While prepping the boat for a trip on the 11th, cranked the trailer dolly hard, and the pinion gear broke! Used a floor jack to maneuver the trailer. The dolly was a replacement dolly purchased at West Marine, will need to take it back.

Also, the brakes were frozen, but came loose when we tugged on the trailer with the SUV.

Refilled the E-TEC oil tank - only used 1 pint for the 11.3 gallons used on the previous trip.

The squelch knob on the radio was sticky (again), hit it with some Corrosion-X.

While prepping the boat for a trip on the 11th, cranked the trailer dolly hard, and the pinion gear broke! Used a floor jack to maneuver the trailer. The dolly was a replacement dolly purchased at West Marine, will need to take it back.

Also, the brakes were frozen, but came loose when we tugged on the trailer with the SUV.

Refilled the E-TEC oil tank - only used 1 pint for the 11.3 gallons used on the previous trip.

The squelch knob on the radio was sticky (again), hit it with some Corrosion-X.

After some thought, called the BRP Tech Support line and discussed the need for winterizing the motor, since we only use it once a month or so. They said it couldn‘t hurt, also recommended a fuel stabilizer. Went to Sunset Marine, they concurred, so we purchased the BRP 2+4 fuel conditioner, added it to the fuel tank.

Even with the factory fender pads on the trailer, there is still a lot of gunk that is getting thrown up on the hull. Most of it appears to be brake dust/rust that is mixed with water from the gutter when driving to the ramp. Went back to West Marine and got wider (9" wide) galvanized fenders to replace the existing Pacific trailer fenders, which are only 7.5" wide. Perhaps this will work better than the fender pads. Will use a little elbow grease to make them fit in the space between the step pads.

Boating Magazine's February 2005 issue featured an article titled "Oil in the Gas" by Charles Plueddeman. This article has the best attempt I've seen at an apples-to-apples comparison of "New Age" 2-stroke and 4-stroke motors, including operating costs. The hull - an Edgewater 205 CC. The motors: Yamaha's 2-stroke Z150 HPDI, and Yamaha's 4-stroke F150. They did full performance tests, and looked at operating costs over a 5 year period (including buying/changing oil, recommended service, fuel consumption).

The conclusion? No significant difference in operating costs between the two motors, consumers should base their choice on their preferred performance profile - better holeshot implies 2-stroke, lower noise implies 4-stroke.

The cynic in me says "Well of course it would turn out this way. No competent Marketing Guy would ever let his company produce two competing products, and have one of them clearly appear better than the other."

It is interesting to note that the E-TECs only require service every 300 hours of operation. In this article, they assumed the average boater would run the motor around 50 hours/year, so the E-TEC would not need a service during the comparison period. If you inject this parameter into the comparison, even if the E-TECs consume the same amount of oil and gas as the HPDI (and there is evidence that it has better fuel economy and uses less oil than the HPDI), the E-TECs would / could come out about $1,600 cheaper to run over the 5 year period. Assuming better hole shot and comparable noise levels to a 4-stroke, it would seem like the E-TEC is clearly a better value. Of course, this all assumes that the E-TECs are a reliable as the Yamahas, which only time will tell.

A good set of eyes are critical when fishing offshore. The January 2005 issue of Marlin magazine has an article by Captain Mike Hurt on stabilized binoculars: "Through the Looking Glass",  that is worth reading. It covers basic construction and technology, pros and cons, some useful tricks for using them. Does not have any side-by-side comparisons, or quantitative reviews, but does list all of the major models available to consumers. Bottom Line on stabilized binoculars: Useful? Yes; Expensive? Yes; Heavy? Definitely; Worth It? For billfishing, definitely.

The January/February issue of Big Game Fishing Journal had an interesting article by Tred Barta ("Barta vs. Tuna") describing his views how to properly fight tuna. He uses the boat to agressively manage the fight, which is nothing new, but his technique does not depend on backing down on the fish. This means it will be a useful technique for skiffs. The bottom line: use the boat to circle away from the direction the fish is circling. Since tuna tend to circle to the side that the hook is on, this manuver will place the line across the top of the fish, pulling him over to one side. This will increase the amount of work the tuna has to do to maintain balance, and ultimately tire out the fish much more quickly.

Peter Pakula is a well known small-boat / big game fisherman from Australia. He has released a multimedia DVD titled "Between the Lines" which covers "Trolling Skirted Lures, Gamefishing and Sportfishing Techniques". We've got a copy, look for an in-depth review sometime in the near future.

Noticed on the BRP website that the Evinrude SST stainless steel propellers are available in a 13" pitch. Returned the 13.5 x 17" aluminum prop to Sunset Marine and ordered a BRP SST stainless prop, 13.75 x 13" instead.