Zach Matthews
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Ok, we’re clean. That one was pretty easy. If anyone has any additional pop-ups, let me know. For the record, if you only visited this board this morning, your computer was never “exposed” to the virus. If you navigated through the splash page or visited the photoblog or the podcast/articles/blog/video pages, then you should run an AdAware-style scan of your system.
Zach
Ok, guys, here’s an update. The spectacular stuff is mostly over with; at this point we are sanding, filling gaps, and doing fine work prior to painting. The Dremel tool I use for making Dremel Bugs came in super handy both for knocking down lumps of fiberglass and for routing out the insides of the deck-to-hull transitions. Also for cutting the holes for our cupholders a bit bigger.
Not many of these photos have been of me because I’ve been behind the camera a lot, but I’ve fulfilled my promise to sand in exchange for a spot on the deck. 🙂
Sad as we were to see it, the old Gheenoe logo had to go. Unfortunately 20+ years of being stuck there meant we had to use the sander; we can buff most of it back to a general green for use before we paint the outside, but I did get through the gel coat on one spot, raising a little tan color from the glass underneath. Once the boat is painted it won’t matter.
The all-important cupholders were ready to go in.
Each of us ceremonially took our turn in providing a place in the boat for beer.
Ta Da!
Andrew’s father-in-law came over to check the boat out; he’s got a background in sailing and knew some stuff cold (like the formula for max hull speed before getting on a plane) which was both useful and impressive.Done for now!
Zach
John is probably the best qualified to comment on this on this board; his nature photography speaks for itself. I would simply say, when you don’t have the equipment, you have to compensate. And the best way to do that is to be in the field in the first two hours of daylight and in the two hours before sunset. Photography doesn’t really keep bankers hours, or even fishing hours. If I know I need a shot, I’ll be up an hour before dawn to get in position and take whatever the light gives me.
Beginning of the day:
End of the day:
Zach
Ok guys, I received a Solaris 26 (the biggish fold out pad) and a Solo 7.5 battery from Brunton to do some tests on.
Hey Keith –
A lot of the difference in lenses, in my experience, has more to do with what the lenses are designed for and how you use them, than anything else. The Costa 580s are apparently glass, which I was surprised to learn as they are by no means heavy. Oakley’s lenses are polycarbonate (at least all the ones I tried were). I can’t tell a difference on my face weight-wise.
What makes a huge difference though is lens color and where you are. I have a pair of yellow Costa 400 polycarbonate lenses that I use on forested mountain streams. The Oakley folks provided me with a pair of their lenses in yellow as well. I am more likely to use the Oakleys next season simply because they are the kind with no bottom rim on the lens, and I think they will fog less. If you took either of those yellow lenses out to the flat, you’d be blinded in no time. Yellow lenses have like 30% light transmission as compared to 12% for regular shades, but those numbers don’t reflect how bright they seem to me. I often think the world looks brighter period when wearing yellow lenses.
The Costa Silver Mirrors that Andrew and Brett are describing have a kind of magenta tone due to how they filter out blue light (at least that’s my understanding). I’ve used the pair I have on a variety of streams ranging from muddy warmwater up to wide open Caribbean flat. The magenta coloration takes a bit of getting used to but I would definitely agree with Andrew that these are exceptionally clear lenses. Of course, the Oakleys were also very clear; what I discovered when I was swapping all of them out was that I saw through the veil of the flat better with the redder tones (like the Costa Silver Mirrors) than with a more even gray or brown town (usually called “amber” in sunglass-speak).
All in all, I do think the Costa Silver Mirrors or an equivalent high-end lens will make a difference in your fishing. If you are used to cheapo $10 throwaway polaroids, the true high end glasses are a million percent better; just night and day. If you are already wearing nice sunglasses (usually $100 and up), then, just like with any high performance product, the price to take the next incremental step grows higher for each successive boost. But I will say this; now that I have a pair of the 580 lenses, which are the highest-end ones Costa makes, I barely use my older Costa 400s (brown ones that I have had for several years) at all while fishing; those have become my driving glasses.