Feeling Stupid, bad boating day !!

Stuart Mecham · 24 May 2003, 18:10

Picture the scene, I woke up this morning thinking what a nice sunny day!! I think i will have a gentle cruise over the the Isle of Wight with a mate of mine..

So anyway Set off with no hitch, got over the the island in alittle rough water but nothing i have not seen before..

Harrah i thought i made it to the island.. ( been there many times already)

I think i will have a strole up to the Folly Inn, Moored up went in for a drink ( of coke) thought ooh its 3:30pm i had better get back as friends over for a BBQ.

So i set back enjoying the views. then splutter splutter when my engine.. the it died, me left thinking mmmm glad i am still in the island. Managed to moor it up on someone's private mooring (silly me but needed to get it somewhere with no working engine)

So i stood there shaking me head thinking mmmm i live in Hamble and i am stuck in Isle of Wight, so i set about with my tools taking the plugs out, nope they were fine.. Then noticed that my spare tank was sitting on the fuel line!!

So after removing the tank off the line and a quick squeeze if the ball, it fire right up!!

So i thought i had better check to see if i have all 4 cyl's working taking each lead of at a time, checking to see if the egine faulters, mean time i see a HUUUGE sunseeker coming my way, so i carry on putting my engine back together then on speakers i hear " Good afternoon gentle man YES thats my mooring please move!" So i shouted and pointing to my engine " I have engine troubles" he replied " Sorry ok but can you move "

Needless to say i was alittle unhappy at this but thought, i would be the same if someone has parked there boat in my space. so i moved the boat out of his way..

So anyway thinking the engine sounded ok, i set back home to HAMBLE

Screaming the living tits of it all the way home out of fear that it might die (silly i know but wanted to get home fast)

Got into the mouth of Hamble river, i thought YAY i am home thank god, then * BANG * i run into a sand bank.. !!!!

I then thought this IS NOT my day!! got it off ok and set back.

then got the boat out of the water onto the trailor, hitched ever thing up, started to drive home i hear this, Grummble Bang bang, What the hell was that! i thought, stopped the car and had a look, lilke a fool i am i not only Forgot to bring up the front wheel to the trailor.!!

anyway got it home and all was ok..

Tired now..

Sorry for the long post, i just found it all alittle amusing to say the least..

all this in a 4m Avon seaRider! LOL

Stuart

Pete7 · 24 May 2003, 19:19

Sounds like a perfectly normal day out in a rib actually,

Pete

Don't worry we have all done it, except the fuel starvation was from a large crab we caught diving. Hw must have known he was for the pot so decided to pinch the fuel line in his claws, nearly made it through the line too

Charles · 24 May 2003, 19:36

I can relate to your entire story........very amusing

Mike C · 24 May 2003, 20:11

I spent ages on the Folly pontoon once, (after more than a coke), wondering why my engines wouldn't start. I took the covers off, -twin 60 Mariners at the time, (scratched the paintwork on them doing it too), then checked the plugs. Changed a fuse or two, looked at the fuel line... and than the man on the water taxi said, "have you checked the kill cord?" Doh......... Sure enough, there it was lying on the floor!
Lesson learned.... take more water with it!...

Sober by Lymington though!

Mike C

Garygee · 25 May 2003, 12:07

Hi folks

Think many of us have spent time tying to find out why the engines wont start "and it dont help this dam kill cord catching on everyhitng", Doh

lets try pluging it in.

I know I have..

Other ones which have caught me out

1) Lets switch on the fuel, engines run better that way.

2) Yes the "start in gear" protection means the engine really wont start in gear

3) Starter motors work better with the battery isolator closed.

and when you have got the engine started.

4) Its easier trying to reverse off the trailer if you unclip the winch first.

5) You tie up in shallow water, no problem, put 6 big people in the boat then wonder why its now on the bottom, and guess whos job it is to try and push you off.

6) When you come ashore why does it always feel much deeper than the sounder shows when you jump in, 2 foot should not be up to my waist with my car remote phone etc in my pocket

All part of the fun and it gives other chance for a laugh as well, often thinking been their done that

.

Regards Gary

Alex Brown · 25 May 2003, 21:03

I know it's more land based, but also remember to let the handbrake off on the trailer before dragging it up the slipway - it makes towing far easier and saves tyres, and clutch wear

It also makes sense to attach the anchor to the anchor rope before hurling it over the side of the boat..... watching the end of the chain flick over without anything attached to it is well annoying.

Don't assume the deepest part of the channel is right in the middle - on our very first ever boating experience on low water, Dad wrote off the prop about 20mins after lauching for the first time on rocks up river......

-Alex

-<=[Tw18]=>- · 25 May 2003, 22:56

i feel for you

unlucky it always happens to the best

and to think i had a trouble free day in the gleaming sunshine motoring around the bay.

So i'm sitting here feeling smug, wind blown, tanned and good

sorry had to be done

Richard B · 26 May 2003, 08:32

I was sat by the slipway at Christchurch one evening, a chap reversed car and trailer down the slip, then got out.

Unfortunately he hadn't put the handbrake on.

I opened my mouth to shout, but I couldn't get any words out! Fortunately someone attracted his attention before any more than the rear wheels went into the water.

crazyhorse · 26 May 2003, 11:27

I went to windermere,with a Condor Sailing cat with a huge new multicoloured sail.

On arrival the Slipway attendant said,I couldnt launch , So after a very heated agument , my friend had to appologise for what I had said to him and explain that I didnt mean it,whilst the girlfriends looked on in wonder,whilst sitting google eyed in the car.

He eventualy let us launch and I was banned from saying a word to him.

So as the boat was mine,all responsibility was down to me,I went about the launch in a profesional manner,and we all climbed abord and took off,as the attendant looked on and mutterd.

There was plenty of wind,and she was a little slow at lifting a hull,but looked the buisness.
I looked down and realised this was down to the trailer still being attached to the boat,and we were all including the trailer in deep water 40 yds from the slip,and sailing like an office block.

I do believe I now what the attendant was thinking at that point in time.

DM · 26 May 2003, 14:08

Quote:

Originally posted by crazyhorse
I do believe I now what the attendant was thinking at that point in time.

Yep, Hoss. Starts with T and rhymes with rat. P'raps that's why they're called trailer sailors. Anyway, I would have thought your well used to carrying a bit of extra weight round the middle

DM

P.S. Wolves are now in the PREMIERSHIP

crazyhorse · 26 May 2003, 20:35

Just a bit of puppy fat ,So im told.

Ribald · 26 May 2003, 20:53

Sat 17 May - a bit lively on the Solent. 5 bods in my boat out to Hamble Point for a bit of training. During the reversing manouvres, water comes over the transom - "Don't worry" say I, "the bilge pump will cope"

More water into boat and no bilge pump. Start bailing with canvas bucket until all out.

When I got back to Mercury found that I had taken the bilge pump fuse out over the winter and not put it back in.

On recovery on the Sunday, drove the boat up onto the trailer when it got stuck half way. The painter had attached itself round one of the rollers.

All in all a w/e to be best forgotten.

thewavehumper · 26 May 2003, 22:32

Quote:

Originally posted by davidmanning

P.S. Wolves are now in the PREMIERSHIP

That's because their manager used to work for the bestclub in Hampshire

Richard B · 26 May 2003, 22:42

When things start going wrong, they just seem to get worse and worse...

A couple of years ago, Me and Mrs Pepper took Mrs Pepper's Dad's boat out down to Salcombe. We were due to meet up with the rest of the family later, so we borrowed a mooring near the ICC and spent a couple of hours reading and sunbathing. I shut down the engine and closed the seacocks as we didn't know how leaky or not the old boat was. Then later in the afternoon, we get a call from Mrs Pepper's dad (Dave) - they're waiting for us on the pontoon at Salcombe, accompanied by grandparents. Mrs Pepper gets anxious and we make a swift departure, not realising that the raw cooling water seacock is still closed.

We pick up the party from pontoon and head up river, then Dave decides it's time to drive his own boat for once. We go for a nose around the gin palaces, and promptly run aground at the entrance to Southpool Creek. Fortunately the tide's flooding, so with a re-distribution of weight we're off in a jiffy, but the engine has stalled and won't restart. And the floding tide is taking us very quickly towards a couple of million quid's worth of very shiny new motor yacht. Backwards, with the auxiliary engine's prop looking very sharp and meancing. So with a bit of cautious fending, we avoid some costly scraping along the hull towering above us.

We decided to head out towards the bar (harbour entrance, not the pub!) but as it's a bank holiday there's all types of craft everywhere. There's a dinghy race on the Salcombe side, so we go in close to Mill Bay, then Dave notices that the engine temperature has gone off the scale. He promptly turns around, and suddenly a big cloud of black smoke appears out of the exhaust and the engine stops. After a minute of faffing around, we realise that the flooding tide has once again got hold of us and we need to get under way before we encouner all the traffic entering Batson creek, so I rig the auxiliary. Just as i get it started, Dave shouts "Full astern, there's a yacht coming towards us, but watch out for the swimmer on the right!"

Well, the yacht turned out to be a Salcombe Yawl which passed from our port bow to our s'bord bow, and just when I thought we were clear of it, the damn thing gybes! I kept the auxiliary in reverse at full throttle, but these guys were really going for it, and under full canvas, they crunch into our s'bord bow.

The next audible noise is the torrent of four letter abuse from the Salcombe Yawl. The Yawl's skipper had obviously perfected the art of being obnoxious down to a tee. Dave wouldn't speak to him as he was being so outrageously rude in front of his wife, daughter and parents-in-law, so once he's calmed down I give him some details which aren't reciprocated, as we're **** and #### and !@&$ (so he told us!).

The yawl limps home with a broken bowsprit, we top up the oil and water, open the seacock and ignore the damage to the bow, then have a completely uneventful cruise home.

Pete7 · 26 May 2003, 22:50

Wheel fell of the trailer this afternoon. Thankfully its a four wheel trailer and 2 tonnes of pacific rib was on her mooring at the time. Only noticed it missing about a mile down the road. Found the wheel that some kind soul had placed against a hedge and then the four wheel nuts further up the road. Must have been entertaining for the driver behind me.

Pete

Bilge Rat · 27 May 2003, 08:32

Pete did the same thing mate

Driving down to Herne bay slipway on Monday morning racing to get an early start i notice an almightly bang everytime we went over a speed bump, which was louder than normal, thinking no more of it we end up in Herne bay and find the jockey wheel had not been pulled up far enough and was dragging on the ground as we went along. dooh

Just prooves less haste and more thought is probabley more better than rushing to get there, just have to wait and watch the catastrophies some people have on public slip ways to affirm this, and glad to say its normally the speed boat and jet ski gang that normally have epics.

i counted 12 people standing watching one twat with speed boat deside to lower his boat back into the water on the trailer with a lenght of rope only to have the guy holding the rope let go, yes you've guessed the boat and trailer rolled straight to the bottom of the slip and only stopped when it hit the mud bottom, was even funnier watching him trying to tie the rope back around the end of the tow hitch to pull it out again getting totally soaked.

Richard

Charles · 27 May 2003, 09:21

Right, own up.....who has launched their rib forgetting to put the bung in. I have!

Julian · 27 May 2003, 09:52

Morning All

Yep i've launched the boat in Fowey without putting the bungs in and then moored her up over night only to find her the next morning about 2ft underwater. The bilge pumps had also decided to blow up from constant working and we took about 2 hours bailing it out. Nightmare.

MarkWildey · 27 May 2003, 10:39

Launched at Kimeridge and after a couple of hours wondered why the transom was low in the water !!

Suddenly it dawned on me, checked my pocket, and found the bung !!!!!

Charged round for a while and then put the bung in. Funnily enough the Land Rover struggled to get back up the slip.

It took an hour for the water to drain out.

Regards

Mark

P.S. As for the time I launched boat, trailer, and 4wd; that’s another story that needs a few beers for me to repeat.

Bilge Rat · 27 May 2003, 11:55

Go Mark tell us all what happened

Being fairly new to owning my own boat but and i suppose having had a little experience in other peoples boats i tend to stop and think and take my time launching a recovering, there's no end of people who race onto the slipway and reverse straight back down to the water and then remember to remove the trailer lights and engine cover, then once the boat and trailers sat in the water deside this would be a good place to get kitted up, thus holding up anyone else waiting to launch, not to mention the damage done to hot trailer bearings being dunked straight after a run up the motorway. Also i've found if your taking someone else out they tend to get kitted up while your still de kitting the road kit from the boat so you end up rushing to get yourself kitted up and normally forget something trying to catch up, again time to slow down a bit and think.

Richard