Maiden Voyage- Adventure, Stupidity and Lessons Learnt

[MysticPuzzle]

Hi All,

Thought I would put together a few lessons learnt from my failed maiden voyage this past Sunday; hopefully as a helping guide to other complete newbies like me or even as a reminder to myself during future trips.

Lesson 1- Write down a list of items that you intend to carry and ensure you have everything before you set off from home.
I did have a list and had packed the car the night before barring a few things but did manage to forget some key items (for example launch wheels) as in the morning I felt too excited and overconfident about my packing. End result- 2 trips back home, costing me a good 60-75 minutes, thus delaying the boat launch.

Lesson 2- Check how busy the waterways will be on the day of your trip to be better prepared mentally.
My boating is mainly on the Thames river and although I had checked the weather, stream alerts, river draughts, lock closures etc., I realized much later that the day I chose for my maiden journey coincided with the British National Open Marathon Racing Individual and Team Championships – one of the country’s biggest canoeing events, which was being held in Reading. This was not a big deal but tackling hundreds of serious looking kayakers competing to be as fast as they can be and rowing left, right and centre of the river can be a bit daunting; especially if this is your first self-boating experience in your whole life.

Lesson 3- Get back to the bank/moor/hold on and secure the boat after launch to deal with last-minute checks, safety and a deep breath before you fire the engine. Also to remove the transom/launch wheels!
As soon as I launched, with my friend (crew) still on the ground, I could not get the engine to tilt down. Tried pulling the lever with all my might but it just-won’t-budge. My friend, in a calm voice, alerted me of an oncoming boat. Looking up I realized I had drifted away from the slipway!!! Quickly pulled out the oars and rowed away from the potential collision course. Managed to tie the boat, and with my friend onboard, I figured out that I had to tilt the engine cowl slightly in the opposite direction for the tilt lever to release. Engine fired first time and we set-off, to realize the transom wheels were still in the downwards position. Doh!

To be fair, I had tilted the engine trim up and down previously, but the pressure, unanticipated delay and nervousness got the better of me.

Lesson 4- Your journey plan should be realistic and account for foreseen and unforeseen delays.
Our plan was to boat upstream from Caversham lock to Wallingford (3.25 hours @ 4mph), have lunch, and return downstream. Total of 7.5-8 hours. Completely unrealistic. The amount of time taken to just get through the first lock at Mapledurham forced us to re-plan everything and limit our destination to only Cleeve lock.

Lesson 5- GET TO KNOW THE ENGINE AND BASIC FUNCTIONS. PRACTISE THE MINIMUM CHECKS AT LEAST ONCE BEFORE YOUR FIRST TRIP.
I had read the engine and boat manual at least once so I knew what was in the manuals and where to find them. What I didn’t do was getting familiar with some key yet basic tasks. Right after passing through the Mapledurham lock, about further 15 minutes upstream at 4.5 mph, the engine stopped without any warning. Tried re-starting and the starter rope won’t budge (realized later that the engine was in gear). Rowed us back to safety at a close-by, worn down, dilapidated but god sent mooring spot. Spent a good 2 hours switching fuel supply, waiting, pulling the starter rope, waiting, inspecting the engine (with no clue what I was trying to find), sweating, cursing and dejected. Someone told me the first thing I should check if the engine stops is fuel and then the spark plug. Tried removing the spark plug but the wretched tools which came with the engine dug into the hands and because the engine had come back from service just one day ago, seemingly the engineer sealed the plug shut with the world’s strongest glue. Gave up, and with that the last hope to guide the boat back home evaporated. Mind you, the fear of dropping the tools in water is always bothering you subconsciously.

Lesson 6- TAKE ENOUGH WATER TO LAST THE WHOLE TRIP
We had packed beer, crisps, lemon juice, watermelon and some other snacks but no water. Didn’t notice it and anyway the plan was to have lunch soon where obviously we will get access to water. How stupid! At some point after the engine stopped working, my friend and I didn’t care anymore about the boat. All we wanted was some water.

Lesson 7- Don’t use ropes which are too long for mooring or stopping at locks when the other crew member does not know how to throw ropes.
We had 2 ropes (7 metres each) and it just turned out to be too much handling them, throwing them, pulling them etc. especially when on a SIB that is just over 3 metres long, you are not that far from the cleats or rings.

Lesson 8- Don’t get too much to the front in a lock. If you do, secure yourself with ropes and not chains.
We were the first in queue at Mapledurham lock and trying to be a good boater, I got too much ahead within the lock; of course still behind the danger mark. The lock was too deep and with my friend’s inexperience in throwing ropes, I chose to hold on to the chains. The force of water when released inside the lock from the front started pushing our bow away and it was a bit of a challenge trying to hold the boat with just one hand gripping the chain.

Overall, it was not an ideal start of my boating life and I was a bit disappointed at the end of the day. But the next day I brushed it off as an adventure and started reading about engines to better prepare myself. For those who are wondering:

- we called a taxi to a neaby spot which took me back to the slipway, from where I took my car and reached the place where the boat was, packed everything and returned home. The scariest part was removing the engine from the boat and handing it to my friend on land, whilst the boat was on water.
- Next day, I read a lot of stuff online about the symptoms of our breakdown and made a list to check in sequence. Fuel line, spark plug, fuel filter, water cooling etc. Got the engine back to life within 30 minutes and most probably the issue was a fouled plug followed by flooding due to excessive efforts to restart with choke being pulled every now and then. I would never have known these problems before but am glad I know now.

Couple of other points, for those who are still reading 😊

Project 1- Look for alternate storage options
The 3.2m SIB got pretty busy with 2 adults, a bag full of accessories (air pump, ropes, anchor, boat hook etc.), a bag of emergency stuff (first aid, manuals, tool kit etc.) a small bag of consumables and a 20L external fuel tank. I may buy or make some boxes which can fit in the boat and can take all the stuff neatly.

Project 2- The rear side hurts sitting on the tubes after a while
Don’t know what to do but will need to research. Maybe add another seat at the transom end of the boat but not sure how practical it would be.

[Fenlander]

That is one of the best SIB related posts in ages... I'm laughing... with you (you did laugh at some point I hope)... rather than at you for your misfortune. Somehow you have managed to encapsulate just about every issue I've experienced over 50yrs boating into one trip... which deserves credit on one level or another!

More on the specifics when I've poured a cold beer!

[Fenlander]

So...

Lesson1: I'm giving away OCD traits here but I have a "Boat gear" list for a day out on the river, another for a day out on the sea and finally one for a 1/2 week boat holiday. The day out list is about 30 items long... the holiday one nearer 50 items. I always tick off the car pack against the lists.

Further to that apart from the large items such as boat itself, OB, seat, wheels etc I have everything else packed in three waterproof floating Dri-Bags. One is marked set-up and contains all the bits you need out of the car to set the boat up and is marked with the tube pressures. Another is the emergency grab bag which contains all the essential items for sea such as VHF, compass, bottles water, jelly babies, electronic flare, phone in waterproof box etc... the final one is for jackets, extra clothing, lunch etc. This system seems to work.

Lesson 2: Yes I do check this for days out or holidays. Nice that it is to find during two weeks holiday it's the harbour regatta day... on a single day out to find it's the sailing club youth competitions so harbourside and launch area rammed with folks, trailers & cars.... well a bit frustrating.

Lesson 3: I often advise folks, particularly at the coast... to find a launch spot that allows a relaxed launch with somewhere the boat can be held/tied (such as a pontoon) to makes sure all is shipshape before setting off.

Unless the circumstance is unusual I always start the engine and idle for a few seconds before we cast off from the start point.... but even so paddles are always at the ready for these initial few moments.

Lesson 4: Yes locks can be so unpredictable and really mess a trip schedule... as can weather/tide changes at sea. I usually plan to halve what might initially seem achievable.

Lesson 5: Go through the basics in a logical order. Is tank vent open... have you knocked any connections off if external tank.. is fuel tap fully open if on integral tank... is there fuel visible in the fuel filter (if there is one under hood)... pop off inlet pipe from carb and see if fuel is present... take spark plug out and see if wet or dry (after dealer service always check at home it's not too tight for hand tools in kit). If wet with fuel have you knocked off the kill cord by mistake. Always carry a new spark plug of correct type. Sometimes even if the old one looks OK substituting will allow the engine to fire immediately.

Lesson 6: Yep we always carry bottled water... several small bottles.

Lesson 7: We use quality soft ropes 9m long.... had the same ones for 10yrs and they have proved ideal. More crew training needed!

Lesson 8: Lock turbulence can be quite aggressive particularly if you have an inexperienced or uncaring person opening the paddles too fast.

Overall: Well done for getting through the day and not putting the boat straight on Ebay! Re the engine issue it shouldn't have stopped so it's likely something you did caused this.. such as vent not open... standing on the fuel line or having it kinked. However once it stopped without pulling the plug to inspect wet vs dry you were in the lap of the gods. If is was getting fuel then on a hot day the few attempts with the choke out could well have flooded it enough to seal your fate.

Project 1: Every year we go through our kit and have a cull based on the previous year's experience. For river use we leave loads at home compared with seagoing.

Project 2: Some folks say this but for some reason I've always been comfortable on the tube.... something like a garden centre kneeling pad might help??

[Stevie Bill]

Every day's a school day! No lasting harm done and several useful lessons learnt. Well done.

[mm289]

Great post and well done for sharing

We did our first ever "shake down" trip 2 weekends ago, 3 hours on a local small river. Left the wheels down and got back to the slipway too late so had to recover over mud

Apart from that reasonably stress free.

I have started to pull a list together like Fenlander recommends though and have now started constructing my "river" bag, which has everything I always want on the boat (anchor, toolkit, first aid, ropes etc) and my "sea" bag which will have extras (2nd anchor, exposure blanket, VHF, etc)

That way the idea is I can just pick up the 1 or 2 bags and know all my essentials are there.

I also currently have the Frib inflated in the garage and am trying different layouts so I know where the fuel tank is going, how I will secure stuff etc rather than have to experiment too much on the water.

And am gradually stocking up on my list of essentials, culled from reading the basic kit list stickied thread on here..... latest additions, boathook, clamshell repair kit and divers watch

Cheers,

MM

[Fenlander]

>>>divers watch

Just what are you expecting!!

[Mikefule]

Top initial post and an excellent detailed reply from Fenlander.

Thank you for sharing your practical lesson so frankly and good humouredly.

I think we've all done all or most of those things from time to time, but to fill in the entire bingo card on your first trip was an achievement of which you can be justly proud.

[willk]

Boating doesn't come naturally - it has to be learned - slowly by osmosis or quickly through accelerated training or maybe trial and error. It can be intense and sometimes overwhelming. Someone who thinks they nailed it first time is a fantasist. Well done for giving it a lash and having the b@lls to admit some of it was a touch lairy. You got home alive and didn't break any kit, so more well done you.

Forgetting to take sh1t is mistake 101. We all do it. I use a similar system to the lads above - except I use lists for "big days" and a load-out system for "small days"

Load outs are bags and boxes of standard kit that are mission specific. I complement this by running through the sequence of the day while I am loading the pickup. So:
Tender, pump, battery, oars, engine, fuel, tender kit bag - check
Big boat pelicase, clothing bag, food bag, document bag - check

Mad, but it works.

[Poly]

The RYA safetrx app lets you compile checklists.
It will also let you work out a very basic passage plan which covers another of your points. I find it a little basic - and prefer to plan on the navionics web app on a bigger screen. Back in the days of paper charts I used to be much more thorough which helped build confidence - if you look at some of the passage plan templates sea kayakers use it will give you a great plan for trip 2 - which will now be more nerve racking after the drama on trip 1.

[mm289]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

>>>divers watch

Just what are you expecting!!

Torch

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Stevie Bill

Every day's a school day! No lasting harm done and several useful lessons learnt. Well done.

Experience is a lifetime Feast!... best eaten in small Bites!

[charliee]

I can join this list with some comfort, I took our boat to Salcombe a few weeks ago and dutifully listened to my wife give me directions for our trip home- for those that know the area, we left the boat park at Batson and I was instructed to turn right at the first junction. Ok the road is very narrow but doable if you don't meet anything coming the other way. Fortunately the road was clear and as we approach a T junction the wife requests a left turn that slightly goes back on itself.
There was absolutely no way to turn left the road road and junction is just far tight.
At this point She informed me that she had come this way earlier in the week but had forgotten about the left hand turn, I was less than impressed as I considered my options, after some studying I decide a right turn may just be possible and after some back and forwards manoeuvres I made it, car and rib still in one piece!
We then went about a 100 yards down the hill and were met by narrow road signs and unsuitable for vehicle signs, to boot the traffic was building and I was met by a van coming up the hill.
I turned left into a small road triangle formed at the junction and un-hitched the boat to allow cars to pass. At this point several villages came out to see what all the fuzz was about and one even suggested I arrange a helicopter to lift the boat out of the village as it was not going anywhere!
After what felt like an age I was able to drive off in the car, leaving the boat, and recon my options. Continuing on the left fork was not an option (too narrow and a very sharp bend). So i continued down the hill - maybe it was passable and it seemed like the only option. So back to the boat to find yet more chaos with traffic building again.
After some time I was able to hitch up, reverse into the road and start the journey thru the village.
Thank God we didn't meet anything coming the other way and we made it to the bottom of the hill, now I had to unhitch again and man handle the boat around a tight right hand turn, hitch up and continue. An hour and half after departing, we arrived back at the Batson boat park and had travelled less than 2 miles (mercifully undamaged)
Lessons learnt.
1. never tow a boat without having aircon in the car. I think I would have died had it not been for the aircon
2. abandon the boat and bugger off for 10 minutes to calm down and make a plan
3. leave others to direct traffic - wife and son.
4. accept well deserved abuse gracefully
And last but not least Never listen to the wife (well for directions anyway)

[MysticPuzzle]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

I'm laughing... with you (you did laugh at some point I hope)... rather than at you for your misfortune.

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Somehow you have managed to encapsulate just about every issue I've experienced over 50yrs boating into one trip... which deserves credit on one level or another!

Fenlander, I know what you mean 😊. Laugh I did, but once the whole episode settled in. I remember when everything was going well, my friend stating excitedly that he will consider buying a boat himself. I messaged him yesterday if he is still keen, and I am yet to receive a reply. Like many others quoted, it was a brilliant learning experience for me and I reckon I will be a more composed and confident boater soon.

Thanks for the detailed post too, it was great insight into how an experienced boater prepares his trips. Being an experienced boater and similarly for others, these lessons become second nature and are classified as “basics”. For a first timer, there is just too much to remember, no to forget the excitement, nervousness and self-consciousness which do impair your thinking . There were couple of positives too. For example, the last minute decision to take a quick thinking, highly resourceful friend instead of family or going alone; and the split second decision to pull out the oars (twice) and row to safety with absolutely no previous knowledge in this ambisinister skill.

Originally Posted by mm289

I have started to pull a list together like Fenlander recommends though and have now started constructing my "river" bag...

mm289 and Fenlander- I too prefer bags opposed to boxes but I could not get hold of reasonably sized dry bags. Bought couple of 80L bags but they are pretty much useless as I can’t fit much in there. Any bags you recommend?

Originally Posted by Mikefule

I think we've all done all or most of those things from time to time, but to fill in the entire bingo card on your first trip was an achievement of which you can be justly proud.

Mikefule, yes that’s true. Apart from a SIB puncture or drowning, I don’t think it could have gone any worse during this trip- which apparently gives me a lot of solace. Am practising some mock puncture repairs (just in case ha ha ha) and have invested in a fairly good life jacket.

Originally Posted by willk

It can be intense and sometimes overwhelming.

Willk, you hit the nail on its head; and this is the purpose of the initial post. It was intense and overwhelming but in the end it is part of an adventure.

Originally Posted by Poly

The RYA safetrx app lets you compile checklists.
It will also let you work out a very basic passage plan which covers another of your points.

Thanks Poly. A quick glance shows the RYA Safetrx app to be really handy. I will explore this further.

[MysticPuzzle]

Originally Posted by charliee

And last but not least Never listen to the wife (well for directions anyway)

I have tried this once. Didn't go well. Surely I will be thrown out of the boat if we are together and probably the house too...

[Fenlander]

>>> prefer bags opposed to boxes but I could not get hold of reasonably sized dry bags. Bought couple of 80L bags but they are pretty much useless as I can’t fit much in there.

I think you need to cut down your inventory! I have a 44l for the setup gear which then goes back in the car. Then with us all the sea emergency gear goes in a 29l bag and the rest in a 44l bag. I have a second 44l bag kept folded and only used if we need more coats/fleeces etc. The anchor and spare ropes plus toolkit etc go in a waterproofed canvas bag (probably about 35L) which sits by the fuel tank under the seat. We don't bring this for river trips... just transfer the tool kit to the larger dry bag.

This is the type I use...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Highlande...r+dry+bag.TRS0

Probably more important than all that is why the outboard stopped... any ideas yet?

[MysticPuzzle]

Thanks Fenlander. I correct myself- the bags I have are 20L each which probably would explain. Will look at other options online.

Yes, I had mentioned in my initial post. It was a fouled plug and most probably flooding. I sorted them out the very next day and have now run the engine two days in a row after work for about 15-20 minutes each (in a wheelie bin with water). It starts first time and has had no issues since. Time to plan the next trip.

[Fenlander]

That's good... did you remember to get a spare plug for the toolkit?

[MysticPuzzle]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

That's good... did you remember to get a spare plug for the toolkit?

Yes, got a spare plug as a well as a small wire brush. All set now

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by MysticPuzzle

Yes, got a spare plug as a well as a small wire brush. All set now

Not brass is it? Brass brushes will coat the plug in brass. Not good if you want to keep it from having a dead short

[jeffstevens763@g]

love it i admire you for posting some classic stuff there it will only get better and for sure you already know some changes have to be made to stow kit etc thats the other side of the hobby brilliant