jbmaine

A couple of thoughts come to mind. Depending on size you might drill out the threads and then use a standard drain plug ( if the size is right ). Get a short piece of straight pipe sized to a drain plug and weld it over the tapped hole. Maybe a piece of pipe with external threads to screw into the existing hole sized up to accommodate a drain plug.

UPDATE-- Thanks for the help everyone but I just got a call back from Garmin. From what they tell me you can't change the font size on the Echomap chirp. Jim

A-Jay, I tried your advise. I was sitting out in the boat going BRMMMM, BRMMMM,. About the only thing it did was make the neighbors laugh.

I'm back from the doctors office and now waiting for a call back from my case manager. And so the day goes.

OK, I went back into overlay numbers, but it only lets me turn them on and off. I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but I'm not sure what. Any chance you could give me a step by step. I sure would appreciate it. Thanks Jim

After a long hard winter it's finally here. Time to take the first trip in the new boat. Need to break the motor in, try out the fish finders, play with the Ultera. The ice went out two days ago and it stopped raining. Life is good. Got a couple of days before the next batch of rain hits. Todays forecast, sunny, calm, high of sixty. Only problem is six weeks ago I made a doctors appointment for late morning today. Can't get out of it, and with the lake over an hour away there just isn't enough time to get out this afternoon. When I made the appointment there was a foot of snow on the ground. What are the odds I would pick the most perfect day ever, an mess it up by making a doctors appointment. Checked the weather for tomorrow, It was looking great but this A.M. they changed it. As of now it will be plenty warm, but the wind picked up, the forcast is for 5-10 mph with gusts up to 20 +. Then rain for the next few days. Tomorrow is doable ( as of now) and we are going, but I'll be kicking myself all day today. Jim

Around here water clarity can go from 3 ft to 10 ft depending on body of water. We almost always see perch, sunnys etc. Fishing shallows or weeds we often see pickerel and bass.

Thanks, I had found overlay numbers but it looked like I could only turn them on and off. I try looking again tomorrow. Jim

Hi All, I've been playing around with my new fish finders and am getting good at swapping screens etc., but so far I can't figure out how to change the font size on the displayed info ( depth, temp, etc.) I've found videos showing how it's done on earlier versions but nothing on echomap chirp units. Can anyone give me directions on how it's done? Thanks Jim

Never heard of fuel treatment ruining an engine, but have heard plenty of stories of old gas screwing one up. I have used Star- Tron in all my engines for years and never had a problem.

Just an update-- I finally found a cover to fit my boat. Ordered it this P.M. Thanks again for all the input everyone. Jim

As I said earlier, if I could find a reasonably priced cover that would fit, I would go for it, but the dimensions on my boat seems hard to find a cover for. A poor fitting cover would let rain water, pine needles etc. in which is what I am trying to avoid in the first place. Thanks Jim

Thanks, Is your Rebel the sport, with the full windshield?

Thanks for the input everyone. My situation is I only trailer my boat for an hour max and don't see the need for a travel cover. I am hoping within a year or so to move to a house with a garage to keep the boat in, so spending big $$$ for a custom cover is probably not needed. That being said if I could find a reasonable $$ cover that fit my boat I would go for it. However my boat ( Lund Fury XL Sport) seems to be an odd size. I had a cover on my last boat from Empire covers and really liked it. But when I called about a cover for my new boat I found they don't have a cover to fit it ( I gave them measurements on my boat ). Apparently the windshield is the problem. I measured from rub rail to rub rail across the top of the windshield and came up with 150". The closest cover they made for a windshield that size was for a 20 ft boat. Mines 16 ft. I thought a cover for A Lund Rebel XS Sport might fit, ( they make one for that ) but was told the windshield on that was only 108". All this makes me wonder if a tarp is the way to go. If I spend $$ on a bad fitting cover am I really any better off than just using a tarp. As A reference, If I could find A good fitting cover from Empire, I could get it for around $ 200 or less, I really don't want to spend any more than that. Thanks Jim

Thanks that's the info I was looking for Jim

Hi all, I don't trailer my boat covered, but when it's sitting in my yard I like to cover it to keep out rain, pine needles, bird poop etc. It seems you could buy several good tarps for the price of a cover, yet most people seem to have covers. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the advantages, disadvantages of each, just for when the boat is sitting. Thanks Jim

In my opinion, no matter where you go or what you do, most people are polite, kind, courteous , do the right thing, others not so much. Unless there is a safety issue I let people do what their going to do. Some one crowds into my fishing spot, pushes at the boat launch, cuts me of in traffic, etc., so be it. Life is to short to let it ruin my day.

Hi All, I have a new Ulterra, but due to the crappy weather I haven't been able to try it yet. My question is, the first time I deploy it, can I stop it before the shaft extends all the way down? I know the trim up / down button will trim it up / down, but I have a transducer cable guard on it, and if it looks like it's going to hit or snag, can I stop it where it is ? Thanks Jim

I thought it was perfect I had the right gear I had the right clothes I had the right approach I had the right mind set I was full of determination I felt the first tug nothing gave it some more nothing finally gave it all I had results!!!! with the leaf blower on full I could finally clear the sleet off my boat tarp!!!!! Forgive me. I've had my new boat sitting in my yard for a week now. I never thought the first time I got it wet would be with sleet/ freezing rain.

There are times when I get annoyed with our " one size fit's all" type of thinking today. Commercial's on tv have reams of fine print that no one can read. People in positions of power lie right to your face, and no one blinks an eye. Directions and instructions cover a dozen different models, and darned if your sure which one covers the one you have. The list goes on. Most of the time I live with this as " the cost of living" in this world, but as I said, some times it gets annoying. Here's a few recent examples. I was trying to fill out some medical paper work on line and was instructed to submit it on a web site. I couldn't do it. Called and was told I needed to install a different browser on my computer. Told them I had no problem in the past and, was told they updated their system, now I need a different browser. I said, you just E-mailed me all these forms to fill out, you couldn't have added a couple of lines to let me know this. silence. Called a major electronics company to schedule some work on my computer, was told they couldn't schedule it now because they were having " computer issues". Boy, that gives me a warm and fuzzy. Just picked up my new boat and while waiting for good weather, and ice out, I'm reading all the manuals, and the motor manual says during break in to run the motor up to certain RPM's for certain times. Only problem is on this boat motor package, the tachometer is an option. ( luckily I got it). But if you need a tach to break in the motor, shouldn't it be standard equipment? I got the Ulterra trolling motor, and looking at the remote there are no buttons to stow and deploy, or trim up and down. Wait a minute, did I get the wrong remote? The quick reference quide shows a remote with these buttons, and all the videos I watched shows the same thing. More reading on my part from the on line manual ( another pet peeve of mine, why should I have to print it out) seems to indicate I have to go into a "sub menu?" to use these features. I sure hope I never have to trim the motor up in a hurry because by the time I put my reading glasses on, find the rite menu, and hit the rite buttons, I could be in trouble. O well, I'm off to get a cup of coffee and get ready for another " one size fit's all" day. Thanks for listening Jim

I was in the same boat ( no pun intended ). Traded my forester for a used ford edge with a tow package. If you liked your forester, you'll love the edge ( at least we do ).

I feel for you

I was followed home today by something black and mysterious.

Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. It took me a while to decide to post this. I guess the reality finally hit a few days ago that I was just not going to get much better, ( my doctor kinda told me this a while ago ). I'm getting used to my limitations. As I said, it could me worse, I can stand for up to an hour before my foots done, sittings a little better, driving is OK for and hour or two, and although my foot swells up like a clown foot by the end of the day, the pain is mostly doable. My long term disability case manager has put me in touch with a sister company of theirs who is helping me go through the process of applying for S.S. disability, so that's good. Moving forward--- My wife has been disabled for the last dozen years and can't work, so we are home together and loving every minute of it. Our old boat was a tiller drive " skiff". I was twisting around to run the motor and tossing out an anchor 20-30 times a day. We were so sore and tired by the end of the day, we were only going fishing once every couple of weeks. Our new boat is still some what small, but gives me a steering wheel drive, a trolling motor ( ulterra) , a casting deck, and very comfortable seats for us with room to stretch out. If all goes well we will be some of those "lucky" people that are posting here with fishing pic's and stories all done during the week . Thanks again Jim

As the title says, it looks like I'm retired, just not quite the way I had planned. I've been a tool & die maker/ machinist for the last 40 + years, and standing on cement floors all that time has taken a toll on me. 7 years ago I screwed up my back and ended up having surgery. It's better, but never came back 100%. 5 years ago my right foot started hurting. I was found to have tassel tunnel syndrome, and had surgery to correct it. A year ago it started hurting again and 7 months ago my doctor told me to get off my feet. I was sent home from work, and since then I've been home ( thank heavens I had disability insurance). I've had tests, shots, PT, you name it, and have seen three different doctors. As of today I have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis, Tendinitis, bone spurs, sciatica in my leg, and to make it more fun, it looks like the scar tissue from my old surgery has some how interfered with my Tibia nerve, causing nerve damage in my foot. Last week I found out my right hip/leg is shifting out of alignment. With all of this going on I'll never work my chosen profession again, and as I'll be 64 soon, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that for all intents, I am retired. Looking everything over I think we'll be OK $$$ wise, and to continue fishing we'd need a more comfortable boat. Towards this end we made the decision to sell our old boat, and some time ago we ordered a new one. We pick it up tomorrow. So from now on I'll mostly be a sitting down fisherman, but with everything considered, I'll be happy with that. All in all it could be a lot worse, and my wife and I feel blessed it's only as bad as it is. Jim