Posts by mrmike

Yeah I've heard that before, luckily like I said im a car mechanic and know 2 or 3 boat mechanics so im hoping that will keep costs a little lower.

those are some pretty big black margate in the wheel barrow, if you had weights they might take top notch in the records area.

that girl holding the cuda looks so familiar, makes me want to go through my yearbook, either way good fish aboard your boat

so there it is the only photo I have so far, I can say that im really excited for sunday even though I'll be spearfishing both thursday and sunday

I too have done my google research and the stalker was a flats boat aside from the 200 series. I have seeen the boat in person and can vouch that it is an ocean going vessel. Im going to go do a thorough walk through and ask lots of questions on sunday after beach diving. Again I have seen the boat and think its good deal just wanted to get others opinions/see if anyone had dealt with these types of decisions. I will get a good look at it sunday and have already talked to the owner and he says hed gladly let me take it to a repair shop and get it diagnosed. I reminded him that even if I dont buy it then at least he will have a diagnosis and a shop to go with it. Sunday will probably be the deciding factor. assuming I get it and theres room on the boat then all fdsf (yeah i made that acronym up in my current drunken stupor) members will be allowed onboard for a minimal gas fee, I am by no means going to be a charter vessel but would much rather have a full spearfishing boat rather than a half empty one.

edit: like dan said im a mechanic by day and thats how I make a living so it shouldnt be that hard to figure these things out.... that being said I know people in the boat industry and should be able to get it running for cheap unless it needs a complete overhaul/engine in which it will be a game time decision in which I would be able to negotiate with my g/f's uncle.

SO I've been hunting around for deals on kayaks and every now and then I'll glance around at boats just to see whats out there. Well the boating bug really bit me after spending miniseason out on my friends dusky cc. So the search continued and after finding some good deals and then finding out they'd been sold I stumbled across a 1996 proline 200 stalker with 150 mariner. Ok so my g/f actually found it, its her uncles and it turns out he wants it gone doesnt want to fix it and needs the money etc. It seems the motor overheats but I havent had anytime to look into it, just going based on what he says. The good news is he takes excellent care of it - washes it weekly and waxes monthly even though it hasnt been run in 6-8 months. Also, he just bought a new continental tandem axle trailer for it as well as a new fish finder and radar (all within the past year to year/half) He wants $3500 for it as is. What do you guys think?

Quote from Dan

Sergio, polespear is more difficult so the sense of achievement when landing a nice fish is greater. More into the sporting aspect of spearfishing.

Thats why I like it and continue to do it. If it ever comes to the point where fish is my only means of food then id consider a gun, but to me the sport and added difficulty is whats alluring and gives me great pride in whatever I bring to the table.

nice work! really makes me want to go try some bluewater polespear action

so I decided id go ahead and play with my buttery soft polespear today and decided to section out the soft area and reconnect the 2 halves. So I now have a 5.5' spear and a 1' tip in it for a 6.5' total. its light and should be fast with a 1/2" band. Should be good for maneuvering around tight reefs and shooting fish under rocks/ledges. I guess only time will tell, at least it wasnt a total waste.

this is old but it always amazed me how much practice and how many people must have been involved:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGQ20yDDVzQ

My girlfriend loves this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y

damn we saw 4 lionfish, we tried to net them to kill but couldnt get them. there all over around the keys =(

Quote from Tin Man

5/8" solid rod weighs about 2.2 lbs for a 72" long piece, and has a relative stiffness of 0.152.

3/4" OD tube with a 1/16" wall weighs 0.97 lbs for a 72" piece, and has a relative stiffness of 0.163.

You got it. The 3/4" tube is a hair stiffer, and less than half the weight. Chad and I (well mostly Chad) have been playing with some blue water pole spear designs. After testing the 3/4" prototype, we redesigned it to be 5/8" OD. That seems to be where many of them (like the Odor) end up.

What wall thickness did you find to be stiff enough/light enough?

WOW 1000mm piece = $1443!!!!!!!!!!!! im sure it would make a fantastic polespear DON but at that price it would take a lifetime to pay for itself. HMMM I do know somebody that works for NASA up at Canveral.... Maybe ill try to make a phone call later this afternoon.

see my last post I edited it rather than posting again

Quote from Tin Man

No way. I really wanted it to work out.

If you are going to make the aluminum tube one continuous piece, and you don't intend to get nuts with really heavy bands, then yes, i think that it will probably be strong enough. And you have exactly the right idea by "counter drilling" a little to leave the stainless at the full diameter, and then starting the threads a little deeper.

For what it's worth, and at the risk of letting the inner nerd out, the stiffness of a round tube is proportional to: OD (to the fourth power) - ID (to the fourth power). So if you wanted to compare the stiffness of 5/8" solid rod to 1/2" solid rod (of the same material), for example, then the ratio would be:

(.625 x .625 x .625 x .625) / (.5 x .5 x .5 x .5) which equals 2.44 . So the 5/8" rod is 2.44 times as stiff as the 1/2" rod.

The reason I say this is to emphasize that a small change in diameter can pay big dividends in stiffness. A 5/8" tube can have a thinner wall and be the same weight as a 1/2" tube, but the 5/8" will still be much stiffer.

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OK is rod or tube stiffer??? I always thought tube was stiffer but maybe im wrong. My Odor is 5/8" rod, my next project will be 1/2" tube with a .120 wall (almost 1/8") again. its about a pound lighter as far as the material goes, but I don't know if it will be rigid enough to use my 1/2" OD band.

Jeff you just had me pounding buttons on my calculator for maybe 30 minutes. I guess the question of which is stiffer isnt really fair, but stiffness/weight is. by my number crunching(and your formula) I gather that 3/4" tube by 1/16" wall is just a hair stiffer than 5/8" rod, but weighs over a pound less for the given 6'.

we saw 3 big stone crabs, 2 on day 1 and 1 on day 2. all three in tight holes in a grass bed

bad news!!!!!!!!! I underestimated Jeffs knowledge (unintentionally) and now I have this super soft flimsy 6'6" aluminum stick..... 6061 gets buttery soft after being welded. loaded it with the band and it bent right over so back to the drawing board. I think my next one will be 1/2" tube .120 wall, ill just tap the end for the 5/16 - 24 threads and cross my fingers its strong enough. Might even drill down 1" and then begin tapping threads to give it some added strength. Tinman think the walls will be strong enough?

Jeff please feel free to give me the old "I told you so" haha

good job getting the bugs bro, I dont know how you use a snare, I cant ever make that thing work for me. Ive resorted to just using my hands/gloves, but occasionally a net is nice. down in islamorada we saw LOTS of shorts (probably like 4 for every 1 keeper) but didnt see any females with eggs.

me and 2 friends were in islamorada, we ended up with 35 total.

got to use mine today for lobster miniseason, and loved em. thanks again dan!!!

how/what would you use to make ends for a fiberglass spear? I was thinking aluminum but dont know how id secure it.