BWR1953
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
- Messages
- 5,866
Took my girlfriend out in my little Fishing Machine this afternoon for a couple hours. It was my GF's first time in a boat for well over 20+ years and her very first time in my little boat. It was GLORIOUS weather out there today too! A great day to head to the Gulf.
We launched without problems, then started the 25hp Mercury. It was a bit cold-blooded after no use for a month, but coughed to life after a bit of extra choking and was completely stone reliable. This was also my GFs first effort as a deckhand... hilarity ensued.
After a quiet ride through the no-wake zone, I hit the throttle and the Merc pushed the little boat onto plane in a sprightly fashion. Cruise was easily 25+ mph.
I spotted a little cut to port and headed over to test out the 30lb. MotorGuide trolling motor. As we were coming off plane, I noticed a VERY large underwater wake headed upcurrent and pointed it out to m'lady. After watching it book quickly out of sight, we eventually determined that it must have been a dolphin. Sweet!
Dropped the 5-speed trolling motor into the water and got busy testing... it worked perfectly and is exactly the right size for this boat. Neither over- nor under-powered, it moved the boat along very well, even upcurrent against a rapidly falling tide on as low as 2nd speed. In "top gear" or 5th speed, it dragged us upcurrent with rapidity. Steerage was completely nominal.
So, I fished around for a little bit while my GF enjoyed the sun. Then we headed on back to the dock.
Upon arrival at the dock, my GF went forward to grab the bow line. She decided (on her own) to just exit the boat by starting to step up on the floating dock... which then dipped down... pushing her away... causing her to do the splits, one foot on the dock, the other in the boat. Yeahhh... she ALMOST went into the drink, but then tumbled back into the boat, falling on her sweet lil butt between the forward fishing chair and the starboard gunwale. She wasn't hurt and learned a valuable physics lesson!
After that, I helped her learn a bit more about loading the boat onto the trailer and securing everything. Then we headed on home to the waiting crockpot full of pork loin roast.
It was a GREAT day to be out on the water!
Edited to add pic.
We launched without problems, then started the 25hp Mercury. It was a bit cold-blooded after no use for a month, but coughed to life after a bit of extra choking and was completely stone reliable. This was also my GFs first effort as a deckhand... hilarity ensued.
After a quiet ride through the no-wake zone, I hit the throttle and the Merc pushed the little boat onto plane in a sprightly fashion. Cruise was easily 25+ mph.
I spotted a little cut to port and headed over to test out the 30lb. MotorGuide trolling motor. As we were coming off plane, I noticed a VERY large underwater wake headed upcurrent and pointed it out to m'lady. After watching it book quickly out of sight, we eventually determined that it must have been a dolphin. Sweet!
Dropped the 5-speed trolling motor into the water and got busy testing... it worked perfectly and is exactly the right size for this boat. Neither over- nor under-powered, it moved the boat along very well, even upcurrent against a rapidly falling tide on as low as 2nd speed. In "top gear" or 5th speed, it dragged us upcurrent with rapidity. Steerage was completely nominal.
So, I fished around for a little bit while my GF enjoyed the sun. Then we headed on back to the dock.
Upon arrival at the dock, my GF went forward to grab the bow line. She decided (on her own) to just exit the boat by starting to step up on the floating dock... which then dipped down... pushing her away... causing her to do the splits, one foot on the dock, the other in the boat. Yeahhh... she ALMOST went into the drink, but then tumbled back into the boat, falling on her sweet lil butt between the forward fishing chair and the starboard gunwale. She wasn't hurt and learned a valuable physics lesson!
After that, I helped her learn a bit more about loading the boat onto the trailer and securing everything. Then we headed on home to the waiting crockpot full of pork loin roast.
It was a GREAT day to be out on the water!
Edited to add pic.
