Well I got to take the boat out, and of course day one has to be an event. I launched the boat and puttered around a bit near the ramp.. shut it off, started it again, played with the trolling motor, etc.. so finally all seems well so I haul across the lake. Back and forth a few times having a blast.. Then I see the birds working some shad so of course its time to fish a bit. It was cold so I didn't plan to stay long. I got two keeper sandies in the live well when the wind picked up and the temp dropped. Time to head in right? WRONG! Starting battery is dead.. So I try switching the trolling motor battery but it just won't turn the motor over. By this time I'm closer to the FM side of the lake (parked at meadowmere) and trying to fight the wind with the trolling motor, all the while knowing that battery is gonna die and I'm screwed. So I turn into the wind figuring I'll park on the bank on the FM side. Made it over there after a couple hours of trolling and find a cove to park it in. All the time I was trolling I had 3 lines in the water catching sandies. Wasn't all that concerned that the wind was taking me to parts of the lake I hadn't been to before. I was catching! Ended up in Roanoke somewhere and man what an adventure.. Called my wife and had her pick me up to go get a new battery. Took the boat (with new starting battery) out again yesterday and had a blast.. Again got into a few sandies and got some fresh shad for the freezer. Planning to target Catfish all month if you know what I mean.

As always let me know if I can help.

sweet!

sucks you had to buy a new battery but sounds like it worked out for you.

SSF,

Word from the wise, now that you have a boat. Change those batteries every 3 years whether they need it or not. Doesn't matter how many hours used or times charged, CHANGE THEM! When you are young and working a career like you, fishing time is way to precious to miss any due to bad batteries.

I have changed mine every 3 years like clockwork since 1985 and haven't had a problem since, except the one time I forgot to turn the master power switch off overnight and I also forgot to plug in the on-board charger. But don't blame me! Blame the beer!

Kevin

Hey i didn't miss any fishing time.. I don't care if I'm stuck overnight, thats called drifting for blues!!! I bought a new starting battery and a new charger. next will be two trolling motor batteries, but thats gotta wait till I recover from Christmas spending lol. And they trolling motor batteries proved themselves so it'll wait a couple weeks.

Battery question. I accidentally reversed the poles on my charger. Of course it was dead as a door nail the next time I tried to use it. Will it be OK if I put the leads on correctly and recharge?

Sorry to hear that Mark, but at least you made the best of it!

Sounds like you made the best of a not so good situation.
Congrats on the new boat.

man mark seems like when it comes to boats u always have an adventure lol oh well at least you made it to safty

Carpaholic,

Most likely you did not damage the batteries. You might have blown the charger, though.

Most of the higher end chargers have auto polarity protection. They will trip off when hooked up wrong then automatically reset themselves when unplugged. Most of the cheaper ones just blow: sometimes a fuse, sometimes a transformer.

Just hook it back up and see if it starts charging. If it does, great. If it doesn't, start looking for a blown fuse inside the charger.

Kevin

Had my boat out yesterday in 30mph winds. Lots of fun for a short cruise. First time the kids had been in it...

No kidding about boat adventures..


Shoot..


I still remember when that Game Warden hassled you when we took that one boat out on Worth.




-Z-

Seriously!! Hey we need to go get us some sandies, I owe you and your buddy a trip.. Don't think I forgot you guys. Send me a pm with your number and we'll make some plans.

check your pm's ssf