wassachu

E-Tec is the best. I have a 90HP 2009 I purchased last year. Winterizing is a snap and it started right up this spring. It's quiet and sips gas. My Brother-in-law has a 115 Yamaha 2008 and he had a strick break in. Required to run 2000 RPM for a few hours then 3000 RPM for a few more hours, something like that. No such this with the E-Tec but I was gentle with it the first couple times out. He had to service the Yamaha after a few hours where the E-Tec has no service for three years. The Yamaha is heavier, has more moving parts. E-Tec is a great motor. You won't be sorry.

This is to those of you that have Internet Access. Go to www.reportstorms.com and report storm conditions in your area. I'm a Weather Watcher in Maine and use it to report storm conditions. All you need to do is create a password and log on. It may give someone a heads up on storm activity. No Instruments needed, just report the conditions.

This is to those of you who have Internet Access on Boat or Shore. Go to www.reportstorms.com and report any storm activity in your area. This is open to anyone. You just have to create a password and log on. I'm a Weather Watcher from Maine and use it to report any storm. No instruments needed, just report the storm conditions. It might give somebody a heads up

Reports are that Herring are starting to run on the South Shore of Boston. Great News! Stripers will be soon following.

You haven't mentioned a Humminbird and probably for good reason. I purchased a Humminbird 595C new in April 2006. I was trying to save money. My last Humminbird was a 1990 and still running with no problems. My new Humminbird has been back to the factory 5 times for four different reasons. Each time I got it back I got a new Indicator, different serial number, or new GPS antenna, different serial number. Will it work this Spring???? It cost $500. Either of those two brands mentioned are good. Look for the options you'll use. There's a lot of add-on features that may be nice but are never used.

Free Snow anyone. Any takers? Still have snow in South Berwick, Maine. Had to snowblow a path around the boat yesterday so I can at least get the cover off and start preping it for fishing. May be June before this snow is gone.

Please refer to: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/...lleryfungus.htm . This Fungus called Artillery Fungus or Shotgun Fungus is caused by decaying wood chips. When my house was built in 2003 they cleared the lot of trees, hauled off the logs and chipped the branches into a large pile in the woods. When I moved in, I parked my boat and trailer on a flat next to the woods where that pile was. Each time I parked the boat it was in the same location. The next year I started to notice these tiny, pinhead sized, hard shelled spots on my boat, trailer, on everything. When I scraped the spots, inside the hard shell was a black tarry substance that stained the fiberglass. I have a huge stockpile of products I've used to try to remove these stains with no luck. Things like: MEC, acetone, paint thinner, bleach, On/Off Bottom Cleaner(contains a mild acid) and various rubbing compounds, cleaners and spot removers. Again nothing worked. I called in a Marine Surveyor, he had never seen these spots and had no idea what it was. He recomended using 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper sanding wet. I called in a boat finisher, again he had never seen these spots. He tried a 3M Rubbing Compound with a buffer with no luck. He then recomended 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper sanding wet followed by rubbing compound followed by a polishing compound. I have since found an Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner, GoJo works well but still a lot of scrubbing. In the beginning, I had no idea what these spot were or where they came from. A lot of research on the internet and talks on forums lead the the link above. I since removed that pile of chips which was about 30 feet from my boat and 70 feet from my house. I also have these spots on the house vinyl siding. My boat is a 1990 that has seen a lot of hot California sun so it is quite oxidized which didn't help. I'm slowly making progress with these spots but it's a lot of scrubbing. Please keep wood chips away from your toys.

Great! Next time you catch and release a Striper, " "Whisper in it's ear, "Go North" ". We'll be waiting for them

Thanks Wiley and RI Builder. We needed to cover the Northeast Region. I've lived and fished in California, Maryland and now Maine. I've fished for Stripers at each location and even though these are the same fish the methods and baits are different. This will be a busy Forum once the season gets going. Right now my boat is surounded with snow and ice. It's in the shade so I'm chipping away at it and clearing it out. Too icy for a snowblower so have to do it by hand.