My Boat Journey Begins

[CityGuy]

Hi, thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I went back today to the spot where it happened, turns out it was not a pothole at all, it was a piece of the curb that got broken away somehow and the rebar was still there and that is what "i think" busted the tire. The chunk that was broken out by someone was laying in the grass not far away.

Also i was thinking, what if it is just a coincidence and it was something in the road that cut the tire but i just happened to hit that curb that day, and it was not the curb at all. Or what if i have unintentionally exposed a contractor that poured the curb and went el cheapo on the rebar and my report brings light to that, and then months from now some contractor who lost a bid because of me tracks me down lol hee hee

Its one of those "if i had turned left instead of right" things.

As for the boat experience, other than going fishing and driving the boat 3x in my youth i am as green as the lake algea. Mechanically i can work on it somewhat as long as i know what is what. I do work on my truck so i fell comfortable with that stuff. The trick is to learn what is what first, its a 2stroke so ill have to remember to add the oil, they removed the auto oil dispenser for some reason.

My plan is to not take it on the lake until i know every part of that boat inside and out, and until i take a safety course which my insurance gave me a link to, and ill hire a guide to take me around the lake first in his boat so i can learn the ways of this lake.

Lake Fork is about 30 feet down, they drained alot of water out of the lake to fight some non native algea that was doing damage to the habbitat. Also they needed to fix some of the docks and boat ramps. There are so many tree stumps sticking out of the lake you could probably walk trunk to trunk all the way accross. Its normally about 60-70 feet deep but its sooo low right now.

From what i understand from the web is that until the early to mid 90's alot of boat MFG did not do manuals, they just included some basic sheets of paper with some particulars on there and that was it. I have looked high and low, even got on the basstracker website and found nothing. I will take the suggestion and call them to see if they might have it on microfiche lol hee hee.... i just aged myself...

I did learn from on of the videos that you can take the carwash sprayer to the whole boat, everywhere you want to clean it up and this one needs some cleaning. I was shocked in the video when they sprayed down the engine (no cover) and where the fuel tank is and especially the driver console.

I am also going to try to rig up some kind of dry dock. I may build one in my yard where i plan to store the boat. I think all it would take is 6 4x4, some concrete, 3 boat winches (the same kind on the trailer), and some heavy duty straps. That way i could lift the boat slightly, pull the trailer out to work on it. And of course build some kind of padded V-shape padded sawhorses (2) to put under the boat temporarily (just as i do with jackstands for the truck) just in case the straps give out. I really need a way to work on the trailer with the boat off of it. I dont think it would take that much to build a dry dock.

Matt_C - i will remember what the guy that discovered the titanic said on the interview. The ocean is just waiting for you to make a mistake before it takes your life....



if you look close you can see a red mark on the rebar i think. That could be the rebar the way it came from the MFG, that could be an old accident marker, or that could be a paint mark from the city to fix that curb and they never did which would mean they are liable from what the city employee told me. It has to be something they didnt do and were suppose to do.

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Put a storm drain under that, and it's exactly what I hit.

 

[CityGuy]

Trailer backing for beginners: put your hand oh the bottom of the steering wheel and move it in the direction you want to trailer to go.