At Stern Saver, we really love boats! We appreciate boats of all sorts and know that they are usually one’s prized possession.  This is the section to post a picture or two of your beloved boat(s) and tell us a bit about her.

Special Offer!

The first 10 people who post will receive a free Stern Saver T-shirt (blk or wht, L or XL)  and floating key chain.! The first three posters to post pictures of their Stern Savers mounted to their boat with a transducer attached to it will receive a free Stern Saver!

At Stern Saver, it’s all about the fishing! Please let us know what’s biting in your neck of the woods. We’d like to know what you are catching these days, where you caught it, how you caught it and when.

Saturday April 7, 2012    Monterey Bay, CA

King Salmon Report:
On Saturday, I went to Moss Landing, Monterey Bay for the salmon opener and brought two long-time friends who had never been salmon fishing before. We entered the opening day derby with 80 other fishermen, some which are the best charter captains and fishermen down there. We got there Friday night hung out at the harbor, had a few beers, and sized up the crowds that were going to be launching that next morning. We decided to launch at 7:00am after the rat race, which was a good idea b/c the lines were short.

On the fishing grounds at 7:40am, we got ready to drop out gear outside the fleet of 150+ boats three miles off Moss. Unfortunately, one of my new Cannon downriggers broke down so we were left with only one to stack with. We get two lines in around 8:00 and it’s not long before we get our first fish a 25.5″ keeper. I decided to stay tight with the area we hooked up and repeatedly passed the same spot getting takedowns on every pass including a double hook up. On one pass, I was reeling in the gear when my lure got nailed by a decent fish and I had a good fight on my hands. I got it to the boat and realized it was a good bit bigger than the others we’d hooked, so I decided to net it myself, b/c no one on board knew how to net a fish but me. We landed the fish, a nice 31″, 13.5lb king. The bite slowed for us around noon and the winds really picked up so we trolled home for a bit and were in by 1:45pm. All of our fish were caught using a blue/white hoochie/kajiki behind a red/silver Hot Spot flasher at 45-90′ OTW (on the wire).

When I got to the dock, a buddy came over and saw my fish and said, “dude, I think you’re going to win the derby with that fish!” Sure enough, it did! Overall, we hooked six fish, landed three, released one (1/2″ short) and farmed three. Those barbless hooks make salmon fishing incredibly challenging. If you let that line go slack, they spit the hook and wave goodbye. Weather was great, the morning started with a 10-15mph Easterly wind which died around 11:00, then picked up again around 12:30. Swells were 3 feet.

Captain  Khahn Tran, owner of North Cal Sportfishing Charters www.northcalsportfishing.com went out Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from Moss Landing here are his reports: Saturday,
It was wide open bite with limits reports @ 8am. My boat didn’t get to finish early but we were done with 8 fish to #13lb by 11am. We lost as many as boated. I also introduced 2 newbies to the Monterey Bay salmon fest. The fish were caught all over the bay. But the main fleet was off Mulligan. We were north of the fleet #43/57 and between 30′ to 120′ OTW. My blue dancer behind a UV sling blade did most of the damaged today and my UV Glow behind an 11″ red/white dodger were close behind.

Sunday,
Same location, tackle and depth for 7 nicer sized fish by 11am. Stayed out for another 3 hours looking for the devil fish. Lost 4 more before calling it a day.

Monday,
Tuff day for the Connie T crew! Ran to my #s from the previous days to find the fleet have moved over from Mulligan’s. Boy, there were a lot of boats on the water for a Monday. We played dodge boat for an hour before making a move to cleaner water. Michael on the CarolSea and I ran south til we spotted some bait at 45/52. Michael’s crew hooked 7 and landed 5 fish, one shy of limits. My boat hooked 10 but only managed 1 for the day. Tuff day on the water! The fish were between 80-100′ OTW.

On January 19-22, 2012 Stern Saver debuted at the International Sportsman’s Exposition in Sacramento, CA. The Stern Saver made an excellent impression on show goers. The common response among people, and especially boat owners, was “it makes good sense” and “what a great product”.  The bottom line is that people don’t like the idea of drilling holes in their boat, especially below the waterline.

We introduced the Stern Saver to many of the vendors including Lowrance and Humminbird and they were pleased to see such a product to arrive to the market.  Two marine electronics dealers from the SF and Monterey Bay areas, Star Marine Electronics and Johnson Hicks Marine Electronics, both had customers asking for Stern Savers. They both now carry the Stern Saver in their stores.

It was interesting to see some Boston Whaler owners purchase two at a time because they are so fearful of having water getting into to foam core of their boats. I guess us Whaler owners are all the same!

 Transom rot is a serious problem that can result from water infiltration into the core of the transom of a boat. Often, wood is used a core material, and is very susceptible to rot caused by exposure to moisture.  To reduce the risk of transom rot, you must reduce the number of penetrations into the hull below the waterline.  The Stern Saver is perfect for this because you only screw into the block and not the hull.

This section is where those that have had to deal with transom rot could show and tell us their story.  We’d like to know how the transom rot occurred, what you did to remedy it and what could have been done to prevent it.

Also, those of you that have “Swiss cheese transoms” with many holes in it, and waterlogged foam core boat owners (Boston Whaler) can tell us about their experiences with water intrusion in this section as well.  Pictures are always appreciated.

Here is where we discuss all the cool advances that are going on in the marine electronics world. Everything from structure and side scanning to broadband radar to NMEA 2000 compatibility will be discussed he. Have anything to share, please do!

Lowrance Electronics:

Lowrance Electronics was founded in 1957 by an avid fisherman named Carl Lowrance. He set out to design the first ever portable and affordable sonar device so fisherman could better concentrate their fishing efforts in more favorable locations.  The “little green box” arrived to the market in 1959 and over a million units were sold.  Ever since, Lowrance has remained a leader in the industry producing innovative product like Broadband Radar, Structure Scan as well as NMEA 2000 compatible GPS/sonars.

Furuno:

Furuno is the stuff that the guys who fish for a living seem to like the most. They like it for its toughness and its reliability. Since 1948, Furuno has been producing some of the best marine electronics available. Furuno has many NMEA awards under its belt for superior customer service and outstanding products.

Raymarine:

Raymarine, formerly Raytheon marine, has been producing state of the art marine electronics for light commercial and recreational boaters for over 80 years. This New Hampshire based company takes pride in producing innovative products such as their C-Series and E-Series widescreen displays. The E-Series displays have the industry’s first ever touch screen with hybridTouch technology. This interface is easy to use and even workable in rough seas.

Garmin:

Since its inception in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao, Garmin has evolved as the leading, worldwide provider of navigation, communication and information devices and applications, most of which are enabled by GPS technology.  Power Boat Magazine readers’ poll in 2011 voted Garmin #1 the marine GPS manufacturer. This Kansas based company produces everything from GPS to Auto Pilot to XM radio receivers.

Humminbird:

For over 30 years Humminbird has been a favorite among the bass fishing community. They are the innovator of Side Imaging technology. Started in 1971, in Eufaula, Alabama as Fulton electronics, later became Techsonic Industries. Along the way they have brought innovative products to the marketplace such as liquid crystal displays and 3-D display imaging to enhance the fishing experience.

When mounting two transducers to your boat you will want to make sure that they operate at different wavelengths, or they are both not on at the same time, or spaced far enough apart. The reason for this is the possibility that the transducers can “cross talk” with each other, causing interference. Sonar transducers take electrical signals and turn them into sound waves of particular wavelengths, often 50 and 200 kHz or kilohertz. They send these sound waves, or “echos” down through the water column. As they hit objects under water the echos reflect back and the transducer receives them, amplifies them, and send them to the display unit where it is displayed. It is best to mount the two transducers, using two Stern Savers, on opposite sides of the transom to reduce the amount of cross talk. The only case you would want to mount two transducers near each other would be if one was a standard transducer and the other was a Structure Scan or Side Imaging transducer. In this scenario, having these two types of transducers near each other will allow for them to overlay better on the display screen and provide better imaging and performance.

The Stern Saver is a great product for new boat owners who are looking for an alternative to drilling holes in their transom below the waterline.  It is equally useful for boat owners who already have transom mount transducers mounted directly to the hulls of their boats.

Before the Stern Saver was born, the most widely used method for installing a transducer involved determining the proper location, then drilling two or more holes in the transom, filling the holes with a marine grade silicone sealant, screwing the transducer bracket into those holes and hoping for the best.

Unfortunately, that method compromises the integrity of the hull and puts boat owners at great risk of damage to their boats. Silicone sealant can only do so much, for so long, even if it has been applied correctly.  Regardless of what the silicone manufacturers say, silicone does not last long before it begins to separate from the hull material resulting in water exposure.  If a transducer gets bumped, it can also put stress on the bracket and cause the screws to move a little and cause the sealant/hull bond to break.  Silicone is also only as effective as how well it was applied. If only small amount makes it into the hole, a weak seal could result and water may be allowed in.

The Stern Saver is the perfect solution for boat owners who already have transducers mounted to their boats, but want to seal up those existing holes and start fresh.  Then they can swap transducers in the future and not worry about the hole pattern of the brackets not lining up, and eliminating the need to fill and drill new holes.  This is very important because many boat owners change sonar units before they change boats, and extra holes will accumulate resulting in what we call “Swiss cheese transom.”

The Stern Saver kit makes it extremely simple to start over with a fresh mounting surface for transducers, speed sensors and bait tank pumps.

Here is how it’s done: First, unscrew all the existing transducer mounting screws and remove the bracket. At this point, there is something very important to look for, moisture. If any water comes out of the holes, stop what you are doing and consult with your local boat repair shop. You do not want to seal up a water-logged transom! If you have a water-logged transom, you may have transom rot as well. It is important to remedy that before you proceed.  Once, you have determined that the transom is dry, then use a drill bit that is a slightly larger diameter (by 1/32-1/16”) than the existing holes and bore out the holes with a drill. This will remove the old sealant and expose fresh fiberglass for the resin to bond to. Using the epoxy syringe supplied with the Stern Saver kit, place the tip against the holes a squirt the epoxy into them. To ensure that enough epoxy gets deep into the holes, push it in using a toothpick or a paper clip until the hole appears full of epoxy and void of any air.  Once the holes are filled, you can proceed with installing the Stern Saver that same way that you would in a new boat.

By installing the Stern Saver over the existing holes you will seal and conceal existing transducer mounting screw holes and never have to worry about them again, nor drill any more holes below the waterline.

The Stern Saver comes with everything necessary for installation and can be deployed in 15 minutes or less. There are four colors to choose from which include Bone, Ivory, Gray and Black. Once you have selected the right color go ahead and prep the area and stick on the mounting spike, this assures the block will be mounted in the perfect position. 

Next dispense the glue which is like an epoxy and is kept separate in the syringe until it is squeezed out and automatically mixed. Once the glue is placed in the six recessed areas simply affix the Stern Saver block onto your boat and in six hours your ready to mount your transducer. The Stern Saver can also be used for mounting electronics inside your boat as well if you want to avoid drilling. This cleverly designed product retails for $59.99 and is available now direct from the manufacturer.