BigBendFishing.Net

Well, 'Wat's her name' bought us a new 'old boat' last week. It's a 1987 Pursuit 2000 by S2 with a '94 Yamaha 150 on an aluminum trailer, that looks to be in good shape. The wood is all gray and it has a few nicks and chips, but is solid for the most part. The motor is clean and has good compression.
The fellow we bought it from is moving to Alabama and gave us about all his fishing stuff, including 2 Penn Senator Comos. They are a nice addition to our collection of Zebcos and openfaced Shakespeares. He also threw in a handheld GPS with numbers, supposable good. And, it's got a Hummingbird Martix 25 with a few bells and whistles.
I know this is not a top of the line rig, and some of you might laugh at it, but being old and a little chipped up kinda suits my personality and is practical for my pocketbook, considering I not fanatical about offshore fishing anyway.
To be sure, I got to get a BoatUS account going, with no backup power source to the old motor and all.
Now, I have been fishing offshore with others for a long time and have run a boat out or in a few times, but I have never owned one. Nor have I ever tried to pinpoint a GPS mark and get anchored down on it- Hence the following:
We, (Freddy P, Charley E, and I) took it out about 15 miles yesterday on a shake down.
The both of them are experiences seamen and have been fishin the open water since before Loran. Most of my experience on the Big Bend has been inshore- cain't mess that up too much. With the attitude, you never too old to learn new tricks, I'm ready to give it a shot...So, here we go.
I was excited to get to check out the boat, and they were excited to check out 'my' new numbers.
The water looked good at the Carrabelle ramp at 11AM. It was sunny with a near cloudless sky. The fcst called for 2-3' and wind of 10-15. The wind was actually very light, making the 50 plus air temp tolerable. But, as we rounded the west end of Dog, there they were, the 2-3's with a few second periods- Not too inviting for a novice helmsman,. such as I am. The optimum speed was about 12-13mph with the Yammie turning 28-29k. The boat handled real good with minimal spray, although I think we mighta loosened Freddy's upper plate a few times.
With me at the wheel and the both of them behind me snickering, we zig-zaged to the first spot about 5 point something off the island. After about 5 mins or so of trying to ace the fix, I finally decided, if we were going to fish, Charley was gonna to have to find the double aughts. I'm usually the anchorman on their boats, so it was strange to have Freddy up on the bow doing the duties. And, with both of them busy, I was able to get the first bait on the bottom. As soon as it hit, a 25 plus black sucked it up. Now this is how to break in a new 'old boat'.
The bite was fair, with the both of them boating 'shorts' in short order.
With only a couple of hours to fish, (Charley had family obligations at 4), we didn't wait long before checking out a couple more of the numbers.
The second spot was 5 point something further out and didn't pan out. After about 20-30 mins there, we moved another mile or so and got into them again. 2 keepers boated and they were hitting as soon as the LYs hit the bottom. Problem was, it was already 3 o clock and we had to head back to make Charley's appointment. The trip in was better, since we were going with the flow and were able to make 20-25mph.
The water temp was 58-59 degs at the surface. We fished LY's and squid (mostly LY's). We brought in 3 keepers and boated 12-15 shorts. We didn't catch the first grunt or sea bass. I forgot to charge the DV battery, so only got a couple of stills (poor quality) before the bat-tree lite came on (Gotta get a cheap digital).
The wind did pickup to the fcstd 10-15 about 2 or so, making us scramble for the windbreakers. Still pretty nice , but would have probably got uncomfortable as the day waned.
The boat and motor checked out good with only a couple of minor gripes.
The only big one is, the walk around is very narrow with no recess to speak of, making anchor handling a little hazardous for old and less than nimble guys like us. 'Think an electric winch might be in order. I have already been looking at the Minn Kota Deckhand 40, if I can figure out a way to rig it. If anyone has any personal experience with these winches, I would appreciate the information.
All in all, this boat will suit our purposes for offshore in good weather and pleasure outings with the grand kids and such.

Pics- Left- Freddy with my first fish caught on the boat.
Right- The only boat we saw on the water. Looked to be a CS Vbottom with a Honda 4-stroke, just guessin (cam was on about 10X zoom).
_

Oh and for sure, I'm gonna have to go out with the boys a few more times. At least, 'til I get the hang of the fine points of close quartered GPS navigation- So as to not get hollered at by 'Wat's her name', when she's ready to take a shot at riding with me.
'Took her over to DI in the C/S J16 when we first got it. The water was a little choppy and we got a pretty good saltwater bath- Happy she wasn't. Scared?? She said she wasn't, but she had that 'deer in the road look' and screamed at me to slow down all the way over there.

QO

Good report and congrats on the boat.

Nice Report!! Way to break her in right!
Have you thought up a name yet?

maybe... what'ser name??

Congrats on the new ride and on breakin her in right

Nice report. Would be interested in seeing some pictures of the boat as well.

Since you ask SR, here's a couple of shots of her.

____

'Woulda used 'Wat's her name's good digital, but I think you guys don't need to see it with a lot of difinition. I mean, it ain't even close to 'like new.

And, about that name, GC- I like that.... "WHAT'SER NAME",, different for sure.
Someone, maybe the original owner called it "HOT PURSUIT", which mighta described my attitude toward the opposite sex in earlier years of my life. But like me, I think most of it's hot pursuit days might be over.
'Don't plan on working it too hard.
Back in my dreaming of owning a sailboat, I read someplace it was bad luck to change the name of a boat....not that I'm superstitious mind ya, so What'er Name might it be. We'll see what 'She' sez about it..

Another question- The numbers and registrations sticker are on the side windows- How does 'Th Man' feel about this? I mean, it came to me that way, which I know (ignorance is no excuse) might not get it.
When I got the J16, the numbers were 2" instead of 3" and I had bought new 3" for it, but since the reg nbr didn't change here in FL, I left the old ones on it. The second time I got stopped, all he could find wrong was the number size and wrote me a warning for it. The first guy didn't say anything about it.
While I'm an outlaw at heart, I try to stay within the bounds of 'legal' with most things and my thought on it is to put them on the hull.

Thanks for the pictures. That's a right nice look'n old rig. As far as having an attitude for chase'n stuff .... I remember a line that Minnie Pearl use to use.....She said an old man chase'n women was sort of like a dog chase'n car's! ...... even if he caught one ....he wouldn't know what to do with it.

Good deal, Goutrage. Glad ta see ya got a bigger boat. Looks like you guys had a good time. and caught some fish.

By law, the #'s must be 3"s "4"s if commercial"and placed on the hull ! I can look it up if ya want

The rule is the letters must be on the foward part of the hull above the rubrail if the hull does not allow 'a clear view'. The letters are to be 3" in the case of a pleasure craft and 6" if commercial. These are minimums...

Isn't the registration number supposed to be on the port side also? I know the decal is for sure. We've always just put numbers on each side and the decal on the port.

Nathan

Thanks ta ye all for yer comments, 'specially on the numbers thing.

Yeah SR, I heard old Minnie say that a few times, along with "Howdeee...I'm just so proud to be here!" And, Rod Brassfield (Th' Duke of Paduka), who she teamed with sometimes..and his, "I'm goin' to the wagon, 'Cause these shoes are killin' me!". Funny stuff to me, when I was a kid in the late 40's and 50's. Thanks for reminding me.

Nathan, I think the numbers have to be on both sides of the boat and the reg on the port. 'Seems I saw that in the boaters safety handout from the FFWC.
Thanks for the response.

Congrats on the ride.

Here is the summary from the FWC web site:
http://myfwc.com/boating/safety/law_summary.htm

[quote]VESSEL REGISTRATION

All vessels operating with mechanical propulsion devices (such as gas or electric outboards) are required to be registered.

Vessels must be registered and numbered within thirty (30) days of purchase.

Registration numbers must be displayed on the forward half of the vessel on both sides above the waterline. The numbers must be bold block letters at least 3â€