Boz

This one appeared to have twin 200 Merc's; I could only see the motors in the rearview mirror; I could make out "200" and they were black. Again - - beautiful rig!

Bob and Mike ~~ Spotted a 26 Super Sport being trailered out of East Lake Toho marina this afternoon, and all I can say is: WOW !!! What a beauty! Makes me all the more determined to check out ProLines next time I'm in the market for a super-nice toy.

Yep. Check my post in Dockside Chatter; more info. Only 3 of the 4 pirates went to Davy Jones' Locker. Fourth one arrested.

(CNN) -- The American captain of a cargo ship held hostage by pirates jumped overboard from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation. Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship. At the time of the shootings, the fourth pirate was aboard the USS Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody. Maersk Line Limited issued a statement saying it was informed at 1:30 p.m. by the U.S. government that Phillips had been rescued. John Reinhart, president and CEO, called Phillips' wife, Andrea, to tell her the good news. The ship's crew was "jubilant" when they received word, the statement says. "We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be re-united with his family," Reinhart said. "Maersk Line Limited is deeply grateful to the Navy, the FBI and so many others for their tireless efforts to secure Richard's freedom." "We look forward to welcoming him home in the coming days," Reinhart added. Earlier Sunday afternoon Maersk Line Limited, owner of the Maersk Alabama, said the U.S. Navy informed the company that it had sighted Phillips in a lifeboat where pirates are holding him. Phillips was spotted another time earlier in the day, the Navy said. A man who answered the door at Phillips' home in Underhill, Vermont, told CNN's Stephanie Elam that the family has known the news for hours. He said details would have to come from Virginia, apparently referring to the home base of Maersk Line Limited, based in Norfolk, which owns the ship.

From the viewpoint of the customer, I know I'd MUCH prefer to get "both sides of the story" all at one time, rather than getting the inspector's report and fussing and fuming over it until I was able to get the builder's rebuttals. Would probably save me a bunch on either blood pressure pills or JW Blue.

Rick, I understand what you're saying and can see why it would upset a lot of people. Lots of folks are in dire straits, and need all the help they can get. That said (please don't throw tomatoes at me yet), I can also see the viewpoint of the webmaster and mods of that site. I've been a moderator on a forum-type site that has absolutely nothing to do with fishing or boating for about ten years now, and our experience has been that if we start letting members post all kinds of links, things go downhill fast. We encourage our members to help each other out in situations like the one you posted, but to do so via e-mail or PMs. Links to information that has a direct bearing on the primary purpose of the site are permitted if used sparingly and are adequately 'guaranteed' by the poster to be harmless and appropriate. We do not permit links to competitor sites for obvious business reasons. Our "ulterior motive" in our policy is that since our site is run totally by volunteer mods, we can't have someone monitoring and investigating a slew of links 24/7/365 to make sure nobody's slipping in links to porn sites, phishing sites, and other inappropriate sites. It's an unfortunate fact that some people have snuck a link past us, causing considerable turmoil and embarassment for a lot of people and the site as a whole. In a case like the one you listed, I personally, as a moderator, would have deleted the link BUT also would have PMed or e-mailed the person who posted it, telling him/her that I understand the intent to help, but asking that the link be sent to the other party by e-mail or PM. I would also post a brief "Moderator's Note" in the thread explaining what I did and why.

Great shot! He's got a look on his face like he's thinking " #$%&@ paparazzi."

The color really doesn't matter. What DOES matter is the ABC vs BC designations. On the boat, you really should have the ones designated ABC, even though the CG only requires Type B, and they must be labeled "Coast Guard Approved" or very similar wording. An ABC will be effective against almost anything that you might encounter in a boat fire. Type A is for combustible materials, such as paper, wood, plastic, cloth, etc. Type B is for combustible liquids, such as gasoline, oil, alcohol, etc. Type C is for electrical fires. For more info, see http://www.boatus.com/boattech/firex.htm

You forgot one word in that sentence, Bob. Bunch of GD'ed MULTIMILLIONAIRE pansies! I can recall attending several season openers in Baltimore years ago with snow falling, and the games went on like it was just another day. But that was before the players learned the meaning of "prima donna".

Yes, but whatever you do, do NOT fall for those stupid commercials for "Free Credit Report Dot Com" ! They're a rip-off. The government is even airing public service announcements that make fun of those commercials, and steering people to the true site for free reports - see below. You can get a totally free credit report from a site sponsored by all three of the major credit reporting companies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp I've used this service in the past; there are no gimmicks. I don't think they provide your credit score, however; I'm pretty sure you have to pay for that info.

Apparently, the fish was still attached to the guy's fishing line; it says after the fish hit the guy in the boat, he reeled it back in! In which case, he gets the Numbskull Award of the Day Award for Accuracy in Casting.

... does stuff like this happen: Man accused of hitting Fort Pierce boater in the head with dead fish TCPalm.com 3:46 AM EDT, April 6, 2009 FORT PIERCE A 39-year-old Fort Pierce man accused of hurling a fish from the North Bridge and allegedly hitting a boater on the head, faces felony and misdemeanor charges, according to an arrest affidavit from the Fort Pierce Police Department. Richard Hughes Corley, of the 3200 block of South U.S. 1, was fishing on the North Bridge late Saturday and, along with several others on the bridge, asked a man to move his boat, the report said. The man said he told the people on the bridge he was not going to move his boat. He then alleges he heard Corley say, "I will make him move his boat." The man and two witnesses told police Corley then threw a fish that hit the victim on the head before it fell into the boat. The fish appeared to be cut in half and was about 4 or 5 inches long. The man and the others in the boat told police Corley then reeled the fish back out of the boat. The boaters then called police and identified Corley as the fish hurler. The report said police drove the man to the bridge and he identified Corley as throwing the fish as did the two other witnesses. The report said Corley told police, "I told them I was sorry I threw the fish." Police said they could not find the fish. Corley faces a felony charge of throwing a missile into a vehicle and a misdemeanor battery charge. He was released from the St. Lucie County Jail on $15,000 bond.

Needs rod holders.

I've heard several versions; here's one from Wikipedia: The origin of the term comes from early boating practices. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered by use of a specialised oar. This oar was held by an oarsman located in the stern (back) of the ship. However, like most of the rest of society, there were many more right-handed sailors than left-handed sailors. This meant that the steering oar (which had been broadened to provide better control) used to be affixed to the right side of the ship. The word starboard comes from Old English steorbord, literally meaning the side on which the ship is steered, descendant from the Old Norse words stýri meaning “rudder” (from the verb stýra, literally “being at the helm”, “having a hand in”) and borð meaning etymologically “board”, then the “side of a ship”. Similarly, the term for the left side of the boat, port or larboard, is derived from the practice of sailors mooring on the left side (i.e., the larboard or loading side) as to prevent the steering boards from being crushed. Because the words larboard and starboard sounded too similar to be easily distinguished, larboard was changed to port. As the late Paul Harvey would have said ~~ "And now you know....the rest of the story."

Do you mean that the water in the toilet bowl doesn't go down when you operate the flushing mechanism? If so, assuming the boat is still "high and dry", that wouldn't surprise me unless your head uses water from the fresh water tank. Most marine heads (like your household toilet) rely on incoming water pressure to cause the flushing action, unlike an RV toilet where a "trap door" arrangement allows the bowl's contents to drop into the holding tank. If yours uses seawater, drawn in through a thruhull, nothing is going to happen until the boat is in the water. The boatyard would not normally put more than a gallon or so of antifreeze in the holding tank; just enough to protect the macerator pump (if so equipped). The pink antifreeze is nontoxic, and can be safely and legally pumped overboard once you're in the water. It may give the fresh drinking water a slightly funky taste until the entire system is flushed a few times. I used to dissolve a box of baking soda in water and dump it into the tank, let it slosh around a while, then flush out the tank three or four times to remove the taste.

Order me up a pair of the 33STs. One for weekdays, one for weekends. My idea of a real boat. Or, perhaps I should say REEL boat.

He's got his nerve, huh? Get Wiley to nail him with water balloons next time he cruises by.

I've been wondering the same thing. I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun. Or, is that "time flies when you're having RUM?" Happy Birthday! Now that you're eligible, don't forget to apply for that all-important AARP card.

Must.....bite.....my.....tongue............. Must.....bite.....my.....tongue.............

Marriages performed by the Captain of this vessel are valid only for the duration of the cruise.

It's not nice to tease ! Looks good. When will they be available?

Hey, Mike! Glad you finally found us over here. Bob's been holding down the fort pretty well, but it's always nice when you guys can double-team on an answer. Hope you'll be comfortable here, and will continue to share your waelth of info with us. ("PostOpus" over there...)

Well, this one does have a slight boating connection ~~~

Have you considered contacting Wiley about becoming a sponsor on the site?

The real kicker is that some team WILL pay that POS $10M (or more!) and put him in as the starting QB. In college, Vick was outstanding. Once he hit the "big time" it went right to his head, replacing the grey matter that used to reside between his ears. Ethics and common sense went out the window at the NFL many years ago. And I don't see that changing any time soon.