Way2slow

They are not just for "night use". Most states require them to be on a certain time before sunrise and sunset, which is really not very dark. Also for low light conditions and fog. So, if you don't have them, what that does is keeps you from getting on the water early and requires you to be off the water at sunset, and they go by the daily posted sunrise and sunset times, not actually sunrise and sunset, which there is a huge difference in time. You don't have to have them on a boat during the day when there is clear visibility, and they are not going to give you ticket if the boat does not have them, look at all they kayak's and canoe's that don't have them. They will however nail you in a heartbeat if you don't have some turned on when the law requires them to be turned on. I used to keep those portable battery powered one for my canoe and jon boat so if I did want to be out before sunrise and after sunset time or when it might get foggy. Also, the red/green don't have to be on the side of the boat. On the bow and visible at 180 degree angle is all you need for the average boat. After they get over a certain length that changes. The white light has to be at least a certain height and seen at 360 degrees for a mile or two, what ever law states.

I seriously doubt there was such a thing when it was new, much less now. I've probably dealt with a100 used boats over the years (since 1965) and I've never seen one that came manuals. The wiring should be done by someone knowledgeable, and they will just run them to and from where they need to go. Hopefully in a professional, neat looking way.

Is that make, year and model a good motor Yes. Is it going to be reliable, my crystal ball is not working anymore. Depends on how much it has been used and was maintained. I would recommend having someone that's good with outboard motors go with you to check it out and do a compression check. When I buy a used outboard, I don't put one in use until I have serviced it, changed the gear oil and install a new water pump.

Totally agree, if you can't paddle from one side of the boat, without have to cross over, then you need to learn how to paddle. No telling how many miles I've paddle a boat and never switch sides. Wouldn't want to try it now, but I used to sit in the bottom with my legs under a cross brace and could barrel roll a canoe with a paddle just like in a kayak. I was referring to when easing along fishing, even a small breeze will make it want to swing around if there is not weight in the front. Mine is a wider, flat bottom cargo canoe, so it really has nothing to stabilize it. Of course now, you probably couldn't pay me to get into a canoe it's been so long since I've used it. Primarily just keep it around and a keep sake from those "good old days".

My canoe is an old 17' Gruman aluminum. If the weight balance is too far off, it constantly wants to turn around on you. One thing I do that helps counteract is to sit backwards in it. It's not the most comfortable way but it works. The front seat is closer to the middle so if you turn around and use the front seat for the back seat, that goes a long way toward balancing the weight in the boat. Not super comfortable but works.

Just don't use a high pressure washer, it will leave lines in it where it packs it down so hard, it won't come back up. Been there, done that several times. Even thinking I will hold it far enough off to prevent it, it either doesn't clean it, or still leaves those funky looking lines in it. Mine is a 4gpm 3600psi pressure washer and it will wreck carpet. It will clean the crap out of it, but you are not going to be pleased with the way your carpet looks when done. Going back over it with a heave scrub brush will help, but it won't fix it.

There is an adjustment period and learning phase, but you will love the comfort and mobility inside the boat. I too know of a number of guides that use pontoons, so don't think for a minute they are only good for anchored and fishing with a bobber. I've had nothing but bass boats as my primary boat since 1973. I could water ski behind them and other than bass fishing, that was my water activity. I've had a canoe since 1962 and a number of jon boats that took care of small water and any other fishing needs. Last year, I finally sold my last bass boat, a 20ft Javelin 20DC with a 225 on it and bought a 24ft Bently pontoon. The wife and family love it. Before my wife would never want to go out in the boat, now she wants to go all time. Mine is the fishing model with 2 pedestal seats on the front in a small area outside the enclosed area. Some short falls I've found with mine: That fishing area on the front is way too short and makes it very difficult to operate the TM sitting down. I have a bad back, so I have to sit most of the time. I'm actually going to build and extension for the foot pedal so it can extend out over the edge. Contrary to what's said about needed a big TM, mine weighs about 4,500 pounds and a 60lb TM moves it just fine. I'm actually considering going to a 55lb so I can go to a one 12V battery because of the weight in the ass-end. With the stereo, lighting and other stuff, you end up having in one, I run a massive dual purpose AGM cranking battery. Then there are two more group 27 AGM trolling motor batteries, and a 10amp per bank, three bank onboard charger. That all adds up to almost 300 pounds sitting back there. Add a small inverter generator I will put back there if we are going night fishing, that's a lot of weight. If anchor fishing, my granddaughter's husband likes to go catfishing at night and that back anchor is a pain. Power anchors, at least on the rear would be nice. I've added them but have not used them to give an evaluation on how well that idea works out. If you don't live on the water and have to tow it, it's like driving a semi. Takes a full-size pickup and with that long trailer, that's almost 50ft, 8ft wide you have to deal with on the road and through town.

Don't waste the gas. My hands don't let me do that stuff any more. I have a motor I started on seven years ago and it's almost finished but 15 minutes with a die grinder and my hands hurt for two days.

The costal water guys have been bragging about them for several years. They just haven't made it to the bass boat world yet.

I was not insinuating it's a Yamaha, only the external appearance is very similar to that of a Yamaha. I'm quite sure, other than the fact they are both outboard motors they are very different under the outer shell.

Yep, looks like the borrowed the design of the Yamaha VMax to me and just put their decals on it.

If you haven't cleaned and checked the cables, it might be a wasted trip to the battery dealer.

I've said it before and will say it a again. It's a very easy problem to diagnose with a DVM/Multimeter. You can't look at wires and see what the electrons are doing inside one, but a multimeter will show you, and you can buy one for less than an hours labor a shop is going to charge you. However, just pitching guesses at it, sounds like a bad connection on a cable or a bad battery.

It's a lot cheaper fishing a small area off the bank for 10 hours and getting skunked than fishing a 77,000-acre lake you've fished for 50 years and know like the back of your hand, burning 30-40 gallons of gas in a boat that has good electronics and getting skunked. They both suck but as the old saying goes "s*** happens".

You might have to/want to, turn it off to unplug the transducer. Mine will shut down if a transducer is not connected. If they are different type transducers, you may have to go in setup and change transducer type. Mine are the new model Echomap UHD 93SV and 73SV so they may be different, and I could be wrong about it, like I said, I've never tried it in actual use, and it's been a few months since I had them at the desk learning them.

I think when you want to mark something, it gives you a crosshair you move over the object and it marks the location of the object so you can come back to that object, not where the boat was. I've never done it but I spent about a week playing with my SV on a power supply and think that was how it worked.

For the best answer on that one, I would contact Garmin and ask them about running an A/B switch to switch transducers. It would probably have to be something they made for that until to match plugs. In the old days of single and even dual frequency transducers, that was not a problem and was a very common practice. Transducers and the unit's technology have gotten a lot more sophisticated today, and interference created by the switch could be a problem.

I had a Terrova on my boat with three Lowrance HDS units, a 5 in the console, a 7 on the bow, and a 10 on a swing arm next to the console, all networked together with the structure/side scan unit. I ran the 7 on the bow off the transducer in the Terrova with no problems. If I wanted to see the side can or structure scan I just switch to the network. I've destroyed too many transducer cables running down the side of a TM so I would avoid that if possible. With a lot of today's transducers, that cost could ruin a fishing trip.

You will find, the more limited you are in area you have to fish, the better fisherman it will make you. It makes you figure things out with what you have and not just run around fishing areas that "should" be holding fish with a lure you like to fish.

Fishing pockets, side scan would be almost useless. A good high definition Structure scan might if they are suspended a foot of so away from the structure, but if you think you are going to just cruise over those holes and fish for the ones you see, you're going to be passing up a hellava lot of fish. By the time you get the boat over the hole, the fish are going to be spooked. In situations like that, I generally use something like a Senko or other slower falling bait and fish a couple of pockets away.

Captain Phil, I also built my first one from Heathkit back in the late 60's. I used that one for years because it was portable. As for using one, until these new generation units came along with side scan/structure scan, all I mainly used one for was depth and contour.

Most people brought up in the 50' and 60's had never run less than a half tank drilled into them. Back then, the cold war practices ruled and you were to keep at least enough gas to get a few hundred miles away. Which, it still smart to do that now, there are loads of things that can happen that will shut down gas stations for several days and emergencies the can require getting out of an area in ha hurry. That trip was with my 93 Toyota pulling the jon boat. That same trip pulling my pontoon with the 2500HD would have been about $20 in the boat and $150 in the truck.

You still gotta get it to the water if you don't live on a lake. My trip this morning, I burnt about 1 1/2 gallons in the jon boat, but 12 gallons on the 200 mile round trip to the lake and back. $6.00 in the boat, $53 in the truck.

Used to be, boat prices had a lot to do with supply and demand, but that was back when there was competition between manufactures. That competition is gone now. Like most other products, large conglomerates have bought out the competition and what few there are, they can join forces, so they get to dictate their prices, back like the old monopolies had it, they just do a better job of making it look like they are not. Cost of production is not driving the prices up, it's the increased profit margins that's driving prices up.

I generally make a sand bed to slide it off the trailer into then work then sand in underneath it. Then put a couple of 4x4 post on each side to attach braces to go against the side of the hull. I have seen 4x4 used to sit it on and 2x4 attached to them against the bottom and sides. Basically making a frame for the bottom and sides in about three locations. The way to check the transom is to trim the motor all the way up, then stand on the mid section and bounce up and down. If the transom does not flex or move, it's probably good. For what it cost in materials today, and time, you had better have a special connection to that boat, because you will probably have more invested in it than it would be worth when done. If it's usable, don't matter how ugly it is, use it to get your nickels worth out of it. I have a 17' Stratos I have plans on restoring that's going to need everything, basically it will be a new boat when done, but that one was my dads and I'm doing it to give to my granddaughter. She has a lot of fond memories of fishing with her gramps out of that boat. If it were not for that, you couldn't pay me enough to do it. You just don't realize how much work and discomfort messing with all that fiberglass is going to be. Get you some Tyvek suits and respirator, you will need them. As for how safe it is, sounds like it's rotted pretty good. I would not be trying to run full speed across wakes and in rough water, where you hit the water hard enough it makes your eyeballs bounce.