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Conrad, A Smartplug boat inlet and cord is not expensive. Filling up with nonethanol gas is more expensive and won't last the life of the boat. A fire in your garage is expensive. A fire in your boat shorepower inlet is expensive, even more so if you burn down the marina. Re-wiring your house...

After Hontoon, we’ll be going to Calusa Island marina, more for the warmth than the wildlife. 10,000 islands, Everglades rivers to explore. http://calusaislandmarina.com/ Since my childhood experiences, it seems to me like the Everglades has become a sterile grass river, compared to the St...

Thanks All! Just the sorts of reality checks we’re looking for! Bob, You are absolutely right (do you ever get tired of me saying that?), there are 11 locks, not 2. Peterbrownell’s Champlain Brat post and the NYcanals.com page blithely mention one day, but now that looks way too optimistic...

Hello Brats! We are planning a one-way Adventure to explore Lake Champlain in NY/VT (segment 1) and then down the Champlain Canal (segment 2, 60 miles, 12 locks) then into the Erie Canal system (338 miles, 35 locks) with side trips into the Cayuga-Seneca Canal into those Finger Lakes (2...

Although we get up at dawn, at dawn Floyd was always already up and pointing his monster camera at the sunrise...every day! Great job and Thanks, Floyd! John

Z50, Congrads on your new 26! It's pretty much certain that some Brats will be around the weekends before and after March 5-7, including us. Many are coming from all over the country. Tom and Joyce will somehow make it all work out, as they always do. There is no better place to learn about...

I have also had Colby's Fuji 12x28 for over 10 years, and I think they're great on the boat. However, Eileen finds them difficult to use and prefers the Steiner non-stabilized marine binocs when picking out targets and other boats quickly. Overall I agree 100% with Hunkydory, it seems a...

During some nasty weather, I put on a long sleeve shirt and removed the old fishbox port/stdbd macerator pumps and the raw water washdown pump (intake is plugged with rubber stopper and sealant at intake). Installed Tom’s DIY link arid bilge, but used ¼ rather than ⅛ as smallest tubing. It...

Can't seem to post pic #234 page 10 of album,(no right click on the laptop pad) but sometimes the simplest solution is best...simply tow the boat to Key West and live on it there. When the temp gets over 80 degrees, simply turn on the AC and share a big icy RTIC tumbler of iced tea. We like...

Miss July sure is cute. Nice boat, too. John

Ken, If you have the travel time, try anywhere in the Keys. Many Brats have posted positive reviews of Blackfin Marina in Marathon. We like Stock Island Marina Village in Key West and are there now. They bought Key West A&B Marina if you like the downtown vibe. Buy a Sunpass account online and...

John, Did you mean Sabine Marina? sabinemarina.com There is an unprotected city pier without utilities just east of it which I think is free. Palafox Marina is in downtown Pensacola and nice to explore the town but not close to the beach. Big Lagoon south of Trout Point Nature Preserve is a...

Tom, Thanks for that DIY dry bilge link, I have ordered the parts and will install when the weather gets nasty (BRRR 68 degree high predicted on Tues, but 81 and sunny tomorrow, so it's another beach day for us). Cheers!

Greetings from Key West! After returning from the Cumberland/TN river adventure, we stripped the Poli-Glow, removed the wrinkled Cat O’ Mine vinyl decals, wet sanded with 400 then 800 then 1500 grit, applied new decals, and swiped on 6 coats of Poli-Glow. Cleaned the old bottompaint with green...

Thanks Bob for a great summary. I just can’t image why anyone (rich or poor) would not pay the relatively minimal price to insure a $300,000 asset against loss from any cause. If lightning had struck this boat and it burned to the waterline, would this guy sue God or the Canadian Weather...

John and Susan, I would suggest South Florida or the Keys for a February adventure. The weather is much warmer and only another days drive compared to the NW Florida Gulf Coast ( which we do love). I doubt there are any marinas in ‘walking distance’ of the beach that have free secure rig...

Congrads, Joe, it’s a great boat and you’re going to love it! At five years of ownership, I am still discovering things about this boat and fine-tuning my approaches to them. The good news is that the boat is more sturdy and forgiving of operator errors than any of my prior 12 trailer boats...

Extracting engine data onto your boat N2K network using Lowrance adapter. Pics are at the last 5 photos on page 10 of Cat O’ Mine album. Well, it’s sunny and only 74 degrees (78 tomorrow) so no one around here is crazy enough to be out on the water in 3K breezes under blue skies, so may...

UPDATE: I am on record here advocating the unique features of the Blue Sea Systems P12 line of advanced battery chargers with the ability to place individual batteries (most often the House not the 2 Engine) batteries in Pre-Float mode along with temp and equalization monitoring. And the ONLY...

A new 'custom' panel would be really neat. I would also advise (if you're not already aware of this) that you should only use Marine UL approved toggle switches, fuses, wiring etc in the marine environment and not just anything from AutoZone. Blue Sea Systems makes great boating-centric...