A Time to Remember

Dad's service picture

With a busy schedule there wasn't much fishing done last week however it there we did make it to Bogger Hollar (the second) for a family reunion of the Anderson/Fagerland relationship which was my dad's side of the family.  It was hosted by Chris and Jim Husby, Chris is the daughter of my dad's cousin Jean Amundson, who's brother Ronnie Olson had the original Bogger Hollar north of Strum, Wisconsin, where he started up the Family Reunion on my dad's side of the family.  It was nice to see many of my cousins again as well some of the Fagerland's, my grandmothers maiden name.  All of this including my trip to Oshkosh made me think of my dad, who passed away 7 years ago on August 2nd.  It's interesting, my father was not my best friend, that wasn't his job.  He did instill in me some values that reflect his own ideals and I am sure those of his fathers.  Looking back, his role was to make sure that I got a good education, both from a knowledge standpoint and an ethical standpoint.  He worked hard to make sure that I stayed focused on school and happily didn't end in jail by the time I was 18!  Although we never fished much together, he was the one who lit that fire as I have reminisced recently about fishing catfish on NSP point in Eau Claire, or our excursions to Marsh Miller Lake, west of Bloomer, or even fishing the float in Alma, they certainly started a life long, what some would say, obsession.  Never the less, as I get older, there are so many stories and questions that I would have loved to ask him about or talk to him about but like alot of things, often times by the time one thinks of it, it's too late.  Two Monday's ago I posted about having a chance to to Oshkosh and get a picture of the C47 he used to fly.  One of my favorite stories is the time they flew into Buenos Aires, Argentina sometime in the lat 1940's, maybe 1948.  Anyway they had just park their plane and he cleaned up enough to head off base as they were off duty till the next day.  As he was walking toward  the gate an abrupt voice called out...Sargent to which he promptly turned around and saluted to the base commander.  The voice returned, Where you going Sargent?.....I am on leave sir, going downtown for a few hours.....Not dressed like that, as the commander explained the place was crawling with Nazi German's that fled the war and they have no love for American's in uniform.  Come with me, I have a son about your size that you can change into civilian clothes,  they'll leave you alone!  Wow, a great story and I am sure there was more but they are now forever gone.  So those who's fathers are still alive, talk to them, there is much to learn.  For those who are fathers, share your stories as it is the greatest gift you can give!

Boost Converter

Dang garden looks like crap and  the deer have been just brutal on my tomatoes and cucumbers.  Also, there is a mole in the back yard who has decided to make most of it into his permanent buffet table.  They can be difficult to trap and here's hoping I can get it before I leave on Friday.   Believe it or not, it's pretty dry around home.  It sure cuts down on the need to mow everything yet it is not the best situation.  It does look like rain this weekend however I will not be around to enjoy it.  The picture on the left is a device that has proven to be a great solution for a problem that has been experienced in a number of the boats I have owned including my current Ranger.  With all the wiring and the fact that these modern electronics do pull some substantial current, especially those 12 inch screens, couple that with live wells and bait well pumps, structure scan 3D, an accessory GPS module, on-board entertainment unit, it doesn't take long for the voltage on the main battery to drop, and with the voltage drop in the wiring, there simply isn't enough voltage to keep my Lowrance depth finders working in top condition.  Often the solution is to wire these devices directly to the accessory battery yet that sometimes is not very convenient.  My solution came to me years ago when my first Ranger had an old Genetron CRT display which started acting up when the battery voltage was lower than 12.2 volts.  Tom Emmons was a good friend and an excellent power supply engineer so I had him build me a boost converter, an electronic device that would take a voltage and boost it to a higher voltage, one that I set up at 14.5 volts.  This took care of the problem as the screen cleared up.  Lately my depth finders on my boat have been acting up after a long day on the water.  Amazon sells these boost converters for about $5.00 each and they work beautiful.  No longer do my Lowrance units shut off when I start my main outboard.  The display's no longer blink when the voltage get's low.  It's a very nice and convenient way to take care of the low voltage issues.  If only most problems would be that easy!  I posted the same message a year ago before leaving for Canada but failed to connect the output to all of my added electronics, which I fixed last week.  In June my HDS 9 was acting up and that solved all of my problems!

Heading for Lac Seul on Friday and will return a week later so Next week's post may reflect my schedule.  It looks like a good week however the water is still about 2 feet lower than it normally is, reflecting how dry it really is.