Florida Chapter Anastasia State Park Gathering 2006

[Ira]

That's how I do it--eyes and reel down, and I use the left-hand to crank. (I'm a righty, but both my kids are lefties--like our mailman.)

But for YEARS I reversed the handle to crank with the right hand, because it felt more natural to me. But I guess that unless you're pulling in huge stuff, I don't think it makes much of a difference. Whatever's more comfortable for you.

[cracker39]

Holding it with the reel and guides up, like Asianflava mentioned, puts the pressure of the line on the wrong side of the guides. You can usually change the crank handle to the other side if you want to crank with the right hand. Most spinning reels today are reversible.

[Jiminsav]

are you guys going fishing, or drinking...it's a proven fact you can't do both with 100% participation...it's like talking on a cell phone while driving..the other driver can't hear you say "Aw Sheet"

[asianflava]

Whoops, Sorry guys I had it backwards. Spinning rod is made so the eyes point down...a drum type has the eyes pointing up.

Drum type reels are used for heavy tackle. Look at all the billfish charters and they all use something like a Calcutta reel (High Dollar). Catfish and grouper rigs usually use bait casting reels too.

I prefer a spinning reel, mainly because that is what I grew up using.

[Ira]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I THINK I'm old enough to remember when they didn't even HAVE spinning reels.

As a kid in the early 60s, it was all drum reels that always gave you the crow's nest when you screwed up, and you spent the next hour just untangling your reel.

That's why it was so COOL when I got my first spinner.

[cracker39]

I can remember seeing my first spinning reel and plastic worms. My uncle broght them home from Germany. That was somewhere between 1957 and 1961. I don't think they were even being sold in the states at that time. If they were, I just hadn't seen any. It was several years later before I actually bought one.

[cracker39]

This morning is one that should have been experienced in a camp site. FINALLY...the temp got below 70 degrees during the night (it's 69 right now on the back screened porch). That's the first time since around May that it's been that cool at night. It's so nice to have windows open again, if only for an hour or two before it gets hot again.

Part of the morning was nice anyway. We were rudely awakened by a noise at 6:18 this morning. It sounded like something either dropped to the floor, or a distant concussion may have shook the window. I got up and checked inside and out and found notheing wrong around the house. So, I stayed up and made coffee and my wife turned on the TV as she does every morning to catch the early news. We found out that the noise was the sonic boom made by the space shuttle passsing close by to land at Canaveral. We didn't realize that it was coming in this morning. But, whenever one does land, we hear it go by.

[Ira]

I was thinking about you this morning:

I watched it land on CNN at 6:21.

My wife and I were staying over with friends in Casslebury 15 years ago (before I moved to FL), and when I woke up in the morning my wife said to me:

"I can't believe you slept through that. It sounded like a huge explosion, I screamed, and Diane and Steve came running in laughing, and you didn't move a muscle."

What can I say? I'm a good sleeper.

[Woody]

Hey Ira
Glad to see that you are going to the gathering. Is this the first official gathering for the Crab or have you camped in it already. Just curious. Have you road tested your trailer yet?

[Ira]

I haven't camped in it yet, I haven't road tested it yet, and it isn't DONE yet. (Well, I road tested it on the local streets bringing it to the boatyard.)

But at whatever stage I'm at by the time Nov. 10 arrives, she's going.

Gonna TRY to get a bunch of work done on it this weekend, next weekend, then I'm gonna take some time off work and bring it to the house and risk getting the summons.

Whatever it looks like when I get there, it's gonna look like.

I guess what I'll do is take a half-day off of work on the Thursday before Anastasia to bring it home for supplying that night, but I'll jump on the Sawgrass first for an exit or two as a road test. Maybe I'll have a friend follow me, because with my truck, I'm not going to feel anything anyway.

[Woody]

How much do you have left to do? I would think it should be pretty close by now (just judging by the pictures anyway) for camping. Don't worry I haven't finished my first one totally yet either and have been using it for almost 4 years. It became my "WIP" as it was anyway

[Ira]

I have to:

1) Fix a hatch hinge leak on one side. (#1 priority for Saturday)

2) Put a new skin on the galley cabinet wall where my portholes are located. I hate the way the luan took the redwood stain and varnish. Looks like total crap. Gonna buy another piece of our beloved beaded birch and varnish and use that instead.

3) Reinstall trim for galley side walls, the aluminum u-channel stuff. (I had to remove it to install the wallpaper.) The old pieces weren't on there 100% great anyway, so I'm gonna buy two new pieces and redo.

4) Notch out the galley counter on the ends so the hatch closes 100%. It now sticks up about an inch, because I needed that minimum counter depth to accommodate the sink and to make the counter a practical, useable size.

5) Install hatch handles (yes, two handles) and a latch.

6) Install my crab buoys as bumpers.

7) Install SOMETHING to keep my hatch supports in position. (Just using cut broomstick for this.) Would prefer to use flag holders if I could find any, but I'll probably wind up just using closet rod holders.

8- Install an electric outlet in galley. None there now.

9) Buy and install license plate holder. I lost the one that came with the trailer.

10) Reskin the top of my tongue box with that same beaded birch. Can't figure it out for the life of me, but whatever I used for that top material simply didn't weather well at all. Is there such a thing a bad can of varnish? Or maybe I was really drunk that day and just didn't give it ENOUGH varnish.

11) Bolt the tongue box to the trailer frame with those U-bolts. I've only had the bolts sitting in the box for about 9 months, so I figure it's time to do it.

12) Install Raul's black steel crab on the front of the tongue box.

13) DOOR TRIM! For this trip, all I want to do is add wood molding around the top round part of the doors to conceal the gap and keep heavy water out. On all other sides of the door, I used simple door weather-stripping, and it seems to be working fine. In the future, I'm really going to take my time and trim the doors out right. For now, for the openings, I'm leaving it raw. Would also like to put a little rain diverter/shield up top. We'll see.

14) Maybe trim out the cabin "cabinet" openings. The edges are hidden by curtains , so I really don't care for now.

15) I need to install screens in my door portholes, but looking at the time of the year we'll be up in Anastasia, and with the roof vent, hookups and AC, I doubt I'll have to open them. If I do, I'll deal with the bugs.

I'm sure there's more but I'm getting a stomach ache listing it.

[Woody]

What are you doing building a second one already? Just cosmetic and trim details and some final fitting you should be ready once you address your list and the fun begins CAMPING. I have two lic. plate holders here you are more than welcome to get one if need be. I would install the screens in the portholes. Even though it is cooler that time of year it helps for ventilation at night to have a fresh air vent open while you sleep. It would be an effective deterent for those would be "Pirates in the trees" types of a paranormal nature. Just so they don't disturbed your blissful slumber by sticking thier hands in there and shaking you. Plus it is the rut season of the imfamous, amourus and opportunistic male Chupacabras in that area. So you can smell the wet Billy Goat smell when they are around so you won't be surprised when nature calls in the middle of the night. Bring empty bread bags also minus the little wire twisty thingie just in case

[Ira]

Thanks for the plate offer, Woody--but maybe I'll do something nutty and creative. That can be the LAST thing I do.

I don't think I'm going to worry about stabilizers for this trip, and I'm not going to buy wheel chocks. I'll grab a few branches or rocks for now.

Aside from the stuff I have to buy to finish construction, all I think I have to pick up is a new extreme cooler, and one of those fold-out cooking stations to put crap on. This one at Sports Authority seems to give a lot of space for the buck:

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/ ... age=family

[Woody]

Buy an IGLOO cooler they have thicker lids and hold ice longer than Coleman extremes. I have both and the IGLOO extreme is a far superior product in my book because of the lid design (THICKER). Walmart has cheap plastic orange wheel chocks for around $3-4 dollars. you should look into mounting your tables on the sides of the teardrop instead of free standing. They are more stable than freestanding units when it come to four legged critters visiting you at night. Make sure you get something to stap your lids on your coolers like pull straps to prevent an unwanted snatch and grad from the resident raccoons in the area. They can be rather brazen when hungary and coolers attract them. I had them wallk right up in broad daylight and attempt to open my cooler. Thank God they don't have a taste for beer yet or I would be at war with them