6 Months Later....

After selling the Hotrod Gheenoe I pretty much intended to not post to my blog anymore but I see that it still averages a thousand hits a month so I guess people are still reading it. I guess I will fill you in on what has happened since then.

After selling the Hotrod Gheenoe, the boat I wanted to buy (1988 Silver King Signature) got sold out from under me the day before I was going to buy it. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I found another boat that actually worked out better for me. I ended up getting a 1996 Silver King Silver Flash. It is 16'3 with nearly an 8' beam. It is almost identical to the Signature except it has two 25 gallon livewells. (And you know I love my live bait...) The Silver Flash was not in as good condition as the Signature but that's fine with me as I like to do a lot of my own work so I can learn about stuff.

The boat was in near perfect working order but since I have had it I have done quite a bit. I replaced both livewell pumps, rewired the trolling motor, replaced the battery, changed the impeller/water pump, replaced the lower unit (I backed into a submerged rock... luckily I found a used lower unit as a rebuild was going to cost me $1600.) and had the trailer shortened so the boat would fit in my garage.

The Silver King has a 75hp mercury. It tops out about the same as the Hotrod Gheenoe did at about 32 mph but handles chop much better and is a lot drier and has a ton more room for two people to fish. It does not draft as shallow as the Hotrod Gheenoe did and I have had to abandon some of my old fishing spots on the lower tides, but I have added a few new ones since then that I could not access before on anything but the calmest of days. So that is pretty much a fair trade off. As far as negatives: It takes more time to prepare, cleanup and maintain the Silver King and it costs a lot more to run it. I could fish every day for a week on a 6 gallon tank of gas and a couple ounces of oil with the Hotrod Gheenoe. I usually end up stopping at the gas station about every two or three trips for 12 to 15 gallons of gas and a quart of 2 stroke oil. I have a 25 gallon tank but I like to keep it at least half full so it isn't as painful to fill it up.

I also find that I don't fish quite as often and I don't like to fish by myself as much. The fishing hasn't really been all that spectacular this summer either. I still catch fish nearly every time I go out. I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have been skunked in the last year and a half. I just don't get the numbers I was getting last summer. I'm looking forward to fall though as I think the fishing will improve.

I have been doing a little more fly fishing too. My baby tarpon hole has been holding tarpon all summer and I have caught a few. I have yet to hook up with one on my flyrod yet though, but I will keep trying. I'm still waiting to find the schools of redfish that I found last fall as well. This year I am going to attempt to fish them with a flyrod.

Anyway. That's the update. I will try to keep updating this even though I don't have a Hotrod Gheenoe anymore. If I could I would have a Hotrod Gheenoe and my Silver King but I don't think my wife would go for that...