shaky shakedown

[rolmops]

Finally an afternoon where I could get away from taking care of my ailing wife. Her illness has kept me tied up at home.

Anyway, quite an exciting shakedown it was. We went out of Braddocks Bay for my first time and learned that although it is only 20 minutes away from home, it is also very shallow and unless you know where to go (which I did not), you may damage your prop.

Once out on the lake, it was time to start breaking in the new 3 liter Mercruiser (michigan motorz)engine which I installed last winter. That was great. No more nagging fears of engine breakdowns because of an inexperienced mechanic who insisted on building his own engine. Next came the new steering system on my kicker, a push button remote "Tailfin" setup. While my buddy was struggling with the steering we soon found out that Islanders with side wind and wave action need a certain speed to react to the kicker steering. So I decided to put out the otter boats  for directional stabilizing. After the boats were out I send the dipsy diver rods  out and everything seemed fine for a minute. Then my buddy pushed a steering button a bit too long and the result was that the otterboat line caught a dipsy rod and pulled it out of the holder and into the water. I saw $400 hit the water and go down. In pure frustration I pulled out the downrigger rod, jerked it loose and felt resistance. I started reeling it in and somehow the jerk had wrapped the line around my sinking dipsy rod and very carefully I could nurse the rod back on board. Afterwards the jinks left us and we settled in. The end result was 5 large steelhead 50 feet down over 125 feet caught with orange crush super slims and chicken wings.

It was a shakedown I will not soon forget.

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by rolmops

[whaler1]

Glad you got out. When going in or out of the channel cheat to the west side. Couple feet deeper than the east side. 

[ontherise]

I see guys motoring full bore out of the channel.is that legal? I'm newly slipped at west point and trying to figure it out.

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[EKoselny]

A lot of people fly in and out of the channel on plane. I myself don't have the stones, so I idle in and out. People still don't care and fly right by you in the channel.

[whaler1]

3 hours ago, ontherise said:

I see guys motoring full bore out of the channel.is that legal? I'm newly slipped at west point and trying to figure it out.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Lake Ontario United mobile app
I do as long as there aren’t boats my wake will affect. Have seen some people blast by small boats going slow, not cool. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by whaler1

[whaler1]

Mops if you ever want to jump on mine rather than drop yours let me know. I usually go Wednesday and Sunday mornings and usually am back at the dock by noon. 

[Todd in NY]

Glad you got your boat out, got your rod back, and caught some fish, congrats!

[wrinklestar]

Glad you got out and got your rod back!

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[LongLine]

Rol = Quite the trip.  Glad you got your rod back & a bunch of fish.  Hope the wife gets better soon.