Boat on the water and first fishing trip booked!

When I was working on getting our ship ready, my goal was to get it on the water by last weekend. Somehow I managed to reach that goal actually. On Sunday, with the help of Ali, the boat ended up on the beautiful water of Glomma. Amazing!

We couldn't get the motor started (we'll get back to that) so we had to row. Luckily it wasn't far, so we won't complain too much about that!

























The funny thing was:
While the boat was still on the trailer - I mentioned at least twice to Ali (and my self) that we had to remember to attach the transducer (it was hanging loose) to the boat before we put it on the water. I bet you know where this is going. Yup, we forgot!
Luckily the boat is really light, so I took the motor off and lifted the rear end of the boat up on the dock and got the thing attached. No sweat!

Ok, the motor has it's own story. I was quite eager to start it for the first time after a long winter. It's an old motor, so you never know - you know.
Anyways, I could not get it to start. I soon realized why - no gas was going through the fuel line. When I tried pumping gas, it sounded like one of the connectors was leading air or something. I concluded that I need to replace the line. I went to the store the day after and got a new one. They are cheap so no big deal. I got it attached the same day and tried again. Same friggin' thing! Whaaaaaaaat!? Now what do I do? Sure, you take one step back and think through what it is you're doing.

Not very many moments went by and I started thinking. There is more fuel line on the one side of the pump than on the other. Is the pump really supposed to be closer to the motor or.... Let's try the other way around... Test....

BINGO - followed by a big wet *FACEPALM*!!

The motor started immediately and we had victory! It was a bitter-sweet victory though - because how stupid can one be?!? Whatever, it's all forgotten now. 

The boat looks to be sealed up, not taking in any water and the motor is working. What is left? Wait, yes, lets go fishing! By the help of some lucky circumstances (my son was going on a football trip to Sweden and my parents taking my daughter) we books a few hours for fishing! 

Were Helge and Ali exited? You betcha!

We're crossing our fingers for OK weather on Saturday. Our expectations are fairly low, but you never know. At this time last year we had good luck, but we had a warmer spring last year so....
But you know, it doesn't really matter. It'll be great just to get out there!

Shit fish! Go Team Riverpigs!

The boat is almost ready!

Spring time last year I did a rather failed attempt at repairing and sealing some damage on my boat. It was a crack that went from one side of the keel to the other, and it took in more water than acceptable. I used glass fiber trowel as an attempt to seal it. It worked for a while, but not permanently. Especially towards the end of the season it was getting pretty bad. When we attended the Nedre Glomma Gjeddefestival competition, we had to empty out water every half hour. No fun! So, I decided that next spring I'll have to do some more serious work on this crack to get it sealed.

It's next spring now and I'm almost finished - in other words, the boat is almost ready to be put on the water and help Team Riverpigs haul in the big mamas and give us some exceptional experiences out there.

I bought a sanding tool and a bunch of extra sanding pads and started sanding around the crack. I sanded down a big area around the crack, all the way down to the glass fiber through the gel coat. Then I washed well with alcohol and put on 2-component polyester goo and lay a blanket of glass fiber on top of it. I repeated this about 3 or 4 times and made sure all bubbles were gone.

It turned out great! The next day the patch had dried and hardened and I started to sand it a little to get it smooth.

I also sanded the rest of the boat (on the outside) so it could be repainted. In the end it turned out OK. Not the most beautiful finish, but I don't care. As long as the boat is sealed, I'm happy.

The next thing to do is to get the boat on the water and book time for a fishing trip!