Bearcat sighting

[Lootas1]

Got my sympathy. It got up to 76 here at the house today but it was very nice on the water. I agree, I'd swing like a monkey with a rope ladder off the bow but they are only $25 and no one ever suggested I might be a swinger before! Found another bow ladder on eBay that I like and is very secure and folds down flat but it could go for some bucks and they want something like $35 to ship it. I thought they took the dock out of Echo Bay but my son said it has always been at Fossil Bay. Can he be right? Is there still a dock on Sucia? The one at Doe Island is definately gone.

[Dave C]

Got my sympathy. . . . I thought they took the dock out of Echo Bay but my son said it has always been at Fossil Bay. Can he be right? Is there still a dock on Sucia? The one at Doe Island is definately gone.

Yah, the kid is right. There has never been a dock in Echo Bay to my knowledge. There are two docks in Fossil Bay

[GregJ]

Jerry, At Priest Lake Idaho I wanted to go ashore for several hours on one of the islands but the lake was real ruff so in order to do so I needed to ancher bow out. It was a pain in the butt and I did get a little wet but I was able to do it. First I pulled the engine up and tyied off with my ancher line at the stern. I tyied the ancher buddey off at the bow. I paddled in to about 30 feet of the shore and set the ancher buddyand paddled the rest of the way to the shore and threw my main ancher off on the shore and hopped off. I gave the boat a push and the ancher buddy pulled the boat out bow first and I set the shore ancher. I am able to pull my engine but if I were to have problems with that I do have a handle that grips onto the hand hold on the back of the engine cowling which makes it a lot easier. Also one of the things that make that engine so hard to pull up when on the water is the aqua plate that is attached to the cavitation plate. I'm not real certain that that plate is real neccessary to keep the boat from porpusing so as long as the engine is set at the bottom hole on your angle adjustment you might not need it. Without it there will be much less resistance from the water when you try to pull the engine up. I always assume I am going to scratch up the bottom of my boat in the course of a season plus I usually get a few dock dings on the hull so I retouch everything at the end of yhe season. I used to retouch after every outing. I got so I could sand down,taoe off and roll and tip my whole hule in an afternoon but it took a lot of practice. Just some suggestions that I hope you can use.

[Lootas1]

Thanks Greg. A lot of great info there. I was thinking of getting something to attach to the motor that would stick up about 3 feet to give me more leverage to raise the motor from inside the boat. Then I remembered, the reason I can't lift the motor is that when I pull the tilt lever, it doesn't release and I have to stand behind it and move those two arms a bit to release and the same to drop it back down. Something just isn't quite right there. No rust, no bends. Why doesn't tilt let the motor go? Perhaps I could tilt it from the boat if I could release the mechanism. Tried today while Rosario was on trailer and can't get my hands where they need to be to slide those arms all the way in place. Today I went to an all-island garage sale and bought a paddle for moving Rosario around and a towing bridle for the time when I might break down and buy a dinghy.
BTW Chuck C., do you want me to measure the bow rail on Rosario and see if I can find a good one that would fit Ilahee at the Marine Exchange in Bellingham? I was in there last week and they have quite a few used bow rails.

[GregJ]

Jerry, One thing to take into concideration about a bow rail. The top of mine is at the same height as the top of the cuddy so when I am lowering or pulling up my ancher I can sit down and straddle the bow with the bow rail over the top of my legs and accrose the front of my waist. That pretty much assures me that I'm not appt to go in the drink. I broke ancherage one night about mid night in a small storm and ended up about half way between Seward Park and the I-90 bridge before I discovered that I was heading towards the bridge in two foot seas. I had to get the ancher up before I could go back in and reancher. Having the bow rail to hold me on the bow of the boat while pulling on 50 feet of ancher line saved my butt. I was alone and I probably would have had nothing but trouble if I hadn't felt safe enough to get that ancher up alone in the dark on a pitching deck. Caught my Sock Eye for the day in the mourning in about 30 mins. That was a memerable trip.:Scared1:

[Skagitguy]

Thanks anyway Jerry, but both of those railing for yours and Greg's boat were custom made from Railmakers in Everett. All i do is drive by and they make a pattern. Remember i'am just a little bit on the anal side. Are you coming to Mayfield ? Best,Chuck

[Lootas1]

Okay Chuck. New rails for your boat. Can't make Mayfield. Have a gathering of the clan at that time. So far 31 of the McRorie family, mostly from Washington and California but couple from Indiana are going to be there. Some I haven't seen for a few years.