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Johnnie Walker on the Rocks!

Johnnie Walker on the Rocks! A local favorite in these parts. It's also been enjoyed in Palau.

Mr. Walker ran his boat aground on Magundas Reef. It's been there for a couple of weeks. No media coverage, not sure why, did some pretty gnarly damage to the reef. A friend of mine took these pics from a helo. 

Here's another view!

The word on the street is that this was an unfortunate combination of the autopilot and some entertainment along for the ride. Wow, what a ride that must have been! 

T-29: VADM K. R. Wheeler

I took this shot of the VADM K.R. Wheeler while at work today. The Wheeler is the MSC's OPDS (offshore petroleum distribution system). It is prepositioned here in Guam and makes it's home at Naval Base Guam. Today they were testing their fire fighting gear. The ship can stay stationary unassisted  with it's directional thrusters. A very cool ship!

http://www.msc.navy.mil/sealift/2007/November/wheeler.htm

T-57: Bye Bye Rod Bender

The Rod Bender is up for sale and the kids wanted a picture with the boat before it's sold. She's going to be missed. Some great memories on that boat! 

T-72: For Sale--Rod Bender--2001 ProKat 2200 WA

A sad day in Guam...for me that is! The Rod Bender has officially been put on the Market. 

Click here for more details. 

T-90: Wahoo

The winds have been unseasonably clam for the last couple of days. Got out on the water after work to take advantage of the nice weather. There was a pretty hot wahoo bite, and we went 4/7 over 2.5 hours. Biggest was 21 lbs. 

T-92: Queen Mary 2

The Queen Mary 2 made a port call in Guam today. Largest ship to enter Apra Harbor! Went and checked it out at lunch...huge! After work, Cyndi, Andrew, Sophia, and I went for a walk and watched her get underway. Way cool! 

T-93: Mahi Mahi

Went fishing on today! Bite was slow, but we managed to get 9 mahi mahi, 1 yellowfin tuna, and a barracuda. That's what a fishbox is supposed to look like! Bloody and full of fish! 

T-97: Sumay Cove

Historically, the Village of Sumay was an important site of international commerce. Pan Am Clippers landed in Apra Harbor and docked at a seaport here. After WWII, the village site became part of the Navy Base and the villagers were relocated to near-bye Santa Rita. Today, Sumay is home to the Sumay Cove Marina operated by the Navy's MWR. I keep my boat here and often leave from the marina to go fishing. I took this picture from a seldom visited vantage point by the Navy Branch Dental Clinic. Click on the picture and look closely, there is a lot to see, including the Rod Bender!

Cracked oil pan on the Rod Bender

Haven't been out fishing in what seems like quite some time. The weather has been good, the fishing has been crappy (from what I hear), and I've been very busy with my photography business.

I decided that in between photo shoots and other work that I would knock some boat maintenance out of the way in April. My buddy Tim and I decided to change the engine oil and the lower unit oil last week. We had an interesting day driving all over Guam to find everything we needed to do the maintenance, and then we spent about 2 hours doing the work. When it was all said and done, and we were cleaning up the mess, Tim noticed that the port motor was dripping a small amount of oil out of the oil drain tube. The plug was tight, but it still kept dripping.

We drained the new oil and put it back in the bottles and then took a look at the plug. The port motor on my boat has a brass plug in the oil pan instead of the regular plug. From what I have pieced together via the evidence left behind, the prior owner stripped the oil pan and then re-tapped it with a larger sized die and put in this brass plug. The problem with the brass plug is that it is prone to over tightening, because it does not have an integrated washer. I decided that I would replace the brass plug with a regular oil pan plug of the same size. So after visiting several NAPA auto parts stores here on Guam, I was able to locate an oil pan plug of the same size as the brass plug. When I tried to put the new plug in, the raised neck on the bottom of the oil pan cracked off. I think the oil pan cracked when i put the brass plug back in after the oil change, and that's why it was leaking. Then, when I put in the new plug, it completed the crack.

Unfortunately for me, the oil pan on an outboard motor is a lot harder to change out than on a car. The whole power-head and exhaust has to be removed and then rebuilt. I think its about 5-10 hours of labor + parts. The parts have to still be ordered. So I think its going to be a few weeks and many $$$ later until my boat is back in the water.