Landing Craft

I've always been an outboard guy. (Some people say I go a little overboard.) Easy to work on and replace if need be. If someone made a diesel outboard, I'd be in heaven.

Question: How long do the bellows on an IO last? I've considered them but this question nags at me.

I was my understanding that as long as you don't touch ground, get out of the boat onto land, you were okay. Point is, you don't call customs when you enter their water, you call customs when you land. If you do "dock" but don't get out of the boat you need to fly a yellow quarantine flag until the captain reports to customs, either in person or by phone.

There may be more to it than this.

Overall, how long did installation take?

I've been thinking about the Atlantic Towers custom fishing arch for a few years. When installing is there any need to cut the arch legs at all? If you confirmed it was position, drill and bolt, I'd be two steps closer to actually buying it.

What about DSC radios? When programmed properly a simple momentary key press can send your GPS coordinates to your buddies radio. It goes to his radio and only his radio. All he does is look at the radio screen to see where you are. With the volume turned down there would be no noise or interruption of static that anyone would notice.

All winnings go into my Dad's name, he's retired, no income, so minimal taxes. After taxes it gets split evenly with all on board plus one share for the boat.

Never really had any issues, cause ... never had a money fish!

I called the number in late December. The lady told me they couldn't be ordered until mid to late Jan. They hadn't received the tablet of licenses yet.

I'll second the Uniden Oceanus. Multiple ways to scan different channels, the display is nice and big, loud volume, and DSC capable.

Here's a link...

http://www.lowrance.com/Accessories/sea ... FINDER+H2O

It's the PC-DI7 or PC-DI8. It comes with a piece of cardboard showing the pinout of the cable. Match that to the NMEA input of the radio. I bought a 9 pin D-sub connector from Radio Shack and soldered it to my radio NMEA 0183 wires, so it's easy connect and disconnect. I registered the radio to get the number from Boat US. It's a nice sense of security when I'm out with my 5 year old daughter. She knows the red button is for emergencies only.

I have the Lowrance iFinder H20 with the Nauticpath chart chip. Love it! It's more than accurate enough for me, and I have it interfaced with my DSC VHF. (Uniden Oceanus)