Bozeman Bob

Sorry I am not wrong, they set the suggested retail price and if you come off it they stop selling you the product.i am talking about larger companies like Raymarine , Hummingbird etc. Some companies allow it ( price slashing ) but in the process lose there base that kept them in business over time or sell enough product that they don't care. Gearwrench would be a good example of everyone cutting each others throat. Then you have Snap On/ Mac tools that do not budge on there prices. You can argue all you want ,go to the FTC, not going to change a thing

Manufacturers can tell there distributors what the list or selling minimum price is. Don't adhere to it and your contract or exclusive right to sell there products is terminated. This keeps legit distributors from slitting each other's throat and allows them a profitable margin so they can stay in business. If I was a distributor and knew that the product I was selling was allowed to be whored out to anyone and sold with hardly any mark up I would stop buying and selling that product. This , ( MFG setting selling price ) , protects a legit distributor from having to compete with Brandon selling out of his basement . Leveling the playing field or should I say keeping your distributors happy is the end game for most MFGs. Good luck with the FTC , might as well be fighting City hall or the dictators of NY. I would be spending my spare time doing fishing gear / boat maintenance instead of getting worked up about something that you have no control over.

Might be easier to install a dedicated deep cycle battery with a isolator so that it will charge off your engine but not discharge the starting battery if the engine is off. I have converted a few and now go with a new electronic distributor that eliminates points and the Thunderbolt ignition module or whatever your wired in to Same price as petronix but IMHO a better set up and a new distributor to boot. Best price I could find for a used module was 150.00 , paid 120.00 for updated distributor and pitched the Thunderbolt module. Is your engine idling higher now ? I wonder if you couldn't put in a Mercruiser momentary kill switch that they use for there older models. I am sure you could fabricate a bracket by your shift mechanism that would hold the switch and work off something moving the shifter ( not familiar with OMC outdrives ).

Another Albe on marketplace ,28' newer engines ,in Oswego ,maybe its on this site , named Sparks, a lot more money than the other one. It is a lot more boat and gear ,so there's that. The 28 should have a 10-11' beam vs 9-6" .

That Sportcraft has the doghouse located towards the center of the boat ,not at the transom. Still somewhat in the way and you end up working or always walking around it. Keep looking for what you want , do not settle for anything less.

1993 27' Albemarle on Buffalo Craigslist, asking 25,000 , new motors . Probably started out in the ocean with a tower . Good looking rig.

"Large rolling waves " are usually the aftermath of a big blow on the lake . They slowly dissipate over the course of a day or so. Controlling speed isn't any different than being out in 3-4'+ waves. Short of looking at a Lake cam or getting info from someone that is or was just out on the Lake it's a crap shoot . Weather forecasters do not mention this and they seem to be wrong about 50% of the time.

Read it itoday in the Buffalo News sport section ,was in there weekly fishing report .

The water border is now open for fishing the Canadian side. Still need a Province of Ontario license, you cannot touch there shore ,anchor or contact another vessel.

Might want to research inject a deck , for the money they want and all the holes you have to drill , the deck looks like swiss cheeses when your done . And it really has not removed the rotten wood ,all it does is solidify it ,not strengthen it. A few pros to it and a lot of cons according to the research I did before doing mine the right way.

Mark off the area with a square if possible. Take a circular saw and adjust the cutting depth to a 1/4" or so. Cut the top deck off ,which will leave the bad wood exposed . Do not cut below your wood core , the underlying fiberglass should not be cut. Remove all wood that has been compromised. New wood is put in with fiberglass resin or similar material. You may be able to put the skin you removed back on to the repaired section or you may have to glass over the repair. Rustoleum makes a deck paint and a non slip additive that can be bought at Loew's. Paint on or cover repair area with Seadek ,Marine Mat or whatever you come up with if you don't want to paint it. Non slip works great . You can also Google or You Tube for more info.

You may want to tell your friend that 7- 10% of the capacity is unusable fuel. Gauge may read a bit less than1/4 and you can be running on fumes. Depends on pick up location , how far it is off the bottom and running angle.