Sometimes you need to take a break from the routine of work and worry and just kick back and enjoy the Lord's blessings of life and nature. So I got up at 4:00 a. m. threw on some clothes and drove to the bay to do some wade fishing. San Luis pass on Galveston's west end is a perfect place because you can fish the surf on the ocean side of the pass or the flats of the bay side. The ocean surf side can be very dangerous to wade fish because of the fast moving currents and you could get seriously killed. Many people have drowned there. I have seen the tide moving so fast that I think it could drown a fish. So I stick to the bay for wading where the water is generally calm. The fishing pier that extends out into the mouth of the bay is no longer there thanks to hurricane Ike. I am not what you would call a serious fisherman, probably more like a hobbyist. My equipment is not top of the line and I know a few basic knots. One thing I have learned about fishing is that it has nothing to do with catching fish. I got to the Rusty Hook bait shop at sun up and asked the old salt there if anyone had been catching any fish. Here is what he said. ( Fill in your own curse words.)

"Yesterday the #*@**#!!## water was green and the wind was light. But you're not fishing yesterday, you're fishing today. Everyday is different and you have to ##&**$# work with what you have. That's why they call it fishing not catching."

I'm glad I got that pep talk ?? because I had just about decided not to buy any live shrimp. So I bought a pint of shrimp and drove the remaining few miles to the bay. I love to see the sunrise over the water. I wonder if it does that on the days I am not there? Kind of like the tree falling in the forest thing. Before getting into the water you need to be sure you have everything you may need when you are wade fishing. You can wade in knee deep water for hundreds of yards in San Luis bay. It is a long way back to get those pliers you forgot. Pliers, extra tackle, wading belt, bait bucket and bait, all stainless knife, stringer, net. I had it all. But it is just as important to remember what not to bring. So I get out about 200 yards and realize I forgot to take my wallet out of my pocket. Salt water is not kind to wallets. I found that out the hard way once before. So back to the car. You will notice that walking in knee deep water slows you down considerably. Knowing where to fish in the bay is easy. You can fish anywhere there is water. I like to wade until I come to a trough or a gut that is at least six feet deep and stand in water about waist deep while casting into the deeper pool. I say stand because there ain't no place to sit down. The exciting thing about fishing the salt is the variety and size of the fish that are there. Fortunately the water is not generally clear enough in the bay to see any of the fish unless they jump out of the water. I say fortunately because if we could see the size and specie of some of the fish swimming around out there it would probably cut down on a lot of wade fishing. By the way, always wear long pants and an old pair of tennis shoes when wade fishing. I made the mistake of wearing shorts one time and a trout tried to eat my Achilles tendon. More than once. I had two fang marks from his front teeth. So part of the excitement is never knowing what might be on the other end of the line. Do you really want what is trying so desperately to get away from you? You are at a distinct disadvantage when up to your waist or deeper in water trying to maneuver a fighting fish. But what if it is not exactly a fish. I have had to cut a sting ray loose before. My favorite trout rig is free lining shrimp using a medium sized spinning reel armed with 12 LB. test line and a small treble hook with one barb removed. I try to keep the drag set fairly loose just in case you get a runner. I was minding my own business when suddenly something grabs the bait and just about doubles over my light casting rod and starts stripping line off of the reel. So I stand there watching the line left on the spool get smaller and smaller. There was not a lot I could do to slow that fish down. So I start tightening down the drag a little bit at a time until inevitably the drag exceeds the strength of my line. I am sure a more experienced fisherman could have figured a way to fight that fish, or whatever it was. About that time I was wishing I had my heavier surf rod instead. But like the old man at the bait shop said, "You have to #*$%%#** work with what you have". There was a guy about 50 yards away observing my brief fight with an unknown assailant. I think he was just as excited as I was. So was it just a waste of time? Not hardly! I could talk about fishing all day long and probably not know a whole lot more about it. You just have to do it if you are so inclined. I once made the mistake of commenting on the topic of shopping to Brenda. The remark went something like "you have been gone all morning without buying anything and you call that shopping?". She observed that I am gone all day without catching any fish and yet I call it fishing. Touche! Like the salty dog said, "That's why they call it fishing not catching."


Now back to setting up the steering. I believe it is best to center the rack and pinion in the frame. I am not sure about the geometric dynamics involved here but it just seems like a good idea. This poses a problem because this is set up as a two seater so the steering wheel will be on the left side of the cart ( where it is supposed to be for benefit of you Europeans.) This will necessitate using U joints to angle the steering shaft. I don't really want to do it but I need the practice at setting it up. With the rack temporarily wedged in place we can now measure the lenth that is required for the tie rods. The tie rods will be fabricated using 1/2" diameter round tube with 1/16" wall. I am using the design from the S11 go cart I built from the U-buildit plans. The Spherical rod ends are 3/8" size so we will need to weld a 3/8" coupling nut on one end. You will need to back off on the power setting of the welder and carefully weld these on so you don't distort the threads with too much heat. Just tack it a couple of places then go do something else while it cools a little. Use this time to cut and drill the connectors for the other end. Or maybe finish cleaning the salt off of the fishing gear. We will go ahead and finish weld this end on and be done with it. If we need to adjust the lentgh it will be easier to do on the other end.

After the welding is finished what do you do next? Go ahead and get that flap disc on the angle grinder and smooth it out.

The other end is just a simple piece of 1/4" x 1 3/8" long steel with a 5/16" hole drilled in it to allow for using a 1/4" bolt to connect to the end of the steering rack. It is a little tricky trying to hold a flat piece of steel centered on a round tube. Where are those six monkeys when you need them. So I used 2 pieces of 1/8" steel on either side with magnets. You want to space it equally if possible. The trouble is one side looked more equal than the other.

There. I suppose that will do.

Now you just don't pay any attention to the extra hole in the connector. Why is it there? Well I just happen to like it that way. Don't have time to tell the hole story right now. OK OK I screwed up!

Now we need another one for the other side.