I've got an aluminum Trailex trailer that I use to haul around my AI. In spite of careful washing after each use, it's accumulated a lot of rust on the non-aluminum parts, as you can see in the pictures. I've taken everything apart and, internally, the hubs look great, but there's lots of rust on the outside of the hubs, and especially the leaf springs and bolts.

So, I'm just wondering what is the best way to minimize rust once a re-assemble it. Also, is there any alternative to leaf springs (they don't seem to make them in stainlesss)? It looks hopeless trying to keep those from rusting to pieces...

As near as I can measure, it's 63.25"...

There is an interesting discussion on the Hobie forum about a cheap Chinese clone of the Hobie Tandem Island:

https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=70294

I find it kind of amusing that they call it a "U-boat":

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/U-Boat-18ft-trimaran-fin-drive_60806485491.html

The American distributor sells them for $4350:

https://www.marinenow.com/marinenow-tandem-sailing-pedal-kayak-2-person/

And, here's a video (in Italian) of the boat in action. Surprisingly, it looks like it actually works reasonably well:

I just purchased a used Hobie mirage drive from someone here on NCKA. The problem is that it's in Santa Rosa and I'm near San Jose.

So... I was wondering if anybody might be traveling from Santa Rosa to somewhere nearer to San Jose (or Santa Cruz) anytime soon. If so, and if you'd be willing to bring a mirage drive along for the ride, let me know!

As you can see in the attached picture, my practically new Garmin Striker 4 Vivid FF got moisture behind the screen. It sill works, but looks like this is a serious problem. Has anybody else had a similar problem?

Anyways, I went online, and it was incredibly painless to make a warrantee claim. I should have a replacement soon, at which point I'll send in the old one, so no need to go without a FF in the interim. I hope the new one does not develop the same problem...

I just bought a Garmin Striker Vivid 4cv to replace my recently deceased 10+ year old Garmin 301c. It looks like a nice upgrade, but I'm a bit nervous about the connection between the head unit and the piece that attaches to the base (see the picture). It seems a lot less secure than what was used on the older Garmin, and I can imagine bumping it and having to fall off on the water, and sink out of sight...

I was thinking of super gluing to together. Is there a better option?

 

Trolling in 72 fow off Steamer Lane. Hooked a fish that went on a screaming drag-pulling run. Figured it had to be a salmon, so was surprised to see 30-32 inch halibut. That’s not the too much excitement part…

As I was preparing to gaff it, about 15-20 feet off my starboard side, I see a large dorsal fin and tail. Yes, it was the man in the gray suit. It looked about the size of Bushy’s friend. Hopefully, it shows up on video.

Anyways, got my shark shield deployed, so if I vanish at sea, don’t waste your money on a shark shield!

Edit:
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The video is not the greatest, but the slowmo replay at about 3:30 gives a better sense of what it was like from my perspective...

I just got a new shark shield (Type C) and after 5 hours, it starts beeping, which continues for the next hour or so, until the battery dies. I find the beep extremely annoying and was wondering if there might be an easy way to turn it off (or even just mute it by a lot) without damaging the unit.

Back story:

I bought my first shark shield in 2011, and it worked great until last year. Once it went kaput, I thought it was the battery, so I took it apart and tried to wire it to my FF battery. That didn't work, and I now suspect there is a more serious problem with it. I've still got it, and plan to try to diagnose the problem at some point, but never seem to find the time.

Earlier this year, I bought a used shark shield from FuzzyTom's, but never used it. So, I resold it to Bushy after his close encounter in Santa Cruz. Then a couple days after I sold that SS, my wife read some report about a shark attack and asked if there was anything that would prevent such an attack. I mentioned SS, and that I'd previously had a working one, but sold it (I didn't mention that I'd sold it just 2 days prior...). She said that I probably should get one, so I bought a new one, which arrived 2 days later.

I was at Moss Landing earlier this week, when some PB guy announced over channel 11 that he'd just seen a huge GWS, and that it had bumped the bottom of his boat. I was glad that I had a SS that day!