LongLine

Hey, hey F'man. Long time. Hope it's well with you. I agree, the older boats were more solidly built. i.e. thicker aluminum. Mine's still going strong...knock on wood. I agree with the pressure treated wood...chemicals will react with aluminum over time. I was told a long time ago that the best bunks were actually pine but coated with fiberglass, then painted and covered with strips of outdoor carpet. Cruddy anodes on the motor can be a problem, but I'd think that comes more from dissimilar metals while you're running. My cables are copper with copper connectors and Brass nuts. I get a little tarnish every couple years but no crud.

Irg - Yes, Juice won't flow unless it's grounded. If there is any electric leak to the hull, you'll pick it up with a voltmeter from hull to an earth ground. Shakem' - Yes it can. Those holes in the above pix are not pure chemical attack. They're electro-chemical. i.e electricity to metal to water.

That looks more like something was not properly grounded. EVERY electronic device must be grounded to the battery, NOT the boat, especially on an aluminum boat and the motor must be touching the water when the boat is in the water. I found out years ago that radios, fishfinders, etc still draw miniscule electricity even when they are turned off at the unit in order to preserve their memory, They also need to be mounted to the boat with an insulator between them and the boat. (i.e. rubber pad, gromets, etc) That's why isolation switches are so important. Batteries must be in a battery container with a lid and never touching an aluminum boat hull! Stray currents are death to an aluminum boat. You can check for stray currents simply by having the boat on a trailer then simply touch a voltmeter to a bare spot on the hull and a metal fence post (or metal stake driven into the ground). Irg - You gotta get that boat up on land & up off the trailer. Then use the food-colored water.

Are you sure it's not just little wave spray or engine spray? i.e After a ride in choppy water, did you check for water about 10 minutes after you dock? A physical leak isn't going to cure itself. Was the water real calm when you took the kids to the beach? This last Monday I went from I-bay to the Genny. Had about 1 1/2 ft chop out of the NW. I slowed way down (to save my teeth & my back) . When I pulled the drain plug on the trailer at the launch, I had a little water come out. A few years ago, I did the same ride with my daughter sitting in a rear seat & she complained a few times about the wave spray.

Measure twice & cut once or it'll get expensive quickly. Tie good knots & check you lines regularly or it'll get expensive quickly.

I don't know if you've ever jacked an aluminum boat up before, but in case you haven't, this is what I've done: (Chock your wheels.) Then you can use a single point automotive hydraulic jack at the transom, BUT MAKE SURE you use a short (maybe 2 ft long) 4x4 with a V cut in it that matches the bottom of your boat between the jack and the boat. This will distribute the weight of the boat/motor. Otherwise, that jack can do a lot of damage. (Whatever you do DO NOT lower the front trailer wheel, block the transom and try to use the front trailer wheel to lift the front of the trailer up! This is called a "stupid human trick" and will cost you 100 bucks for a new front wheel.....Been there, done that) Remember, you only have to clear the trailer by a couple inches at most. I've lifted the front of mine off the trailer (again trailer wheels chocked) by raising the front trailer wheel as high as it'll go and using 3 cinderblocks on each side of the trailer and placing a 4 ft long 4x4 across them between the boat and the trailer. I also put a couple wood wedges on top of the 4x4. (Note: rear of boat still on trailer) Then lowering the front wheel. Good luck & let us know how you make out.

If me, I would get the boat on a trailer & jack the front-end way up. Then I'd put some water in it, but I'd mix some food coloring in it. My reasoning is that you said you went to a smaller 4 stroke a few years ago and that you've recently replaced some rivets. I see from your pictures that you troll with the big engine as I don't see a kicker. Even though they're quieter, 4 strokes have many more moving parts than 2 strokes and as such their harmonics are different than 2 strokes. i.e. they vibrate differently, especially at low speeds. I suspect you may have multiple rivets, or a seam or a joint just starting to loosen up. Leaks may be so slight that you can't see them drip. The food coloring will make it much easier to see. I'd also check to see if there is some sort of dampening plate/spacers between the engine & the transom.

I'd advise invest in a rigger first. Even if only a manual one, then go from there.

You thinking just the weight or that it vibrates more?

Late start...launched about 7. No driftwood last week at the launch, when I took pooch for a walk but there where 2 large piles of small stuff there today. Ramp #1 blocked & between #2 & #3. Looked like guys kicked it all to the center. Large log at #4 was gone. Anyways....had to burn the crud out of the engine & break in the new kicker. Glassy calm water. Surface 54 in the river, 45-46 to the west. Lots of driftwood on the west side....probably due to the recent East winds. (Only saw 2 big logs out there) Ran to Round Pond a couple times then came back and slow trolled the beach & along the pier looking for a Brown (Less than 1 mph GPS). Came across this guy on a surface line straight back, about 100 ft WNW of the lighthouse. Little over 33", so guessing 14 Lbs. Revived him & let him go. N wind came up about 10:30 so called it a day. Luck to all. Tom B. (LongLine)

Back to the topic: If you want the shot, get the shot. If you don't want the shot, don't get the shot. Stop the BS that the gov't is going to save you and the BS that the gov't is going to kill you. You have the right to decide what you want to do, so stop, make your decision and move on. We had a saying in the Marine Corps: "You can gripe, but quit your GD ****ing."

I guess you missed the FEMA tent that he had set up in the old Kodak parking lot for free shots. (Driving park & St paul) What, What, What.....Free 1st shot.... free 2nd shot.....free booster? What, what, what....couple weeks salary continuation for employers who had people out of work due to virus? What, what, what....can't fire people who are out with covid? What, what what....grants & startup money for SMALL businesses? (More entrepeners now than ever) What, what , what... rent relief grants to states for people that were out of work due to covid? (& states not spending it) What, what, what.....eviction moratorium for covid issues. You get your free gov't masks or test kits yet? So glad you sent your gov't stimulus checks back. How about the regeneron that he sent to Florida, when DeSantis was begging for it? Guess you missed Texas (Abbott's) press release on the 31st begging Feds to send medicine, medical personnel & test kits to him? (Ivan said he'd help Red states & Blue were on their own... guess what - both Fla & TX are red) Guessing you only remember Ivan sending a ship to NY? (which BTW was only used for 9 non-covid related patients & Ivan held it up in Norfolk for over a month before it departed) Hey, how about the big hoop-la Ivan made about giving Kodak $500M for development of chemicals for a test (that we've been reminded of in this thread) that doesn't work, or the $30M he gave Harvard for who knows what? Guess you forgot those famous Ivan words: "It's no worse than the flu"..."this Kung-flu will be over by Easter" What more do you want your government to do for you? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" (per B. Franklin) It's so much easier to make a mess than clean it up & Ivan was great at making that mess!