The Sea Nymph sea & fishing trials

After finally getting to the campground at Stagecoach near Steamboat Springs Colorado.

I dropped off the camper, proceeded to the lake for the state zebra mussel inspection, every thing was good.

After launching onto the lake there was almost no wind and smooth water, it felt pretty good to get the little Nymph on the water.

Cranked up the 6 hp Evenrude motor and she came to life, taking us over to the nearist cove to try out the 45 lb thrust electric trolling motor.
Got to the cove and shut down the gas motor and tried out the electric motor.

Here is a little video of the ride

After doing this little video I did catch a nice 30 inch rainbo trout, what a great start

Fished till dusk, headed to shore, returned to the camper, for some food and Rest

Early Morning Saturday

Caught a couple more fish

Saturday afternoon the winds picked up pretty hard, we decided to try out Yampcolo Reservoir about 30 miles away and see if we could launch the little boat, it was also somewhat windy there, but we were able to get the little  boat on water, the state is drawing down the water quite a bit for the farmers, we estimate it is down about 60ft from being full.

Even with the low water level the fish sonar showed a depth of 60 ft left in the deep part.

We did catch a couple more rainbo trout..

Back at Stagecoach on Sunday morning went fishing, caught Northern Pike, returned to the camp about 10am.

 

During the afternoon during the thunderstorm portion of the mountain day, the spare tire was inflated to correct pressure,

Using the solar system installed on the suburban. We are dry camping (no services)

 For the day of fishing on Sunday 5 Northern were caught, processed and into the freezer.

Also, we used 2 solar panels to recharge the trolling motor batteries for the next day of fishing.

For the 3 days of fishing only 1.5 gallons of gas was used..

 The gps showed we traveled 50 miles on the water.

Pretty cool in my book, 

Colorado Springs fire

Official Gov info

Alert: Colorado Fires

Colorado Springs neighborhoods are on fire.

Could be very bad,
They have evacuated the air force academy..
I-25 was closed for a few hours.


We had a dry thunderstorm this afternoon, causing a new fire west of Boulder, evacuating NCAR.

Link to media

Maden Voyage of the Sea Nymph .. towing a triple

Well ......  the day finally came, the maiden trip ... fishing with the Sea Nymph (aka now too be known as the fish magnet)

Last Thursday, the work was completed to prepare for the weekend trip to the mountains for the Sea Nymph sea trials  

The crossmember was installed at the rear of the frame of the Jay Feather trailer.

After wiring the lights, installing the bumper, ( repairing the bumper with fiberglass)

The towing package was complete ready to go, towing a triple

After making it past the Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, making our way to Kremmling Co. time for a pit stop for fuel.
 getting ready to traverse over Gore Pass

With this photo you can get a perspective of how long it is towing a 30 ft trailer and a 16 ft boat, with a full size suburban.

Well, on the down side of Gore Pass a loud bang was  heard, ... I know form past experience it is not good.

I found a place to pull over and found another blown (less than 1 year old ) tire. It takes a pretty large spot to pull over a triple :)

This time it was caught soon enough to not cause major damage to the trailer.. UUUgghh..

After much effort by the other guys in our group, the spare tire was finally removed from it's perch for the last 7 years and was installed..

After getting back on the road the rest of the trip to the campground was thankfully uneventful breakdown wise..

The progress on the renewable energy Sea Nymph

I have not mentioned that I am attempting to use the Sea Nymph as a renewable energy - fishing vessel that I can use in the high mountain lakes here in Colorado, where gasoline powered motor are not allowed.

The plan ...  is to use an electric trolling motor to get us around the lakes, using  deep cycle batteries.

One battery will be used for fishing, while the other battery will be recharged throughout the day using the solar panels attached to the suburban while out fishing. Stay tuned I will let you know how it goes :)

Ordered online, group 31 rugged battery boxes to house the battery and wiring and attach a handle to make it easier to switch the batteries

Purchased 2 marine deep cycle 12 volt batteries from Sam's Club

The heavy welding #4 wire is for the trolling motor, the smaller 12 gauge wire is for the the rest of the electrical system in the boat.

This photo shows the battery box and battery wired up, also the mounting of the wiring connectors on the lid.
Both batteries will be wired the same.

This Photo shows the battery box assembled and ready to go.
The cable connections are matched for both charging and running the trolling motor.

The Jay feather trailer does not have a traditional back bumper, it is necessary to add a rear cross-member at the rear of the frame to mount a trailer hitch so we can tow the Sea Nymph behind the camper.
I used  1 1/2 inch tubing for the cross-member, welded a  1/2 inch plate at the center, drilled & tapped the plate so  the receiver can be installed onto the bottom.
It went much easier than I thought it would so far.

Hopefully the trailer hitch will be done about the same time all of the BS is done with registering the boat and trailer...

So, next will be the rest of the electrical system for GPS, sonar (fish finder). I have finished painting the parts, they are drying, will show that stuff next...

Doug Casey: Sell your Property and become a PT Perpetual Traveler

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Hydrovolts tap canal currents for 12 kW of power apiece

Since I like renewable energy.
Like all hydro- electric power, is Hoover Dam renewable energy ?

I found this story on the net today, Pretty cool, now they need to make a cheaper smaller unit to power one home of cabin.

In addition to producing power, it also is providing beneficial aeration to the water..

Irrigation canals are the blood vessels of agriculture, delivering water throughout America’s farmland. Pretty soon, they may well deliver a bit of electricity too, thanks to the Hydrovolt micro-generator.

The Hydrovolt C2, designed and built by the same-named Washington state company, is a compact car-sized device that sits on a irrigation canal’s floor and utilizes the steady, uninterrupted flow of water to power its turbine, which is situated perpendicular to the flow, like a paddle boat wheel. As the wheel turns, it cranks an on-board generator that produces a charge. The device is neutrally buoyant so it can generate power on the water’s surface as well, without impeding the flow or affecting the water quality.

“There are huge regions of the world that are irrigated, where they have built these highways of water,” Burt Hamner, founder and CEO of Hydrovolts, said in a press statement. “We’ve found a way to make a little power off it without any environmental impact.”

Depending on the rate of water flow, these devices can produce up to 12 kW of energy apiece—not enough to power a grid, but sufficient to light a few nearby homes. And, with a $20,000 price tag, each unit should pay for itself within about five years of service.

These turbines are surprisingly versatile as well. In addition to the irrigation canal model, Hydrovolts also has a larger version, the C3, in the works that should produce up to 20kW from the bottom of aqueducts. The company hopes to eventually install these devices in spillways and water treatment plants—anywhere with a steady current.
“Hydrokinetic power is a growing component of the hydropower resources, and it’s one that’s largely untapped in this country,” said Anne Castle, assistant secretary for water and science in the Department of the Interior. To that end, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has begun a pilot test program in the Roza Canal in Washington. If successful, the bureau may begin installing them along its 130,000 miles of canals to produce megawatts of power.

More Sea Nymph Progress

As promised on thursday the new tire-wheels arrived along with replacement rollers

Before installing the tires,  inspected the wheel bearings, found them to be in poor shape, so it required a trip to the bearing store.
The folks had all but 2 bearings, those were ordered and were picked up on Friday

After hand packing the new bearings, the hubs were reassembled, tires installed

A photo of the axle spindle

Axle and wheel assembly installed

We replaced the 8 inch diameter tires with 12 inch tires, the picture show the dramatic difference in size, I have a phobia about a 8 inch tire spinning super fast, bearings getting hot with small tires.

Also replaced the rollers with strong plastic rollers

 Kept the original wench,

 added a new rope .

 

 Upon finishing the trailer,  rolled it out, winched the Sea Nymph onto the trailer, 

she doesn't look so lonely anymore :)

Now it is time to get her ready for the water ....

Sea Nymph restoration has begun

The poor little boat has been neglected for quite some time

We are restoring the 33 year old (oops 43 year old)  gal to operational status again

This last weekend, work was started on the trailer so here is an update.

 We made a trip to the local China-mart and purchased new LED lighting for the tail lights & running lights, the old ones were broken and I am pretty sure.... non -operational










With the tail and turn signal lighting kit, new wires were included, so I used the old wiring to pull the new wiring through the trailer frame tubing. Worked like a charm  ..

This is a piece of the old wiring that was in the frame. It is amazying to me that both of the wires are completely bare, but no sign of burning caused by a short circuit .. maybe they never used the lights....

The rollers are made of rubber and are cracked and out of round, I suppose if I was a 33 year old rubber I would be out of round also   :)

We have ordered (online) replacement rollers, and wheel and tires, according to the FedEx tracking numbers I received today they should arrive on Thursday.

After spending the better part of the day, installing lights, soldering all electrical connections, sealing them with shrink tubing, the electrical lighting should be good for quite a while..

So ......  here sets .. poor Sea Nymph on the concrete slab waiting for her turn for upgrades to the 21st century, which should begin this weekend.... I can tell she can't wait .. Neither can I ..       :)