at the house right now are 30G50 MPH and are forecast to be as high as 80 MPH tonight. Ever seen a big blue tarp in 80 MPH winds? They shred very easily - I know from experience - hence the new super cover!

Jetty: Hurricanes officially start at 74 MPH does that mean we are having a hurricane in Alaska?

SB

[spoiled one]

Finished is right. Look at the North Gulf Coast forecast:
CAPE SUCKLING TO GORE POINT (Gulf of Alaska for you lower 48ers)
.STORM WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY...
.TONIGHT...SE WIND 50 KT. GUSTS TO 65 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS
BUILDING TO 22 FT. RAIN.
.FRI...SE WIND 50 KT BECOMING SW 20 KT BY THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 22 FT.
RAIN.
.FRI NIGHT...SW WIND 20 KT. SEAS 15 FT.
.SAT...SE WIND 30 KT. SEAS 13 FT.
.SAT NIGHT...S WIND 30 KT. SEAS 13 FT.
.SUN...S WIND 25 KT. SEAS 10 FT.
.MON...SW WIND 35 KT. SEAS 13 FT.
.TUE...SE WIND 25 KT. SEAS 11 FT.

PKZ125-101400-
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
648 PM AKDT THU OCT 9 2008

...STORM WARNING FRIDAY...
.TONIGHT...E WIND 45 KT WITH GUSTS TO 55 KT NEAR HINCHINBROOK
ENTRANCE. SEAS BUILDING TO 11 FT. RAIN.
.FRI...SE WIND 50 KT BECOMING S 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 12 FT.
RAIN.
.FRI NIGHT...SE WIND 15 KT. SEAS 3 FT.
.SAT...E WIND 25 KT. SEAS 5 FT.
.SAT NIGHT...SE WIND 20 KT. SEAS 4 FT.
.SUN...E WIND 15 KT. SEAS 3 FT.
.MON AND TUE...SE WIND 20 KT. SEAS 4 FT.

No thanks! Glad we are sitting back in town rather than the Sound.