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#71

For Sale Boats / 2000 Precision 15 CB for sale ...

Last post by Kysailor - Aug 08, 2026, 06:02 PM

2000 Precision 15 Sailboat - $2500

For sale: my 2000 Precision 15 swing keel sailboat. This boat is in very good condition, no leaks, very clean and ready to sail for family fun! This boat is meant to be used as a daysailer, with plenty of room for 4 adults and additional children. The 7 foot beam makes this boat very stable with good performance. I'm also including a very low hour Honda 2 hp long shaft 4 stroke engine which runs great for ease of use on the water. The boat is currently located and licensed in North Central Kentucky with titles for both boat and trailer.
Specifications are:
•    Hull Number: PCWI 5657C000
•    Length: 15 feet
•    Beam: 7 feet
•    Draft centerboard up: 6 inches
•    Draft centerboard down: 3' 8"
•    Sail area: 130 square feet
•    Hatch size: 19 ¼" x 9 ¼"
Extra equipment:
•    2 fenders that hang from sides
•    Anchor with anchor line
•    Mainsail (good condition) with stays
•    Jib sail (good condition)
•    Rudder
•    2 boat cushions
•    Battery powered running light
•    Spare tire (good condition)
•    Bandit galvanized trailer with working lights, good tires with a 1 7/8 ball. Bearings were professionally repacked in 2024. Also has 2 PVC boat guides to aid in loading boat on trailer.
•    All needed lines and sailing hardware is included and ready to sail
•    Owners manuals for the Boat and motor, some extra parts for both
This is a very desirable and well made boat perfect for day sailing and family use. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact me.

#72

Tales and Trip Reports / Re: More Lobster Stories . . ....

Last post by Riley Smith - Aug 08, 2026, 05:03 PM

Sort of like robbing crab traps.

 I know some scallywags that are not above such activities and have most likely eaten some crabs gained by such methods. I didn't ask because I didn't want to know. It is NOT a good idea to get a mess of crabs in such a manner. One of my buds that hired on with me was from Biloxi and always on the water. One weekend he decided he had a taste for crabs and of course no traps. He decided to "lift" some of the prizes in some traps, but the OWNER of the traps had them staked out for just such an occurrence. He said he noticed that a boat was approaching at some speed but he didn't get concerned until the bullets started landing close. He had a high-powered boat that would outrun almost anything and headed south at a high rate of speed and outran the bullets. There was a problem though. The gasoline tank was almost empty.

He wound up sitting just outside the range of the gun and looking at the guy. Every so often the crab man would make a run trying to catch him napping and he'd outrun him again. I think the crab man finally got tired of the chase and gave up, but Mike told me he was as scared to head back to land as he'd EVER been heading the other way. And all he had in the tank was fumes. The escape caused trouble at work too, because he was supposed to work and was busy trying to keep lead from his carcass. That was a cardinal sin...missing work. They finally fired him for such shenanigans. Even darkness isn't any help now. I have a thermal viewer that will show such stuff on the darkest night.

Which reminds me. My wife makes THE BEST fried green tomatoes with crab meat topping. You may wonder at that dish but let me tell you, it's PRIMO. I've been craving something and that just might be it!

#73

TSBB General Talk / Re: On the Beach #29

Last post by Riley Smith - Aug 08, 2026, 10:02 AM

Addendum:

There hasn't been much boat traffic on that waterway lately. A few, and a few commercial boats. The crab guy and some net fishermen.Fewer recreational boats but this IS an area where only few are qualified. It has also been VERY hot and humid.  While fishing the pier, I looked across the water at night and there wasn't any lights. I did notice a freighter loading wood at the west docks on the main river as I passed there. THey're loading whole trees. #1 Pine and Cypress by the looks of it. I ALSO see the trucks coming in.

Once, during shrimp season, no lights on that water would have been unheard of. I can remember it looking like a city out on Sound during those times. The economics are very bad for that at the moment, and even in good times, difficult.

 As it turns out, one of the clouds off the Gulf built into a towering nimbus and finally gave Wolf Ridge relief. And up to the county line as it went north. I know about that, having headed to the next county to a belt for the tractor and running through several showers as it began to break apart. A farmer at the Deere place looked at the raindrops on the car and brightened and smiled because it has been very hot and dry. I didn't know him but we spoke in passing.

And one OTHER thing about the weather. NOAA has dropped the Atlantic expected storm total down. Good news but with one word of caution. Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast in August 1969. A-B-C....the third storm of that year. It only takes one. As chance would have it, I passed the church we took refuge in when we ran from Camille, at Barton MS, on the way to get the belt and remembered those winds once again. I see the pecan trees have grown back as big as ever.

#74

TSBB General Talk / Re: New Boat

Last post by Ed - Aug 07, 2026, 04:43 PM

This is definitely not the factory trailer, it's something the marina threw together when the PO bought the boat at an estate sale.  This one is supposed to sit as low as the 23.5 since they share the same hull with a different cabin top.  I replaced the single axle trailer on my 23.5 with a double axle with disc brakes.  Wish I hadn't sold that one, that I got from Mike Howell, it had all the bells and whistles.  Looking around and double axle trailers are running $3600 now.  I'll probably buy a double axle off FB Marketplace and put bunks on it myself.  Planning on the FL120 in 2027!

#75

Tales and Trip Reports / Re: More Lobster Stories . . ....

Last post by Doug SC - Aug 07, 2026, 02:45 PM

It can also get testy on public hunting land during the season. The difference is guns or other weapons instead of fishing gear. People tend to get possessive of their favorite spots, and this is where the friction often arises. For this reason, I like to go farther in than most folks and avoid other hunters. I once had an arrow shot in front of me coming out of the woods at noon. I have also had a tree stand stolen.

My Dad owned beagles for running deer in the hunt club he was active in for over 50 years. Their camp was on private land at the south end of Ocala NF. They ran dogs and would head them with their hunting vehicles. If anyone shot a deer in front of another groups dogs the deer was split between the two clubs. We also had hunters in the woods on stands where the vehicles couldn't go. This seemed to be a point of contention with one guy who was destroying peoples stands. Even worse he would sabotage a ladder stand to break when the owner would get near the top. Dad's club and another group that hunted the same area and were the targets of this guy. Both groups were friendly which each other and often coordinate their hunting. A stand I built for my Dad decades before was taken with just a piece left chained to the tree. It was his favorite.

Well, the other club set a trap and put up a stand a few days before the season opening. It was set back a long way from the road but visible. Several men from the club would take turns staking it out. They caught the guy and beat him badly. One was a Sherrif Deputy from a nearby county and told him they now knew who he was and where he lived. He had better not be seen hunting anywhere in the forest. They let Dad's club know that the matter had been resolved.

#76

TSBB General Talk / On the Beach #29

Last post by Riley Smith - Aug 07, 2026, 11:21 AM

All the factors aligned and high tide was just before dawn. The crescent moon would be directly overhead. That meant that as it got lighter, the ebbing tide would be flowing out of the river mouth 1/4 mile to the eest of the Labrot House, and would sweep over the little bay and the bar out front, portioning a bit of the flow along the shore. There would be fish to be had. So I decided to mix entertainment with work and fish before doing the lawn, and arrived around 9pm with the mower. It was awful humid and a hot wind off the water had the old house feeling very stuffy. I turned on the ceiling fans and the a/c, and took a nap until the appointed time at 4:30am. I didn't sleep very well, unused to the flow of the ceiling fan and the strange noises of the shore.

With a strong cup of Columbian in hand, I gathered the rod and gear and headed to the pools of light on the pier. It was STILL very humid but a bit cooler and there were a few clouds out on the Gulf lit up by the lights of the city. A piece of floating grass told me I had nailed the peak tide, as it stayed in one spot for a while. I fished a white VooDoo shrimp for a while and caught a few rat redfish and a couple of small specks. Nothing of any note, although I always see one or two big specks, and a couple made a run at my lure, only to bump it and turn away. They're very wary when they get big.

The eastern sky started to turn light and the menhaden spotter planes began to head out on the Gulf towards the fishing fleet, unseen to the southwest. The rising sun painted the clouds very nice colors and the water was glassy as the tide began to fall out of the river towards the Mississippi Sound. There always seems to be a lull in the fishing during the transformation from darkness to light, and today was no exception. It was VERY humid and I decided this wasn't any fun anymore, and gathered gear and headed toward the A/C at the top of the bluff. Afar off to the west I saw a one of the spotter airplanes landing light way off toward Gulfport as it circled under a cumulus cloud in the dim light. There was already a light sheen of sweat on me to greet the cool of the air conditioning.

After the second cup, I unloaded the mower and began the lawn. I was about 1/2 way done with the rear when the drive belt broke on the tractor. Sigh. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that. So without further ado, I pushed the lawn tractor underneath the carport and shut off all the lights I had turned on, locked the door and headed home, wet from sweat and thankful for the good a/c in the truck. It was about 8am by that time.

You cannot view this attachment.

The river curves to the left to the east of the old house and the railroad bridge is almost visible. I can see the trains as they go across towards Pascagoula. This is the west arm of the Pascagoula River and the Hwy 90 bridge is just another 1/4 mile north of the railroad bridge.

#77

TSBB General Talk / Re: New Boat

Last post by Captain Kidd - Aug 06, 2026, 11:07 PM

i've toyed was looking for a 235. The 235, from what I have seen, appears to sit lower on its trailer. Am I seeing that correctly?

if so, that would be attractive to me. I believe it would make it a bit easier to launch and retrieve.

i've also read that the 235 is a bit more tender than the 240, but I don't think that would bother me too much.

#78

Tales and Trip Reports / More Lobster Stories . . . .

Last post by Charles Brennan - Aug 06, 2026, 08:58 PM

Timm Rivette sent me a link to a story about an on-the-water lobster altercation, that led to a guy getting charged with attempted 2nd degree murder, when he was accused of shutting off a juvenile lobster diver's oxygen supply.
Yeah, we take lobstering seriously, in south Florida.
And as usual, the media fails to get hardly anything right. 
1) The "juvenile lobster diver" was 18 years old.
2) It wasn't oxygen, it was just compressed air.
3) (My favorite part) The accused murderer was a volunteer member of the Miami-Dade County Boater Safety and Bay Education Task Force. 
GOOD EXAMPLE, GUY!!    PROUD OF YA!!! 

Here are some links:
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/man-cut-off-divers-air-supply-after-dispute-over-lobster-fishing-spot-in-miami-report-says/3842234/

https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/man-accused-of-shutting-off-juvenile-lobster-divers-oxygen-supply-bonds-out-after-judge-reduces-charge/

I was glad Timm sent me the link, instead of telling me; that way, he couldn't see me yawn.
Yeah, all that was Bad, but it used to be WAYYYYY worse!! 
Back when the Bahamas became independent, the very first thing they did, was nationalize their fishery and kick all the American lobster fisherman out of Bahamian waters.  For years, the Americans had treated the fishery as their personal backyard and making daily trips to catch lobster over there.
This forced them to lay their traps in American waters and soon, there was a line of traps from the Keys to northern Miami-Dade County in a fishery that couldn't support nearly that amount, that the Bahamas had.
Commercial lobster fishing north of the Keys, collapsed within 5 years.

Adding insult to injury, our more rowdy lobster divers/poachers had started raiding the lobster traps, accelerating the decline.
It was easy. 
There was a float right at the surface, so just go down, reach in and help yourself.
Or, if you were feeling particularly brazen, simply lift the pot aboard, remove its contents and dump it back over the side.
Legal punishment was severe, if you were caught, but hey, it's a Big Coast.
1) The British never successfully blockaded the coast from the French, in the Revolutionary War.
2) The Union never successfully blockaded the coast from the Confederacy, in the Civil War.
3) The Government never successfully blockaded the coast from Rum Runners, during Prohibition in the 30's.
4) The Government never successfully blockaded the coast from Pot Smugglers in the 60's.
5) The Government never successfully blockaded the coast from Cocaine Smugglers in the 80's.
6) The Government never successfully blockaded the coast from Illegal Immigrants in  the 2000's.
Like I said: A Big Coast.
And porous.

So one weekend I was out in my power boat with my buddies, in south Biscayne Bay and we were looking for lobster holes, which is arduous in that area, because there are only patch reefs, instead of continuous reef lines, like further north.
So we hit on the idea of towing someone (me) behind the boat and whenever I saw a patch reef, I would drop off the line and the boat would swing back around and my buddies would join me in the water. 
Then we would move on to the next patch reef.
Just my Bad Luck, the first patch reef I picked was close to a lobster pot, which I hadn't even seen in the water; since  I was about 50 feet away from it.
Also in that area, was an aggrieved lobster fisherman mightily incensed    at his lobster pots being raided, all the time.
He (mistakenly) assumed I was another poacher and decided to finally take things into his own hands.

He began firing a carbine at me.

In the water, I heard a strange buzzing, from the bullets skipping through waves on the water and did not associate it with the sound of the gunfire, half a second later.
My buddies (in a rare display of both courage and good tactics) quickly maneuvered the boat's hull broadsides between me and the shooter's boat, to prevent the shooter from having a target to aim for.  They even had the presence of mind to call the Coast Guard, on the VHF radio. The Coast Guard in their turn called the FMP (Florida Marine Patrol, back before they were folded into the Florida Wildlife Commission) and also the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.
The lobster fisherman shouting (and still shooting) while my buddies circled the boat in ever tighter circles, to deprive him of his target and also to get close enough to me, to (hopefully!) retrieve me. I had just gotten back aboard and we were leaving post haste    when the first M-DSO boat reached us and we relayed to the officer, what had transpired.
Oh, BOY!!  They looked HAPPY!!!   
They suddenly produced some really nice-looking Stainless Steel Mossberg shotguns    and went tearing after the shooter, lights flashing and sirens whining.  (This was back in the days of compressed air-sirens, not those puny two-tone electronic things we have, nowadays.)
They had asked us to hang around in the area to give a statement, so we turned the boat in slow circles and watched all the excitement.  (From a safe distance!)   
They took the guy into custody and an officer directed us to the ramp where they wanted to take our statement and to also inspect our boat for any lobster. By then, the FMP had arrived and taken the shooter's lobster boat in tow.  Since we had just gotten started, we didn't even have any lobsters aboard.
The guy turned out to be an illegal Cuban immigrant, using his Uncle's boat, and with an un-registered firearm and apparently, no inkling of just how many charges he was about to face.

Ya say, somebody closed off the air supply to your Brownie's 3rd lung? 
Yeah? Well . . . . have you ever been SHOT AT??!!?? WELL, HAVE YA, DUDE?? 
Please. 

Another Story:
John U Lloyd State Park was originally the site of the Naval Surface Weapons Testing Center, during WWII.  They ran numerous submarine cables out from there alongside the Port Everglades jetties, and transmitted low frequency signals through those cables to communicate with subs, off-shore.  When they laid the cables, they would dump piles of stones to hold the cable down and allow the cable ship to pay out more cable, dump more stones and continue on.
One year, me and my dive buddy, John, realized that if we went in from shore next to the jetties (and braved the wave action that could slam you against the jetties, if you weren't careful!)  you could find a cable and simply follow it to the nearest pile of granite.  Lobsters lived inside those piles, like they thought it was an exclusive condominium.   Just follow the cable to the next pile and repeat, until you were done. 
Made it very easy to limit out from a beach dive, unusual for most divers at that time.

We did that for many years, until that Fateful Day, that Technology caught up and overtook us.     
LCD displays and high resolution transducers were revolutionizing the fish finder industry and like all the other cheaper-by-the-million products produced by the Japanese, allowed a fish-finder depth-sounder type sonar, on most every boat, out there.
John and me arrived at the beach that morning, to see a boat perched over every one of our "spots". 
We did NOT have a good year, that year. 
The Fates got the last laugh,    however.
Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, scattered all the rock piles, putting the shore divers and boat divers on an equal footing, once again.

So I know well, the feeling of having "your lobster spot" taken from you; just never tried to kill anybody, over it.

True story(s),
Charles Brennan

#79

TSBB General Talk / Re: Washboards vs opening Comp...

Last post by Spot - Aug 06, 2026, 07:27 PM

Thanks Noemi!
Trying to decide if I should attempt something similar with the companionway.
I would need to source the trim and maybe a couple of hooks to allow the screen to make the bend from the bulkhead to inside the cabin top.

#80

TSBB General Talk / Re: Washboards vs opening Comp...

Last post by Noemi - Ensenada 20 - Aug 06, 2026, 05:02 PM

That looks great!