We bought a pair of AeroBOTE Rover inflatable SUP/MicroSkiffs so that we could bring boats along when we are towing our travel trailer. We tried one out on Shell Creek as soon as we got them home.

Starr on BOTE

My dog Starr never wants to be left behind so got right aboard.

New BOTE

One of the BOTE boards had been inflated just for pictures but never taken outside. The other was new in the plastic bags. Both are 2021 model year boats. They have standard HIN numbers that indicate one was manufactured in December of 2020 and one in March of 2021, so it's nice to know these were made when everything was running smoothly in the world.

12 volt BOTE inflator

The guy who sold these to us threw in a 12 volt inflation pump. The BOTE's come with manual pumps.

BOTE Motor Mount Sockets

If you're going to mount an outboard, these sockets must be inserted into the hull during inflation.

The U shaped metal clip locks the socket into the hull and a black plastic retaining pin holds it in place.

BOTE Motor Mount

The outboard motor mount inserts into the plastic sockets and there are two straps that go through D-rings on the cockpit sole to make sure it stays in place.

Also shown are the two fins that insert in slots in the bottom of the hull. It's hard to paddle straight without these but they are not needed if using an outboard. There's also a strap up forward that I guess could be useful for stability but we're getting hard grab racks.

Epropulsion BOTE

We have an Epropulsion Spirit electric outboard motor for our Picnic Cat sailboat and it works great on the BOTE. We want to try towing one BOTE with the other but ran into a little problem with that plan.

BOTE Seam Leak

Disaster! I blew up the second BOTE! I had left them both mostly inflated and mostly in the shade but as the afternoon wore on, this BOTE was in too much sun and the seam exploded due to overpressure. The other one was in more shade and was fine. I began researching how to repair inflatable SUP seams. I'm not the first to explode a seam, it seems...

Seam Repair Stuff

If you're reading this because you've blown up an inflatable boat seam, you're going to need scissors to trim fabric strands, acetone and 220 sandpaper to prep the surfaces, wood strips covered in wax paper, and clamps.

Seam Clamped Open

The BOTE repair video recommends using HH-66 glue but I could not find it locally so went with POLYMARINE PVC Inflatable Boat Adhesive sold at West Marine. They make a two-part version of this cement but I wasn't sure how to accurately mix it at 25:1 so went with the one part kind.

It's a contact cement so you apply a layer and then let it sit for 20 minutes before applying a second layer. Not wanting to hold it open that long, I figured out a way to use one of my clamps.

BOTE Seam Clamped

After the second layer of cement was tacky, I pressed the two parts together by hand then used wax paper-covered wood strips to create even clamping pressure along the seam.

Seam Side View

None of the online videos of SUP seam repairs seemed to cover a complex situation like this one, with corners and a carry strap and a lower hull section and connecting fabric. They all seemed to have pretty straight and simple seam blowouts. This one wasn't as easy to clamp and I was wondering if it would work when I looked at it from the side.

BOTE Seam Wrinkle

The resulting wrinkle in the fabric made a pop when it let go as I inflated the hull to test the repair.

BOTE Seam Repaired

I let it stretch out for a while at 5 psi before inflating it to the minimum operating pressure of 10 psi. The white area shows that I did not get the alignment quite right, but I got it wrong in a way that provides a little extra slack in the fabric around my repair. I guess that's better than the repair being under extra tension. It held pressure over night.

BOTE Deck Protection

One of the repair videos that I watched had a comment from a guy wishing to buy new foam deck padding for his BOTE because his dog was tearing it up. I decided to put some Dri Dek panels down to protect the BOTE deck from Starr's claws.

BOTE Chair

I attached the cut off corners to the aft end to provide a little more space when I bring along my folding chair.

BOTES on Trailer

I unloaded my Hobie Tandem Island from its trailer and with a pool noodle here and a bit more padding there, it's a double stacked BOTE trailer. Good enough to get them down to the creek for a test run this morning.

BOTE Fins Wrong

I did not mention it, but you can see in some of the photos above that the strap across the transoms on the BOTE I repaired is upside down. Still works fine and quality control slip ups happen. I wasn't going to mention it but this morning I went to mount the fins in my boat to paddle it and found that one of the fin mounts was installed on the boat backwards by the factory. Really, BOTE?

BOTE Grab Rac

We bought BOTE Grab Rac bars for both boats but only one came in time for the test ride today. It can be moved to an aft mounting position easily to get out of the way of paddling but it has to be mounted forward when using the motor.

Tow BOTE

The big test of the day was how it works to tow one BOTE using the Epropulsion motor on the other BOTE. It works great! I didn't measure our speed but set at 100 watts both boats went upwind nicely. At 400 watts they seemed to go a bit faster with a great deal more noise.

Bubbling BOTE

UPDATE: My seam repair held 10 psi over night and worked through our test but then my boat began slowly losing pressure. I kept wetting the seam repair with soapy water, listening, and looking and could not see where my repair failed. But what are the odds of ANOTHER leak just happening to appear right when I'm testing my repair? Very low. I decided to dip my repair in my pond to look for leaks and this picture shows the result. The PORT side of the boat bubbling vigorously! I repaired the STARBOARD transom. My repair didn't bubble a bit.

This is especially puzzling since I'm certain the boat had only been under a maximum of 10 PSI during the entire time I was testing my repair, so overpressure can not have caused this new problem.

Closed Seam Leaks

I flipped the boat over and found that there are actually four little leaks. I circled the two that have bubbles in the pic and made arrows to where the other two are. I'm not sure how to fix this but have emailed BOTE to ask. They did manage to have a robot and a human respond to me over July 4th weekend, so that's more customer service than I really expected on a holiday.

Seam Patch Cut

UPDATED UPDATE: I decided to try putting a patch over the four tiny leaks that I found in the seam of my BOTE. I later learned from a BOTE factory rep that it would have been a good idea to apply PVC Stitch brand liquid glue first. Another thought that occurred to me too late was to set the air pump to deflate and have it try to suck glue into the holes. If I could turn back time...

Seam Patch Clamped

But you can't turn back time once you've done this. Or maybe you can? I've emailed to ask about whether patches can be removed.

Seam Patch Inflated

As for whether this patch needs to be removed, I haven't decided. It leaks out both ends and I can hear it and see it with soap bubbles. On the other hand, it now seems to lose about 1 PSI per hour. The chances of my wanting to be out on this thing for longer than four hours are remote. I know it holds 14 PSI and if it leaks down to 10 by the time I'm done for the day, do I really care? I'm not at all sure I do.

BOTE Foam Deck Bubbles

I may not run out of things to pester BOTE about, starting with the foam deck on my boat. I emailed to ask about those bubbles.

Upon closer inspection of both, my wife's boat shows that the factory could get one of these right. It doesn't have the flaws mine does. The backward fin is the most glaring but there are other things. The upper and lower air chambers aren't aligned. The sides aren't quite straight and my boat is wider than hers. Various seams are not quite straight. Making one of these takes skills. Whoever made my wife's boat had them, whoever made mine didn't, and quality control missed the BOTE.

All that said, I'm still very happy with these boats, mostly because my wife is happy with hers and because we paid about what hers is worth for both of them. If we were retail customers who bought 2024 boats from a dealer and one was like mine, I'd want them to take it back. That's not our situation. We bought these from a guy on Facebook who said he bought the inventory of a closed dealership. I can deal with the boat I've got, and now I know more about fixing them if necessary.

Some video of the repair:

And the Tow BOTE Test:

The post BOTE Aero Rover Inflatable SUP MicroSkiffs! first appeared on Tropical Boating.

Cowmaran Crew

On March 15 of 2013, we decided to get an early start and go until we ran out of navigable water or time, whichever came first. The crew for the day, pictured at right, were Don, Fred, Mike (in whose cow barn the boat was built), and me. We got away from the dock at 9 am after a small delay involving Fred getting new tires. Waiting an extra hour to depart was not such a bad thing because it was a very cold morning.

Myakka Bird Rookery

The lower Myakka River between US 41 and SR 776 is a mangrove estuary with shallow water, sand and oyster bars, and small mangrove islands. One of those islands, pictured at left, is a bird rookery and every branch that could support a nest had wood storks, herons and other types of birds on it. These islands are interesting and the birds are beautiful, but the smell is terrible if you get downwind!

A short distance past the bird rookery island we came to the US 41 bridges, with the Myakka River Oyster Bar on the western shore at the bridge. It was too early to stop in, but Don told us they make a great fish taco and stopping on the way back was in the plan. Just past the bridge, there is a large sand bar right in the middle of the river. Don had successfully driven right over it before, but he must have come at a higher tide. I saw the color of the water changing from dark brown to tan and decided it was a good time to hang on to something, and not a moment too soon. We hit bottom and had to tilt the engines up to get out to deeper water along the side of the river.

Don Photographs Alligator

The river winds through some grassy marshes for a while and Mike spotted a wild pig along the shore on the swampy side, then we came to the more scenic part of the river, where there are fewer houses, higher ground with trees on both sides, and the river starts to get narrow. We started to see alligators basking on the sunny sections of shoreline, and lots of them. At right, Don is taking a picture of one of these alligators, which were the fattest, healthiest looking wild alligators I have ever seen, and I live in a swamp filled with alligators!

Mike Photographs Heron

We were passing through a wild section of the Myakka leading up toward the Interstate 75 bridges with forests of cabbage palms, oaks and pines on each side when Mike spotted a Great Blue Heron fishing from a log on one side of the river. We approached slowly so he could take some pictures and I snapped the picture at left just as the bird took off and flew a short distance up the river. That bird kept flying on ahead of us every time we approached for a while.

Soon we passed by the Snook Haven restaurant, located at the end of East Venice Avenue. It was still pretty early to stop in but was on our itinerary for the return trip later in the day.

Myakka River Kayaking

Kayaking on the Myakka River seems to be a very popular activity and we passed several kayakers throughout the day. Since the river has so many shallow spots and is uncharted and unmarked above US 41, only small powerboats venture up it and they are fairly rare. All of the kayakers seemed very surprised to encounter a 27 foot power catamaran coming up the river. I would have been too, but the Cowmaran is a very special powerboat so the normal rules of thumb do not apply.

Myakka River I-75 Bridges

Shortly after passing the kayakers in the picture, we came to the I-75 bridges over the Myakka River. We were entering unexplored territory, at least for all of us and for the Cowmaran.

Enjoying Cowmaran Exploration

Past I-75, the Myakka snakes past a rural neighborhood on the right and woods on the left side for a mile or so, then there is another half mile section with forest on both sides. Don seemed to be having a great time exploring the wilds of Florida in his boat! Mike took in the scenery from up on the bow, watching for turtles and gators and trying (mostly successfully) to make sure we did not hit submerged logs or sand bars.

More Myakka Kayakers

We encountered a some more pairs of kayakers in this section, two of whom are pictured at left. On the right side of the photo, you can see one of the houses nestled up in the trees on the bank. Even though we were passing through a neighborhood on one side of the river at this point, it felt like a wild river with no one around for miles except the kayakers and the Cowmaran crew.

Mike Photographs Turtle

In the wilderness section of river between I-75 and Border Road, Mike photographed one of the large population of turtles that we saw basking on fallen cabbage palm trunks. The alligators on the Myakka were fat and happy and did not seem at all disturbed by the passage of the boat, but these turtles were easily spooked. If you point at them or aim a camera at them, they jump in the water and disappear. This large one hung out on the log just long enough for me to get a picture of Mike taking his picture before diving into the river.

Border Road Bridge

Don had driven a car up to the Border Road bridge a week or so earlier to see whether it was tall enough to clear the T-top on the Cowmaran and thought it a bit questionable, but as we approached we could see that we had a couple of feet to spare. If the river were really high, as it is at times during the wet season, this would have been the end of the journey for the Cowmaran, but we were able to continue on up river.

Screenshot Past Border Rd

Just past the Border Rd bridge, it occurred to me to take this screenshot of my iPhone map showing where we were. The NOAA chart ends at US 41, so the Cowmaran's GPS had been showing us advancing across dry land for quite a while, but the iPhone knew where we were and had a satellite image of the area showing the river's twists and turns.

Technology can be pretty handy sometimes! I decided to take more screenshots at points of interest along the way.

Fishing Skiff

Fred Drives Cowmaran

Fred took a turn at driving the Cowmaran for a while in the stretch above Border Rd. The Myakka River is so wild and beautiful up in this area that it made us imagine it probably looked about the same as when Spaniards first came to Florida hundreds of years before, and probably long before that. The Cowmaran has a depth finder and we were sort of surprised that most of the river in this area was about 5 to 8 feet deep. I expected it to be shallower.

Power Line

Soon we came to a landmark that would not have been present in Spanish colonial times: an overhead power line. It was kind of incongruous out in the wilderness, but was only a momentary interruption in the scenery.

Shallow Spot

A couple of bends past the powerline, we came to a shallow spot in the river. Most of the Myakka in this area was a pretty constant depth, as mentioned above, but there was a sand bar right in the middle of the river, with slightly deeper water in narrow channels on each side. We tried to go through the right side channel, but it was so narrow that one hull of the 8'6" wide Cowmaran was almost on the shore and the other was too close to the sand bar. We had to tilt the engines up and make our way through using the boathook and paddle. Note for future exploration missions: more than one paddle would have been a good idea!

Screenshot at Shallow Spot

We entered a "Man Overboard" mark on the GPS to alert us to the shallow spot on our return trip down river. Although there was no chart for this area, the GPS was still leaving a breadcrumb track along our route and the MOB point would be easy to see on the way back. I also marked the spot with another iPhone screen shot, shown at left.

The straight line just below the blue dot indicating our position is the powerline.

Grumpy Fly Fisherman

A few minutes later, we came around a bend and saw this man fly fishing in a small canoe. The rest of the paddlers we encountered in the Myakka were friendly, if a bit confused by our presence. This guy was rather grumpy. He probably figured he could avoid all contact with powerboats by fishing in such a remote part of the river, so the last thing he expected was a large catamaran coming up river. The Cowmaran is not your ordinary large catamaran, and can go places others would not dare to try!

Women Kayaking

A little further up the river, we passed these two women kayaking upstream. I am still wondering where all these kayakers launched their boats. They are probably still wondering how those guys in the big catamaran found their way so far up the Myakka!

Private Club Dock

The river was getting more narrow and the submerged remains of fallen trees were becoming more common as we went upstream. We had already bounced off a couple of underwater snags when we came to a bend in the river with this private dock. It was a sharp bend with several snags and a sand bar just upstream that looked a bit difficult to negotiate. It was also starting to look increasingly difficult to find a spot large enough to turn a 27' boat around. We were debating whether to continue when I pointed out that we probably should not go into places where we can't turn around unless we want to come back out backwards. With that remark, Don made the call to turn back, so this was as far as we got.

Screenshot at River Club

I marked our turnaround point with the screen shot at left. The "No Trespassing" sign on the dock said it was for club members and guests only, causing us to wonder which club was located up here in the middle of nowhere. The iPhone picture revealed two answers: the dock belongs to the Venetian Golf and River Club, and there was a whole neighborhood just beyond the trees, so we were not exactly in the middle of nowhere. More on the edge of nowhere!

Turning around in the river bend turned out to be a bit tricky and involved pushing off logs and the shore with the boathook while spinning the boat using reverse on one engine and forward on the other. The river above that point appeared even less navigable, so it was probably a good time to head back. We decided that for further exploration up the Myakka, a good plan would be to bring kayaks along on board the Cowmaran and use it as a base camp from which to kayak further up river.

Stop at Snook Haven

The return trip down the Myakka was fairly uneventful and I drove the boat a good portion of the way, so did not take pictures. We pushed our way back over the shallow spot again, saw lots more gators and turtles basking, saw several kayaks, including some of the same ones from our trip up, who asked how far we had gotten. They were amazed that we had made it to the Venetian Golf and River Club. Many of the oak trees overhanging the river were covered with airplants, ferns and various epiphytes, but I only saw one that had a wild orchid, which was kind of surprising since they are fairly common on Shell Creek and its tributaries around our house.

We had eaten some wrap sandwiches from Publix and snacked on nuts throughout the day, but as the afternoon wore on it was time for more serious nutrition so we stopped at Snook Haven just below the I-75 bridges for a pitcher of beer. The docks were not built for boats as large as the Cowmaran and the port bow is actually pulled up onto the shore in the picture at right.

Fred and Mike at Snook Haven

Snook Haven was kind of an eclectic and funky place, with a live band playing and people of all ages eating and drinking at indoor and outdoor tables. At right is a shot of Fred and Mike at our picnic table, waiting for Don to return with the pitcher of beer.

Cowmaran at the Myakka Oyster Bar

We decided not to eat at Snook Haven since Don had in mind eating at the Myakka River Oyster Bar. It is a few miles further down the river, next to the US 41 bridges. We got there a little after 3 pm and I took this picture of the Cowmaran at their dock. That's the crew walking away into the shadow of the building.

Lunch at Myakka Oyster Bar

We ordered fish tacos and fried oyster sandwiches for lunch and sat at an outdoor table. Mike was feeling bad that I was not in any of my pictures for the day, so he took this picture of Fred, Don and me as we waited for our food.

Tame White Egret

Also waiting to be fed were a couple of extremely tame birds that were obviously being fed by some of the patrons of the restaurant on a pretty regular basis. The large White Egret at right was particularly bold, wandering around between tables full of people and looking for anything that might be left on the ground. I saw him nab a few french fries off a plate as some diners left, before the waitress returned to pick up their plates.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Out on one of the tables by the dock was this Yellow Crowned Night Heron, who had also greeted us as we arrived. I suspect this fellow was not so interested in french fries, but was accustomed to being fed unused bait by fishermen who stopped in for a bite.

Dolphin Jumping

After a delicious lunch, we headed on down the lower Myakka River and across Charlotte Harbor, back to Don's place in Punta Gorda Isles. As we approached, we saw something large jumping in the PGI channel. At first I thought it must be a tarpon that had broken a fishing line and was trying to throw a hook out of its mouth. It was quite large and silver-grey and there are not all that many really large fish in the harbor. As we got closer, we could see that it was actually a wild dolphin jumping in the channel.

Not sure whether the performance would continue, I decided not to try to get out my video camera and instead just aimed my iPhone camera at the area, hoping for one more jump. That jump came and I clicked the shutter button. The picture at right is the result.

Dolphin Jump Closeup

Since it is so hard to see the dolphin in that picture, I cropped in on the 800 pixel area around the dolphin to get the version at left. It's not the best dolphin jumping picture I have ever seen, but it's not that bad for a quick shot with an iPhone and it is the best one I have ever taken myself!

We arrived back at Don's dock at around a quarter to 6, just under 9 hours after we departed. We had covered an estimated 78 miles and it turned out that we did not need the 6 gallon fuel tanks at all. Both engines ran on their individual 3 gallon tanks all day long. The trip consumed about 4.5 or 5 gallons of gas, meaning the Cowmaran averaged 15 to 17 miles per gallon. That's better than my truck!

The post Cowmaran Trip Up The Myakka River first appeared on Tropical Boating.

Happy Sailing Student

The Charlotte Harbor Community Sailing Center is a tenant at the facility, sub-leasing some interior space from the YMCA and using the yard and boat ramp to conduct sailing classes for children and adults and to provide residents who do not live on the water with a place to store and use small boats. With the YMCA's lease up for renewal, the Sailing Center has offered the City of Punta Gorda a competing lease proposal. The Sailing Center's proposal is to continue current uses of the building and land, including those by the YMCA and other groups, but also to expand boating opportunities for sailors and other boaters by directing rental income back into its boating safety and sailing instruction programs and into improvement of the Bayfront Center facility. Please watch the video below, in which Sailing Center President Dennis Peck explains why he believes that awarding the lease to the Sailing Center would benefit our community.

As Dennis Peck explained, the Sailing Center was founded to promote sailing, but he believes that the Bayfront Center should be used by a range of small boats, including kayakers, stand-up paddle boarders, and powerboats that are small enough to launch manually at the small boat ramp. The Bayfront Center is an ideal place for all kinds of small boats to access the Harbor and it would be nice to see more use of the facility for boating-related purposes. The Sailing Center's proposal is to focus on public access to Charlotte Harbor.

The YMCA does a lot of good things in our community and others around the nation, but their primary mission is not to promote boating on Charlotte Harbor. Awarding the Bayfront Center lease to a non-profit organization that is primarily focused on recreational and educational use of Charlotte Harbor would benefit the public more simply because no one cares about local boating like local boaters. Awarding the lease to the Sailing Center would not significantly impact the YMCA, which could continue its limited use of the facility. As Dennis Peck pointed out, the main difference would come from directing money generated at the Bayfront Center exclusively back into the Bayfront Center facility and into development of more boating opportunities by the public.

For more on this topic, please read this article from the local Sun newspaper:

Groups Offer Two Visions for Bayfront Center

See also my account of helping out with one of the many Kids' Sailing Camps run by the Sailing Center to teach kids sailing and safe boating.

I completely agree with this letter sent to City Commissioner Dennis Murphy by local boater Roger Strube, who gave me permission to publish his thoughts here:
Dennis Murphy,

Re: Recommendation from the Bayfront Use Evaluation Committee

I was extremely disappointed with your recommendation that the City award the lease for the Bayfront Center to the YMCA rather than the Charlotte Harbor Community Sailing Center. Awarding the management of one of the few public, on shore assets, to an organization whose primary focus is not facilitating access to Charlotte Harbor by our citizens is not in the best interest of the public.

The YMCA has a long history as an important resource for the public it serves. However, the YMCA's primary mission is not to serve the boating public. I served on the Board of our local YMCA when my son and daughter were on their swim team. Kathy and I used the exercise facility and played racket ball on their courts. We participated in other YMCA sponsored events. Neither the land-locked facility back home nor the Bayfront facility, currently managed by the YMCA in Punta Gorda, have ever had a focus of providing small boat access to open water by the public.

The YMCA is not organized or administered to serve the boating public or facilitate public access to the water. Management of this public shore line facility by an organization without this primary focus will continue to impede public access and delay development of sailing and boating safety instruction for our youth, our adults and the disabled.

The Charlotte Harbor Community Sailing Center's primary mission is to facilitate public access, boating safety, sailing instruction and sailing event participation. The CHCSC is uniquely organized and at a rare location to fulfill this mission. The Bayfront facility offers a small, narrow ramp where folks may manually launch their small sailboats. More importantly, the Community Sailing Center owns a number of boats that are available for use by qualified folks who pay a minimum yearly membership dues. The leadership and "staff" are all highly qualified volunteers. Our citizens do not need to own a boat, have property on the water or join an expensive yacht club to have access to the water. Access to the Harbor, water safety training, sailing instruction, small boat racing events and even the boats needed for these activities, are available for minimal membership dues through the Charlotte Harbor Community Sailing Center.

I do not understand your committee's recommendation to continue YMCA management of this public facility. The assertion printed in the Sun-Herald that the YMCA was "...contemplating a sailing activity" is simply not believable and should be dismissed as a political distraction. The Community Sailing Center has a well developed "sailing activity" with experienced management, certified instructors and hard assets (boats). The CHCSC management team, serving as the board for the Bayfront facility could easily manage the present "more broad-ranging community based utilization." The bridge games and group meetings would continue; only the primary focus from a rental meeting facility to a waterfront activities center would change.

I am hopeful the City Council will make the proper decision regarding access to the Harbor and use of our public resources.

Roger H Strube, MD (retired)

There will be a public hearing on this matter on January 2, 2013 at 9:00 am and I hope to see many local boaters there!

The post Better Use of Punta Gorda Bayfront Center is Possible first appeared on Tropical Boating.

We have an old 3 cylinder Yamaha two-stroke on the 15' Boston Whaler and the normally reliable beast recently stranded us for the very first time before magically fixing itself. It has been running perfectly ever since. I think it has an intermittent magneto problem, but can't prove it until it cooperates by malfunctioning.

In a half-hearted attempt to force such a malfunction, we recently took the boat up to Nav-A-Gator, some distance up the Peace River. I say half-hearted because we did ensure that we had a current towing insurance card along. The boat ran perfectly once again and when we got home, I ran it on the fresh water flusher for a bit. The picture at right shows what I noticed.

Judging by the corrosion around the crack, it has been there for a little while, I just haven't noticed it. It's pretty hard to miss when you put on the flushing ears, but I did manage to miss it and only noticed when the engine was running and it was spitting water out the side.

Cracked Lower Unit

Pictured at left is a closer view of the same crack when dry. Now I'm wondering whether to fix it, and how to fix it. A neighbor knows how to weld. We may just wind up replacing it, not sure...

To be continued, no doubt.

The post Outboard Lower Unit Crack first appeared on Tropical Boating.