Viking Lars | Saturday, 30 June 2018
The sun is shining is it's blazing hot and I'm in mood for fishing, so today is maintenance day on the Anderson Speedster pontoon boat. They really require next to no maintenance, but even so, a little goes a long way in keeping it in good condition for a long, long time.
The pontoons get dirty over time - grit and algae settle on them, especially right on the waterline. I clean that off about once a year, dpending on how much use the boat has seen. I blow up the pontoons, clean off algae and other stuff with a special cleaner, and then seal the PVC again, also using a special sealer. All supplied by Anderson Pontoon. It doesn't take lon, maybe 45 minutes, and the PVC is good to go for another year or so.
I go over the buckles and straps to make sure they're in good shape. They're plastic, and I've stepped on one and ruined it (thankfully when packing down after a trip). It's cheap and easy tpo replace it, but still, I think it pays to take a look at them every once in a while. The straps are used to tightening the pontoons onto the frame, and erach pontoon is secured using three straps, so even if you miss one, you're still good.
The frame itself is powdercoated aluminium, so it needs no maintenance, other than maybe a wet rag to give a clean if one is so inclined. The joints, however, used to assemble the frame needs a little attention. I've got sand in two of them making it very hard to assemble and take apart. that needs to be cleaned off. The boat comes with all joints lubricated with a heavy lubricant called Prolan. That stuff seems to harden somewhat over time, so I'll strip hardened Prolan off and apply fresh coats. And that's it, really!
But more important I need to come up with a way of attaching my new linetray, made from the bottom of an old, square plastic masonry bucket. I stole the idea from Henrik Leth, and I actually think someone else came up with the idea, and I'm not sure who. But - it's obvious to me that the tray is going to work great, and I want to be able to attach and remove it quickly. I'm thinking some plactic bottles and some nylon straps on two or three well-chosen spots that corresponds to somewhere on the frame, so the tray remains stable and secure. That's for later today.
And then, I'll be all ready to hit the west coast and catch mackeral and sea bass, which is great fun! It's amazing how hard a less-than-a-kilo mackerel pulls. I use an all-synthetic sandeel imitation for the fishing. There's a video on how to tie here, and in the end of that video is a short clip with a mackerel.
Have a great weekend!
Lars