(Read this only if you are having a boring winter, stuck indoors in Northern climates)... Here's a minor, but still typically infuriating, story of what we boaters go through. When I bought my '72 Hatteras Yachtfish, one of the many things I did was paint the aft rub rails...the ones down low near the water, from the stern about 12 feet forward on each side..So I figured I'd get an inflatable and the tube sides would prevent any knicks scratches...which worked. I got a good deal on a big used Zodiac....But when I pulled the 14ft Zodiac up on edge on the swim platform, the Bow and stern stuck out about 12 inches each side....In rough water the waves would catch the lower tube and bounce the whole boat. And the 30HP outboard was past my ability to haul in and out...without the cockpit transom door, I'd never have made it...One slip and I'd lose a foot... So I found a used 11 foot Whaler...and a (lighter) 15 HP outboard....The boat fits across the swim platform without sticking out...Now I can run rough water and not have to look back every minute or two...Success??? well .....the black Whaler edges would bump the hull and leave little marks....usually on quiet evenings without wind....So I bought polyester fabric encased foam molding and added it all around....screwed top and bottom to the whaler top edge... What I didn't realize is that the underside screws holding the molding to the Whaler were at just the right height to scrape the top of the Hatteras rub rail...so whenever the Whaler swung around the underside screws dug up the Hatteras Molding..... So I added a SS mast and boom to haul the damn Whaler up on top of the cockpit....aboard the boat and very safe....Finally!!! And I could leave the outboard mounted to the Whaler...So This fall the last thing I did before returning to my Marina was repaint the Hatteras rub rails....while hanging on from the Whaler..a real pain....but they looked so nice (again) !!! I left the boat in a temporary spot and came home for two weeks...Unexpectedly the yard moved my Hatteras to it's winter stall (I told them "don't move it, I'll drive up and do it"...)..When I arrived at the boat...there was a four foot long scrape where the rub rail gouged against the underside of a bumper wheel on the dock... Spring time: Paint job # 3 for the port rub rail!!! Oh, and after the first snow of the year, I realized the rightside up whaler collected a lot of snow....it sits for weeks before melting out....is a cover next??? Cheers, Rob Brueckner

> >So I found a used 11 foot Whaler...and a (lighter) 15 HP outboard....The boat > fits across the swim platform without sticking out...Now I can run rough >water and not have to look back every minute or two...Success??? > >well .....the black Whaler edges would bump the hull and leave little >marks....usually on quiet evenings without wind....So I bought polyester >fabric encased foam molding and added it all around....screwed top and bottom >to the whaler top edge... > >What I didn't realize is that the underside screws holding the molding to the >Whaler were at just the right height to scrape the top of the Hatteras rub >rail...so whenever the Whaler swung around the underside screws dug up the >Hatteras Molding..... > >So I added a SS mast and boom to haul the damn Whaler up on top of the >cockpit....aboard the boat and very safe....Finally!!! And I could leave the >outboard mounted to the Whaler...So This fall the last thing I did before >returning to my Marina was repaint the Hatteras rub rails....while hanging on >from the Whaler..a real pain....but they looked so nice (again) !!! > >I left the boat in a temporary spot and came home for two >weeks...Unexpectedly the yard moved my Hatteras to it's winter stall (I told >them "don't move it, I'll drive up and do it"...)..When I arrived at the >boat...there was a four foot long scrape where the rub rail gouged against >the underside of a bumper wheel on the dock... > >Spring time: Paint job # 3 for the port rub rail!!! ======================================================== Bob why don't you check this site and see the way I carry my Whaler and 15HP outboard. Nothing marks anything........ http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain/pics.html . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email yourcaptain@earthlink.net Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain