Homemade T-top Extender

[blakinsmith]

Hey all...Fished out of Loreto, Baja, in my 210 in June 08 vs my normal early spring trip. Was a little concerned about the sun and with three aboard wanted to make the cooler seat inviting. I couldn't see paying $200 for one of the professional sun visors so I fashioned one out of 1/2 inch PVC. Affixed supports with hose clamps and then used screw-type unions for easy on and off. My wife sewed the panel out of painters drop canvass. Total cost about $16. Worked great. Aero load while near WOT into a head wind caused oscillations - used some twine to make corner tie downs.

We did well fishing, including my first dorado. Some photos below ...Adios.......Barry

[JimW]

Looks nice. Glad you all had good luck with fish. Where are pictures of the fish?

[blakinsmith]

OK...if you insist...here is the big fish of the trip......Barry

[Genelie]

Sweet, So I take it you had no problems driveing down.??

[Swamp_Bear]

Awesome job! Sea of Cortez, huh? Boy, that brings back memories...

[glehav]

blakinsmith thats a wall hanger of a dophin from where i come from .. how much did it weigh...is a dorado and a dophin the same fish? i think ala. recard is in the hight 40lbs or maybe low 50lbs for a dophin.....i will ck and see.no i was wrong its 65lbs 8oz. is your state record...

[blakinsmith]

..thanks for the feedback guys..Since people seem more interested in the fishing than the T top shade, I'll expand. Dorado (gold) is the spanish name of dolphin. Most of the fish we caught were cookie cutter 8-10 lbers, so that nice bull was a surprise (28 lbs) as we were kinda early in the season. You'd get your limit of two real quick and could do the catch and release thing all day if desired. Some guys where using fly tackle. We trolled one day (tuna feathers) and used live bait a couple days. Key was finding the mexican guides (pangeros) who located fish and kept them close by chumming sardines. Never located significant sargasso weed, offshore bird work, or dorado ourselves, though bait was plentiful We also trolled and used bait around the local islands - caught a fair number of Pargo (snapper), Cabrilla (Leopard Grouper), and Cochi (trigger fish), nothing of any significant size compared to some prior trips. The 210 was a great boat for this trip...third time for my boat after 6-7 in my brother's smaller aluminum. Saw 1 other Triumph out there - believe it was 195CC. Trailering down is never "fun", Genelie, but had no serious problems. Traffic was light because of tourism downturn with news of drug cartels duking it out near the border. Hwy 1 in better shape than prior years, but never seems to be enough shoulder when passing semis going the other way. Lot of driving - 2 days, 600 miles each, down and back from Santa Cruz to Loreto. Had three (3) broken brake lines on my trailer. Thought it might be steep drop on marginal boat ramp (launching low tide), dragging on concrete lip. But believe it also could be frame contact from suspension raising axle going over various speed bumps. All breaks were right where steel line connected to brass fitting at union of the brake backing plate. Might be a corrosion/weak spot there. Just bought new plumbing at local mexican brake store and fixed at night. I'll be upgrading to discs after this season and will likely try flex lines. Over and out.

[bajapescador]

I just read about your adventures in Loreto. I've been down here since January but have owned my palapa since 2001. My wife and I usually spend 5 to 7 months this side of the border (Aug. & Sept. too hot!). There are at least four other 210's (including mine) permanently in Loreto I'm surprised you didn't run into one of us. Here's a picture of my daughter-in-law's dorado she caught two days ago.
By the way, that was a great account of fishing down here.

[blakinsmith]

Heck of a nice fish! Baja is a great place to spend time- I'm envious of your duration. I PM'd you before I left but never got a reply....Might have been a 210 out on the pond (vs 195) that I saw. Recall the boat name had "serenity" in it???

[katfish]

I was in Loretto 3 weeks ago for a week of killer fishing. We had some awesome fishing and caught more than enough dorado and got into some yellowtail, as well. I didn't bring my 215 down this trip, but really want to in the future. If anyone is planning a drive down next year, we'll be going in June 09, I'd love to caravan.
Steve