St Johns Trip - Sea Pearl 21 Lessons Learned

DUE TO ISSUES WITH PHOTOBUCKET ALL OF MY CONTENT, PICS OTHER BLOG POSTS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO journalofmicrotom.blogspot.com. PLEASE GO TO MY OTHER SITE TO SEE ALL PICS..

• A tiller tamer is a must. I pulled a MacGyver and got one working but I need to rig a real one.
• Keeping the centerboard slightly down allows for easier turning.
• You can never have too many bungees.
• Pull the plug when it rains. Pull it when anchored for the night. Its much easier than bailing.
• Remember to put the plug back in before going again.
• Hang fenders horizontally off of the oar locks for better protection
• Oars don't last long when you use them for pushing off the bottom.
• Storing masts off of the centerline frees up a lot of space and access to the compartment. Need to come up with a slick way to do that quickly. I might add additional oar locks that are sized for the masts.
• Electric rigging with navigation lights would be nice.
• PVC rollers do well for getting over land obstacles such as weirs.
• 2 HP Honda 4 stroke on a Sea Pearl 21 will get around 40 MPG.
• The 2 HP Honda 4 stroke has a manual tilt adjustment with 4 positions. Nice for very shallow areas.
• You can stand on the starboard rail and make the motor come up a couple inches when negotiating shallow water. 
• A few hatch modifications are in order. New buckles on the sides, Perko latches on top. A couple of spacers are needed to make the hatch lid line up better and be easier to open and close.
• A Sea Pearl 21 fully loaded with camping gear is very hard to load on the trailer compared to an empty boat.