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    The Boating Store is powered by Amazon.

    This means that everything purchased on this site goes through the Amazon check-out.

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    Why use Amazon?

    • Because manufacturers do. They list their products with Amazon. They are the same products you find on each manufacturers individual website.

    • Amazon gives you a wide choice.

    • Saves you time

    Do you pay more here?

    • No extra charge is added to use this site.

    • Amazon’s prices are competitive.

    If you wish to purchase, then click on ‘STORE‘. The products on sale will give you among the best deals available on the web each day. Use the search facility within the STORE to get to the particular boat you are interested in.

    To help you know what is available, there are several pages to help you.

    Quick Compare 35 Brand Name Kayaks – gives an overview of the specifications of the types of kayaks each manufacturer has as well as the names of some well known manufacturers.

    Fishing Boats and Kayaks – gives a broad view of boats for those interested in fishing etc

    Hunting Boats – gives a broad view of suitable boats in this area.

    Kayaks priced at under $200 – gives kayaks at the bottom end of the market

    Canoe Manufacturers – is a table to show what is available in this line

    Choosing An Inflatable Kayak – An Overview Of Main Brand Names – gives the main manufactures found on the web, together with their mission statements.

    Choosing An Inflatable Kayak For Maximum Load Capacity – gives an overview of the largest type of boats available.

    Fishing Float Tubes – a list of innovative fishing boats of comfort.

    Pontoon Boats – stable fishing boats, both rigid and inflatable.

    MinnKota, MotorGuide, Panther and Sevylor Trolling Motors

    The Section titled VIDEO has clips on a wide variety of boating, fishing, hunting activities.

    The articles are for information and entertainment purposes.

    There are 3 free ebooks available. One is an unusual story set in the days of sailing by well known and respected author Joseph Conrad called ‘The Secret Sharer’ and the other is a travel book about El Salvador called ‘Slow Bus To Ahuachapan’ by new author John Drewman. The last is a Waterfowl Identification Guide for North America. To receive them please email admin@theboatingstore.co.cc

    Your privacy is as important to us as our own. We will not, ever, give out your email address to anyone.

    There is space below each article to comment on your user experience. Comments are welcomed – they tell us what we’re doing right, or how to correct what we’re doing wrong.

    Trolling Motors For Boats

    It happens to be a fact that the sport most people participate in, is fishing. The reason for this could simply be a desire to go somewhere, far away from cities with the associated pollution, squalor, high rise buildings, fast pace and high population. In other words, the peace and quiet that can be found along the banks of a quiet river in the outdoors.

    Fishing has long been an activity in which man has taken part. This would be because he needed to find food and fish is a top quality source of food. Whether man was aware of the high nutritional value of fish in those days seems not to be a point of discussion. Records show, though, that one of the earliest methods of using a hook was a piece of wood sharpened at both ends and tied to a line. This caught in the mouth of the fish in a way similar to the hook and line one encounters now.

    It also leaves one wondering about fish themselves. They could not have paid a lot of attention to what they were eating, as bait on this type of hook would very quickly fall off.

    It was a needle-maker, a Mr. Kirby who lived in the seventeenth century who thought up the shape of the hook which we still see being used today. He and his fellow needle makers lived above shops near Old London Bridge. The connection with fish hooks and the Thames makes it reasonable to assume that he and his friends regularly frequented a favorite fishing spot on the Thames near them. Did they discuss ways to improve the mechanism by which fish are caught? Undoubtedly.

    Their catch could have been salmon, bream, dace, gudgeon, flounder, sea trout and barbel; the latter would have been very at home in the pollution which plagued the Thames, even in those days.

    It is during the last 150 years that advances have been made in fishing tackle and in the industries which have grown up in that connection with it..

    Before trolling motors were built, trolling involved the use of live bait or lures that were drawn through the water behind a gently rowed boat, the oars quietly stroking the water. Trolling is commonly done on large inland bodies of water and for big-game ocean fishing in the great outdoors.

    However, today a reference to a trolling motor for boats means a quiet, controllable, slow-speed motor which is attached to the bow of the boat with a shaft reaching down into the water and a propeller at the end of it.

    They are either hand operated or foot operated from within the boat and in recent years have had sonar equipment added to them. The aim is to, as quietly and stealthily as possible get to where the fish are – the same aim as all fisherman have had throughout the centuries. The trolling motor on the boat does greatly assist one in getting to where the fish are.

    Trolling motors are powered by marine batteries of either 12v, 24v or 36v. Choosing which motor you buy depends on how fast you need the boat to go. The length of the shaft also varies as it depends on the depth of the water to be fished and what your fishing preferences are. For instance, if you were a keen tournament participant, you would probably be looking at one of the more powerful trolling motors.

    Some propellers have weed wedges to avoid the motor becoming entangled in weeds. Invariably the trolling motor is lifted out of the water when idle or when the main motor is in use.

    To compare specifications and prices of some trolling motors made by well-known manufacturers go to http://www.theboatingstore.co.cc/minnkota-motorguide-panther-sevylor-trolling-motors-compare

    This article can only be reproduced if the website address remains on it as an active link.

    Small Hypalon Inflatable Boats

     

    Why buy a small boat? Well, for most of us it is because we do not have enough financial superiority to be able to afford a large luxury boat. (Must say here though, that reading some of the articles on the internet, I’d rather have a superior IQ than superior finances – would that I could write like some others!)

     

    Does a small boat mean the enjoyment one gets from it is equally small? By no means. Was it a large boat that made it across the sea to Polynesia? No. It was an outrigger canoe. And what about British soldiers on the beaches of Dunkirk? OK, most of these ships weren’t so little – the smallest was 15′. 700 small boats, mainly private fishing boats, but including an assortment of merchant marine boats, pleasure craft and Royal Marine lifeboats were used to assist in the evacuation of about a third of million people from the shores of Dunkirk back to the UK.

     

    And what about Thor Heyerdahl’s solo trip on a raft across the Atlantic. OK. That trip was never about competing with a large boat. Still. He could not have made such an epic voyage on his own in a large boat. Did he enjoy himself? Not sure. Some of the photographs of him while on the trip suggest not. He certainly contributed to history though.

     

    The only large boat of note in the channels of history was Noah’s Ark and that was not built for pleasure or to move. It was simply built to float. It does not seem to have had a keel or anchor but at the same time, the main picture is of relentless, pounding rain, not so much of turbulent seas. It was a big boat, two Boeing 737’s could be stored in its interior.

     

    Small boats are within reach of most people. They can give a lot of pleasure and enjoyment in the outdoors. They can be a way of meeting people of like interests, a day out for the family, a means of viewing wildlife, or a means of engaging with the outdoors.

     

    So then what is available on the small boat market. Plenty. Any search on the internet will turn up a multitudinous choice. Those at the top end of the inflatable market are often made from Hypalon.

     

    The original manufacturer of hypalon was a company called DuPont Performance Elastomers, but they have ceased production. However it is available from manufacturers in Japan. It is worth noting that the US Coastguard, Fisheries and Navy Seals insist on hypalon inflatables.

     

    It has proven to give excellent protection to inflatables from abrasions, oil, gasoline or the elements. Most notably it is not affected by sunlight and UV rays, making it the most long lasting boat material for inflatables on the market. Of course this also adds to the re-sale value of such boats simply because it is a longer lasting, quality boat.

     

    Mercury are manufacturers of hypalon inflatables. (Mercury are perhaps better known for their outboard motors.)

     

    For more information on the Mercury 430 hypalon inflatable boat visit the site below and click on STORE on the right.

     

    Http://www.theboatingstore.co.cc

    Article is copyright.  Only for re-publishing if it is not changed and the website address remains on it as an active line.

    Bass Fishing Competitions

     

    There is great consternation within the local population in certain parts of the world when a dam is built.

     

    Take Kariba dam in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as an example. The area was the home of the Batonga tribe. It is a very hot, low lying, mosquito ridden, tsetse fly infested valley, but they liked it anyway. Not only that, a great variety of wild animals roamed across the area – buffalo, elephant, kudu, wildebeest, lion, leopard, giraffe and more, representing all Zimbabwe’s great and good in the animal kingdom.

     

    Thick forest bushveld grew there too (for want of a better way to describe it). Not the tall, tall trees of equatorial regions, but the smaller,denser,leafy variety among which hardwoods exist.

     

    In order to build a dam there, all of this had to be cleared away. The Batonga tribe were very unhappy – they were moved to another area of the country and given land there.

     

    The land around Kariba was cleared of the vegetation first. A mammoth task, but it was done. Heavy machinery was used for this. Invariably some stumps of trees were left behind, perhaps because it was felt they could do no harm, or more likely, to give the as yet non existent fish population somewhere to go. (Bass Fishing experts will know this – bass like the environment created by this deadened wood.)

     

    The building of the actual wall was an unusual feat because the Zambezi River flooded during its construction, twice. The first time, it was called ‘the once in a hundred year flood.’ The next year though saw it being the ‘once in a thousand year flood.’ Totally unexpected, it took the engineers totally by surprise.

     

    About 25 people lost their lives as the work progressed. At least one fell off the high wall into the water below and at least one other fell into the wet cement.

     

    If you are interested in the wild animal rescue operation that ensued as the area flooded, try Googling it. It was called Operation Noah.

     

    Almost all dams built by man have stumps left behind, submerged when the dams fills for the first time. For fishing experts these can cause real problems. They can’t be seen, so can cause high repair bills on one’s boat or motor. They slow a fisherman down, especially when a fishing competition is to take place.

     

    Wouldn’t it be great if a product existed that could guide one in lanes which avoided these pitfalls? One would have more time to fish because the best fishing spot could be reached quicker.

     

    Such products do exist. Technology and hard work have enabled entrepreneurs to map lake bottoms and produce waypoints to guide a fisherman in just such a way.

     

    Lake Fork, Texas, with its very large, Largemouth Bass has waypoints not marked on any map. Get prepared for that Bass Fishing Contest!

     

    Visit http://www.theboatingstore.co.cc for more information.

     

    Armchair Fishing or Float Tubes For Under $100.00

    The definition of Armchair Travel is ‘to participate or experience indirectly or vicariously’. (Vicariously means taking the place of another). In other words, from the comfort of an armchair we indirectly participate in the experiences of someone else.

     

    Armchair Travel – how many of us remember the pleasure we derived from paging through the National Geographic, viewing photos of places we would never get the chance to see, or reading about life elsewhere and enjoying the stimulation of new sights and unusual shenanigans of others.

     

    How many people read the tales written by authors like William Dalrympole and James Michener, authors whose work revealed life, the odd, the highs, the lows, the marvels of lives lived in places our own feet were unlikely to touch.

     

    Both men left legacies for writers of the future, notably Mitcheners Centre for Writers.

     

    However, the point is, the audience for this type of information imparting has grown a lot smaller. TV channels, broadcasting, but most of all air travel, and in the last 30 years or so – budget air travel – has changed all that.

     

    Take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,for example. A once in a lifetime concept for Jews or Christians (if they were fortunate, that is). Now over 8 million make the pilgrimage each year. Before that, it was prayer, meditation, heightened imagination, joining with others of like mind to remember and talk about past wonders, reading about and following in the footsteps of Jesus or the Prophets.

     

    One no longer needs to read much in order to gain information to other places. It can be streamed into one’s living room and the opportunity to travel to places of interest is now affordable for a great majority of people.

     

    Such are the changing ways of life today.

     

    Armchair travel though, has an element of comfort about it. It is not called ‘wooden bench travel’ or ‘wooden chair travel’ or ‘wooden plank travel.’ There’s this nuance of relaxation and comfort.

     

    So it is with Armchair fishing. Here comfort is taken to the ultimate height. The inflatables fill out to look exactly like armchairs with their comfortable arm rests and padded backs. But how can a craft so luxuriously stress-free be operated? The designers have thought of that.

     

    Navigation and tracking are issues which have been considered and are built in to the design. They are also called Float Tubes. Relevant because all fishing boats float.

     

    Here is an opportunity to enjoy your own armchair fishing experience from your own Float Tube. No need to hear about it second hand, from the experiences of another.

     

    Of course, some of them are more expensive than others, but for a start, they are inexpensive, innovative, comfortable and fun.

     

    To view some go to: http://www.theboatingstore.co.cc/fishing-float-tubes

     

    If you would like to view the photos use the STORE on the right menu. Choose ‘boats’ and ‘float tubes’