mother ship sea trials

well, it floats!  my neighbor and i dropped the boat into the water on monday, just over 3 months since i bought it.  we launched out of oyster point, just south of san francisco.





here's what the console looks like.  i've got the furuno 1934 radar with chart plotter overlay and integraged gps in the center.  there's a simrad ap 26 autopilot to the right.  the fishfinder on the left is the furuno 1100 with a 1kw through hull transducer.  and there's a small furuno gps as back up, just above the radar display.  out of view are a pair of icom 602 vhf's hanging under the electronics, and a lonely am/fm cd player inside the box.  all of this was installed by maritime electronics in sausalito, ca.  they did a fabulous job! 



here's one very tired, but very happy skipper!  worked a very late shift at the hospital the night before.  here you can see the side by side vhf radios.  one is for channel 16, the other is for the working channel in the area that i'm fishing. 



for those of you that do not know san francisco bay, here's the approach to san francisco from the southeast.



this a view from the southeast, looking under the bay bridge at downtown san francisco.



alcatraz island.



the golden gate bridge off in the distance.



we stopped off at sam's in tiburon for lunch, the off to sausalito to pick the service tech at the electronics shop that installed my electronics.  we cruised around the harbor to dial in the autopilot, fiddle with the radar, and burn a little more gas.  then home again.  here is a shot of another grady, a 226 i think, that was going through sea trials just like me. 



so the  engines all all broken in, the autopilot is set up, and i'm up to speed on about 10% of electronics.  time for some fishing reports.  nice to be on the water again.  oh, and today i goofed off some more.  my 12 year old medaled three times at the silicon valley finals track meet.  this kid can run a 5:40 mile!  i promise, tomorrow i'm working on reels!

Nice boat!  Have you ever visited THIS site?

CHEERS!

Hey Alan - NICE RIDE! THE question is: How many kayaks can you fit on her? 

Congrats on your little "medalist"  With respect to myself, I can run.....FAST....when the cops are after me 

Thanks for sharing, Alan..........and congrats to the athlete!

I had to go get some tissue to wipe up all the drool from my keyboard!

That is a SWEET set-up, Alan.

i'm thinking a skipper (that's me!), two decks, and two yakkers.  i want the yaks up and out of the water during transport.  upright and gunnell mount would be the cleanest.  four "T-style" brackets in the rod holders, foam pipe insulation and straps should do the job.  while trolling, we could tie off the yaks to the stern cleats and drag them.  when we hook up, you can hop in the yak and we'll hand off the rods.  you will have to decide if you want to gaff your own, or have a wing man to assist.  if we get a double, we can launch both yaks, but you will be on your own.  and albacore can be decidedly uncooperative.  deck one can run the camera, deck two can provide the running commentary, and i will keep us within camera range. 

i still think you guys are nuts!

Awsome rig Alan that sounds crazy but fun

looks good!

Very nice rig Alan!

Maybe you can launch out of Bucks with us now.   

5:40, damn it jim; man she beat my best time by almost a minute. You're gonna have to move some of your stuff out of the garage to make room for medals and trophies soon.

Tuna on the yak!?...when ever you're ready, Alan. 3 trips and no albies, maybe it takes the yak for me to get into my first one...

she beat MY time by about 6 minutes....LOL

Seriously sweet set-up Alan.  Congrats.  I'll keep an eye on the San Diego reports and let's hope for a great albacore season.  The two day boats are getting them right now.

Love to see my Prowler nestled up on that gunnel this summer!

Allen