Gig Harbor Fishing

While we are planning some great Blackmouth fishing in December. We also are tying to get ready for off season projects to get the boat ready for Halibut in the spring and Tuna in the fall.

“Three Ladies” is a 2530 Parker powered by a 7.4 liter Volvo duo-prop. She is a great offshore boat. That said, we are running on 12 year old electronics. My Furuno radar and fish finder still work well and my old Garmin chart plotter can still find my favorite spots out there. But, I can’t get charts for the GPS, the old Furuno LS6000 fish finder is only a single frequency and doesn’t work well at trolling speed for tuna. The radar is the hardest upgrade to justify. I am telling myself it is a big box on the dash and the advent of HD radar makes it seem like a dinosaur.

My goal really is to replace all these things with a single unit solution. I have done a little shopping around at the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle on November 18th and have narrowed my list down to two names.  Furuno and Garmin.

First off all of them are made oversees. I couldn’t find anyone manufacturing marine electronics in the US and if any of you know of one let me know ASAP because I always like to give US companies an opportunity to earn my business. Furuno is made in Japan but they have a facility in Camas Washington which is relatively close and there is at least one guy on BloodyDecks that can help with customer service. Garmin is made in Taiwan but has a facility in Salem oregon and actually employes 3470 people in the US (as per last years annual report). J&G Marine is qualified to do warranty service for Garmin and if I have them install it they can double the warranty. I’m still shopping and expect to make a decision in January by the Boat Show.

I will also be redoing the brakes on the boat trailer. Comparatively this is much less complicated. I will go down to South Side brake and buy new brakes and backing plates for about $100 each and put them on the trailer.

I will be interested to hear who is doing what for winter upgrades. Please leave a comment here or drop me an E-Mail and let me know what your doing.

Good Fishin' To Ya'

Kerry W Allen