Avoided disaster, but the boat is in - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Van · 05-15-2005, 10:23 AM

Finished up a couple of things on the boat yesterday morning. Buddy of came by and offered to help get her in. Great...We planned the way to do it and hooked her up to my pickup. Then, he noticed something strange, seems like the draw bar is loose he said...

Oh yea? Thats strange, I just put it in a week ago. Pushed and pulled and I also noticed some movement. Draw bar is OK, so I crawled underneath and I found the brackets that attach to the frame for the hitch had rotted all the way through. Both sides looked like freakin swiss cheese!!!!!!!

Holy crap, if I had towed there was a good chance I could have lost the entire rig. Safety chains would not have helped because they attach to the hitch anyway...

So obviously I disconnected and we used his truck, (after checking the hitch condition) So with the streak of bad luck I've had lately, I was REALLY happy I avoided a HUGE problem.

On the bright side, the boat is in and i'm going fishing this week.....

BigFish · 05-15-2005, 10:58 AM

I think I will wait a little while to fish with you Van...until that run of "bad luck" passes anyway!

reelecstasy · 05-15-2005, 11:13 AM

Ya know, I think the glass is half full.... When I read in your "bad luck" snippets, I usually think that you end up with a bit of good luck with your stories of tragedies narrowly averted...

.
.
Have you been out there w/ the fly guyz, drove by and seen em out there every tide for the last 4 days?

quick decision · 05-15-2005, 07:01 PM

Thank god you double checked. Hang in there Van. There is always someone else somewhere you has it worse.

Raider Ronnie · 05-15-2005, 07:28 PM

Van.
Did you renue Sea tow?
also,
The way you're luck is going, make sure you put on a life jacket when you leave you're house!!!

Van · 05-15-2005, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelecstasy

Have you been out there w/ the fly guyz, drove by and seen em out there every tide for the last 4 days?

6 fish friday, did not go Saturday, got 4 tonight but I left cause my hands went numb.

reelecstasy · 05-16-2005, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Van

6 fish friday, did not go Saturday, got 4 tonight but I left cause my hands went numb.

Nice.....Few more days to get the tide right and I will be there before work for a few hours.....

fishsmith · 05-16-2005, 07:50 AM

That's a good reminder Van, I'll pass this on. If you were unlucky this story would of been a lot wor$e.

schoolie monster · 05-16-2005, 09:13 AM

Van, it does sound like good luck to me. Glad it worked out OK.

I need to get out there bad. The boat is ready, the gear is ready... I'm just not ready.

THis weekend... rain or shine.

Mr. Sandman · 05-16-2005, 12:38 PM

While heading down (southbound) to CT this past weekend I noticed the a big problem on the Northbound lane...a boat slipped off the trailer and was 90 deg to the road blocking all 3 lanes

what a nightmare on a friday night eh?

Van, glad your in...have you check out that new FF yet?

Van · 05-16-2005, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

Van, glad your in...have you check out that new FF yet?

As a matter of fact I did.
Colors are super visible, and I messed around with changing the background. Pretty slick. It was pretty sunny and the screen was very clear.
I hooked up the NMEA input from my plotter so I have time, date and all position and speed data on the FF too (If I want it visible). I did not get a chance to ride around and try to mark fish, but it was picking up bottom giving me digital depth and structure clearly and instantly. I have it set to auto/fishing and even at 41 MPH it was reading perfectly. I kept the manual in the boat until I figure out what options I want to see and how to change stuff, but so far so good....Bring on those mackies and bass !!!!!!

Sucks for that guy you mentioned, if I had lost my boat, I would need therapy for the rest of my life.

So another lesson learned, check EVERYTHING ( i mean everything) cause the hitch brackets to the truck frame never---ever--ever would cross my mind as an issue. Now I wonder what condition the hitch bolts are in, they are really hard to see and harder to know if they are cracked/rotted/thinned.

I think I,m gonna look into a reese hitch or OEM, the POS that is coming off soon is a U-Haul. Maybe they skimped and used inferior material, dunno. Either way I might spray undercoat the new one just to be sure. Maybe a second set of safety chains right to the truck frame is a good idea too.

Van · 05-16-2005, 06:09 PM

Just found I had bought an unlimited lifetime warranty from U-haul when they installed the hitch, it even lists corrosion. So I guess I'll be going back there after all. At least its free. But I will keep an eye on it every year now.
I'm happy to be able to save a couple of hundred bucks !!!!

reelecstasy · 05-17-2005, 07:10 AM

More good luck

Van · 05-17-2005, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelecstasy

More good luck

Lets see if it extends into the ocean and on the end of my line !!!!

reelecstasy · 05-17-2005, 07:17 AM

No worries Van, attitude is 80% of it...

Christian · 05-17-2005, 12:55 PM

the harbor was awsome this morning, multiple keepers, tuns of schoolies,g/s rubber and bucktails.

then 3 24-26inch cod and tuns of shorts just outside the harbor.

a good day.

this was all on my friends boat, were still fixing ours.

van were you fishing from shore last night? i think you were across from me, not sure.

Van · 05-17-2005, 02:53 PM

No not last night, but a few nights prior. My buddy was there last night as well as some MSBA guys. They did not do very well, only a couple of fish.

I will be boating/fishing tomorrow, I'll let you (all) know.