Good start to the day; the end? not so much 2024

haggard reply :

Got out on a beautiful local pond this morning in the kayak, caught a couple largemouth. Two fish for me is a good day!

Heading up to camp to get the Tracker jon on the lake tomorrow, car coming at me head on entirely in my lane put and end to that. Driver in oncoming car for whatever reason did not have eyes on the road (dozed off?). I swerved into the other lane but it was too late. Bought the jon new six months ago and built it up over the winter; it was a blast while it lasted but trailer is gone, not sure about the boat (all welded aluminum... cracked welds?) - truck did surprisingly well (rim gone, bumper and sheet metal. Changed the wheel and drove it home).

FD guy says "there's your motor" - the awesome strong-running little 1976 Evinrude 15hp 2 stroke broke off, took out a VFW sign post en route, and landed in a ditch on the side of the road. I still haven't figured out how this guy he me in like three different places at the same time

Both drivers ok, thankfully. A few weeks ago less than a mile from that spot four people died due to improper passing. We'll be using the kayak for the rest of the season

^ 1976 Evinrude 15hp 2-stroke flew into a ditch, took out a sign post

^ glad the mushroom anchor brought the truck to a stop

shovelmouth83 reply :

Good to see you both are okay.

slonezp reply :

Ouch!

scaleface reply :

Thankfully nobody is seriously injured . That was a good looking boat .

A-Jay reply :

So glad you weren't injured.

Any chance there's some insurance that could assist in recovering some or all of your losses ?

A-Jay

haggard reply :

On 7/15/2018 at 8:10 AM, A-Jay said:

So glad you weren't injured.

Any chance there's some insurance that could assist in recovering some or all of your losses ?

A-Jay

Supposedly he is insured - let's hope so. I'll find out more next week.

A-Jay reply :

On 7/15/2018 at 8:11 AM, haggard said:

Supposedly he is insured - let's hope so. I'll find out more next week.

Good Luck to you moving forward though you clearly had it on your side when you needed it most today.

A-Jay

jbmaine reply :

Haggard lives close to me and I am blessed to call him a friend. Thank god he and the other driver are OK. He spent a lot of time and sweat turning his tracker into a good fishing machine. Hope the insurance will make good. As he said that stretch of road has been very dangerous lately.

Really makes you not take anything for granted.

haggard reply :

Funny part to this story... so when I was a kid my Dad (who some might call obsessive/compulsive) set each of us kids up with a tool box. Color coded, mine was yellow; two sisters had red and blue. Tools were also color coded. Still using those tools 35+ years later. Use them constantly. Today before heading to camp I reached for the yellow wrench set (Dad spray painted them yellow) to unbolt the basement door to put the kayak away before loading up the jon boat, and clearly recall thinking I can't believe I still haven't lost these over the years. Threw them in the boat to head to camp. A couple hours later, when the crash happened, this 5-pc wrench set was scattered in the roadway and hidden in grassy ditches. Literally one by one, found each of the 5 wrenches, and after some searching, the spring clip that held them together. I can't even believe 1) this is what I thought was important at the time and 2) all pieces were recovered, ready for more use. Can't wait to tell Dad the story

Mobasser reply :

Glad your OK, and that's great about finding your tools

haggard reply :

On 7/15/2018 at 9:08 AM, jbmaine said:

Haggard lives close to me and I am blessed to call him a friend. Thank god he and the other driver are OK. He spent a lot of time and sweat turning his tracker into a good fishing machine. Hope the insurance will make good. As he said that stretch of road has been very dangerous lately.

Really makes you not take anything for granted.

For the first few months I thought the fishing was the best part. After 10 or 11 months, I'm reminded the people you meet while fishing are the best part. Thank you @jbmaine and the forum.

Junger reply :

Glad you're taking this all in stride, hopefully the person's insurance company takes care of it all for you.

Bluebasser86 reply :

Wow, amazing everyone made it out of that okay.

NorcalBassin reply :

Glad to hear you're okay and able to keep a sense of humor through everything. Hopefully their insurance comes through.

Bankbeater reply :

Dang! I'm glad no one was hurt too bad.

Burke reply :

First of all - Im glad that you are okay and all of that.

Things are replaceable, but life is not.

Oregon Native reply :

What an adventure...glad all is well.

BigAngus752 reply :

On 7/15/2018 at 7:29 AM, haggard said:

glad the mushroom anchor brought the truck to a stop

I think you'll find a fluke anchor will grip the asphalt better...

Dwight Hottle reply :

Wow glad your safe. Hopefully insurance should take care of the rest.

EGbassing reply :

On 7/15/2018 at 10:07 PM, Dwight Hottle said:

Wow glad your safe. Hopefully insurance should take care of the rest.

Surely insurance would take care of that. It wasn't his fault at all.

haggard reply :

Turns out the owner was insured, thankfully. I was surprised at how quickly the insurance co. is processing everything. Truck fix is delayed for 3+ weeks because the shop is busy but it's drivable in the meantime. Boat is declared total loss and check should be cut this week.

I was fine with resigning myself to using the kayak for the rest of the season, until my son says yesterday he'd like to try fishing. Wahoo! Wait, no boat... so I take him to the rocky beach to learn on the salty shore. He did great on spinners and baitcasters. No fish but this was really just an intro to the gear and techniques. But the lake setting in a boat would have been far better than learning on slippery rocks with waves coming at us.

So we got home and I see my original boat (now totally stripped, as all the parts went to the now dead jon) sitting in the shed, along with the donor/parts motor that also contributed to the jon. Boat, motor and trailer are worn and tired but there may be just enough left of them to put together something that can get on the lake for the rest of the season.

This will have to be tiller steer; need to make a makeshift tiller handle, mount the throttle control at the stern; convert long shaft motor to short; somehow tighten the mount to the transom (bolts are seized, motor was used in salt).

Project begins tomorrow. This could be good.

Smokinal reply :

Wow; just seeing this thread now. So glad you're ok; sorry to hear about the accident.

I'm in S Maine...I'll pm ya

haggard reply :

Update on resurrecting the old boat with the spare/donor motor to get me through the rest of the season. I had stripped all the electric start and remote control cables thinking I'd just use the rope start, but had no luck pull starting it and it was very exhausting. Over the last couple days I pieced the electric start bits back together. Fortunately I had some photos of the motor when I bought it, showing what cables went where - starter solenoid, start/stop switch, etc. It cranks but doesn't start. Replaced the spark plugs and it fires right up now.

This will be a tiller steer but there's no tiller yet. It shouldn't be hard to make a makeshift one. This is for steering only; the throttle control is a separate remote unit. Milk crate seat with flotation cushion; mounted the throttle control nearby; start/stop switch and solenoid mounted to the gunnel.

It's ironic that the boat and motor I thought had reached the end of their lives are now coming together. It just might work

soflabasser reply :

Good thing that both drivers are ok even though the guy should of been more careful driving. This reminds me of Okeechobee road (US 27) in South Florida. This road has similar accidents since many people on Okeechobee road like to drive +20 mph over the speed limit, skip each other to get ahead,rarely use turn signals when turning, and don't look where they are going. Wish there was more enforcement on the road and not just speed traps that you see from time to time.

DINK WHISPERER reply :

Glad you're ok! The rest will buff right out ????

haggard reply :

A very good day.

How fitting it seems that on the final weekend of summer the old boat got an afternoon of attention it deserved and is ready for fall fishing. Got the motor mount shimmed in, flooring installed, tiller handle installed, cables dressed, sun top installed. It's a hideous looking mess put together with whatever I could find in the basement or the yard, plus $100 in new stuff at Home Depot. This 1966 Starcraft was my first boat and there's just something I really love about it.

I didn't want to step on the bare aluminum hull so laid down three 2x4 ft PCV sheets with fake grass carpet stapled onto it - gets wet and won't rot, no slip grip and dampens the sound, smallies will never know I'm coming

The motor is a 1975 Evinrude 15hp 2-stroke electric start bought off Craigslist from a salt water sailboat, originally used as a spare/donor for my (now deceased) 1976 Evinrude. Start/stop switches and starter solenoid are mounted to the gunnel because, well, the gunnel was there. It fires up but needs some finessing of the choke and throttle until it's warmed up; after that it seems to stabilize. Mostly.

Sun top (critical!) is PVC pipe mounted on galvanized steel flanges and pipes, with canvas on top.

Gas tank and battery will be mounted (okay, just placed) as far forward as possible to balance things out while I sit at the stern.

Throttle control mounted on the gunnel. Milk crate seat.

Tiller handle is a steel floor flange with 12 in. pipe threaded in.

Motor mount screws are seized so I just wedged in some composite shims.

Trailer could use some love.

Intended purpose is for this outfit to get me through end of season. Next year hope to have a new boat.

It ain't pretty. Viewer discretion is advised