Collin and I have been hard at work getting the Karen Lynn ready to go back in the water the week of April 13th. We have made a lot of progress the last few weeks. The new Furuno FCV-1150 sounder and two transducers are installed and the picture and controls are unbelievable. We made a custom swivel mount and it will rotate so we can see the screen from the helm, out back on the deck, or from the hauler. Check out the mounting and the screen shot below. Also we have made a lot of progress on the Karen Lynn’s new tuna door. Because the deck is quite high off the water compared to most downeast boats, we were concerned about being able to make a door that worked.Fortunately we were able to make a good ramp and set the door down 8″ below the deck. We are also rigging a snatch block on the winter back so we can use our existing hydraulic winch to pull really big tuna in through the door. In the picture below Collin is coating the fittings on our fuel tanks with rust inhibitor and the tuna door and ramp are behind him.

Last, but the improvement we are most excited about is our super insulated 200 gallon live well and 600# ice chest combo is ready to install. We will be hoisting onto the deck this week and bolting it in place so I can hook up the aerator, 1 1/2″ sea water supply pump, and the 2″ drain. We are really looking forward to having not only an awesome live bait well, but a great rigging station as well. Below are two pictures on the combo unit. The first is the hinged lid of the bait well and the second shows the gasketed ice box.

Our first groundfish trip is schedule for April 18th with another the next day. We still have plenty of open spring dates and we suggest getting out in early spring while the groundfishing is still really good. Only a few more weeks and the 2009 season will be going!

Jim Ansara
Karen Lynn Charters