It’s been a few months since the last post, but here we are again. After a lovely, low-stress winter of programming, shoveling snow, and generally doing what Montanan’s do in winter, I am back in Sitka. I’ve been called Crazy by several people who are probably right, but guess I’m just crazy enough to keep on trying. My project list is – large? To say the least! Unfortunately, once I start, I have no way to quit other than admitting total defeat and not even getting to fish this year. That just can’t happen.
As you will recall, my 353 Detroit Diesel steadily spit more goo out the exhaust pipe last season, making a real mess and making me worry constantly about its longevity.
A decision was reached to repower the boat, and I began to search for an engine. I finally settled on a rebuilt Perkins 4.236 marine diesel that was put together by a shop down in Seattle. It is currently on the barge headed for Sitka. In the meantime, I have to remove the old engine, correct any structural issues I find in the bowels of the boat, re-wire, re-plumb, re- everything pretty much. Then, I have to install the new engine, which doesn’t match the old one for placement—build motor mounts, spend a great deal of time aligning the motor and shaft ( there can be no mis-alignment or things come apart).
In addition, I was not pleased with the setup of the hayrack, so Kirk agreed to help me out with constructing a new one. That led to an examination of our poles and cables, and to make a long story short, I am shortening my poles by about 5 feet, removing a bunch of cables and replacing the mast supports with rigid aluminum ones, among other things. Note the poles (37 feet long!) on the work float. 
Oh, did I mention that I am building up a new set of 3-spool gurdies from an old pair I found down in Vancouver last year? I spent all day today sandblasting the miscellaneous parts of bronze castings – a lot of work, but the guys do a fantastic job on them, and this rebuild should last for a long fishing career.
All this before July 1, the King opener here. I’m tired already, and haven’t done anything more than remove my hayrack, gurdies, poles, cables. The boat’s a mess. I sure hope this all works. There are more fish being caught right now in the hatchery openings than most people caught in the big opener last year, and they are all weighing in several pounds heavier – AND, the best part is that prices are holding up higher than normal for this time of year. General optimism among the fleet that this could be one of the best years ever for trollers. That would make it all worthwhile!
Included are a few “before” pictures, and I hope to be able to post steady improvements from here!
Stay tuned…
