# Boating



## woodnomore (Apr 2, 2020)

Ice is off the lake just north of me. I am putting the fishing boat in the water this afternoon. Going to be wonderful to smell the 2 cycle again. Looks like I better get the two old boats ready to run too.


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## DAKSY (Apr 2, 2020)

Too windy here to try to launch our pontoon. Maybe next week...


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## woodnomore (Apr 3, 2020)

It was a little cool on the lake but it was wonderful to be back on the water, makes you forget about the madness for a little while.


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## moresnow (Apr 4, 2020)

woodnomore said:


> It was a little cool on the lake but it was wonderful to be back on the water, makes you forget about the madness for a little while.



Nice to hear you got on the water. Private access? I thought all public boat ramps were shut down?


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 4, 2020)

Doing ggv my part to social distance!  We still have black ice.


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## woodnomore (Apr 5, 2020)

moresnow said:


> Nice to hear you got on the water. Private access? I thought all public boat ramps were shut down?



Public boat ramp, they are open. Some counties have shut down public ramps that get really crowded


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 5, 2020)

Saw a boat trolling around the ice flows today.   Probably going after lake trout on the surface.


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## DAKSY (Apr 5, 2020)

What lake, Matt?


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 5, 2020)

Schroon.  It was a blast watching the ice break up and start moving down the lake this weekend.


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## DAKSY (Apr 5, 2020)

Cool. I've been on a LOT of NYS lakes, but Schroon isn't one of them...
We're on Burden in Renssco...


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 5, 2020)

I remember!  The burden lakes are a nice little area!


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## ABMax24 (Apr 5, 2020)

Man you guys are lucky, it was -33 here 2 days ago. Our rivers are still froze shut here, hopefully end of April there will be a 1 week window where the ice is off before the spring high water comes, otherwise will have to wait until mid-May before the rivers are low enough to be navigable.


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## EatenByLimestone (Apr 6, 2020)

Wow.   I like winter, but that'd be tough!


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## Bad LP (Apr 7, 2020)

Saw a video posted by a friend with snowmobiles still blasting down the lake.


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## woodnomore (Apr 7, 2020)

The day after I went boating it was a high of 31 and a cold fridgid wind with freezing rain.


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## woodnomore (May 8, 2020)

Pretty stoked wife and I were finally successful in finding and bidding on a lake home, I will be on the water more than ever.


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## DAKSY (May 8, 2020)

We're in the water for the season...


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## begreen (May 9, 2020)

That looks like a little slice of heaven Bob.


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## DAKSY (May 12, 2020)

begreen said:


> That looks like a little slice of heaven Bob.



Thanks, begreen. It IS, for now. 
Emperor Cuomo's taxes are driving us out. 
2-3 more years MAX.


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## DAKSY (May 12, 2020)

Here's what it looks like from the water, begreen...


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## begreen (May 12, 2020)

That's a special spot.


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## thewoodlands (May 17, 2020)

DAKSY said:


> Thanks, begreen. It IS, for now.
> Emperor Cuomo's taxes are driving us out.
> 2-3 more years MAX.


Up here if you have over three acres on the water with a new home, you're are talking over 10 thousand in taxes. We pay two tax bills, county and school with our town tax in with the county.

This will be our first year with the bimini top.


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## weatherguy (May 18, 2020)

thewoodlands said:


> Up here if you have over three acres on the water with a new home, you're are talking over 10 thousand in taxes. We pay two tax bills, county and school with our town tax in with the county.
> 
> This will be our first year with the bimini top.


Nice, I had a Sea Nymph and  a Star Craft the Star craft had a top and it was nice when the sun was beating down on a hot day. Thinking of trying to pick one up as I miss the weekend fishing trips to Quabbin Reservoir.


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## Bad LP (May 18, 2020)

I miss the boat this year but not the polishing waxing and maintenance. Feel like I got 100 hours of my life back and it's only spring. LOL


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## begreen (May 18, 2020)

With Puget Sound being saltwater, it's even more maintenance here.


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## DAKSY (May 18, 2020)

We bought a 1990 Bass Buddy Pontoon in 2017. $4500 cash. 18' with a '91 25 hp Johnson. Seats 6 - 8 & is perfect for our usage on the small lake we live on.  Fish, take rides or party. Only maintenance is fueling after initial start up & a little bit of cleaning. Launch it in April. Remove it in October. Winterize it, tarp it, & store it in the woods across the street. Trailer gets about 1/4 mile of travel every year...


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## thewoodlands (May 20, 2020)

weatherguy said:


> Nice, I had a Sea Nymph and  a Star Craft the Star craft had a top and it was nice when the sun was beating down on a hot day. Thinking of trying to pick one up as I miss the weekend fishing trips to Quabbin Reservoir.


I use to fish walleye on the St.Lawrence River years back but we've just been taking the boat out for rides lately. It has been very dry for this time of year so the water is low but we'll get out on the water pretty soon.


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## thewoodlands (May 21, 2020)

__





						Carry Falls Reservoir - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				




Today we took our first boat ride out on Carry Falls Reservoir, we were thinking because of the lack of rain this spring that the water levels would be down but they were holding back water (not generating for power) so we had plenty of water.

The wife liked the new Bimini top so that was good but after a cold spring I wanted sun, guess I didn't win again.

I always take a picture of the rock on every ride, in the fall the drop in water should be 3 or 4 feet.

On the way back we came across a fire that was going pretty good (storage shed?) they  had two fire trucks there and we ran into another three heading out of our small town.

It has been very dry here and the fire was next to State Route 56.

People had already starting parking there campers near the road so they would get a spot, I'm sure some will understand and others will be pissed.


			http://nny360.com/app/ad/brookfielf-campgrounds-opening.pdf


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## woodnomore (May 23, 2020)

Kinda sad, with the move to the lake I will not have room to properly store my vintage Alumacraft runabouts. Selling my 1954 Deep C and my 1957 Flying D.


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## thewoodlands (Jun 18, 2020)

We were up on Carry Falls Reservoir today, they were holding back water so the water level was very high causing a bunch of smaller logs to come off the banks, we didn't hit any and warned some other boaters coming on when we were leaving.

The boats down here across the road are on the mud but once they start generating the water levels come up. It's the busiest we ever seen Carry on a Thursday.


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## ABMax24 (Jul 14, 2020)

The river water levels have finally come down after the floods at the beginning of the month, but still high enough to get up the small rivers. Made a 4hr (200km/120 mile) round trip today. Didn't get rained on today which was nice for a change.


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## moresnow (Jul 15, 2020)

Sweet ride! Details please. What is it powered by? Jet drive model?


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## ABMax24 (Jul 15, 2020)

moresnow said:


> Sweet ride! Details please. What is it powered by? Jet drive model?



I bought the bare hull and donor seadoo for this unit, everything else I have done in my garage.

Hull is all aluminum built by Brattjet in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. 13' long nose to transom, 5' wide bottom, 14 degree delta pad with chine design. 4 strakes on the hull for control and 2' wide center strip of 3/8" UHMW for protection from rocks and gravel bars. The hull bottom is 3/16" thick, except under the motor is 1/2" and 3/4" under the intake for the pump. I also welded on an 8" extension to the back of the boat to allow me to pack my large fuel tanks. I also have a 13 bar intake grate that allows rocks no larger than 1/4" through the pump.

Engine and pump are from a 2007 Seadoo RXP. Engine is a 3 cylinder with 1.5 liter displacement and a centrifugal supercharger that makes 7psi boost and 215hp at 8000 rpm. Single overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder, air to water intercooler, closed loop cooling, water cooled exhaust. Engine and pump weigh about 350lbs.

For fuel I built 2 tanks, the main is 70 liters (18.5 gallon) and the auxillary is 50 liters (13 gallon). I can get about 6.5 hrs cruising on the fuel I carry. It cruises at 45km/hr (28mph) at about 4500rpm and about 4.5 gallon per hour fuel burn.

With the proper impeller it tops out at 100km/h (60mph), but I currently have a steeper pitch impeller installed that limits me to about 7500 rpm and 55mph. But this impeller nets better fuel economy because it brings the rpm down at cruising speed. At WOT it consumes around 20 gallon per hour of fuel.

For the interior I bought a pair of aftermarket seats for a RZR and mounted them.

The entire boat weighs just a hair over 1000lbs with full fuel tanks. On the trailer its about 1400lbs overall. Between the relatively flat bottom and light weight it runs shallow. I can reliably plane on 6" of water, but 4" is doable if I pick the speed up a little.


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## thewoodlands (Jul 15, 2020)

We took the boat out to Carry Falls Reservoir today, our temps this morning started out at 57 with a high of 86 today. It was a perfect day for boating today, three other boats were there today.


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## begreen (Jul 15, 2020)

ABMax24 said:


> I bought the bare hull and donor seadoo for this unit, everything else I have done in my garage.
> 
> Hull is all aluminum built by Brattjet in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. 13' long nose to transom, 5' wide bottom, 14 degree delta pad with chine design. 4 strakes on the hull for control and 2' wide center strip of 3/8" UHMW for protection from rocks and gravel bars. The hull bottom is 3/16" thick, except under the motor is 1/2" and 3/4" under the intake for the pump. I also welded on an 8" extension to the back of the boat to allow me to pack my large fuel tanks. I also have a 13 bar intake grate that allows rocks no larger than 1/4" through the pump.
> 
> ...


Nicely done. That's a serious river runner.


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## moresnow (Jul 16, 2020)

ABMax24 said:


> I bought the bare hull and donor seadoo for this unit, everything else I have done in my garage.
> 
> Hull is all aluminum built by Brattjet in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. 13' long nose to transom, 5' wide bottom, 14 degree delta pad with chine design. 4 strakes on the hull for control and 2' wide center strip of 3/8" UHMW for protection from rocks and gravel bars. The hull bottom is 3/16" thick, except under the motor is 1/2" and 3/4" under the intake for the pump. I also welded on an 8" extension to the back of the boat to allow me to pack my large fuel tanks. I also have a 13 bar intake grate that allows rocks no larger than 1/4" through the pump.
> 
> ...


Impressive. Gotta be a riot. And it came home on a sled deck! Classic.  I've been planning a similiar project with a flat boat (john boat). It will be a center console with similiar power plant. Our rivers are soooo shallow that any prop drive is short lived.


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## SpaceBus (Jul 16, 2020)

moresnow said:


> Impressive. Gotta be a riot. And it came home on a sled deck! Classic.  I've been planning a similiar project with a flat boat (john boat). It will be a center console with similiar power plant. Our rivers are soooo shallow that any prop drive is short lived.


Both boats sound terrifying, but in a good way like a good motorcycle.


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## ABMax24 (Jul 16, 2020)

moresnow said:


> Impressive. Gotta be a riot. And it came home on a sled deck! Classic.  I've been planning a similiar project with a flat boat (john boat). It will be a center console with similiar power plant. Our rivers are soooo shallow that any prop drive is short lived.



I'm not sure exactly what a john boat is, we don't have such a thing here, but if it is a flat bottom boat I'd be careful with a large powertrain in it, at least around here flat bottoms (muskrat boats) are reserved for low hp outboards, they slide around corners making high speeds dangerous. All our river boats here are jet drive, a prop boat wouldn't make it much more than a mile in any of our rivers. Mine is about as small as they come, most boats here are in the 16' to 20' range with 8 to 12 degree delta pad hulls and either have a Mercury sportjet (discontinued) or a V8 with a hamilton, american turbine or scott pump. Almost all also run UHMW for protection and fairly heavy bottoms.

If you are looking for something different there is one of these for sale up here as a bare hull, 13ft and center console I believe. $7,000 CDN.





__





						FireFish Industries - Snapper
					





					www.firefish.ca


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## ABMax24 (Jul 16, 2020)

SpaceBus said:


> Both boats sound terrifying, but in a good way like a good motorcycle.



Like a motorcycle It's only as scary as you make it, once you learn how they operate they are actually very agile and controllable. The big thing most newbies forget is you need the throttle open to generate thrust to allow steering. Usually you will find a new boater up on the bank in one of the first corners because they get nervous, cut the power and lose steering and the boat heads straight up on shore. You learn to drive them like a race car, slow in fast out.


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## moresnow (Jul 17, 2020)

ABMax24 said:


> I'm not sure exactly what a john boat is, we don't have such a thing here, but if it is a flat bottom boat I'd be careful with a large powertrain in it, at least around here flat bottoms (muskrat boats) are reserved for low hp outboards, they slide around corners making high speeds dangerous. All our river boats here are jet drive, a prop boat wouldn't make it much more than a mile in any of our rivers. Mine is about as small as they come, most boats here are in the 16' to 20' range with 8 to 12 degree delta pad hulls and either have a Mercury sportjet (discontinued) or a V8 with a hamilton, american turbine or scott pump. Almost all also run UHMW for protection and fairly heavy bottoms.
> 
> If you are looking for something different there is one of these for sale up here as a bare hull, 13ft and center console I believe. $7,000 CDN.
> 
> ...



The setup I am looking at building is a much more basic river beater powered by a smaller displacement jet ski engine and drive. Very lightweight and extremely shallow draft. Something like in this vid.


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