paul h

Aluminum or stainless? My understanding is it's best to add or subtract 1" of pitch, going 2" it's pretty harsh and it doesn't have the pitcch added to the full dia of the prop. I'd be concerned that going from 17", to 15" and then to 19" will result in the blades being work hardened and failing.

For the suzuki df-140, wot should be 6000-6500rpm. I've run two props on my df-140, a suzuki 14X19 3 blade which I can only get 5700 rpm out of, and a solas 13 3/4 X 17 4 blade that I can get 6050 fps out of. Economy on both props is the same, but I run the 4 blade solas as it puts less load on the motor. You might find the 3 blade 14X17 is not enough prop, so try the Solas, especially as they are much less expensive than the suzuki props.

I'd say most of the smaller boats up here, which I guess would be nominally 26' and under are running o/b's vs. inboards. I really haven't seen many complaints about the newer o/b's. I know some of the yammy 115's had reports of making oil, i.e. fuel getting by the rings due to not getting up to temp in cold water, and some of the evinrude e-tecs were having problems going into limp mode, supposedly due to their computer software not being friendly with running in cold water. Asside from that the o/b's have a rep for being solid on the water. And the plus of not taking up your fishing deck with a big box that makes it pretty tough to carry a big cooler. I can see running a diesel on the larger boats, but with our diesel prices running 10-15% higher than gas(when factoring in the increased initial cost), the efficiency argument doesn't really play out until you get into the larger boats.

What kind of boat are you pulling? Now that I have a 3/4 ton truck w/ a turbo diesel, I can't imagine towing with a gas rig, even if it's occasional towing. I've driven diesel Expeditions in the oil field and if I was looking at an SUV rather than a truck, I'd give them a consideration. Though I know ford has had problems with some of their diesel engines so I'd look into that. I'd be more concerned with finding the vehicle in the best condition, best price and least amount of miles than being stuck on a paticular brand or model. You shouldn't have much problem finding folks that are dumping their large SUV's, it's a buyers market. The online services that allow you to research the VIN's for problems with a paticular vehicle are well worth the minimal cost.

Guides are not allowed to fish while guiding clients, unless helping a client with a disability per the ADA, page 7 of the 2009 ADF&G regs. In addition to the sport fishing rules, there are the rules under the state for guides, and Coast Guard requirements. So it's tough to find the answer in a single publication. I haven't found anything that specifically says a guide or deckhand cannot assist in getting a fish on a boat. Halibut fall under federal regulations, so there are some additional requirements.

It doesn't make any financial sense, as you'll never save enough fuel to pay for the re-power, and you loose in re-sale. I'd resist the urge and put the money into tackle upgrades

I'll trade, it barely broke 50 today.

I'd suggest late July out of Seward. The silver salmon will be in the bays, and youre boys will have a blast catching salmon and rockfish. I don't think your boys would have a problem with the typical 20-30# halibut, it's the heavy halibut rods and 3# cod sinkers that will wipe them out. But many of the boats have a few lighter jigging rods for halibut, and the boys should be able to handle those. Flying in to Anchorage, on the way down to Seward is Girdwood. You can stop there and the boys can pan in the Crow Creek Mine. http://www.crowcreekmine.com/index.htm/His..._Gold_Mine.html There are many B&B's down there or you could stay at the Alyeska hotel. Just a few miles down the road is the Alaska Wildlife Center http://awcc.org/home.html They take care of injured wildlife, and it's a great chance to see most AK wildlife. In Seward there's the Alaska Sealife Center http://www.alaskasealife.org/ think of it as a mini version of the Monterbay Bay Aquarium. There are a few resteraunts and stores worth checking out. The Edgewater hotel is pretty nice. And many places to hike in Seward, and between Seward and Anchorage. Fire away with questions of send me a pm.

Cut a foot long piece of dacron line and run your braid through it, then tie the knot. I've had no knot problems combining braid to mono when using the dacron over the braid.

Dan's back down running the charter, not sure when he'll be back on line. They run out of Ninilchik early in the season, then move the boats to Seward sometime after 4th of July. I can get you Dan's # if you want to get in touch with him. My daughters friend's family has a 25' acb they run out of Whittier in Prince William Sound and they seem to be pretty happy with the boat, I think he's running twin honda 200's. I'm sure there are some aluminum cats up here, but honestly I've never seen one on the water or in the marinas. I've seen a few glass cats. That isn't to say cats are a bad design, but they just don't seem to have garnered much of the market. The boats that have the best resale are aluminum cabin cruisers in the 22-28' range. Fish hard, hose it off, put it away until the next adventure. When you have a 4 month boating season, and need to pick windows between small craft advisories, you just don't want a boat that you need to fiddle with, or wax, etc. I can't say our water conditions are much different than other areas, but if you can't readily handle a 2-4' steep chop and confused seas, the boat just isn't suitable for typical outings. In the sound the prevailing winds are out of the East, but then you'll have glacial fjords, and winds coming off the glacier with a decent fetch down the fjord, add in tidal rips and you want a boat that will handle predictable with waves coming from every direction. I was looking at the acb website, and if I could swing it, the Sport Cruiser 2900 w/ twin 300's would be perfection. But, I can't even afford to dream about such a boat

I'd suggest upsizing the a larger jack, it should cure your ills. Winter storage is a bugger, my tarps seem to only last a season, and I need to come up with something that will shed the snow vs. having to dig it.

It seems with the Alaskan Brewing Company, I've yet to get a bad beer from them. Standard fare is the amber, summer brew and the new white is nice. I tried one of the smoked porters, it's almost a meal in itself.

Funny, I was just chatting with Dan about this. You know, not that long ago, fishing was only about one thing, putting food on the table. It still is in much of the world. Then as man "civilized", many turned fishing into a leisure activity. I imagine that is what most of us consider it. I.e., it is about going out and having fun. If we get a good meal out of it, nice, if we fill the freezer for a few months, better yet. Then some no good basturds decided to make it about competition, started putting rules on it, and pumped a bunch of money into it with sponsors et al. I love sports and competition, but when a sport becomes a money sport, it just goes FUBAR. And those folks that get wrapped up in the rules, completely miss the point of the activity. I'm completely stoked for that little girl, she'll be talking about that fish for the rest of her life, and rightly so.

The Homer halibut derby is an all summer long event, I wouldn't call it a tournament. While I understand question people being assisted landing fish, what is the difference between someone helping you reel the fish, and someone helping you by taking you out on their boat and using their sounder to find the fish? There are plenty of adults that are assisted reeling their fish.

I took a shark hook and fiberglassed it to a closet a rod (1 1/4" dowel) for a handle. So far so good.

Not nearly enough I figure based on engine hours and cruise speed less than 500 miles. We do have a short season, and I've been doing way too much working, and not enough boating.

The top one looks like a good way to get out of the office. Bottom one, well, makes you glad we have OSHA

At higher speeds the cats pack the air under the tunnel, which reduces water resistance and hence increases speed. For racing, speed is where it's at, and will over-ride other conditions For pleasure/fishing craft running under 40 knots, you really don't get as sifnifigant advantage of speed. And in some water conditions the cats can behave in strange ways.

ACB, aluminum chambered boat. You're comparing a V hull to a catamaran and there are pros and cons of each hull style. I can see the advantage of a catamaran as a racing hull, but for all around water conditions IMHO the v hull is a better design. The people I know with acb's seem pretty fond of them.

Where's the integrated beer holder? Can't believe a guy has his hands free and no beer in them

Not the cleanest installation, but with 4/0 marine cable crimped and soldered on the terminations, I don't have to worry about not having sufficient current to start my engine. It wasn't cheap, but a single tow would cost way more than what it did to install it right the first time. Not to mention that I'd rather be fishing than trouble shooting a crappy electrical system.

I've had a pair of the Jinkai SC-3 hand crimpers for about 5 years and they've worked fine on wire leaders and 300# mono. As far as the built in side cutters, I've found on both my fishing crimpers and larger wire rope crimpers that the built in cutters seem to loose their edge pretty quickly and don't give a good cut. This is also due to a bit of slop in the heads of the crimpers. So if you want to invest a couple more $, get a pair of aircraft cable cutters. I have a pair of Felco C7F. Aircraft Spruce carries them, as well as some less expensive cutters from S&F.

Not to bash the captains and crews, but as to why folks would head out w/o having everything dialed in, checked out, etc, well it takes a certain type of person to work in that industry given the risks, hard work, and the resulting compensation. They are gamblers, work hard, play hard and maybe you get the big haul, maybe you go home broke, maybe you don't go home. The type of person that would make sure everything was lined out, properly maintained, tested etc, would be the type of person to look at the money invested in capital, operating expenses, risks, current and future catch tonages etc and say it just doesn't pencil out to work in this industry. A good analogy would be the commercial fishermen and boat owners in Valdez at the time of the oil spill in 1989. Many boat owners became "spilloinaires" They could have easily retired after the cleanup was over, but most of them kept on fishing, and basically pizzed away all that money. A few were bright enough to cash out. There is a bumper sticker that says just let their be one more spill, and I promise not to waste the money.

Another vote for genuinedealz. You can use non marine, non tinned wire, it will corrode and fail eventually. While I could have gone cheap with welding wire or a pair of jumber cables, I just can't afford to have my electrical system crap out on me. So I went overkill, 4/0 marine throughout with crimped and soldered connections, and blue sea hardware.

Great thread! I guess the first would be a 3 man rubber raft I somehow managed to persuade my folks to get me. We'd paddle around Lake Tahoe on the weekends, and once my older brother and I floated down the Truckee River from the start at Lake Tahoe outlet to a pullout by a ski resort. Within eyesight of the pullout, a large boulder in the middle of the river seemed to transfix us and suck us towards it. My brother was in the bow and when we hit, he flying like superman The first boat I bought was a pellican canoe, about 10 years ago. First powerboat is the tolman skiff I built. A plan which was hatched based on planning on getting a used zodiak for the engine and trailer and building an 18' open skiff. Somehow the open skiff morped into a 23 foot cabin cruiser.