Bighanded

well dang..learned something today...so a glycine-rich protein works like antifreeze to allow them to survive and function in the freeze....wow!!

um...what's an ice roach 🤣

ethanol is the devil to me on small engines...and fortunately we have 87 pure gas at our QT stations 3 miles away.. i have to head about 12 miles towards the lake to get to a station that has at least 89....that said, Ihad an old dodge conversion van years back...it had become basically derliect..it actually ran, but the overdrive in the transmission was gone, so I had quit driving it..it sat for months..actually a year..and a guy came and asked to buy it...charged the battery, started right up and he drove it home..on that old ethanol tank of gas.. I can imagine he was endangering the engine, but it was his to do. still I was amazing the 318 dodge cranked up and ran.

that beach pic is Isle of Palms in Charleston SC area. my second home is about 45 mins south of there in a town called Beaufort SC...family still lives there, and that's where I do some of the boating I talked about. Primary residence is inland near Charlotte NC....where they are panic'd today as we are expecting...maybe 3 snowflakes...yessir...bread n milk rush is on I'm sure (grin)...actually might see 1-2inches on the grass..but it's been far too warm for it to impact roads..until late tonight when we'll drop into the 20s and then black ice for the morning commute... I'll plan to work from the house in the morning rather than getting out on the interstate with the craziness..although.. I am due for a new car (grin)...let em hit me.

LOL...yeah.. I had that comin.... it does mess with the brain a bit to be mid Feb...we don't live down there... we're about 3 hours inland, so whenever I head to the coast, even for a weekend, a day on the dock catching small sharks, or on the beach like this walking in the sand...yeah...coming back to the office and the threat of snow flurries by this Thursday...totally screws me up.

yep... I am trying to remember how far back it's been that I saw the jet outdrives on our stern drive rigs and it wasn't long after that I saw them on outboards as well...had thought about it at one point cause we had been doing more boating down in central Fla...Crystal River etc..and worry about scarring up the manatees...some folks were good to put cages around the props and that seemed the best solution vs shelling out the bucks for a jet drive..but if you've ever hit that log just under the surface and broke off a blade on the prop..it'll pretty much ruin the day.. I keep a couple spares on board, but still, have to limp over to shore, get in the water and do the swap out...and you're out $120-$180 real fast....super cool to see that 50hp hanging on the back of your new boat like that...

agree Jeep....I make every effort to avoid the lakes on holidays...between idiots at the boat ramps, tons of boat wakes, and harrasment by multiple LEO units...on our closest lake we bridge 3 counties and 2 states, so on busy holidays, we'll have DNR, county and city police all wanting to stop you to check for safety gear, booze, etc...i always have all gear, and never drink on the boat.. I usually get talked into taking the boat out for July 4th...worst time...but we find an anchor point early, have KFC onboard for a nice dinner, etc..and then are just patient after the show is over and let the majority of folks try to leave the area first. when I'm down in the ocean, we have dockage at the house so I don't have to hassle with boat ramp morons..but if I do the lake..yeah...I'll usually drop the family and grandkids off earlier at a different dock, restaurant etc...so they can get home, then the wife and I motor on down river to a more remote ramp..but then it's usually only a dozen boats wanting to get out...the one ramp is funny cause it's part of a state park, so the campers will literally line their golf carts up and just sit and watch the entertainment..it's always that guy who has made his wife helpless...he has to bring the boat to dock, tie it off in the way, walk up to the truck, get in line for his turn to back it down, while other boaters have to move carefully around his boat and his poor wife sits there like a lump in the boat...then he finally backs the trailer in, and has to come to the boat, untie, trailer it, get out, pull the truck up...forever !!!! my wife and I are a team...upon initial approach, she's at the helm, I get to the nose of the boat, she noses up to the dock end, I hop off and she backs out into the water to wait our turn.. I go get the truck, back it down, she drives right up on the trailer, I hook and pull it out...the golf cart folks literally do score cards and have applauded us before...it's funny...but that's the way it should be...same on launch...she's already in the boat, I back it down, unhook her, she starts and pulls off and waits out in the water until I park and come to the doc for pickup...but to your point..yeah...plenty of frustration to be had when enough people get out there...laughed my butt off one day...there was a bass tourney and there were several family boaters waiting their turn to launch.. I was like 3 back, when this bass boat guy comes pulling around everyone..quickly backs it down the ramp with his buddy in the boat and then pulls off...we're sitting there thinking.. WTF? dude...and then, we see his buddy in the boat panicing...guess who was in such a hurry that he forgot to put the plug in..that big old 200+hp motor was sinking that sleek little bass boat really fast...we all just smiled as the two of them cussed n fussed and panic'd.

yep....the wife and I spent our valentines weekend on the beach...now in fairness it was only in the upper 50s..but a light jacket and we were good to go..this is the view from our balcony...life is hard sometimes (grin)

agree Jeep....I make every effort to avoid the lakes on holidays...between idiots at the boat ramps, tons of boat wakes, and harrasment by multiple LEO units...on our closest lake we bridge 3 counties and 2 states, so on busy holidays, we'll have DNR, county and city police all wanting to stop you to check for safety gear, booze, etc...i always have all gear, and never drink on the boat.. I usually get talked into taking the boat out for July 4th...worst time...but we find an anchor point early, have KFC onboard for a nice dinner, etc..and then are just patient after the show is over and let the majority of folks try to leave the area first. when I'm down in the ocean, we have dockage at the house so I don't have to hassle with boat ramp morons..but if I do the lake..yeah...I'll usually drop the family and grandkids off earlier at a different dock, restaurant etc...so they can get home, then the wife and I motor on down river to a more remote ramp..but then it's usually only a dozen boats wanting to get out...the one ramp is funny cause it's part of a state park, so the campers will literally line their golf carts up and just sit and watch the entertainment..it's always that guy who has made his wife helpless...he has to bring the boat to dock, tie it off in the way, walk up to the truck, get in line for his turn to back it down, while other boaters have to move carefully around his boat and his poor wife sits there like a lump in the boat...then he finally backs the trailer in, and has to come to the boat, untie, trailer it, get out, pull the truck up...forever !!!! my wife and I are a team...upon initial approach, she's at the helm, I get to the nose of the boat, she noses up to the dock end, I hop off and she backs out into the water to wait our turn.. I go get the truck, back it down, she drives right up on the trailer, I hook and pull it out...the golf cart folks literally do score cards and have applauded us before...it's funny...but that's the way it should be...same on launch...she's already in the boat, I back it down, unhook her, she starts and pulls off and waits out in the water until I park and come to the doc for pickup...but to your point..yeah...plenty of frustration to be had when enough people get out there...laughed my butt off one day...there was a bass tourney and there were several family boaters waiting their turn to launch.. I was like 3 back, when this bass boat guy comes pulling around everyone..quickly backs it down the ramp with his buddy in the boat and then pulls off...we're sitting there thinking.. WTF? dude...and then, we see his buddy in the boat panicing...guess who was in such a hurry that he forgot to put the plug in..that big old 200+hp motor was sinking that sleek little bass boat really fast...we all just smiled as the two of them cussed n fussed and panic'd.

yeah... I've enjoyed those looks when I tell them I'll be writing them a check or using my card...for things like another cargo van for work.. I used to buy off-lease vans, 100k on the odometer...and just hand them my debit card....but for my toys.. over the past decade....if I wanted a toy, it had to be something I could pay cash for and not feel like I was robbing from the rent money. my motorbike is a 79 CT90 ATV '93 Fourtrax jon boat '87 camper travel trailer '96 the big boat in this thread '99 90% of my firearms,archery, guitars, amps, etc have all been used. all good quality rigs...and i expect they'll outlive/outlast me at this point.

Agreed on the NFL Wilson.... I gave up on that market 4 years ago now..and haven't missed it...no plans to go back. and don't get me wrong... I personally know guys that collect tires, bumpers, know all the stats and even understand the new Nascar points rules (LOL)...it's an amazing sport to be sure...but wandering around the grounds..lotta folks are there for a lot of things other than the race...they'll watch the start and when it's the final couple laps, they'll climb back into their seats to watch the end..unless there's a wreck, it's just party on

here's my ol gal...ready for her final shakedown this week...swapped the original 305 (5.0) for a 350 (5.7) 4bbl, built from ground up and claims to be pounding out about an additional 90hp...instead of the 40ish OEM specs....extra umph enables me to put a more aggressive pitch prop on there as well...first test ride she was much more efficient at cruising speed and came up out of the hole as if it was a simple act...all new wiring/connections..20 years of moisture will create a lot of wire gremlins. foot needed new gimbal, impeller kit, etc...yep...lots of TLC was long overdue..including new upholstry...but buying a new boat in this class...too painful to even consider..and at my age...the plan is to have no debt..so boat payments aren't an option.

I'm so confused. took the wife to the beach for the valentines weekend...only in the mid 50s, but strong sunshine...wind breaker to keep the windchill off of us...and just a couple weekends back I was on my boat on the lake doing test run of new motor...this kind of stuff messes with the brain when we are supposed to be in the death throws of old man winter. got home last evening at dusk and the wife wanted to ride the cart out back real quick to change out a particular trail cam that is catching a lot of bobcat activity...so with just a light jacket on...we're out there tooling around in the warm wet mud from more gulf rain systems that is bringing us 60s today..later this week we'll see 20s at night...this is a screwed up planet (grin)

yep...bought the merc about 5 yrs back..not many hours on it before the wife just felt she had gotten too unstable in it...mind you, she always used to be the one to stand up front with the gig in her hand..she loves gigging for flounder and she likes to cast until she's exhausted...we're just getting old..it's what it is...have to adjust our equipment to meet the need...and if that means a little less ripping it out on the creeks...ok..if I wanna WOT and soar across the lake... that's what the big boat is for, and feeling that 350 crank up to speed..yeah...good enough.

oh I agree..believe me...my old 1980s Suzuki at 20hp was way stronger/faster than the 25/4 merc i have now...but I was getting too old to be twisting sideways and pull starting a stubborn old motor, so electric start was change decision #1 for me, and the straight gas vs mix...eh..call me lazy..but we do find that the merc has just enough to get our old butts up out of the water and to our destination and back quick enough of bad weather is coming up...no speed demon by any means, but I'm ok with the motor.

thought about this post the other evening... the wife recently had knee surgery ..so long walks on our trails, etc have been hybernated for a while..but she still wants to get back on the property, enjoying areas along the creek, checking her trail cams, etc...so having the offroad golf cart has been an enabler, and I'm guilty of hopping on a honda many times instead of taking a walk...and lord knows the days of me carrying chain saw or brush cutter etc..nope..just strap all the tools on the fourtrax and head out...so I guess my point is... I'm not stopping riding as I get older, I'm riding "more" as the machines become more important work helpers.

yeah, when I was a teen and twenty something, the 1436 was just a great platform.. I'd always overpower em and running the creeks in our low country was a blast...sliding in and out of turns, etc...heck we'd even ski behind em...soon as you hit the throttle on that 18 hp johson, the skier would have to all but try to stand up and get out of the water so the motor could pull you, but once up, it was fun ski speeds..but back then I was all of maybe 130lbs?...add 40 years and a 100lbs and that same 1436 platform feels way less stable..never mind standing to cast or bow fish...so I was happy to sell the last one to a young fella, knowing the adventures he'll enjoy with it....I don't need to scoot, beyond being able to get up on plane..just to get from landing over to a creek...then it's all about being shallow in draft so we can get up into shrimp holes or slide along a mud flat to get flounder etc...the lil 4 stroke merc can plane the wife and myself....so that's good nuff.

LOL...yep... brother, let me tell ya... I think most folks go there for the beer....I've never been a serious fan, but I do love the environment as a whole..tons of campers, RVs, etc...side stages of music, the big show excitement, ... i worked many races over the past 16 years with my company...up until last year I owned a music concert biz that rented what we term "backline"..that's the music gear, not thePA..so drums, keyboards, guitar amps, etc...many of the opening acts you see, and many other concerts you don't see on TV, we provided gear for...mornings would start around 5am loading in trackside or center field, long, usuallly hot days, and when we weren't actually working I'd always take a pedal bike so I could cruise around and just people watch...since my in-field pass got me into everywhere (cept pit/garage during race), it was fun to just tool around, check out the many home made camper rigs with towers on the roof for sofas etc...watch beer gut bubbas shirtless with sunburns that glowed and their ladies that were usually way hotter than the bubbas deserved to have with them...small parties going on everywhere, money tents by corporates, etc...but for the life of me, I can't recall watching an entire race.... I would have liked to have seen Trump today... I did work Daytona when we had Bush come in.. I'm trying to recall, I think we had Leanne Rhymes on that stage that year...but seeing Trump and the Beast take a lap..yeah...that would be an extra treat. always a pain to have to work around the extra security, but definitely "the big show"

very cool...congrats on the new ride!! i miss having a mid-sized runabout like that...have a trolling only 12ft on my pond, and recently sold my 14ft 25hp... i have a nice merc 20hp 4 stroke electric start sitting in the shed waiting for me to get in the mood and find a deal on wider jon boat...used to do a lot more gigging/bow fishing but as the wife and I got older, the skinnier 14 we had just really wasn't stable..well...our legs weren't stable...so the days of shrimp net casting and gigging afe on hold..more likely over...but I do miss having the little Boston Whaler with 50hp style rigs..just great fun, very personal feel my bigger boat is just about done getting a complete refurb..it's a 22ft super deck boat..350CID (5.7) chevy engine (merc sterndrive)...seats up to 12..it's an old 1999 model that I bought new in Feb of 2000..so it's celebrating 20 years with me..and after many trips to the keys for scuba, time fishing and boating on the Carolina Coast, and countless days of cruising and tubing with the family here on the lakes and rivers...well..it was overdue for some love...new upholstry, swapped out the old 5.0 for the 5.7 and with that change, pretty much everything else down in the hole, and all the dash electronics that have corroded over 20 years...yep...lotta work, and gotta say thanks to a second hand for a ton of elbow grease to wet sand all the old oxidation, polish and buff...that's when you realize how big the boat actually is (grin). anyway...second test run on the lake will happen once this crazy weather settles down..but flooding storms, lake debry, 65 and storms one day, snow the next...welcome to the carolinas...have had one shakedown run and she needs a bit more work, carb jets adjustment, etc...but getting close and will definitely be ready for fun come spring....had it out week before last...and brother, 50+mph on the lake in 46 degrees!! ...if I hadn't been worried that the shop boys would laugh at me, i woulda taken my motorbike helmit (full face shield) and been a lot more comfy...but it was a short run..just to see how the work was progressing...she was starving a bit at WOT...adjustments, etc.anyway...yeah...once the boat bug bites...ya just gotta answer the call...good fer you!! nice nice rig...great size...

Agree....grew up in Ohio hills...so saw a reasonable amount of snow, enough for it to be fun as a kid...now in the Carolinas it's more fun to watch people here react...3 snowflakes!!!! panic!!!!! we did get the flooding rains for 2 days...and it was in the 60s...then Saturday...34 degrees and snow falling...too warm n wet on the ground to stick but fun to see it coming down for a couple hours..and back up into the 60s this week. Did take a ride and grabbed some go-pro videos of the flooding out back..when the creek breaks bank we can get a couple feet of water rushing through the back woods area...I remind myself that I "choose" not to snorkle the old Honda for a reason...if I think the water is too high, or rushing too fast, then I best stay out of it....and at age 63, that seems to make good sense for me...so I did avoid some trail areas that looked to be under 3-4ft of moving water...and even in 2ft, the quad can start to loose traction in the slick mud..but had a good ride getting footage and checking the property...all trail cams survived this time..have had em completely submerged before and to Browning's credit..the dang things actually worked and recording footage while under water...anyway...weather...oh yeah, that was the topic (grin)..yeah..snow..on the TV...good nuff for me.

and we're looking at 3+inches of rain headed our way..pond is full, creek is full, might can handle an inche before we're back to flood in the lower woods, and we still have puddles of water laying back there...gonna be a mess...guess I better put the snorkle on the ol honda and maybe pack some supplies into the boat... Water World days are here SMOKERS!!!

yep... I've had to turn in my 'man card' for periods of time-out many times (grin) used to do most all my own car work...basics..brakes, fuel pump, water pump, etc...but I always handed it off when it was a transmission..not even interested in getting into that. I don't know why, but I can't get interested in mowers..so after I beat the crap out of my lawn tractor for a couple seasons and finally break a blade spindle etc.. I just load it up in the trailer, haul it to the local small engine shop and pay whatever the heck they want. when my old fourtrax 300 was due for some love, I considered getting elbows into it, but decided that it deserved a good going over by a pro shop..in case they might see other issues that I would miss...so again, paid too much but let the pros handle it. there's a flat rear tire on my 79 CT90 at the moment and I keep thinking I'm going to get out there and wrestle that tire off with my tire irons..it takes as long to unmount the wheel as it does to patch the tube and that takes less time than running it down to local cheap tire store where they usually have a dozen folks waiting in line...so it's more about me being lazy vs being impatient. if a pro shop tells me, as they often do, that they are 2 months backed up ..then I'll just get frustrated and do the work myself..all my offroad golf cart work is my hands..all of it..but occassionally I realize I need a pro - recent boat refurb is a great example...i don't own the lift etc I need to pull a 305 merc I/O out and replace it...and my back doesn't much care for me crawling around in tight places redoing wiring, etc...so...pay the man!!! and I'm so glad I did...

I do like the nice warmth that comes off my old fourtrax 300 in these chilly winter months...that's a feature you don't get to enjoy with the fancy water cooled rigs...now..ask me again in July and it might be a different story (grin)

ok...so this is what I (with a ton of help) have been working on since last November...and she's finally back and alive!! Put it back on the water this past weekend for the first shakedown...it's an old boat, but she has cleaned up well enough....had a guy way smarter than me pull the old merc 305 out and drop in the 350..he built it from block up...Merc rates their 5.7 at about 260hp..so about a 50hp jump from their 5.0..but this guy used to do racing..he is telling me to expect it to be closer to 300hp...and with the more aggressive prop that the motor can support, yeah, when I pushed the trotlle, it just lift us right up on plain so effortlessly...felt so good to be back on it.. this boat has been derelict for about 4 yrs.. I had been working my business so hard and dumping all my spare money into my house on the coast..which we sold this last year..so time for me to just enjoy myself a bit more now..and restoring my old boat..well, it's a restoration of my sould as well...

funny Jeep...yeah...we've never been a "camo as a style statement" kind of family... yes I have camo..but i wear it when I'm in the woods and actually using it. so when my daughter married her a boy who's ATV, Truck plate, and his Yeti cooler, all have "Bubba" on em...we were a bit surprised..she's been a cosmo girl.. DJ hiphop, etc..but got her a country boy and never looked back...even let him move his camo recliner into the living room!!! What the ...!!!!???! anyway..yeah.. I work big corp in the city by day, but when I pull in my driveway each evening, I'm miles out and looking at acres of field, woods, pond and ready to jump in my jeans, old military issue boots, toss my ball cap on my head and hop on an old Honda with a shotgun in the scabbard and a snake gun on my hip...I guess the real "camoflauge" is me in my business clothes..sport jacket, shined shoes etc...trying to hide from the city folk. (yes I even use Crew in my hair)