First test of the front hatch seal was promising.  Cant say my testing replicates the submerging bow punching through waves, but I think it's working pretty well to keep water out.  This weekend was so hot that we spent hours in the water just trying to beat the heat.  I turned my AI into a floating raft for kids, dogs, A-Hulls to climb up on, jump off, or chill on    With three adults two large dogs and Bacon submerging 1/3 of the yak with with the ama underwater, it barely took on any water.  Going to re-do it once more time and see how it lasts.

SHWMAE from NOR-CAL!  Looking forward to what you have to share from South Wales!  What is your favorite fish to target there?

Thanks for the detailed repair report!    Mine is almost as old, and I recently dropped it a couple times loading it when too tired, caused some gauges I'd like to take care of.  Was going to try a spoon and a blowtorch, but a plastic welder sounds easy and if it's at HF i'm sure it's affordable. If you haven't replaced the rudder pin in a long time I would do it, as sand gets in there and scratches and weakens it.  But after swapping, it's very very smooooth which I like a lot.  Still keeping my old one as a secondary spare in case I need it, or someone else needs one.  I'm still amazed at how well all the hardware has held up on my AI, with little to no work on my part 

"Shark attacks are an uncommon occurrence, estimated at 1 in 11.5 million, but if you're attacked by a great white shark you're most likely on California's Central Coast. A plurality, near 38%, of all great white shark attacks happen in an area of the Pacific Ocean between Marina County and Big Sur."


Food for though for sure... Glad people were able to help get him to the shore safely.  Prayers for his recovery.

Had my first sail trolling experience last weekend and covered a lot of ground in Capitola on my AI. My 3-way rig using the small spreader bar never once got tangled, I am happy to say.  However I had tied my 8oz weight about 12" down from the spreader, and that was picking up a lot of kelp in some areas causing me to reset often.  I think  I will try it as short as possible next time, but was using the extra length to find the bottom and bring it up enough to do the occasional bounce.  If it's shorter, I worry that it will snag if I keep it too close to the bottom.  But I also am going to use 10oz next time, to reduce the amount of setback as well.  Would it be better to just use a sliding sinker thing and skip the spreader?  Wont be bouncing the bottom though, but hopefully avoid trolling up a salad on my line.

Shoot that's a serious cost savings!  Thanks for the link, I'll poke around it!

It would be funny to find the owner for sure!