May 13May 13 1 hour ago, BottleRocket said: Yes. The previous owner was my wife's uncle. He had a lake house on Travis and the boat hardly left the dock. He sold the boat to me a few years ago and we've replaced all of the fuel senders, batteries, fluids, etc and it's running great. The dock fees are eating me up and I want to get a smaller boat. That’s crazy. I have to put at least an hour or 2 per month making a trip to nowhere on my diesel engines just to keep all the moving parts working.
June 3Jun 3 Well, my old Bennington just turned 20 years old. The interior is getting pretty ratty, the starter went out on the Yamaha at the beginning of last summer, so we basically cancelled our summer weekends. Those starters hardly ever go out, and are really tough to find, so it was late fall before we found one. Now we thought we had a spark plug issue, but now think it is an injector. So time to get rid of it. This is the boat my Dad bought, couldn't get it on the trailer when it was windy, so he just gave it to me. I called my cousin at Fun N Sun in Hurst, about getting a new tritoon, and to get one comparable to what we have was over $120k new. CHIEF Jr. has always wanted a wake boat. He is a Centurion man. I always told him only a fucking idoit would pay six figures for a damn ski boat. So what is this idoit doing this Thursday? Going to go try and make a deal on this Sumbitch: https://www.awsboatstx.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=15925476&p=1&s=(Sort By)&d=D&fr=xPreOwnedInventory Depreciation was the deciding factor. I'll give my kid credit, he knows how to set the hook. We don't carry a dozen college kids anymore, so really don't need a tritoon. I'm gonna be officing like Cajun soon. CHIEF Edited June 3Jun 3 by CHIEF
June 3Jun 3 Well, my old Bennington just turned 20 years old. The interior is getting pretty ratty, the starter went out on the Yamaha at the beginning of last summer, so we basically cancelled our summer weekends. Those starters hardly ever go out, and are really tough to find, so it was late fall before we found one. Now we thought we had a spark plug issue, but now think it is an injector. So time to get rid of it. This is the boat my Dad bought, couldn't get it on the trailer when it was windy, so he just gave it to me. I called my cousin at Fun N Sun in Hurst, about getting a new tritoon, and to get one comparable to what we have was over $120k new. CHIEF Jr. has always wanted a wake boat. He is a Centurion man. I always told him only a fucking idoit would pay six figures for a damn ski boat. So what is this idoit doing this Thursday? Going to go try and make a deal on this Sumbitch: https://www.awsboatstx.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=15925476&p=1&s=(Sort By)&d=D&fr=xPreOwnedInventory Depreciation was the deciding factor. I'll give my kid credit, he knows how to set the hook. We don't carry a dozen college kids anymore, so really don't need a tritoon. I'm gonna be officing like Cajun soon. CHIEFCrazy. The prices are out of control.
June 3Jun 3 5 minutes ago, Handcruser said: Crazy. The prices are out of control. For sure. That is substantially more than I paid for my first house. I'm gonna finance it for as long as possible (20 years) but should be able to pay it off in 4-5 years with a substantial down payment. I'm 57, no way I am having a boat note that I have to pay while drawing social security. I don't have any write-offs for income tax, they take me to the cleaners annually. No house, property, or vehicle payments. I'm gonna get creative with this toad. CHIEF
June 3Jun 3 Wait, a Tritoon is $120k now?!?!? Holy shit. I paid $72k for mine 6-7 years ago and thought I was going to have a coronary.
June 3Jun 3 35 minutes ago, Bert Orange said: Wait, a Tritoon is $120k now?!?!? Holy shit. I paid $72k for mine 6-7 years ago and thought I was going to have a coronary. You can still get a basic one for that. But with nice guts, sound system, cockpit, and the loungers that face the stern, and a 250 or 300 Yamaha/Merc hanging off the back on what is considered the best brands of tritoons (Bennington, Avalon) you are there, easily. The biggest problem with pontoon boats, is they are a bitch to put the cover on. We would come back after drinking on the lake, and no one ever wanted to put it on. That has more than likely hastened its demise. Of course, with no real skin in the game, that was bound to happen. I have been reassured that this new boat will get wiped down and covered every time it goes back in the slip. CHIEF Jr. is even ponying up for the slip cradle. Gonna pattern it off the trailer, and have a buddy from work, their lead welder and shop foreman, weld it up. I'll have to haul it on my gooseneck, to the lake, put it on styrofoam or blue plastic barrels and float it into place. That Bennington has had a dozen kids on it every summer weekend since CHIEF Jr. was sixteen. When they all went off to college, they would come home and spend the summer on it. It has been puked on, puked in, puked under, and puked off of. CHIEF Edited June 3Jun 3 by CHIEF puke
June 4Jun 4 4 hours ago, CHIEF said: You can still get a basic one for that. But with nice guts, sound system, cockpit, and the loungers that face the stern, and a 250 or 300 Yamaha/Merc hanging off the back on what is considered the best brands of tritoons (Bennington, Avalon) you are there, easily. The biggest problem with pontoon boats, is they are a bitch to put the cover on. We would come back after drinking on the lake, and no one ever wanted to put it on. That has more than likely hastened its demise. Of course, with no real skin in the game, that was bound to happen. I have been reassured that this new boat will get wiped down and covered every time it goes back in the slip. CHIEF Jr. is even ponying up for the slip cradle. Gonna pattern it off the trailer, and have a buddy from work, their lead welder and shop foreman, weld it up. I'll have to haul it on my gooseneck, to the lake, put it on styrofoam or blue plastic barrels and float it into place. That Bennington has had a dozen kids on it every summer weekend since CHIEF Jr. was sixteen. When they all went off to college, they would come home and spend the summer on it. It has been puked on, puked in, puked under, and puked off of. CHIEF Fair enough. I have lowly Godfrey aqua with 150 Merc on mine.
June 7Jun 7 On 5/26/2025 at 11:51 PM, Sbbruin said: That’s the Queen Mary in the background. Aka The SS Poseidon.
June 10Jun 10 @troph what was that badass wakesurf board that you bought? In fact, I think it was two of them. Was it one the Chaos boards made in Austin? We are getting boards for the new boat. Bought a $900 Doomswell Kevlar on sale for $550. Got our Ronix bungee rope to save shoulders. CHIEF
June 10Jun 10 I had a relationship with the owner of Waterloo then Mañana and got my boards from them. We have three boards - short and long boards and then a little devil of a board with foam grips made for slicing and trickery. Good boards, kinda old school for their standard boards. Not sure if mañana is still in business or not, their S Lamar shop appears closed. If they are still in business be sure about delivery times. Edited June 10Jun 10 by troph
June 11Jun 11 On 6/3/2025 at 4:08 PM, Bert Orange said: Wait, a Tritoon is $120k now?!?!? Holy shit. I paid $72k for mine 6-7 years ago and thought I was going to have a coronary. You can get up over $300k on a 28 foot with twin 450R’s. We were out sea trialing a boat in SWFL and one just absolutely dog walked us in the intercoastal. They were easily running up around 75-80 on a 28 foot tritoon. The salesman was telling us all about them.
June 15Jun 15 3 hours ago, CHIEF said: Got some rain pushing through. Sucks sitting at the house and waiting it out. CHIEF That is such a sick spec.
June 17Jun 17 fat flatty. I subscribe to a few sailing you tube channels. But today I discovered my new favorite one. This chick is currently solo crossing the Pacific from Panama (presumably to the Marquesas). Oh, and did I mention she's HOT AF? Polite, yes, but fucking smokin'. I would keep her company on those lonely nights at sea. https://www.youtube.com/@laurenlanders
June 18Jun 18 On 6/15/2025 at 7:58 PM, tbone_ said: Not sure what thread this goes on but fishing was great in Sitka this week Boat thread is fine but you might get more traction on this one:
July 2Jul 2 Island bound in the am. Will be solo until Friday afternoon when the wife comes out. First time just the two of us were alone aboard out there since we were borrowing my buddy's Catalina 36 (exact same year version and we did it 3-4 times- we were out there on 9/11). Hope we can rekindle some young lust. But 2 full days solo should be fun. Hope to also be posting in the fishing thread. That's gonna be my focus for the next 2 days.
July 2Jul 2 Couldn't sleep so left the dock at 5:40 am. Glad I did. Already packed here at Isthmus Cove. But got Old Glory up for the holiday weekend. Despite where we are as a country, watching her wave in the sea breeze will always bring a tear to my eye. Maybe more so now. O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
July 2Jul 2 On 6/15/2025 at 6:58 PM, tbone_ said: Not sure what thread this goes on but fishing was great in Sitka this week Who did you fish with? I'm heading up there at the end of July. Nice looking Ling. Was he a hitchhiker or did you catch him?
July 3Jul 3 Speaking of Alaska, just got back from 9 days on my North River. Did a 280 mile round trip in one day to Glacier Bay to see the Margerie Glacier and slayed kings and silvers off the coast at Yakobi Island. The pic where it looks like the boat is floating on a sheet of glass is at 41.5 MPH through Icy Strait.
July 3Jul 3 I’m not gonna dirty up the fishing thread with these shitty macks. They were just gobbling up the rapala. Couldn’t get on the calicos. Edited July 3Jul 3 by Sbbruin
July 4Jul 4 When I'm bored I throw a 4 lb test line over with some squid. It's the most successful fishing I get.
July 4Jul 4 Speaking of Alaska, just got back from 9 days on my North River. Did a 280 mile round trip in one day to Glacier Bay to see the Margerie Glacier and slayed kings and silvers off the coast at Yakobi Island. The pic where it looks like the boat is floating on a sheet of glass is at 41.5 MPH through Icy Strait. Is there enough bunks on that boat to overnight 4 persons. I don’t remember what the interior cabin pics looked like. Awesome boat!
July 4Jul 4 36 minutes ago, davidg said: Is there enough bunks on that boat to overnight 4 persons. I don’t remember what the interior cabin pics looked like. Awesome boat! Yes, two on the dinette berth and easy 2+ up in the bow. But it’s so fast that I haven’t even slept on it yet. You have to come back to port to reset the king possession limit anyway.
July 7Jul 7 So had our first weekend with just me and the wife this weekend on the boat since our kids. But we did a bunch of Catalina before we had kids 21 years ago. And it was great. We’re going to do more of this. But put her on the ferry home today. And just chilled solo and caught a bunch of fish off the side of the boat with a little 4lb spinner. Great weekend. Except for two things- the awfulness that occurred in the Texas hill country. Breaks my heart. And the Astros sweeping the Dodgers.
July 7Jul 7 On 7/2/2025 at 9:06 PM, USCATX said: Speaking of Alaska, just got back from 9 days on my North River. Did a 280 mile round trip in one day to Glacier Bay to see the Margerie Glacier and slayed kings and silvers off the coast at Yakobi Island. The pic where it looks like the boat is floating on a sheet of glass is at 41.5 MPH through Icy Strait. I struggle with you being cool and a Trojan at the same time. Kidding as I of course have literally dozens of good Trojan friends. But damn that’s some awesome boating and fishing. At 58, these are the great moments. I want to do a fishing trip to Alaska with my son.
July 7Jul 7 On 6/3/2025 at 2:41 PM, CHIEF said: I have been reassured that this new boat will get wiped down and covered every time it goes back in the slip
July 7Jul 7 On 7/2/2025 at 10:06 PM, USCATX said: Speaking of Alaska, just got back from 9 days on my North River. Did a 280 mile round trip in one day to Glacier Bay to see the Margerie Glacier and slayed kings and silvers off the coast at Yakobi Island. The pic where it looks like the boat is floating on a sheet of glass is at 41.5 MPH through Icy Strait. What are they doing with halibut and king regs this season? Is there a required no fish day for halibut?
July 7Jul 7 13 hours ago, Sbbruin said: I want to do a fishing trip to Alaska with my son. Do it. It's an amazing time and you come home with a fuckload of fish, which offsets the cost somewhat.
July 7Jul 7 5 hours ago, Chewbacca said: What are they doing with halibut and king regs this season? Is there a required no fish day for halibut? Sadly, Kings just shut down for non-residents for the entirety of Southeast. Halibut is 1 per day in a slot for charters and no retention Wednesdays except for the far northern edge of southeast that gets regulated with Yakutat and is a little better. Silver/Coho is going to be solid from what I saw in outside waters in late June.
July 7Jul 7 19 hours ago, Sbbruin said: I struggle with you being cool and a Trojan at the same time. Kidding as I of course have literally dozens of good Trojan friends. But damn that’s some awesome boating and fishing. At 58, these are the great moments. I want to do a fishing trip to Alaska with my son. There’s an exception to every rule and I do have a good friend who was at UCLA the same time as me. Hit me up if you want my thoughts about fishing Alaska with your boy. I have many thoughts on how to do it well instead of like every other sucker from the southern states.
July 7Jul 7 3 minutes ago, USCATX said: Sadly, Kings just shut down for non-residents for the entirety of Southeast. Halibut is 1 per day in a slot for charters and no retention Wednesdays except for the far northern edge of southeast that gets regulated with Yakutat and is a little better. Silver/Coho is going to be solid from what I saw in outside waters in late June. Kings are already shut down for the season? Fuck. I'm gonna be in Sitka at the end of July. Good news on Coho, though. And I won't be fishing on Wednesday so I dodged that one, too. Halibut is by far my favorite fish. How are rockfish regs? Have they tightened those up as well?
July 9Jul 9 On 7/2/2025 at 10:18 AM, Sbbruin said: Couldn't sleep so left the dock at 5:40 am. Glad I did. Already packed here at Isthmus Cove. But got Old Glory up for the holiday weekend. Despite where we are as a country, watching her wave in the sea breeze will always bring a tear to my eye. Maybe more so now. O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. A little off topic, but the new Michael Connelly book, "Nightshade", is really good and it takes place on Catalina. Main character is the head LASD cop on the island.
July 9Jul 9 On 7/7/2025 at 10:58 AM, Incredulity said: You’re not wrong but it’s one good thing about teenagers. My 17 year old son is too busy for a job and so you can call it a glorified allowance but I put him on payroll and told him school, band and work, work can come third but you have plenty of time to meet all three mandatory responsibilities. He cleans our boat, makes sure it’s covered, wiped down, he’s got 2 cars and he handles all our difficult recycling too (foam, textiles, goodwill, plastic wrapping, non single stream recyclables, hazmat, electronics, batteries, etc). So on topic, our boat (and cars) always look great. Edited July 9Jul 9 by troph
July 9Jul 9 And cost of boats and houses? 1997 first house, central Austin, $71,500. Axis 24 cost us $97,000 in 2018.
July 9Jul 9 And now that same boat with 400 hours is running 150K. Boat market is freaking STOOPID these days.
July 9Jul 9 46 minutes ago, PvilleStang said: And now that same boat with 400 hours is running 150K. Boat market is freaking STOOPID these days. you can get my boat for $70-85K. no one is selling (or buying) a 7 year old boat that was originally under $100K for $150K. it's not really depreciating at all though which is fantastic.
July 13Jul 13 I’ve done some pretty stupid stuff in Jon boats in my youth but this guy is off the charts. If you follow the Texas Water Safari, you’ll recognize the name as Robert Youens attempts to break the Great Loop speed record (a little over 19days) using a 16’ jonboat with a 60hp Tohatsu and 84 gallons of fuel capacity. He did a 420 mile direct route across the Gulf from Pensacola to Ft Myers yesterday, passed through Ochochobee Waterway today and is off the beach headed north right now. He has a couple of great informative posts on his FB page and the Great Loop FB page.https://share.garmin.com/robertyouens?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLhALZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhEk_a_KGiABgVqJZVRyPniFFt7oZ2YTchkQiY5rMJK-hRkrYr5muBpAPNbg_aem_S6JHctA1bMcP6jJis6Gmowhttps://www.facebook.com/share/1KcydrSi5u/?mibextid=wwXIfr
July 14Jul 14 On 7/8/2025 at 5:51 PM, Gil Bang said: A little off topic, but the new Michael Connelly book, "Nightshade", is really good and it takes place on Catalina. Main character is the head LASD cop on the island. May have to give that a read.
July 14Jul 14 46 minutes ago, Sbbruin said: May have to give that a read. particularly if you like the "Bosch" or "Lincoln Lawyer" books.
July 15Jul 15 A little off topic, but the new Michael Connelly book, "Nightshade", is really good and it takes place on Catalina. Main character is the head LASD cop on the island. Read on your recommendation and enjoyed it. Appreciated it greatly since I spent a week on the island last year and could visualize it in my mind.My wife goes nuts buying local art on our travels so I’ve got a painting of the Casino in my dining room.
July 16Jul 16 On 7/9/2025 at 9:20 AM, troph said: And cost of boats and houses? 1997 first house, central Austin, $71,500. Axis 24 cost us $97,000 in 2018. My first house, in Cypress Creek, off of 620 was $102,000, in 1997. I paid $150k for a two year old boat with 116 hours. Crazy shit. CHIEF
July 19Jul 19 A 60-foot sportfishing boat bumped into the USS Midway Friday afternoon, and the captain was later arrested on suspicion of boating while under the influence, a Harbor Police official said. The incident happened about 12:45 p.m., Sgt. Armando Ramirez said. He said the collision caught the attention of several people near the Unconditional Surrender statue, an homage to the iconic photo of a sailor kissing a nurse to celebrate the end of World War II. It sits near the aircraft carrier, which is now a museum “We got calls from witnesses,” Ramirez said. “It made a lot of noise when it collided.” He said the aircraft carrier museum did not appear to sustain significant damage. The fishing boat left the scene, the sergeant said. Harbor police intercepted it near the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. No one on the boat was injured. He said the boat sustained minor damage but it had not been taking on water. The collision attracted more attention soon after it happened, following an X post from WarshipCam, which posted video that shows the boat approaching the carrier.
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