Hate My Boat Today

Jersdevil · Post by **Jersdevil** » Sun May 23, 2010 8:50 am

I hate my boat today. 2008 first time out for the season the starboard transmission burnt out had it re-built boat ran fine. 2009 picked up a crab trap on the Chesapeake, starboard transmission burnt out, had it re-built (insurance paid for it). 2010, worked hard on the boat...best she has ever looked. Took her out 3 weeks ago she ran great. Took her out yesterday morning, she ran great @ 20 knots. Got to the Eastern Shore RPM's kept reving to 4000 and back to 3000, where throttle was set. Smelled something burning, pulled Starbord hatch and smoke rose out of the hatch. Transmission fluid was all over the tranny and back of engine. Went back to marina on port engine took a long time to get her into the slip on one engine.

I hate my boat today.

turtlem1969 · Post by **turtlem1969** » Sun May 23, 2010 10:19 am

Jersdevil- Don't hate the boat, hate the trannys.

9rock · Post by **9rock** » Sun May 23, 2010 12:32 pm

Hang in there, velvet drives a usually reliable and if anything cheap to fix in comparison to others, anyway I was just on craigslist Baltimore and a guy has some for sale if u need one, good luck

9

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Sun May 23, 2010 1:09 pm

I know that feeling - but I have never gotten to the place where I hate the boat - I try to understand what made the part fail and see how I can fix it so it doesn't fail again.

Getting into your dock on one engine is great fun. I had to do that last year after only about 8 hours of captain time on my newly purchased Trojan when my starboard water pump failed and the engine over-heated. There was also a steady 20 knot wind making it a challenging task. I had never owned a twin before and had only a few dockings under my belt. I have a scratch on the hull that is getting fixed right now as a result.

Hang in there and get her fixed. You know deep down inside you still love that great lady. She is worthy of your affection and TLC.

mr elevman · Post by **mr elevman** » Sun May 23, 2010 4:06 pm

i had lots of pratice docking on one moter the first year i had fule tank problums so ive docked on one moter manny times take your pick on witch one ill tell you one thing it was very good way to learn manuvering traits of boat 1972 30' express twin 318

jimbo36 · Post by **jimbo36** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:02 pm

Hank, How do you think she feels,... you keep breaking her!

foofer b · Post by **foofer b** » Mon May 24, 2010 6:36 am

Try docking or trailering an F26 , with it's postage stamp rudder in 20 mph beam wind and 5mph current. A real nail biter - don't need a seat belt either.

BUT I KNOW, handling a twin on only one engine can be even harder.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon May 24, 2010 7:00 am

foofer b wrote:Try docking or trailering an F26 , with it's postage stamp rudder in 20 mph beam wind and 5mph current. A real nail biter - don't need a seat belt either.

BUT I KNOW, handling a twin on only one engine can be even harder.

Childs play ,try it with a 40 footer I had or a 55 footer I use to run, both single engine

GruntzenGrones · Post by **GruntzenGrones** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:51 pm

My Simple Solution:

When my friend Dave & I brought my '67 42' woody to Memphis, TN from the Tennessee River, were 3 miles upriver from Mud Island Harbor at Memphis when a strong thunderstorm arrived. Just as we entered the harbor, the port engine died and wouldn't restart and the wind was gusting to around 25 mph. We radioed the harbor master who directed us to the only slip available that would accommodate us, which turned out to be the very last slip on the port side of a narrow, U-shaped pair of docks. Between her slow helm and the gusting wind, I had a hell of a time just getting to the slip and when we realized how close the slip was to the bottom of the "U" Dave said "no &^%#ing way you're getting THIS boat into THAT slip."

I said "wanna bet?" - grabbed the radio mic, called the harbor master again and told him he needed to get us some help before we started bouncing off of some the bigger, newer (and more expensive) boats around us. In less than a minute, the harbor master, his female assistant and a nearby boat owner arrived. Dave tossed them 3 lines and they pulled us safely into the slip -- Simple!!

A bit humiliating, maybe, but much better than causing thousands of dollars of damage to my boat and those around it! LOL

BTW - We later discovered that the reason for the port engine failure was that we were basically out of gas in both tanks! We had fueled up (300 gal in the tanks and a 55-gal drum on the aft deck) at the last marina on the Tenn River and just barely made it the 290 miles to Memphis.