Pedal Boat Interrupted

We have found a project that has put a halt to our summer activities for the next several weeks. We were gifted a 1967 Santa Fe Travel Trailer and are restoring it from the frame up. We are devoting every second of spare time to the trailer so that we can continue this summers fishing and boating adventures in a bit more style than we are used to. If you are interested in seeing the progress of the Trailer feel free to check out the blog I am writing during the restoration.

http://www.traileradventure.blogspot.com/

Opening Day

We had decided to fish Silver Fork, American River near Kyburz, Ca on April 24th. We traveled east on Hwy 50 for about an hour to get there on Friday evening, we just wanted a little looksee. Turns out the water was way to cold to fish, but it was a nice drive and allowed us to make alternate plans for the weekend.

Camping at Mineral Bar

It was a nice weekend to spend outdoors so we settled down at Mineral Bar campground. Once again east, but this time on I-80 to Colfax and then follow the American river to camp. Although small, Mineral bar is a popular recreation area. White water enthusiasts launch their boats in the day use area during the higher waters in spring and gold hunters pan, sluice, and scrape during the summer. The fishing is marginal says the fish and game guys, I would have to agree... I didn't catch anything. There are 17 or 18 camping spots that are decent to marginal and more poison oak than you can shake a stick at. There are two spots down by the river that would be great if you had a group that was big enough to fill two sites. I think they are spots 17 and 18.

Our campsite and a bit of the American River in the pics above. I don't think the pedal boat is ready for those waters... Fortunately Sugar Pine Reservoir is about 25 minutes up the road.

Kimberly is a froggy type and couldn't resist chasing this little guy down to show me. A couple more shots of the American River near Mineral Bar Campground.

Sugar Pine Reservoir

A link on one of my favorite blogs, Northern California Trout, led me to the Fish and Game trout planting schedule. Sugar Pine Reservoir was recently planted and sounded like a nice place to take the pedal boat.

 

We traveled via Iowa Hill road, I don't reccommend it for the faint of heart. Lots of twisting one lane road along a deep ravine with sections that have signs boasting 15% grades. Kimberly had to take a nap... Sugar Pine can also be reached by Forest Hill Road, a much tamer route. There is a campground but it does not open 'til late May.

There is a forest road north of the campgrounds that has quite a few unimproved camping sites. They will most likely be rowdy during peak season but always worth a look.

        

We ate dinner in the parking lot. Kimberly found another critter, a little california newt.

   

We had a great time on the lake over the next couple of evenings but watched every one else catch the fish. They were either casting needlefish, which we didn't have or anchoring at the mouth of the stream and throwing power bait to sit in the current. We had no anchor and can't use the trolling motor until we license the boat. We will buy or make an anchor real soon, the wind really pushes us around. We are going to be a fish huntin' machine when we get fully equipped and legal.

Until later,

One of Many...

We have been taking advantage of all the great weather this year. I have several things to enter into the diary and will try to make a few posts over the next couple of days.  I haven't posted since the first night of our vacation when I sat, late at night, in the library of the old colonial home we were staying in.  The Daly Inn , a nice B&B in Eureka,  made a great place to stay. Eureka is half way between Sacramento and Eugene. We didn't take the paddle boat to Oregon but it was fun and it is worth a mention here.

Trip to Oregon

We stayed at the Cornelius Daly Inn

Stopped for a walk around Patricks Point State Park. These parks near the boarder, on the coast, are childhood camping favorites.

Steelhead fishing within 5 minutes walking distance from our friends Bob and Monique's house in Harrisburg.

The Willamette River, OR

Some of the creeks and rivers I regularly fished when living in Oregon.

North Fork Santiam, Breitenbush, etc. I miss those waters...

Until Next Time,

Tiller Project

A couple of days ago I fashioned a new tiller for our pedal boat. The stock tiller was very short and made it uncomfortable to steer the rudder while peddling. Kimberly said, "If it was only just a little bit longer..." and that was my cue to figure something out.

I found an old piece of furniture in the wood pile that came with our house. I have no idea what variety of wood it is but it is tough, it has been sitting in dirt, water and leaves for at least five years and only has some surface damage.

The original plastic handle that we decided was too short.

I cut the furniture piece to length and set up the drill press to angle the shaft so that the tiller handle would clear a jar of salmon eggs.

Drilled, sanded, and ready for a coat of polyurethane.

Tiller hanging from 4 pound test to dry. I sanded after 3 hours and repeated until I had 4 coats of polyurethane. Tiller on the picnic table after 24 hours dry time. (I should probably put some protectant on the table as well.) Kimberly's dad built our picnic table and benches.

I had to remove the shaft from the boat to drill the pilot hole at the correct angle. Counter sinking a little deeper than usual so that there is room to fill a plug of wood glue following the lag screw. That should seal everything up.

Hemp twine was used to reinforce the handle near the shaft. I soaked the twine in polyurethane and then tightly wrapped the wood. Of course I made a mess out of the tiller in the process and had to sand and put a 5th coat of poly on and wait another 24 hours to dry. A small piece of PVC pipe was used as a bushing to keep the twine from wearing. Ace Hardware has a bin of black plugs, hopefully one will fit the shaft tube, Kimberly doesn't think the grey rubber piece looks like it belongs...

While working on the tiller handle there was time to sand and put a new coat of poly on the wood strip for the rod rack. Also changed the screws over to stainless steel and reversed the racks so that we could easily use from inside the boat.

Overall, I am pretty happy with how the project looks and we are very pleased with the functionality, so much easier to reach now.

Fish On! This little boat rocks.

On Thursday, we hooked up with our first fish on the new pedal boat! We put the boat in at the Willow Creek ramp on Lake Natoma, paddled out of the small cove and went across the lake to the river rock piles. We were fishing the points hoping to find some bass or panfish. Kimberly threw out a yellow crappie jig and was smacked the moment it hit the water. The little jig was eaten by an 18 inch carp that gave a terrific fight. She was using her ultra light pole equipped with 4 pound test.               

                                       

Believe it or not there is a fish along with the picture of the finger. We are going to purchase an inexpensive digital camera as the iphone isn't the best camera on a boat.

I was looking on Craig's List and found a trolling motor for cheap. It is an older Minn Kota Turbo 40, five speeds forward and three in reverse. It has 27lbs. of thrust and pushes the boat fast and quiet. I made a make-shift motor mount. I will do something else more permanent soon. I am using a portable jump starter as my battery at the moment but plan on finding a marine battery.
                                      

Until next time...

Pedal Boat Crank Project

Today I started to tinker around with the pedal boat. The first project was to remove the gravel from the pedals. The tiny rocks came with the boat and make an awful squealing/grinding noise when you use the pedals. My phone was handy so I took pictures of the process.

Removed the pedal by inserting a flat object into the larger pair of slots on the pedal. Push down into each slot while gently prying apart the pedal with your fingers. Once you get one side, turn over the pedal.

After removing the pedal all the gravel fell out and left me with a rusty and pitted crank.

Sanded with 100 grit sandpaper to remove the rust and smooth out the pitting on the crank shaft. Hold the paper around the shaft and "pedal" the boat to make the work quick.

 

Crank shaft after sanding.

I masked off the area with a paper bag and sprayed it with Rustoleum.

The pedals cleaned and reinstalled on the crank. The rust stained the plastic on one of the pedals. The paint will wear off but the main purpose of the job was to remove all of that annoying gravel. I am glad that we don't visit too many beaches made of decomposed granite.