YodaMage

So I email Traxstech some questions but still haven't heard back. Today was the fun of pulling out the sander, the dremel and some sanding pads and grinding the heck out of the boat. Nothing structural or interesting, just some dock rash and what looks to be either trailer or anchor abuse on the bow. Worst was a blistered/spidered section on the face of the hard top about a foot long once I found solid glass. After a touch of resin and a bunch of color matching and laying in gel coat it looks like it will clean up perfect. Also pulled all the screws out of the transom, then cut some starboard to match dead rise, marked placement, then sanded down hull paint and filled old holes with 5200 that will now be under the new mounting boards. Looking for a good place to drill some 1/4 holes up above the water line for 4 through bolts, then I'll apply loctite marine and bolt them on. Some sanding, cleaning, buffing and waxing and this baby will be ready for the transition to mounting and assembly! Hopefully next weekend, I'd like to have it completely re-assembled and re-fit by the 26th. The 27th we're pulling the outdrive to change seals, bellows, oils, etc.. then paint it up and put it back. Want to soak this thing 6/1!

So I have a thought and took some measurements, but it might be pushing how far things can go... Here is what I am thinking, two 12" Traxstech tracks mounted as such: The distance between these points would be just over 60" on center, closer to about 62". They are also off camber to one another by a few degrees as the rear deck is slightly curved. What i'd like to do is then add a pair of risers and cut down a trolling bar to about 68", covering the double doored transom box but leaving it accessible if I want to slide off the bar. I could use it for storage for access supplies and stuff I really don't need in any kind of hurry (Spare anchor, cleaning supplies, extra fenders, spare rope, spare weights, etc..) Think this would work? Would the 'off camber' transom create any binding or issues? Can you run just over 5 feet of bar supported like this? In theory it would work out and allow the third rigger to be where I'd really like it, right between the outdrive of the main and the swim platform/ladder.

Interesting thought...and the previous owner had a fish finder on the transom but it is already ripped out, just haven't pulled off the bracket yet. I'll be making a pass tomorrow doing final removal or random gear and chasing it with a tube of 5200 in all the holes.

That is a well played response, lol. I bought this boat from an Erie guy who left me his downrigger 'weights'. I think they are 6's...not sure if I should melt them into one usable weight or just drag them off the side with a dipsy rod I have some 12lbs fish and some 15lbs keeled balls (old cast with long tail). He ran digitrolls off gimbals but I'd be petrified to run a 15# out 4' plus out of a gimbal. Going to do mount the good old way, with through gunnel with some epoxy fill and a backer plate with fender washers. I'm don't mind running two copper wide with two wire dipsys spread, but running boards all year round blows IMHO. Not to mention I don't want the mess in becomes in over 2' chop. (I've never seem boards run well in 3 to 5 plus but maybe I'm just a noob). I am a stacker old school, but more then a triple and a free slider is also asking for a mess. So that gets me 10 in the drink which isn't bad, but I'd really like to run a dozen hence my desire to get the third rigger in the mix, as well as the ability to roll back to a 'just rigger' spread and get LOW during the dog days of summer when I like to go 150+ deep looking for sharks. I don't think you can get a diver down much past 80 no matter what you do with it, and copper is pretty close to the same especially at an Ontario trolling speed (over 1.2 mph for the mud fishers ) So while you can get tangled up with a ton of Bows and Coho all day in the top 75 it isn't why I'm there in July and August.

I'll take them if no one above me already has.

The hardware for the camper enclosure is going, just haven't gotten to it yet.

I'll get some pics up today, have to get some for the insurance company as anyway.

I'm running a kicker on the port corner so a 48 is more then enough if I can figure out how to mount it.

So I got the new ride, have ripped out the old VHF, the Lowrance 1000 Global Map, the Lowrance x25, The Humminbird 768. All in the name of upgrades! I have the Humminbird 958 and the Fish Hawk X4D ready to go in as soon as I get a chance to mount on the 3/4" Starboard panels I bought for transducers. Now for pathetic...the boat came with two really nice condition Digitrolls. I left my UniTroll 6's on the old boat and was going to style...but I'm just hung up on the thoughts of losing a day to a rigger malfunction or a bad board that I can't fix on the water. I also have a vision in my head of the rigger doing something dumb (or operator error) and burying a Fish Hawk probe into the bottom never to return. So I just took delivery of two Dual Crank 6's I grabbed on eBay, lol. This dork is determined to run at least one manual and that one to hold the down probe. WHat I need to do is figure out how to put a chute rigger on the boat and run the manual and the probe right down the middle, but I haven't come up with a way to do it yet as the entire transom is wells and boxes with no usable transom to be found. Still need to figure that out if anyone has a Grady and has solved that riddle.

If it gets a little reckless or out of sorts you'll be tempted to spank it....and that is never appropriate in mixed company...