Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Beautiful photos Cape Man!! Glad you guys had a great time!! Jeff

Glad to hear you had a great trip. Those are some great photos. Also good to know your new spray rails seem to be working. I will be interested to see the pictures of them in action. I am a little surprised you are still eating on Alaska fish. I did not think you took very much home with you.

A clever man's cape rig.

Great pictures.
Hopefully, I can get down to the Cape soon.

Looks like a blast. Love the pics

Will

Great pictures, looks like a fantastic place to unplug from the world.

Craig glad you had a good time. Can't wait to see the pictures of Clara and her spray rails underway.

Tom

Some more photos from the annual trip...
The osprey was our camping buddy every day while there. Even he was having trouble finding fish...

Roseatte spoonbill at Flamingo

Obligatory sunset behind Clara

10 foot American Crocodile in the basin at Flamingo

Running home with Hermine inside Clara. We were doing 28mph with three men and a significant load. Notice the spray going out instead of up the sides My friend from Colorado took some nice shots from the boat that I'll post when he sends them

The morning after the cold front moved through...

Clara is indeed in need of some attention. The plugs are all original to the build and the rubber was worn out. Had a slow leak in the hatch that holds the hydraulic pump for the Jack Plate and one of the side scuppers. The spares were worse than the ones in the drains. I bought new plugs and spares Friday. The bilge pump also crapped out as it got clogged with pieces of seagrass from the cast net. Ordering a new one, but am also going to create a trap of sorts for water going into the bilge to catch any crap before it gets to the pump. The strainer for the pump doesn't catch everything. While there was no threat of sinking, it sucks to have water slowly coming in when you are as far away from the trailer as we are on that trip.

I also need to work on the VHF antenna connection, as I was getting really poor reception.

The biggest thing is she needs a new paint job. By the time I got to that part of the build I was VERY short on funds, so used the industrial epoxy paint we use at work. Coated it with their clear coat for UV protection, and that is what is failing now, coming off in sheets. When I did the spray rails, the masking tape was pulling the clear coat off. Big job as I'll need to pull the graphics and some (a LOT) of the hardware to prep everything. Am considering taking it to a painter...

Great pictures Capeman,
Sure looks beautiful out there. I can certainly see why you go every year.