Bristol Harbour Aug 8th 2009

[1ThOFA87]

Originally Posted by stan_deezy

My favourite bit..........the transom wheels!

Shouldn't laugh, we've all done something similar, usually forgetting the bung or worse!

I like that part too. I once tried to launch without unstraping my outboard from the engine support. Needless to say I didn't launch far.

My most frequent embarassment is returning to the boat ramp on a windy day and struggling to keep my boat straight enough to rest on the trailer bunks due to the wind and current. I spent almost 20 minutes trying to keep her straight until some kind soul offered assistance. Unfortunately, I usually boat alone.

[MikeP]

You'll like this one then, chaps - I did the same thing this evening!

I'm looking out of my office window this afternoon at the cloudless blue sky and thinking to myself "I wonder if....." - but then of course all hell breaks loose at work and I don't get out until 7pm. The missus has some extra-curricular client entertaining to do, and the sun sets at 20:43, so I do a quick calculation and decide to go for it.

Load up car with boat, outboard, tarp, kit bag, pumps, battery, fuel tank: 15 minutes: CHECK

Drive down to Bristol Harbour and park up: 15 minutes: CHECK

Unload and inflate, assemble oars, pop on outboard, lob in kit bag, bottle of water and baseball cap: 15 minutes: CHECK

Drag down Hotwell's slipway, launch, tie up and start motor: 10 minutes: CHECK

[Bonus Prize: don't ram pontoon with boat on starting.... I thought about this one, and I must have been in neutral when I started up on Saturday as it wouldn't pull start otherwise - but maybe the engine jolt when it got going must have tripped it into gear.... the exact positions on our 4HP Mariner aren't what I would call 100% positive]

Motor off pontoon admiring scenery, other boats, and curious gazes from Cottage Pub Crowd: CHECK

Forgotten to pull off the transom wheels yet again...er..... CHECK. Damn.

Motor to other side of harbour as far away as possible from the curious gazes of the Cottage Pub Crowd: CHECK

Remove transom wheels in deep chagrin: PRICELESS

Fortunately, on this instance, I was only cruising for a minute before I thought about it... hopefully this is an exponential fall-off, and I'll remember at the correct time next time.

However - once again - no co-pilot = grevious transom wheel error.

Maybe I should get a tattoo on the back of my hand.....

[Black]

My house is the other side of the fence from the Fiesta site - open curtains and there they are....very impressive sight.

Seems like there were a few Ribnetters stalking each other around a field last weekend.

Nice pictures Matt....

Maybe we should organise a Bristol beers get together locally? Anyone for that....

Al

[MikeP]

Now there's a thought with some merit attached to it....

[Shaz]

There's loads of you round here ! Did you get around to going for a beer ? Was it at the Cottage ? & is the 24hr launch pass thing for Bristol good value or do you all have season tickets ?

[MikeP]

We've got a year pass for our SIB in Bristol Docks, which they sell by the metre, so that works out well for us and I think we've probably had our money's worth already in terms of enjoyment.

In terms of beer, I hate being the one to try and organise things like this - as the saying goes, it is like herding cats. However, if the weather ever gives us a break, it would be particularly nice to gather down by the Cottage because there is both great parking and - of course - a great slip and dock for mooring up our SIBs.

My ideal occasion would be a late summer/early autumn weekend afternoon gathering of SIBers and maybe even a couple of RIBers, down there by the Cottage. We met some old friends of ours down there to show them our 'boat' a week or so ago, and it was most pleasant.

Oh dear, I feel a cat-herding urge coming on. So, fellow Bristol SIBers, who's up for a gathering at the Cottage sometime in the next four weeks. Please post your availability here so that we can start to get a consensus. I think we're talking either a Sat or Sun, and I would love to get at least a couple of our SIBs in the water to prove that those RIB folks don't have all the fun, eh ?

The wife is going to kill me....

[Shaz]

Well mine's a little RIB so not sure if I should invite myself... was going to try Bristol last Sunday but decided to go to Cardiff instead.
I've been vaguely wondering if it's possible to do a 'watery pub crawl' around Bristol, as there seem to be a few pubs-that-are-boats and waterfront drinking establishments round there which should keep the crew happy. However, I read somewhere that lots of slow speed stuff is very bad for my engine (old Mercury 50hp 2 stroke) and having had issues starting last time I might believe that, so maybe Bristol isn't for me. :-(

[sergeant]

I know that this is a rather old thread, but what an awesome little experience - cannot WAIT to get out onto the waters of the Bristol now!