Having shed my two coats after about an hour this morning, I quickly put them back on and would have donned a sweatshirt, too, if I had taken one with me. I figured I'd have 50s or 60s while I was out, though, so didn't bother with the sweatshirt as I was gathering up everything this morning. I'll have to chalk up today's surprise as another instance when I should have ignored what the weatherman was saying this morning and gone with my gut.
My one fish came from West Neck on a Bomber Square A about 15 minutes after I launched this morning. With a fish that early, I kinda thought the day might turn out halfway decent, but it soon became apparent I was going to be struggling. I was anything but the Lone Ranger, though, because it turns out Bob Glass and the two fellas from another boat also had only one fish to show for their efforts, and Charlie ended the day with a pair of 10-inch bass that he caught in the last five or 10 minutes.
Today marked my first trip in the SX-190, and I can't say enough nice things about the extra room afforded by this boat. With all my tackleboxes neatly tucked away in the front storage box and the net resting on the rear platform, I could walk around totally unimpeded.
The two things I have to get comfortable with before the new season kicks into high gear is the hot foot and the extra kick from the 150 outboard. Even before I left the house this morning, the overriding concern I had about today's trip was recovery of the boat this afternoon. I was careful to make sure I had the trailer in the water good, and I just eased the boat onto the bunks before pressing down ever so lightly on the hot foot. The problem was, though, I didn't feel like the boat was resting quite right on the bunks, so I backed off and tried again. This second time, I applied a bit too much power and ended up with what I had feared all along. I drove the eye over the rubber stop.
By this time, Charlie had reached the dock with his kayak, and he gladly pitched in to help me out of the predicament. I first tried backing my van down the ramp as far as possible and backing the boat off, but that didn't work. Charlie and I both then tried lifting the bow up over the stop, and that, too, failed. Then we both stood on the back of the boat and tried to pop it over the stop that way--still without success, though. Our last-ditch effort was to have Charlie hold the rope while I first pulled up a ways, then backed down and touched the brakes. That method worked like a charm, and in no time, I had winched the boat up to the stop, pulled off the ramp, and headed for my storage shed.
As I was looking at the nose stop this afternoon, it became readily apparent to me that the previous owner, Robert, has had his fair share of run-ins with the same problem, because the stop is really eat up. Before my next trip to West Neck, I will have a new neoprene model in my hands to install in place of the well-worn one. My mechanic also plans to have a look to see if the stop bracket is installed and aligned properly.
Bottom line: Despite the one problem today, I'm totally satisfied with the day. It was my first trip in about two weeks or so, and I really was chafing to get back on the water. With the weather forecast I saw earlier this evening, it looks like today's "fix" is gonna have to last a while.
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