jigstick

I purchased my 1997 Bayliner 2252 Express Cruiser 5 years ago.  I had the boat surveyed at that time which didn't show any major problems.  The only advice at that time was to replace the fuel fill hose which had some dry cracking.  SInce then the only maintenance that I have personally done on the boat is an oil change, gear lube change, topping off fluids, fuel additives, washing, waxing, and had the gimble bearing and bellows changed (5yrs ago).  The boat is running fine right now.  But I decided to take it to a mechanic and have it "tuned up".  These are the following things he recommended that I do.  Does this sound appropriate?

Oil change

Gear lube change

New lower unit impeller and seals

grease lower unit

Check / top off all fluids

Check / adjust idle

Replace fuel filter

Check / replace cap and rotor

replace shift cable bellow (which I told him was showing some weather cracking"

The estimate was $600-$800

Does this sound reasonable?  Like I said, I KNOW none of it has been done in atleast 5 years (besides my oil change and gear lube change)

I have the EchoMap 93 sv Chirp with down imaging and side scan. Works awesome. Better performance than my old Raymarine A65 and Airmar transducer. 

Youll love that Garmin man. Great choice. 

I have posted them there. Been waiting for them to approve them for viewing. Thanks for your help

Well I had the SportPilot drive installed for the past few years without using a rudder reference, and it held course well.  Good enough for motoring out to the grounds and back.  Good enough to land fish.  I'm not sure how to install one on an I/O or I would do so.

Maybe you can answer this other question.  During the Dockside Wizard it also makes you specify the "rudder limit", which defaults to 30 degrees.  Ive never messed with it.  What SHOULD it be on an I/O?

So I ordered some of the Amish Clippers, and a few of the Scotty Mini Powers as well.  the Clippers are definitely cheaper.  It would cost me twice as much to buy 100 of the Scottys.  Well see what works I guess.

Ive tried some DIY stuff which I wasn't happy with.  I actually just placed an order with Amish Outfitters for some of their Rigged Fly Caddys.  They seem real slick and organized.  Check them out.  The $18 one will store 25 rigged flys securely and visibly.  

https://amishoutfitters.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=100

They also sell a tube fly caddy which puts your flys into a clear tube, with the tubes stored in a clear box.  youll be able to see your fly better, but you have to stuff your leader in there which I find annoying to do.

https://amishoutfitters.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=98

Sounds expensive

How would I get the boat to North East harbor on Lake Erie?  Would I have to go through the Welland Canal?

did you check the inline fuse?

Using Renoskys?  Bombers?  Bayrat?

wow man thats shocking.  we fished Barcelona going east towards dunkirk.  30-60fow and slayed them on 2-3-5 color lead core, long lines, and riggers up high.

but like you said, it beats work.  Well be out fishing tomorrow and sunday as well.

what harbor where you fishing out of?  We landed 80 fish in 6hrs.  

your shorty leadcores will be in steelhead territory...which is fun.  400 copper and dipsys 230-260 back have been taking our bigger fish.

My brother in law has a very nice HewesCraft.  Its a dream to fish from.  But my wife doesn't like the "look" of them. lol

Who here has a Raymarine Evolution autopilot?  I finished switching from a SportPilot over to a hydraulic autopilot pump and have a question about the "dockside wizard / commissioning" required.

Because Im not using a rudder feedback I must specify the "hard over" time.  I followed the Raymarine instructions.  it says to turn the outdrive hard over to port.  Engage the autopilot and change the heading my 90*, and "estimate the time it would take to get to hard over starboard".  

Well when I change the heading by 90*, the outdrive goes from hard port to midline in 10 seconds.  Do I need to use this value?  Or double it to 20 seconds, because thats now long it would take for it to go all the way to starboard?

I hope I'm describing this correctly

Ive only used the smaller inlines so I can't offer much advice.  But I've been looking around for some bigger inline boards and saw that Auroralite is now making their own inlines.  And they can pull copper.  Check them out.

Heres my dilemma.  My two buddies live right by Olcott and fish WAY more than I do.  When I ask them for gear recommendations they tell me what works for them.  And trust me...they slay fish.  If I deviate from their recommendations they bust my balls and say "we told you want to get, why didn't you listen".  

Ive personally seen them run 300-400-500 copper of each side on those Aurora boards.  Ive seen them run 3-5-7-10 color lead core off each side.

They are much better fishermen than me....believe me.  I would have a tangled mess.  But on occasion they come down from Olcott to fish walleye with me on Erie.  And when they do, they want to use the gear they are familiar with.

I don't mind "buying once, crying once"...but still.....

Ordered some Cisco planer reels.  Ready to order boards.  Both of my buddies swear by the Auroralite Large boards.  But I'm having a hard time swallowing the cost of them vs the Amish Outfitters composite boards.  

Any thoughts?

Trailer?

Cisco has some competition in the stainless downrigger and rod holder market.  Things could get interesting.

it seems like your price on the cable steer package was mostly luck.  Here in the US they go for $1300.  Good buy for you though.  Hope it works out.

what autopilot course computer and compass are you using?

these helm style autopilots require considerable space behind the dash.  I think 10inches or so.  I looked into them extensively last year.  performance reviews seemed to vary quite a lot.  Some saying they were adequate...some saying the units over heated and had sloppy steering.  They cost about $1000 as well.  If you add in the cost of your autopilot electronics you could rapidly approach $3000 and still be dealing with a cable steered boat.

if you have power assisted steering I think you have a better option.  Which is what I ended up doing.  For $1000 you can add hydraulic steering to your boat, and get out from under the "cable steering" debacle.  And now Raymarine offers their Evolution Type 1 hydraulic autopilot electronics package for $1800-2000. So for roughly the same cost you can have yourself hydraulic autopilot, which is much better IMHO.

can you run copper with them?  On my buddies boat if we are pulling 400 copper with large paddles and flies we sometimes have to use 3 rubber bands to avoid false releases.  Can these clips tighten down enough to retain the rubber bands?

Anybody using these planer clips?  The design seems simple and effective.  Has anybody used them pulling copper successfully?  My concern is the rubber bands popping from the slot prematurely.