Catman":1e550pxd said:
They're just the latest in what likely will be a flood tide of Sweet Sixteen Fever. Eventually everyone sees the light and embraces the wisdom of downsizing to a crispy little critter like Pee Wee.
Man...no kidding. Jon and I are thrilled with Pee Wee. What a sweet little boat.
First day was spent at the C-Lou's, cleaning...and cleaning...and cleaning. The teak came off, and some time was spent with the West Marine 2-part cleaner and teak oil. It cleaned up quite nice...but we were careful not to over-do things. Just enough effort was exerted to bring back the color and get rid of the ugliest stains...no sanding, no heavy scrubbing. After all, it is a fishing boat, and there's only room for one Brock in our club.
Then, through a combination of soap, SOS pads, Barkeepers Friend and a pressure washer, the hull was attacked, Slowly the algae, barnacles, rust stains and turds began to disappear. Then, somebody made a comment about the faded blue gelcoat...next thing I know, Jon is buffing and polishing with the 3M, and the old girl had much of her shine restored. Oh...and let it be known that Jon is the brawn in this partnership. This California girlie-man had no problem sitting back and admiring his work, sipping a Mike's while making smart-ass comments about the spots he was missing.
Then...off to Da Barn for some rigging. She looks kinda nice sitting in the vacant bay, eh? Still plenty of room in there for Da Nag 22.
So...in goes the new fuse box. Popped in the downrigger plugs. Attached the Scotty bases to allow Da Nag's downriggers to serve double-duty, as well as these cool triple rod holders (
pic 1 /
pic 2 /
pic 3)...our local millright fashioned up an adaptor so they could sit atop Scotty bases. Cut a big hole in the gunnel for the
Tempress Tackle hatches. Added a second battery and wired in a 1-2-All. Added a mount and wiring for the Garmin chartplotter that will serve double-duty with C-Lou 22.
Still waiting on a new Icom VHF to arrive, and for a second mount/wiring for the fishfinder that will get swapped back/forth from C-Lou 22. But...enough rigging. Let's get this baby on the water!
First launch out of Freshwater Bay made it clear we had a winner...backed in to about 1' of water (truck tires dry), gave her a shove off the rollers, and all was good in the world.
I parked the truck, donned the hip boots, and off Jon and I went into the bay on a picture-perfect day.
I've had the pleasure of being a passenger in Brock's Bambina...I remember enjoying it, but didn't recall the details. However, once Captain Jon and I took off, the feelings and emotions returned...there's something very, very cool about these little boats. The first thing that struck me was how incredibly nimble she was; far more so than a 19 or 22. Response to the helm is instant. The little 40HP Yamaha moves her along at a perfect clip. And it's simply amazing how much room there is in such a little boat.
We did have a minor episode, which prevented us from getting to our planned fishing desitnation. Whoever rigged the main, didn't see fit to bend over the cotter pin that held the throttle cable clevis pin in place. After Jon figured out what was going on, a little fishing line repaired things well enough to get us back home...we thought better of continuing on without a permanent fix, but it was still a grand first adventure. Particularly with weather, water and views like this...
I'm going to have to start hanging out a bit closer to you all, because the good stuff keeps coming your way. It couldn't happen to 4 nicer folks. Congratulations on Pee Wee and to many many wonderful days fishing out of Freshwater Bay. Robbi
envy!!