Joe had some good numbers and before too long we were hooking up with Amberjack, Snapper, and large Grouper. We returned home that night with maybe 25 fish in the box. Thanks Joe!
]]>I have created a PayPal account where ClassicAquasport.com members and guests can make donations to the relief effort. Simply follow that link, create your free PayPal account, and enter my email address, tom@classicaquasport.com, where requested. Your donation, however small, will be greatly appreciated. I'm getting the donations going with a personal contribution of $500.
My goal is to present a check to Ringleader over at ClassicMako.com on behalf of all of our members.
Caveat: Your donations to this account will likely not be tax deductible as I am not set up as a non-profit organization. In fact, I personally may run into some tax issues with this, but I guess I'll just figure that out down the road.
]]>Research will include any original Aquasport documentation that can be obtained, either from Aquasport directly or, more likely, from Aquasport owners and enthusiasts; back issues of boating magazines that published at that time, as well as back issues of newspapers that may have published stories on Aquasport (originally located in Hialeah, Florida). Personal contacts with former Aquasport employees, dealers, etc. will also be key. The objective is a clear history of the company and complete technical information on all of the boat models built by Aquasport during the period 1967-1988. The results will be published on ClassicAquasport.com as a work in progress and user input will be welcome, in fact essential.
ClassicAquasport.com members or guests who have knowledge or leads about Aquasport and/or classic Aquasport boats are requested to contact Steve Dembner. You can also reach Steve through his ClassicAquasport.com username steved. ClassicAquasport.com management thanks Steve for all of the hard work he has put into this project!
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Anyway, the design is unlike anything I've seen in a production boat. The company officially opened its doors about six weeks ago and currently offers the Gladesmen 18 as their flagship model. These boats offer some cool options as well. The company plans on launching a 17' and 15' model in the near future. Definitely some boats to keep an eye out for. I wonder if you could throw a Go-Devil on these?
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Those of you in the Tampa Bay area are likely familiar with The Boat Doctor, a boat repair and refurbishing facility owned and operated by Ben. After spending many years running The Boat Doctor, repairing and refurbishing old boats (and many Aquasports), Ben realized he had gained the knowledge and expertise to build the ultimate fishing platform, the Sheaffer 239 - V. These boats are impeccably built and Ben spares no expense. They are not for those light in the wallet! However, if you want classic lines in a new boat, the Sheaffer is the way to go. Ben uses only the highest quality materials and he has literally thought out every square inch of this boat.
]]> Ben brought up an interesting point about adding towers to older boats like the Aquasport, as well as closing in the transom. He noted that these boats, while similar in length to the boats of today, were nevertheless not built with towers in mind, nor massive 4-strokes hanging a foot or two off the transom on a bracket. When making such changes to an older boat, Ben emphasized the importance of taking into consideration the weight issues and distribution of that weight. He says he has seen or heard of several rebuilds that have gone to the bottom or overturned because of such issues. It is something to consider as Wilson and I contemplate what type of tower we want to install on our 1975 23' Mako.Ben brought up another interesting issue regarding the flat back design. While most people (me included) believed Aquasport flattened the stern in order to reduce the draft, Ben tells us that the smaller outboards of the day simply could not get a boat with any substantial dead rise aft up onto a plane. The flattened back added much needed lift. It wasn't until the larger engines where manufactured that could produce enough horsepower to get a V-hulled boat sufficiently on plane that the flat back design was scraped.
]]>While the exhibitors will be quite different from what we saw at the Miami Boat Show, I think they will be of more interest to us. After all, I can't afford a 60' Bertram like the ones we saw in Miami!. The following exibitors will be of particular interest to me, Shaeffer Boats, T.A. Mahoney (where Wilson purchased those cool garboard plugs), and Young Boats (never heard of them, but maybe I'm related?). I also hope to get a chance to speak with Capt. Bill Miller from the Hooked on Fishing television program. Capt. Miller probably knows plenty of folks with older Aquasports who would be interested in getting involved with our group. I'll try to post some pictures from the show later this weekend.
The Suzuki utilizes a chain rather than belts. That was one of the unique features we really liked about this engine. It seems a lot less likely that a chain will break as opposed to a belt.
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The Patrick Level allows users to adjust the antenna angle regardless of the running angle of your boat by the simple use of an up/down switch. Since radar is by line of sight, this will maximize the aquisition of targets that radar is designed to detect. The device consists of a standard mount modified with a hinge, which is raised or lowered using a Lenco trim tab actuator. The Patrick Level gets my vote for innovation of the year!
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My next few blog posts will detail some of the purchases we made, including a 250HP Suzuki 4-stroke engine and Raymarine nav package with the E-Series multifunction display, a 24 mile 2kw radar, GPS, Fishfinder, autopilot, and Navionics navigation card.
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