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Boy, am I dumb.
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 7:45 AM
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So last Thursday the boys and I went out for an afternoon run on Winnisquam lake about 15 min to the ramp from our house. I had some things to do in the morning and in between I was getting the boat ready. Check fuel, oil, life vest and safety stuff and put the muffs on and gave the engine a crank. Everything checked out so I finished up my other chores. About 3:oo I hooked up the truck and headed for the ramp and dumped the boat, kids were settled in. It is about a 1/8th mile down the river to the lake in a no wake zone. Things were good. I got out to the lake warned the boys trimmed in and eased the throttle down hit about 3000 rpm expecting to be on plane but nope, denied. Spent some time messing with the fuel lines and racking my brain with what could be wrong. After about a hour with no success we sadly decided to slowly motor back to the ramp.( The fuel bulb kept feeling like air was getting in.) Got the boat loaded back up and moved up to the boat staging area to finish getting it ready for the road when I walked around the back of the boat a it stopped me dead. I had left the earmuffs on from when I started it in the driveway. @#$$#@$ idiot. I did stop on the way home to pick up a new bulb and fuel line anyways. I laugh now but boy was I made at myself. Feel free to add your story of a moment when you weren't that impressed with yourself but laughed latter.
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| EaglesPDX |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 7:54 AM
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OK...launched the boat after two weeks of shop work; moving engine up, oil change, fix to 9.9 kicker and canvas wrap for T-top. A bit concerned about batteries sitting for a couple weeks so I was prepared when the dash lit up but the big engine didn't turn over. So I hand cranked the 9.9 which needed a lot of pulls as Merc recommends running the fuel dry if leaving it for a more than a day or two. MUCH cranking later to full audience of sunny Friday afternoon boat ramp crowd, the little guy is running.
I then notice that the shift lever is not quite in neutral...big engine starts right up.
Move along folks, move along, nothing to see here...just making sure I could hand crank the little engine in emergency...all according to plan....move along.
Edited by EaglesPDX on 08/24/13 - 7:58 AM |
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| docsoma |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 8:04 AM
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Some nineteen years ago, soon after our baby was born I went out to a lake near our house.....launching went like a charm (quite a feat back then) and just as I was getting ready to pull the truck away, I noticed the boat fill up with water. Jumping in to put the drain plug in only made it worse. The lake permit in my pocket was a bright blood red and by the time I retrieved the boat, I had ruined a camera and my white shorts were a shocking pink.
Ever since I have resolved to create (and laminate) several checklists....haven't done it yet.....to prevent just such an occurrence caused invariably by complacency aka multi-tasking.
Even a small lake is a big body of water and I constantly worry about being stranded.....fuel issues being on top of my list of worries.
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 8:12 AM
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Very funny nice to see that I'm not the only one. And I think we all could use a bit more good belly chuckles.
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| wing15601 |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 9:07 AM
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I'm going to do you all a favor and make you feel better knowing there is a bigger idiot out there than you. Me. About 10 years ago I had driven to the ramp with a couple of buddies and we found the tide was out, one of those Spring low low tides. The water was about a foot below the end of the ramp, but being familiar with the area I knew there was a 10 foot depth at least. I decided to back down to the end of the ramp and push the boat slowly off and let the bow drop that last foot. Incidently, I had a brand new car. So I positioned the trailer at the end of the ramp, which is normally underwater and got out, unhooked the bow line and pushed the boat back. Unfortunately the whole car, trailer and boat began to slide on the algae growing on the ramp. I began to panic. I grabbed some stones and wedged them under the tires and stopped the slide. Now I'm really excited as the boat is hanging off the back of the trailer I just pushed it the rest of the way into the water and got into the car to try and get back up the ramp, which I was able to slowly do. At that point I noticed I had not put a line on the boat and it was slowly drifting away in the current. Meanwhile my "friends" are standing around laughing. I quickly removed my shoes and cell phone and swam to the boat and motored back to the dock. Then I realized I had forgotten to take my wallet out of my pocket, soaking everything. Otherwize it was a good day. Those guys still rib me about that.
I winter in Ft. Myers and summer in St. Joseph, Michigan. It’s now about 12 years since I’ve joined this group. I gave my 1972 whaler to my daughter and sold the 17’. Bought an O’Day 28 sailboat and sailed on Lake Michigan. Yesterday I bought a 2005 130 Sport. |
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 10:40 AM
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Good one Wing, you should have left your buddies at the dock or made them swim to the boat for just standing there and laughing!
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| Blake Whitney |
Posted on 08/24/13 - 5:37 PM
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this string could go on forever...Everyone has their dumb stories especially around boats
Back to the original post with the muffs.....You must have had a long garden hose Bill!
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 08/25/13 - 2:22 PM
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Maybe if I left the hose on and didn't unscrew it then it would have just gone flying off in the driveway and not ruin my trip, but I wasn't that lucky. lol
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| dburton |
Posted on 08/25/13 - 5:45 PM
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God, I love hearing this stuff! I have done some of the most stupid stuff in the history of boating. It's nice to have some company. The take-away is that boating is serious stuff. Dumb stuff coming away from the dock is embarrassing but not likely to be serious. Dump stuff miles from shore or land can be serious or deadly. Be careful out there.
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| EaglesPDX |
Posted on 08/25/13 - 7:05 PM
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dburton wrote:
Dump stuff miles from shore or land can be serious or deadly.
And illegal.
We all run Whalers so when we do dumb stuff the boat will bail us out. Like sending the neighbor off with my boat to meet me at the launch ramp across the river and leaving all the plugs out. Water never came into the cockpit. Plugs...we don't need no steek'in plugs.
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| fred s |
Posted on 08/26/13 - 11:56 AM
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Okay, I'll share my dumbness. On my first trip to Lucaya Marina in the Bahamas I felt pretty good that all went well on the crossing. I backed into my slip, tied her up and raised the 200 hp motors. It appeared most of the outboard boats were raised and I didn't want to look like a novice. The next morning we proceeded to the dock in great spirits. There is a balcony that overlooks the marina and folks were enjoying their morning coffee. Cranked those suckers up and yep, still out of the water! The noise and smoke sure got everyone's attention. I shut them off and lowered them. Sheepishly I idled out of the slip never looking back. I am sure when they saw the Kentucky tags they understood.
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| CES |
Posted on 08/26/13 - 12:29 PM
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BillDemers wrote:
Maybe if I left the hose on and didn't unscrew it then it would have just gone flying off in the driveway and not ruin my trip, but I wasn't that lucky. lol
This is exactly what I do....leave the muffs connected to the hose.
Cliff
1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker |
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 08/27/13 - 4:28 PM
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well CES, I thought I had taken them off. That reminds me of when I was a lot younger and I would say "I thought ....." in response to some question from my father after he witnessed me doing something that wasn't that smart. His quick response was "well that is your first problem" shaking his head in disbelief as to what I had done.
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| huckelberry145 |
Posted on 09/05/13 - 6:14 AM
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Most of y'all have me beat by a country mile but I felt pretty dumb yesterday when I couldn't get the boat off the trailer despite backing it down so far the truck was in the water. I forgot to unclip the bow.
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| CES |
Posted on 09/05/13 - 7:23 AM
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BillDemers wrote:
well CES, I thought I had taken them off. That reminds me of when I was a lot younger and I would say "I thought ....." in response to some question from my father after he witnessed me doing something that wasn't that smart. His quick response was "well that is your first problem" shaking his head in disbelief as to what I had done.
My stepson uses "I thought......" quite a lot after he's called out by me...hopefully someday he will get a clue.
huckelberry145 wrote:
Most of y'all have me beat by a country mile but I felt pretty dumb yesterday when I couldn't get the boat off the trailer despite backing it down so far the truck was in the water. I forgot to unclip the bow.
Yep.....I've done something similar.....but it was with the transom straps though. Lol....
Cliff
1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker |
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| docsoma |
Posted on 09/05/13 - 2:48 PM
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Now that I am 56 years old, I am going to finally knuckle down and create three or four checklists (laminated for easy reference) for precisely this sort of situation.
I think I need checklists for other parts of life too.....yesterday I drove 20 miles home to just check if the gas (I had made eggs for breakfast on low heat) had been turned off. No fun driving 40 unnecessary miles or ruining a day worrying about something that might or might not happen.
Doctors now use checklists too....following pilots who have for many years.
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 09/05/13 - 6:06 PM
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Huckelberry, I'm pretty green when it comes to boating so I'm sure I will turn your country mile into twenty freakin' country miles before I get it right. Maybe I should take Docsoma's advice and make some lists.
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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| huckelberry145 |
Posted on 09/05/13 - 10:22 PM
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BillDemers wrote:
Huckelberry, I'm pretty green when it comes to boating so I'm sure I will turn your country mile into twenty freakin' country miles before I get it right. Maybe I should take Docsoma's advice and make some lists.
lists, ha ha, I'd forget them.
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| oldsalt |
Posted on 09/06/13 - 7:37 AM
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Laughing! When I bought my muffs, I realized that they were finished in black and hard to see, so I found one of those Whiffle Balls...a golf or baseball with holes in it and ziptied it to the muff's bar. Now I can see that ball on the lower leg of the motor which reminds me that outboard motors don't have balls, so it needs a look. Try it. It's a cheap and easy fix to old age boating.
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| BillDemers |
Posted on 09/06/13 - 7:27 PM
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Oldsalt, guess I'm screwed 'cause I'm not even old yet.
BillD
1999 Dauntless 18' - 135 Mercury Optimax |
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