What have you been up to lately?

[Canoe]

Hi all - I thought it would be fun to have a thread to share what we have been up to recently.

I'm looking forward to this upcoming weekend to take a drive in the country to go to may favorite place. What have you been up to? Any trips? Or a new boat, or working on one that you already have.

Here's a photos of my favorite place to get off the world. This is from a few years ago and the daffodils are now on other sections of the property.



So, what have you been up to, or planning?

 

[LDUBS]

Been up to not much since the new year. Planning on getting the boat out for the first time in 2023 next week (fingers crossed). Last year was not a great year for fishing. I blame it on the low water levels caused by the drought, or maybe it was my gear. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my fishing skills. Lol.

Anyway, I plan to hit a lake I haven't been to in over a year because of low water. It is now up to 75% and I've done well there this time of the year in the past trolling for trout.

Next weekend my middle son and I will be building a garage workbench with drawers for his new place. I haven't done any woodwork for awhile so looking forward to that.

Mrs Ldubs loves to travel (I do too). She has some big trips planned for 2023.

 

[Zum]

Rabbit hunting on Saturdays...searching forums, utube for outboards, wondering if I should treat myself.

 

[Stand Up]

It's still winter here in sunny Alberta Canada. I have been out plinking with my shotguns and .22's. Now I'm looking at a Henry .357/ 38 caliber lever action to have some fun. I may settle on a Henry .45 colt instead.
I do a little ice fishing now and again and on the 18th of Feb. I intend to go drill holes in the ice for a pile of kids that belong to some kind of club. They supply the auger and I'll dress warm. Then I'll help the litte gaffers hook up some bait and fish. Should be fun.
I'm also going to renovate my ensuite bath as well. I will rip out the neo angle shower stall and replace it with a alcove style with tiled walls and new shower plumbing and fixtures. That'll keep me busy till spring.

 

[drxfish]

I have been refurbishing some vintage audio gear I bought. I do some of the work myself and have a tech I use for more advanced needs. I put mahogany veneer on the cabinet for my Pioneer SX-650. I am going to stain it starting today and pick up the re-capped unit from my tech tomorrow.

Other than that, I am fishing from my little 12' jon (weather permitting) that is still running strong after 22 years. I had to do some fuel line and filter work to it last year. I regularly just do the plugs and lower unit oil once a year.

 

[airshot]

Waiting on this so called winter to be over with...it has been pitifull as far as snowfall goes. Worked hard to get all the snow removal toys up and ready, but no chance to use them !! At least snow gives me something to do, otherwise it has just been cold, boring rain. Watching fishing and boating videos hoping to speed up springs arrival.

 

[moecarama]

Ahhh just working on the catfish /crappie boat; adding T-tracks, built an adjustable graph mount, ya know enough to keep me busy. I am longing for a vacation of some sort ,my wife is really getting bored.

 

[gillhunter]

Just waiting for spring!

 

[MrGiggles]

Been picking away at a different kind of project. In Nov 21 I purchased a 32x60 shop space on a half acre lot, fully finished on a slab. Originally built as a marine repair shop in the mid 90s, then was an auction building most recently.

A few months later the owner offered me the neighboring buildings, a small 25x20 studio apartment and a 26x42 ex-office building. The studio is finished and rented, the office building hasn't been occupied in several years, I was told it was originally built at the same time as the big building and was a beauty shop, most recently I believe it was a real estate office.

Regardless, with how it is laid out I think it would be a great little duplex with two 1 bedroom units, like many places there is a need here for affordable housing. I've been finishing one bathroom, getting a shower put in, new floors, etc. I have some extra doorways that need to be closed up, cabinets to hang, and a lot of painting to do. Earlier in the year I ripped out all the old HVAC and installed a new mini split, I think it will do very will with our climate, at most they may need some supplemental heat for the couple weeks of truly cold weather we get every year. The worst part is when I'm done with one side I get to do it all over again on the other, haha.

Not looking to make a bundle, just create an asset that pays for itself and get some use out of previously vacant buildings.

I haven't done much boat wise in a while, finished rebuilding my 90hp Fourstroke last winter and have been running it without issue for a year now. Still getting to the lake every couple weeks and the fishing has been excellent.

 

[LDUBS]

Next weekend my middle son and I will be building a garage workbench with drawers for his new place. I haven't done any woodwork for awhile so looking forward to that.

Well, here is the workbench. Compact 22" x 40" size to fit in the corner of my Son's garage. Made mostly from a stack of 2x6 pressure treated I had stacked on the side of the house. Top is a piece of leftover Ply. Only had to buy the plywood for the drawers. Even the screws used for assembly were from the old tin can of used fasteners. Came out OK I think.

 

[Ray Clark]

Well, even though I joined the forum two years ago, haven't hung out much here until lately. Here are some things that have been keeping me going through the winter. Like Airshot, winter has not been a snowy one here, either, but supposed to get 5-7 inches tonight. On to the activity:

Putting fenders on the boat trailer. A fishing buddy has a welder and we'll get the brackets affixed to the trailer this week and then this will finally get done.



Then next up is getting the install of this Helix 7 done. Some of you will have seen my post about exactly how to place the transducer.



I've also been doing some woodworking. I've been asked to make some cremation urns and other things for a local shop. First one:



I have a tough time with good mitered corners, and so I'm having to build some new crosscut sleds and fixtures to get that straightened out.

 

[WaterWaif]

Cussin myself for not having an outbuilding/garage/polebarn when I look out it the 12' boat sitting in the woods with a tarp on it awaiting new plywood , again..
Got rid of the bigger boat. Too much to handle solo at launches slipping around on one leg.

Put in some serious hours deer hunting on the property worked for habitat in the off season. (I call it work , but it's a good time.) A bigger blind and heater made it better.

 

[Canoe]

You all have been busy. The red tractor reminds me of one my dad had at one time.

 

[Fishfreek]

Been picking away at a different kind of project. In Nov 21 I purchased a 32x60 shop space on a half acre lot, fully finished on a slab. Originally built as a marine repair shop in the mid 90s, then was an auction building most recently.

A few months later the owner offered me the neighboring buildings, a small 25x20 studio apartment and a 26x42 ex-office building. The studio is finished and rented, the office building hasn't been occupied in several years, I was told it was originally built at the same time as the big building and was a beauty shop, most recently I believe it was a real estate office.

Regardless, with how it is laid out I think it would be a great little duplex with two 1 bedroom units, like many places there is a need here for affordable housing. I've been finishing one bathroom, getting a shower put in, new floors, etc. I have some extra doorways that need to be closed up, cabinets to hang, and a lot of painting to do. Earlier in the year I ripped out all the old HVAC and installed a new mini split, I think it will do very will with our climate, at most they may need some supplemental heat for the couple weeks of truly cold weather we get every year. The worst part is when I'm done with one side I get to do it all over again on the other, haha.

Not looking to make a bundle, just create an asset that pays for itself and get some use out of previously vacant buildings.

I haven't done much boat wise in a while, finished rebuilding my 90hp Fourstroke last winter and have been running it without issue for a year now. Still getting to the lake every couple weeks and the fishing has been excellent.

Those buildings sound awesome. The fact that you are even considering renting as affordable housing is a good thing and you need to be commended for your efforts. We need way more than has been available for many years. We sold some older rentals in the last couple of years and have been rehabbing old abandoned properties here in Florida. We came across a small canal front property recently that I believe I'm going to get to keep as a fish camp type property. It even has a private boat ramp about 200' away. Can't wait to get the boat and kayaks there for the family to use.

 

[thill]

Those buildings sound awesome. The fact that you are even considering renting as affordable housing is a good thing and you need to be commended for your efforts. We need way more than has been available for many years. We sold some older rentals in the last couple of years and have been rehabbing old abandoned properties here in Florida. We came across a small canal front property recently that I believe I'm going to get to keep as a fish camp type property. It even has a private boat ramp about 200' away. Can't wait to get the boat and kayaks there for the family to use.

I agree with you. Creating housing is a very good thing. Way to go, Mr. Giggles!

I grew up in Cape Canaveral, back when real estate was very inexpensive there. Went back for a visit and WOW, things have gone up. There are probably 3x the number of people there than when I was there in the 80's.

 

[thill]

We got very cold followed by very warm weather. Was hoping to do some skiing, but then our Mom died. Busy taking care of arrangements, closing accounts and so on. The services went well, and hundreds of friends and family attended both in person and on Zoom.

After that, my Dad had some health breakdown. Me and my brother drove down to Florida for 10 days to be with him and help him out. My brother talked me into pulling the jon boat, as he had never caught a fish. WHAT??!? We definitely had to fix that.

Greased the bearings, checked everything and headed out...

 

[thill]

We left on a cold, rainy afternoon, with a little sleet in the mix. Ugly weather. As we went further south, the rain followed. Once we hit Florida, the rain finally tapered down and turned into fog:


As we crossed the state, it started to warm up and the fog burned off. Made it to Dad's place in St. Pete by evening:


The next morning, Dad wasn't feeling well, so we decided to take a drive around. I've never been to St. Pete before. Pretty place, somewhat different from the East Coast where I lived as a teen.



The next week was nothing but helping dad, morning until night. They moved in September, and were still living out of boxes. We unpacked most everything, got pictures hung and it now looks like a home. Couldn't finish everything, and after 9 days we had to go.

It was a little disappointing. We imagined helping dad in the mornings, and exploring in the boat in the afternoons, but that didn't happen. There was just too much to do. So it was work, work, work. When it was time to go, my brother asked if I wanted to sneak off and stay another day, so we could enjoy at least a little. We drove a thousand miles, and were in Floriday. YES!!!

So the next day we packed up said goodbye to dad and headed to the boat ramp. We ran out into the gulf at first. It was a little choppy, but ran a good 15 miles, just cruising.




We were treated to a beautiful sunset

 

[thill]

Was nice, but John still hadn't caught any fish. Spent the night and the next day we grabbed some live shrimp. Wind was blowing, so we couldn't run out into the bay, so we fished the little harbor near the airport and St Pete pier. With a little coaching, John caught his first fish EVER, a little mangrove snapper. Cool!


Followed that up with a number of small reef fish, snapper, pinfish, and some of these. They looked like 1/2 grouper and 1/2 snapper. Almost like a tilefish of some sort. Does anyone know what this is?


After awhile, he'd caught his fill of fish and we decided to take a cruise, since the wind had laid down.



Headed back home, pretty satisfied. Helped dad out and got in a little bit of fun.

 

[LDUBS]

We got very cold followed by very warm weather. Was hoping to do some skiing, but then our Mom died. Busy taking care of arrangements, closing accounts and so on. The services went well, and hundreds of friends and family attended both in person and on Zoom.

After that, my Dad had some health breakdown. Me and my brother drove down to Florida for 10 days to be with him and help him out. My brother talked me into pulling the jon boat, as he had never caught a fish. WHAT??!? We definitely had to fix that.

Greased the bearings, checked everything and headed out...

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. I hope your Dad is well now.

 

[thill]

Thanks, Ldubs, I appreciate that.

It will probably be awhile, as a lot of it is probably caused by the emotional loss of my mom. Our being with him seemed to brighten him up. Hopefully the physical part will improve soon. Don't want to lose him too. Thanks again.