IV BOUYS 2025 Pre Season

 

Well it is post April 1 and I received my slip at WYC.  Hopefully after doing a few things "underwater" before it goes in the water I'll be able to get it in soon.

The big thing this year was a multi-purpose "tool".  I bought a 63" Garmin Kraken saltwater trolling motor with 2x EcoWorthy 100ah 12v batteries.  This is a 24/36volt motor with either 80 or 100lbs force so it should easily push the boat.  I wanted it for two main reasons:

1. The general primary reason others get them is for fishing usage. this has what is called SpotLock or Garmin calls it Anchor Lock so it can become of virtual anchor to hold position.  Additionally it wirelessly connects to my Garmin EchoMap to potentially follow a route to go closer to some of the islands or rocky areas w/o using the big engine.
2. What will most likely be the more important reason for me:  to help get in and out of the slip.  There are many times the river gets low and it would not be good to run a large outboard motor that sucks in water for cooling to go through silt.  I can use this motor to be just under the water and get me in and out.

Additional work done either supporting above or in general:

• prerun 4 awg cable from the existing 3x battery area in the L to upgrade from 8 awg that was factory run and would not support the Kraken
• rerunning some 6 awg closer to batteries and near the Kraken itself to connect to the Marinco plug.
• finally extending the EchoMap transducer cable so i can mount it with the Speed Reader mount to go below the water slosh and mark depth at higher speed.
• starting to think about options for cooler weather and more full enclosures. in meantime i purchased a new set of Grundens foul weather gear at Natick Outdoor Store.

IV Bouys 2024 Updates 1

 

Notable updated in 2023 into 2024 with most notably finding a HOME.

• Installed Traxstech tracks on both binary walls of the aft area that was designed for them
• I went classic and found a pair of Penn FathMaster downriggers and mounted them to the tracks above.
• Installed a Garmin EchoMap Ultra 106sv with EcoWorthy 50ah 12V LifePo4 battery.

• Mounted  on a Ram Mounts D ball system

• Have note yet fully installed the transducer for this yet
• Bought some Craftsman toolboxes and more importantly the totes, which can be put under the bench seats easily for various storage i can take in/out easily
  

• Purchased and strapped to the bow a pair of life jacket storage bags

• As you can see i have a lot of rod holders so i can spread out trolling nicely

In July of 2024 I was able to join somewhere near and dear to me: Watertown Yacht Club http://www.watertownyachtclub.org

I was able to get a slip at the end of Broadway and enjoyed the trips down the Charles River and out to and past Boston Harbor.

The first saltwater fish caught on IV BOUYS.  We did release it

And very suiting honoring of my Dad... it was caught on a older rod/reel that my Dad and I won in a fishing tournament in the 90s out of WYC.

(Big Enuff for ) IV Bouys

 

After a lot of hemming/hawing back in 2022 we finally found what so far for us has been a useful vessel for us

This is 2022 Angler Qwest Family Fish 824 with a Honda 225 outboard.

It holds up to 13 people in calmer waters and has some nice features and potential for fishing or light entertaining, but mostly it can fit our family to enjoy the water.

Above is a view standing from the back taken on Delivery day.  Seats 5 people comfortably in the bow area and still room for other things.

Above is a view from the bow.  Captain seat plus room for up to 4 on the L seat.

We did buy this near the tail end of the issues of 2020-2022 range so there was not a lot of inventory.  This was Sarah's recommendation as it was bigger than I started looking into and less out of pocket than if I really pushed for something like a center console fishing machine.

Light Redo of L'il Enuff

My son and I did some work to freshen up our little boat, a 1973 Sport Craft Duster 13'.

• Filled some cosmetic holes from past accessories
• Sanded and painted top with  Rustoleum Topside Paint - White
• Sanded and Painted side with Rustoleum Topside Paint - Gloss Red
• Replaced fishfinder with Garmin Stryker 4 GPS/Fishfinder
• Replaced carpet with an 8x6 outdoor carpet from Lowes
• Remounted the new( to us) seats so they spin around and can easily get to back of boat
• Tied up all the cables so they are clean and do not affect the steering
• Finally used real letters/numbers for the registration 
• My son also fixed the right fender with his crazy welding skills, reconnecting the brace so i can remount the fender and not buy a new one.

Here is how it looks now:

Here is a couple of pictures of how it looked for quite some time.

Some in process pics below:

Wires all tied up and new carpet

My son was glad to clean off the metal Sport Craft Logo at the stern