Overboard Boater

The dude posing in the picture above doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. I try to avoid drinking coffee before heading out, for obvious reasons. Particularly when I’m on small, open boats. Problem: Being on the water on the margins of the day, especially over consecutive days, can make a person bone tired. Something’s got to give.

I’ve tried Vivarin. It’s like mainlining espresso straight into your veins. You’re uber-edgy and the same issues with coffee arise. An anecdotal aside: I tried a few to stay up on New Year’s one time. It worked but the next day I temporarily lost the ability to sweat. Verdict: Avoid on boats.

I’ve tried Mountain Dew. It has less caffeine than coffee, but the pure sugar content usually provides a quick boost, without the edginess. But, for me anyhow, the weaker caffeine crash is partially offset by the sugar crash. Plus, a 12-ounce can has 170 empty calories. The 20-ounce diet Code Red is pretty awesome, but I found it only once in a gas station mini-mart in South Carolina. Verdict: Maybe.

I bring energy bars. I eat them and like them and want them aboard, but that early in the morning I’m trying to stave off delirium, not run an exercise circuit. Not enough juice. Verdict: Maybe.

Lately, Five-hour Energy’s have been getting it done. I’ve taken them on fishing trips and felt alert and sharp, but usually for only around three hours. For me, at least, it starts to fade at that point but there’s no crash as with coffee, and none of coffee’s unwanted side effects, even though it contains caffeine. I’m not convinced taking 8,000 percent of your recommended B12 is a healthy thing in the long haul, but until someone tells me otherwise, I’m sticking with it. Just not every day.

The guide, who turned out to be one of the top tarpon chasers in the Keys, eased off the throttle and looked around at the scenery. He had an idea of where to run for the fish, but needed to get his bearings. He reached down under the console and pulled out…a restaurant placemat. It had a map on it that provided a rough illustration of the surrounding waters.

“I don’t care for electronics,” he said. Sure enough he pointed the boat to the area where he knew we’d find fish. And we did.

Sometimes all the technology in the world doesn’t stack up to local knowledge.

A new study from the University of Miami shows that flip flops are bacteria factories. They can harbor up to 18,000 different  bacteria, including e coli and deadly strains of staph.

This does not bode well for my summer.

I’ve got a thing for dry bags. Finding one in backpack form has been a challenge. The typical PVC material just doesn’t feel as pliable as it should, especially when stuffing it with things. The Aquapac Waterproof Backpack is made of TPU coated nylon fabric. TPU stands for Thermoplastic Polyurethane, which gives the pack its waterproofing.

I used the Aquapac on a weeklong boating and fishing junket, stuffing it with my cell phone, digital camera, video camera, wallet, and various garments for layering. Everything stayed dry. There’s a clear interior pocket that seals with hook and latch strips, where I kept my phone and wallet, and a yellow waterproof interior pocket where I threw the clothes.

The bag took a lot of saltwater spray and the outer shell lost none of its pliable feel. It also felt like a real backpack, comfortable to wear when I adjusted the straps. We’ll see how it holds up over a season of hard use, but so far I’m a fan.

Price: $85, www.aquapac.net

Inflatable PFDs don't interfere with fishing.

Anglers are usually the ones boating on the margins of bad weather, and most of them don’t wear the most basic of protection. Don’t want it to get in the way, is the common refrain against wearing life jackets. Just get an inflatable, man, and be done with it.

Lenny Rudow has always advocated inflatable PFDs for his offshore trips. He prefers the fanny back style that goes around your waist. After spending two days wearing a horse-collar style inflatable while fishing for spring striped bass on the Chesapeake with Capt. Tom Hughes (pictured) for (shameless self promotion alert) my book project.

I didn’t notice it during hours of fly casting and after the last trip  I hopped onto the dock and started walking to the car forgetting I had it on. I’m investing in an automatic inflatable jacket like this SOSspenders or Mustang and keeping it with my fishing gear. It doesn’t make sense not to wear one.

IMTRA announced back in February its new line of dimmable marine LED lights. Other companies are pushing them as well (see Yachtlights.com). LEDS are gaining increasing traction with boat builders and owners alike for their benefits, despite the higher initial cost.

I recently called IMTRA for an explanation of the benefits of LED lights on boats. Here’s the jist of my conversation with Kinder Woodcock of IMTRA: LED lights are more expensive than traditional halogen or incandescent bulbs, but over the long term they can pay you back.

The numbers are hard to quantify on small boat applications, unlike in your home or on a large yacht where they are easily measured. But the efficiency gain is still an advantage.

“They’re good for boaters whose main objective is to save power,” said Woodcock. LED lights are around 60-80 percent more efficient than traditional bulbs and will put far less strain on your power supply. If you refit your boat with all LED fixtures you may be able to get away with a smaller battery bank, genset, or inverter. Just swapping out the bulbs could make a difference. A typical halogen bulb that sells for $3 might last for 500 hours on your boat. But a $20 quality “current regulated” LED bulb could last for 50,000 hours. That’s 100 times the product life for seven times the cost.

This comes from IMTRA, but third party sources and builders I’ve talked to have advocated for LEDS, so going LED could be a good long term investment. At the very least, LEDS will cut down on power usage on the water or overnighting on the hook. That’s worth something.

Ethanol, in the form of E10 gasoline, is considered by many (me included) to be the scourge of boating. The fuel company Valvtect claims to have a solution in the form of its Ethanol Gasoline Treatment. The company did some tests, and claims its product helps with the three main issues: storage stability, corrosion, and phase separation.

Personally, I’d like to see ethanol removed from our gas supply so we wouldn’t need a fuel additive, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen at the moment. So Valvtect Treatment it is.

This is something I’d love to test over a season to verify. Until then, this is the information I have. The following text is straight from the press release so these are their words, not mine:

In an independent laboratory test, using the same ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) protocol used by gasoline refiners and engine manufacturers, ValvTect Ethanol Gasoline Treatment almost doubled the stability (storage life) of the E10 ethanol-blended gasoline.  ”This is exceptional performance, especially since one of the industry’s most widely used ethanol treatment additives only improved the stability of the E10 by 20% in the same test,” said ValvTect president Jerry Nessenson.

ValvTect reports that ValvTect Ethanol Gasoline Treatment completely prevented corrosion in a National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) corrosion test, while the competitive product tested did not prevent corrosion.  ”Components in an engine’s fuel lines, carburetors and injectors are made of a steel alloy that can corrode when using ethanol or even non-ethanol gasoline,” said Nessenson.  ”There are wide-spread reports of corrosion that can be avoided with the use of an effective ethanol gasoline treatment, such as ValvTect Ethanol Gasoline Treatment.”

In the ASTM moisture control test, ValvTect Ethanol Gasoline Treatment retained more water and ethanol in the fuel than the untreated E10 or the competitive product.  ”This is an important feature that can help prevent phase separation,” said Nessenson.

“These test results prove the effectiveness of ValvTect Ethanol Gasoline Treatment to help prevent the most common ethanol related problems,” said Nessenson.  ”Boat owners should not be afraid to use E10 ethanol gasoline if they use an effective ethanol gasoline treatment, such as ValvTect, and apply good fuel system maintenance.”

The Sea Shocks pad absorbs some of the impact of boating.

The curse of the small-boat owner who stands at the helm all day is an aching back. All that up and down impact over the course of a season, and over the years, takes its toll on your spine.

Since I like to operate center consoles in the 20-24′ range, I fall right into back pain central. Last season, I sought to alleviate that problem by placing a blue Sea Shocks mat under my feet at the helm. It was my first season in a while without experiencing back problems. So I’d say it worked.

The pad itself is pretty basic. It’s a blue marine-grade cover placed over a SKYDEX core. SKYDEX is a shock absorbing and vibration dampening cushioning technology . (They also sell military grade products with blast dampening capabilities.)

SKYDEX at work in the Sea Shocks mat.

The only drawback is the mat is expensive. But in the long run it could save on chiropractor and doctor bills.

Price: $149. Contact: www.seashocks.com

The Boating Suite app has six functions.

Here’s where Apple gets insidious. You buy an iPhone or iPod Touch and think the score is settled. But the practically-free $.99 songs add up when the purchases total in the thousands. Worse are the revolutionary apps that change your life for a small fee. If an app says “boating” or “fishing” in the title, or appears even remotely related, I feel compelled to buy it. Even if just for research purposes. Which is why I bought the new Boating Suite App.

So, I hit that little blue rectangle that reads $4.99 and quickly watched it turn into the green “Buy Now” one. Here’s what I got. It’s a suite of six lists: A Fuel Log, Maintenance Log, Expense Log, To Do List, Shopping List, and Reports. It does some things for you. Like in the Fuel Log, if you input all your hours and fuel fill ups, it will track your fuel economy. But mostly it looks like a way to compile all the information you’re supposed to about your boat in one place.

Since I just got it, I won’t have much more useful to say about it until trying it for a while. And there’s the rub, too, will it be an app that breaks the trend and actually gets used? Most, according to CNET, gather figurative dust.

For the record, I check some, like the NOAA Buoy Data app, the Weather Channel app, and the Oakley Surf Report app on at least a daily basis. So it is possible for some useful ones to be habitual. Time will tell.

When buying a brand new boat, there’s the sticker price on the showroom floor and then there’s the actual price, often pushed several hundred to several thousand dollars higher when you’re forced to add on “options” that you won’t leave the dealership without.

I just bought a new car and, during the negotiations, made the dealer throw in some so-called options, like floor mats and roof rack cross bars, for free to seal the deal. Try it with your boat dealer, too. Here’s a list of a few things to look for:

COMPASS–Why this is ever listed as an option is beyond me. They’re inexpensive for the manufacturer to include, and no self-respecting boater is leaving the dealership without one. Sure, the fancy GPS/Charplotter unit you installed has all the answers. But if your electrical fails, the basic compass is your ticket home.

COAST GUARD KIT–You can’t boat without these basic safety items on board such as flares, air horn, life jackets, throwable pfd, anchor, fire extinguisher–why should you leave the dealership without them? Could you imagine a car company offering seat belts as an option?

BATTERY SWITCH–Even with a single battery, you’ll want the ability to shut off the power to all but the bilge pump if you’re leaving your boat unattended for a long stretch.