Tips to ensure a safe boating.

Can you believe it? Hurricane season is once again upon us, and if you own a boat now is the time to start preparing for the unthinkable. It doesn’t matter whether you store your most prized possession at a marina, on a trailer or in dry storage, everyone is susceptible to damage from heavy wave action, hurricane force winds, tropical downpours, storm surge, and collisions from nearby vessels/objects.

Small boat towers – a BIG idea!

Perched high above the cobalt blue water, offshore anglers searching for pelagic predators have been taking advantage of tuna and marlin towers for decades, so it only makes perfect sense that inshore skiff and bay boat manufacturers are starting to see the same light.

On the offshore scene, skippers scanning the horizon from three stories above the surface are able to spot weedlines, color changes, floating debris and current rips from great distances. They also have a distinct advantage peering aft toward the trolling spread as billfish can easily be spotted tracking baits and lures. With these assets, height offers blue-water anglers not only a great vantage point, but a clear edge over the competition.

As fanatical fishermen, all we want to do is fish. However, keeping the vessel from which we ply our craft neat and clean is an important part of boat ownership, and an important part of our angling success. While it’s not necessary to invest back-breaking hours keeping our prize-possession looking like new, it is wise that we equip ourselves with the right tools for the job and that we clean our boat effectively and efficiently. This means making a cleaning ritual habit after each trip. The following tips will help you accomplish the chore in the shortest amount of time while preserving your boat’s good looks and protecting it from the unforgiving saltwater environment.

Complete Command Control - a look at tomorrow’s innovative helm solutions, today.

Every so often, a new product or system is unveiled which I am confident will revolutionize the fishing and boating industry. The latest such product is a new navigation solution that is about to unlock a world of possibilities for operators of high-end vessels - a world that puts advanced charting, radar, three-dimensional bottom imaging, video security and entertainment right before their eyes on up to 12 glass monitors, all with complete control no more than a fingertip away. My intention for sharing this information is to provide readers who appreciate such sophisticated equipment, with a sneak peak into the exciting future of fully-integrated PC-based helm solutions.

THE CASE FOR REBUILT OUTBOARD ASSEMBLIES

Knowledge is power. When your outboard fails, you need to know about this option.

Boaters get sticker shock two times. One tThe first timeime is when they see the bottom line on that fancy new boat-motor-trailer package (and all of its accessories) rigged and ready, plus taxes of course. The second attack of sticker shock is after the warranty expires and the technician tells them what it is going to cost to fix their outboard engine: a lot.

I mean come on; wouldn't you rather be fishing instead of scraping?

For inboard boaters, marine growth is the bane of boating. Barnacles, tube corals, and now zebra mussels pose a major threat to vital running gear, especially propellers. To address the problem, an innovative solution has recently hit the market, an epoxy based antifouling coating that has undergone years of testing in the warm, nutrient rich waters of South Florida. It is not only EPA compliant, but also purportedly contains no green house gas causing volatile organic compounds. Applied as a powder coat, it cures to a hard, ultra-slick finish that is both self-cleaning and maintenance free. What more can a captain ask for.