Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Some boat work and some fishing--2017

I see the tail end of my fishing season for the year on the horizon as we near hunting season so I thought I would share some pics from my year with the campfire.

A bit of brief history--back in early 2009, I had started building a boat. It was going to be my first attempt at a home boat project and the vision I had was a 20' skiff of a sort of hybrid nature. Something between a flats boat and a bay boat but with a bit more "V" than the normal bay boat design. I also planned on hanging enough motor to satisfy my youthful exuberance for speed.

In late 2009, I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant and my priorities with the boat realigned. Instead of a go-fast skiff with low freeboard and NO sides to speak of really, I figured I would need to get something a little more "kid friendly" that would still allow me to fish the Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound and the barrier islands. And whatever it turned out to be, it needed to be cheap. I found a hull on Craigslist that was mostly inline with my needs though it was in rough shape, 21' center console with saddle tanks. And in all honesty, I still don't have any idea what brand the boat was (that is a whole other story). We did all kinds of patchwork to the boat, hung a 150hp Evinrude on it and used it for years as my daughter grew....until 2015.

One fine summer day in 2015 when my wife convinced me to take my MIL out, I started to notice that the boat was not sitting right after we got to our first fishing spot. Checking the bilge, I noticed that she was FULL of water. Something had happened, I was taking on water and unbeknownst to me, someone had turned off my bilge pump switch. After a stressful period I was able to get the water pumped out, get the boat to the beach and then start inspecting the hull. Somehow the keel had cracked right on the knife edge of the "V". I had some underwater putty on board, was able to seal the crack as best as possible and sort of enjoy our day on the beach. We idled back in at a gentler pace and did some inspection after we got home safe. The poor gal had served her served her purpose through the years but she was clearly done. The stringers were rotten which allowed the hull to buckle in rough seas and after a few trips in a good chop, the keel finally split.

Later that summer, I was able to find a beautiful hull in MUCH better shape that would give the family another boat project, be more reliable, give us more room, and hopefully allow us more freedom on the water. A 1970 Seabird, originally a 24' cuddy cabin inboard / outboard--the previous owner had removed the cuddy and converted her to an outboard with a bracket. She came with hydraulic steering and an horribly, disproportionately small center console.

After getting her home and swapping parts from the old boat to the new, I realized I had not done my due diligence and I was going to pay the price. The transom was infested with termites. When I bought the boat, I had envisioned doing a very quick parts / equipment swap across boats and being on the water in about 1 month's time. This was a considerable and costly setback. I began the horrid task of cutting, grinding and sanding the old transom so I could install a new core and several layers of 1708 fiberglass saturated with US Composites epoxy resin. Doing this kind of work, in a full Tyvek suit, in August, in the Gulf Coast heat and humidity...I felt I had won the stupid lottery. But my determination got me through it and that September we were able to splash her on the local river for a test run. Just in time to take a trip out to Idaho for a family visit and then start the hunting season once we got back.

2016 was a better year. Though she still had a lot of little things that drove me nuts, it was a year to USE the boat and not work on the boat. We spent most of the summer running around in the Mississippi Sound chasing speckled trout, small sharks and then beaching it on Dauphin Island to play in the surf. Great times with the daughter and wife and just what I had in mind when I started the work on this boat the previous year.

Following the end of the 2016-2017 hunting season, I felt it was time to address a few issues with the boat before putting her to use this year. One, some of the in-deck compartment hatches were in horrible shape. Two, the tiny console had to go and a better fitting console would take its place....along with better electronics. And three, the cockpit was in desperate need of some cosmetic repairs and a fresh coat of paint.

So, with all that out of the way...here are a variety of photos to show some of the progress on the boat as well as our success through the season.

Building and test-fitting the new compartment hatches:




Paint on the bottomside:




And the topside (took a pretty good shine, still had some buffing to do):




Finally got paint in the cockpit:




New hatches painted and laid in place:




Pulling all the cables and rigging:




to be continued in next post....

Continued...

New console in place with electronics and rigging mounted:




POWER!




This was our first test run on the river after getting everything hooked up, mounted, screwed down, etc. It was a great shakedown run and everything went as hoped.




While not our first trip to the island this year, this was our first trip running offshore with the boat. It was a pretty eventful but fun and rewarding trip. After planning to go based on a forecast of 1' or less, we were greeted wth 10-15 knot west winds upon arriving at the ramp. Committed, we launched and braved the conditions. We had to make a stop to catch some pinfish before continuing and between that stop and circling the West end of the island to head south, we were greeted with a building thunderhead that put us in a holding pattern.

Sunrise:






to be continued in next post....

Continued....

Waiting to see what the storm decides to do. South side of the island looking east:




Looking west:




Right on top of us; looking east:




Looking west:




When that line finally got on top of us it brought gale force winds. We ended up circling back around to the north side of the island and waited it out. Its difficult to tell in this pic, but there was quite a fleet of boats that had the same idea. Boats ranged from 16' bay boats to 35'+ triple and quad powered offshore beasts were hugged onto the shoreline with us.




Oddly enough, we didn't get a drop of rain.

to be continued in next post....

Continued....

Watching the radar showed that the actual storm stayed several miles offshore and eventually dissipated. Taking advantage of the weather window between that one and the next storm, we headed south to a few numbers I had been squirreling away for this trip. We were not disappointed either!




Mrs. Eagle with her snapper:




One more shot of the groceries from that trip:




Now that Mrs. Eagle had a taste of offshore fishing, she couldn't wait to go back. Unfortunately, the weather has been some of the craziest and windiest I can remember in recent summers. We finally made it back out last weekend hoping for a repeat of the previous trip.

On the previous trip, rains had my usual bait bayous screwed up so we had to make a stop to hook some pinfish. This trip started out a little better--I was able to net a good quantity of menhaden this time so no need to stop again on the way out.




After circling around the west end and heading south we were greeted with good seas and beautiful skies.




Baby Eagle was happy too...as long as the snacks held out:




to be continued in next post....

Continued...

On our way to the first stop, we ran into a couple of schools of busting fish. The first turned out to be a bunch of picky ladyfish but we did luck out and get two on the hook. They both went into the cooler in case we needed the cut bait for later.

The next few schools we ran into turned out to be some speedy Little Tunny. We only connected with a single one this time. Beautiful little guys.




After chasing the feeding schools enough, we headed off to our first spot and got nada. Same result for the second which showed nothing on the depthfinder. Our third spot lit up the sounder like a christmas tree and we tossed the anchor out. The sharks were eager to meet us and immediately started circling the boat. A jig tipped with squid was all it took to entice a few of them and after landing a few, we decided to get serious.

The Snapper weren't as cooperative as our last outing but we hung with it and finally started boating a few.




Mrs. Eagle was having an especially slow time and was ecstatic when she finally got to boat hers:




Unfortunately, the weather had to interrupt our fun before we could get a full limit. We had been watching another big thunderstorm developing north of us and we finally decided we needed to make a run for it before the storm blocked off our path back into the Sound. I definitely did not want to get caught offshore in a storm with Baby Eagle on board.

Baby Eagle was all too happy to show her displeasure in the pending doom that laid ahead of us:




Baby Eagle is pointing out the path to safety here. If you look in the right of the photo, you will just see the tip of the Island's West End. We had to make it just north of here and then hook right and head east to the boat ramp. The race was on!




to be continued in next post....

Continued...

Finally back on the north side, we are starting to put the storm in our rear view mirror:






We made it back safe and sound and we were all beat. Baby Eagle slept the whole way home with a face full of seat belt!




Final shot of the groceries from the trip:




And the payoff!




With the storm (Harvey) in the Gulf this week and early next week, this weekend is shot. Here's to hoping for better weather the next week!

Great story and pics. Thanks.

Great pics and story, thanks. How has that Merc treated you?

It has been great. I have really enjoyed it. Probably had it for 4 years now. Nothing but reliable. I have done only general preventative maintenance with it (new plugs, water pump impeller, removed line from the prop shaft, changed foot oil, etc) and always filled the gas tank with 100% pure gasoline from day one. She has never failed to fire up, get me to my destination and back every time I have asked her to.

1998 225hp Offshore 3.0L ("big block")

The only downside--she is a THIRSTY engine. Average economy on the old boat was 1.75mpg. Haven't done the math to verify the average on the new boat but suspect it probably hasn't changed much between the two hulls.