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SeaFaring

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2017
Messages
247
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0
Location
Maryland
Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself and my new boat - a 1967 StarCraft Seafarer 14 with a 3.5 hp Johnson.

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The backstory is that the original owner used this boat for fishing on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. My father in law bought it from him in 2003 to go fishing with my mother in law after their last child (my wife) moved out of their house. After using it very briefly (the motor, which they bought new in 2003, has less than 4 hours on it), they had to give up on that plan for a variety of reasons. By the time I came into the picture in 2010, the boat had already been for sale for a few years without success - the local boaters in their area apparently have a profound loyalty to flat bottom jon boats. Fast forward to last summer, and I was talking to my FIL about how we could take our toddler fishing, or we could take her out in our boat (a 16' Old Town canoe), but we could not take her fishing in our canoe because it wasn't stable enough, and he gave us his hard-to-sell StarCraft on the spot!

As a practical matter, my first task was to rebuild the trailer for the 800 mile Interstate trip between far southern Illinois and Maryland, so I just got it home this weekend. While I was at it, I completely stripped and repainted the trailer with ZRC cold galvanizing in an effort to get a few more years out of the current trailer before our local salt water eats it and I have to buy an aluminum replacement.

Considering that she's 50 years old, the boat is in pretty good shape. My plan is to use it for fishing and cruising in the protected creeks and coves on the Chesapeake and Maryland's Eastern Shore with my wife and daughter. Money is tight, so for now my refurbishment activities will be limited to those things that I need to get it titled and registered in Maryland (mainly getting the trailer to pass inspection), recommissioning the motor, projects that I can do with materials that I already have, and a good cleaning. The transom should be OK for the little Johnson, but I'll replace it before hanging a larger motor back there. The wood needs to be refinished and some of it needs to be replaced, and a few rivets near the stem need work - it looks like it was sealed sometime in the last millennium. But day before yesterday, when it rained steadily all day and put four inches of water in the boat (my tongue jack is getting delivered tomorrow, until then I'm using my Hi-Lift for drainage), the only leaks were a few slow drips forward.

All told, it should be a nice boat for gunkholing around the protected parts of the Chesapeake, Sinepuxent, and Chincoteague Bays and catching some fish!

John
 
So, in an effort to keep leaves and grime out of the boat, I try to keep it under a tarp. With no tarp bows, however, water pools in the tarp and is a pain to empty out.

I've been thinking about how to support the tarp so that water runs off, but without having to buy any new materials. There are some really elegant DIY options out there, but I really didn't want to buy anything. What I settled on might be useful for someone in my position looking to support a tarp with minimal layout.

Basically, I took some scrap lumber that I had lying around, drilled holes and used zip ties to create a hinge.

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Then I set them up as A-frames on the first seat and in the transom.

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Some rope as guylines and a ridge pole:

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And it was ready for a tarp that should be able to avoid pooling water and keep the bulk of leaves and grime out of the boat, with no new materials!

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Someday I'll build some real tarp bows or get a fitted cover. But this should do for now.




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Some good ideas there.

If you need to weigh the tarps down, due to wind or water pooling, you can fill water bottles with sand and use cord to tie them onto the tarp.

A stone, slipped into the tarp, will give you something on which to tie the cord.

richg99

.
 
richg99 said:
Some good ideas there.

If you need to weigh the tarps down, due to wind or water pooling, you can fill water bottles with sand and use cord to tie them onto the tarp.

A stone, slipped into the tarp, will give you something on which to tie the cord.

richg99

.

Thanks! For now it's tied through grommets at both ends and with one line in the middle run under the trailer. If it needs more, weights seem like they would be a lot more user friendly than a spiderweb of rope...


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Lap stake boats look so good. I walk the dog past a 12' just like yours everyday and often stop just to check it out. Glad yours has an owner that cares for it!
 
Stumpalump said:
Lap stake boats look so good. I walk the dog past a 12' just like yours everyday and often stop just to check it out. Glad yours has an owner that cares for it!

Thanks!

Got everything registered and titled today. Maryland DNR was way better than the MVA.

The boat cost $2 to title and register with a total of 20 minutes spent in a government office. Certificate of Title and all registration materials provided on the spot.

The trailer cost $180 to title and register (not including the $60 inspection) and took over 2 hours in a government office. And I have to wait 7-10 business days for my title to be mailed to me.

At least it's done, and in comparison to the DMV in Virginia (where I used to live), once you get to the front of the line, the average MVA employee is a lot more helpful. But still...


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Got her out on the water today. With 3.5 HP, she’s limited to displacement speeds, but it was a really nice afternoon on the water.

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LDUBS said:
Looks like a nice, calm, & sunny day. It doesn't get much better than that. Your boat looks good on the water.

Thanks! It was a bit hot, but generally nice. I went to the same place today with my daughter and it was a bit cooler with a nice breeze. I have some leaky rivets towards the stern I’ll need to address but it wasn’t too bad.

I didn’t go fishing because It was just me and my 3 year old on her first trip in the boat, but there were big large mouth bass jumping everywhere at one point (I’m a terrible judge of fish size, but I’d say 3-6 lbs). They were coming all the way out of the water. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Here are a few pictures of my local waters. We launched at Patuxent River Park in Maryland and headed up stream.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm pretty sure over time the tarp will tear on those pointed wood supports you have. If you don't have anything else you might want to wrap the points in an old tee shirt or two.

I use 2 old plastic garbage cans turned upside down, then tie off as mentioned with old milk jugs.

Best of luck and may you get another 50 years of love out of her.

PS, be sure to send your FIL a bunch of pic's with your and his daughter riding her out in the creek, he'll love it.
 
On my little pond/lake in TX, when the bass are jumping like that, it appears to us that they are eating dragon-flys. No amount of other lures seem to be able to dissuade them. They want those dragon-flys ( I think).

Good time to have a camera ready and hope to catch one in the act!

regards, richg99

p.s. our bass are only 1 to 2 lbs, but they CAN fly.
 
richg99 said:
On my little pond/lake in TX, when the bass are jumping like that, it appears to us that they are eating dragon-flys. No amount of other lures seem to be able to dissuade them. They want those dragon-flys ( I think).

Good time to have a camera ready and hope to catch one in the act!

regards, richg99

p.s. our bass are only 1 to 2 lbs, but they CAN fly.

There were LOTS of dragon and damsel flies around so that would make sense. At least I know that they’re there! It was something else.


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Reminds me of a video I saw a while back of trout plucking dragonflies out of the air. You may have seen this already. If not, here is a link to the youtube video. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/sjY0iNbbiEw
 
LDUBS said:
Reminds me of a video I saw a while back of trout plucking dragonflies out of the air. You may have seen this already. If not, here is a link to the youtube video. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/sjY0iNbbiEw

I had not seen that - thanks for the video!

That’s pretty much what I saw, except with bass. Part of what amazes me is that dragon flies are exceptionally hard to catch. They’re extremely good fliers. There are fun videos of them dodging frog tongues in slow motion.


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