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Hey Ron, is there much battery drain with that Garmin?
I don't know about the battery drain. I see a lot of "Float Tube" fisherman have one and run it off a battery. In my case, I probably will only use it while the engine is on. I mainly bought it for a depth finder but I'll use the GPS function for nighttime navigation since there are some little islands we have to navigate around that are hard to see at night. Also, I have a hard time remembering exactly where the "Bat Cave" is. We go out there once a year or so to see the bats emerge at sunset. It's pretty spectacular!

Here's what the internet says, "According to a forum post, the Garmin Striker 4 without ClearVu draws about 0.3A, which means a 9Ah battery will last for 30 hours. However, other sources say the battery can last up to 31 hours on a 7.2Ah battery, but this may be less in cold temperatures."

Bat Cave
 
I really want to install one on my boat, but I'm sure as hell aren't going to drill through the hull.Havasu pics (74).jpg
 
I really want to install one on my boat, but I'm sure as hell aren't going to drill through the hull.View attachment 32691
Nice boat! Where do you put in at?

It's super nice to have a depth finder especially in any body of water that varies in depth from day to day like our lake does but even in the Sacramento river/ Delta region, we used the depth finder a lot. I've decided that the depth finder is essential equipment.
 
I really want to install one on my boat, but I'm sure as hell aren't going to drill through the hull.View attachment 32691
There are, “Thru the Hull” type transducers which I don’t think I’d like but the ones that attach to the transom only require one hole up high for the wire to go through and the either two or four screws to hold the transducer on at the bottom of the transom. The transducer screws don’t go all the way through the transom. You drill a pilot hole, fill it with silicone, and screw the transducer bracket on. I had one on our ski boat and even though the transducer broke, the bracket was intact and still solid after more than 28 years.

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Not much different than the Speedo install
 
Lake Havasu. The pontoon would make an easier depth finder install, but with the 4" of draft, the depth really doesn't matter.
Of a spring and summer we'd take a 14' up from WILLOW VALLEY to LAUGHLIN. The sand bars were ever changing.
 
I have a good buddy who took that route in his 27' Eliminator and hit a partially submerged sandbar while going about 60 MPH. His transom and outdrive stuck in the sand, as he continued gliding another 300', with the rest of his boat intact. Worse yet, there were a bunch of drunks watching this action as they drank double fisted beers, lovingly watching the damage. That was a $40k oops. Yes, up there, the sandbars change daily.
 
I've found the boat owners lament, "tears of joy, 1st, & last day," a humorous pause.
 
Ron, that is very pretty!
Havasu, I wish that I could go to see the aurora borealis. I also want to hear it. I've read that there is a sound it makes that doesn't get picked up on recordings well. Seems very cool.
Spicoli, Ouch! Hope your mouth heals quickly.
Yesterday I went to pick up an order from TSC but one of the items I ordered was canceled by the store due to them not being able to find it. It worked out because it wouldn't have worked without another part. So I popped in to O'Reilly's and grabbed the right one. Turns out I didn't need it though. My hitch kit (which lacks the protrusion and the ball) has bars on it that I didn't notice until after I bought the hitch ball and thingamabob that goes in to the other thingamabob. One of these days I will learn the correct terms.

I got some straps with hooks that I thought would work but one broke, another flew off into who knows where, and the other just fell on the ground unharmed when I was trying to drag an old pillowtop mattress away from the back door so we can get the old freezer out and new freezer in through the sliding glass door. The old mattress had handles on the sides but when I grabbed one and tried to lift it just ripped off and exposed the springs inside. I lost daylight so I called it quits for the night. Last night I lay awake trying to think of a solution. Then I remembered that my tie down straps have hooks.

Got up at 6:20am and went out to see if I could move the mattress. Put on a gardening glove near the blackberry weeds. To my surprise, it worked and I got the mattress all the way down to where the old pond used to be before I stopped and unhooked it. Then I emptied out the old freezer, unplugged it, moved a bunch of furniture, threw out a bunch of old boxes and trash, and tested to see if the sliding glass door still opens. It does but the stupid thing won't shut all the way. It keeps getting stuck about 1/4" from being closed. The glass is separating from the frame and the sill is missing pieces on the exterior side because it has rotted. Going to need to replace that soon unfortunately. I think I will replace the old sill with vinyl if possible.

I'm waiting for my friend to be ready to go with me to pick up the new freezer and help me get the old one out.
An article of interest; https://www.yahoo.com/news/lillys-weekly-insulin-succeeds-stage-105551119.html
 
Soooo….I was cutting the grass today…big job!

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And I ran across this…

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I thought, what the heck is this and why have I never seen it before? I looked a little closer…

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It appears to be a glove nailed to the tree. It looks like it has been there for a while. I wonder what the significance of it is? It’s about 4 feet off the ground.
 
I started taking the boat cradle apart today, since we sold the boat last week.

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The new pontoon will go in this side because it’s too long for the other side where the old pontoon is now. This cradle will not work for the pontoon so my idea is to remove the cradle and install lifting straps. I’ve been stressing about the straps because many people have posted comments about straps not being good for the Toons. They say straps can crush or collapse the Toon. I went down to the neatest marina where they rent slips and saw more that 50 pontoons all lifted by straps. Like this one.

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This pontoon is 24’ long and has about 6’ of Toon hanging off the aft strap. I also noticed that this marina has 3” and 4” straps. I would think wider is better on the Toon but some of them are only 3” wide.

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I'd be concerned with the strap chafing Ron. I'd feel a bit more comfortable adding a piece of black plastic sewer pipe, cut down the middle, to go between the straps and tubes. Surely there is a ready made product?
 
I'd be concerned with the strap chafing Ron. I'd feel a bit more comfortable adding a piece of black plastic sewer pipe, cut down the middle, to go between the straps and tubes. Surely there is a ready made product?
Actually, Chaffing was not even on my worry list, but now I can add that! Thanks!

My biggest concern is stress on the Toon (Tube). A wooden cradle, like on a trailer, doesn't really provide ultimate support since wood is flexible. The Toon support is concentrated at the bunk supports and diminishes in the area between the supports.

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I can actually see this lack of support on my trailer bunks.

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This means the Toons are not continuously supported and only supported in a few spots.
You can see, I'm trying to convince myself that straps are sufficient support.

Then there is this guy...This is exaggerated but demonstrates a problem with bunks. This makes me queasy. All the pressure is on his lifting strake.

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This guy says "Everyone at his lake" just puts a 2x6 under the Toon.
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This got me thinking...That Keel on the bottom would be putting pressure on the Toon with this lifting method but at the same time, that keel could give support to the Toon if I were just using a strap. It would be like a built in mini bunk.

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One option I was thinking about is to modify my existing cradle to work for a pontoon.

The cross beams can't be used because they are shaped like a "V" for a boat and a pontoon lift is normally flat.

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From the bottom of the "V" to the top of the bunk is 16". Too big for my situation. That's one of the good things about a strap is they are very thin and when the lake level is down (Mostly in the winter) they are not a factor, whereas, I couldn't get my ski boat out of the boathouse in the winter because of how tall the cradle is.

The cables attach on the side rails of my boat cradle. The side rail is a straight (flat) piece of aluminum "I" beam.
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I could take the side rails off and turn them 90 degrees and then run the bunk across them like this.
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Or, I could go out there and rip that cradle out of there and install the straps I already have and be done with it. There are over 50 pontoons lifted this way right down the road from me. Can they all be wrong?
 
View attachment 32712
I really like this method Ron. It looks about as secure as a trailer bunk.
Yeah…you’re probably right. I’m going to modify the boat cradle to work with a pontoon.

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I took the cross members off. Now I need the swing the side rails 90 degrees.

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These rails are a little too long to fit sideways in the boathouse so I’ll have to cut them a little.

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A couple fish and a turtle came by to see what I was doing. I’m hoping to finish tomorrow but there’s supposed to be thunderstorms all day.

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Glad to see you're enjoying your new pontoon, Ron.
We had some nasty storms on Thursday. Took the power out. Power company didn't send anyone out to work on it until Saturday. They restored power to everyone except us. Every single house in the area had power except mine. They forgot to flip the switch to turn it back on for mine and didn't do that until Sunday afternoon. If they'd turned it back on when they turned everyone else's back on, we might have been able to salvage something from the fridge and freezer. But no, they screwed us bc they are incompetent. They recently doubled our rates bc they got a new CEO that is getting double the pay of the previous CEO and they doubled our rates to pay him and then pull this crap. Worst thing is, it isn't the first time they've done this to us-- where they turned on everyone else's power but ours. There are substations with switches where they turn the power off when someone doesn't pay and they turn them all off while working on the lines. I got multiple calls Saturday telling me my power had been restored only to find it wasn't and had to call them back and tell them it wasn't, but you can't get through to a live person.

It was 90 frickin degrees up in here. I'm a little bit grouchy. Also, my mother couldn't use the intercom to call me to get something for her so she got up and called to me from her door and promptly fell.

I'm now planning to switch to solar so we don't have to be stuck with this asinine power company anymore.
 
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