Just another day
 

So, yesterday I spend most the day prepping for this years annual trip to fish gansett bay, psyched even though the mate ( who name is on the most wanted list) couldn't make it.. :-)
Bearings, tire pressure , plugs, rods, bait, blah blah blah... Trailer hitched ready to go...

Heads out the door trying for a 4:15 launch at the Ritz. On the road I notice truck laboring like crazy, just about made it over the bridge, kept on truck ing Gets to the ramp, backs down a little to ready her, turns the battery switch on, bilge pump starts up and the freaken thing runs for evah,,, the reason the truck was laboring was because the dummy operator didn't realize it rained all night and didn't drain the bilge b 4 hitting the road.... Ok, not the end of the world....

Backs her down, jumps in, fired up the OB , WTF, she's running rough... Figured I'd try it anyway, parks the rig, heads out into the bay and can't get up on plain.... Sounds and feels like a plug wire off, could it be the dummy screwed this up also, didn't push a plug wire on good enough, ya, that's probably it!

Puts the boat back on the trailer hoping to salvage the trip, there's a plastic shroud covering the plug wires that's held on by 5 ballzy screws, o boy, the dummy took the tool box out of the truck the other day and didn't put it back..

Ok, how hard can it be to find a Phillips screw driver at 5:00 am in Portsmouth,,,
It's freaken impossible ! By the time I drove almost all the way to Newport I gave up and headed home. Gets there pulls the cover, sure as hell, the dummy missed a plug wire..

Screw it! Grabs a cup of coffee, heads for a north side ramp and launches into a steady 10 Kt + wind out of the north ,ONLY 6 or 7 hrs after getting out of bed 15 minutes from home!
Loads up on macs, smashes my way 6 or 7 miles to the ENE, sets out a mac, Sa mash!
Nothing but birds and top water action for two hours,,, not big stuff but fun stuff. Now the dummy's not feeling so dumb... :-)

Then the dummy heads home on flat water, she laid right down and I hardly noticed I was so buzzy catching...

Just another day full of a long string of senior moments.... LOL

alls well that ends well ><><>

Great story
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So it was a GREAT day on the water :)

Typical more like it for me! :wall:

your at that stage
 

where you need nutritional assistance
for the old noggin (i sure do)

ginko biloba sold at walmart increases O2 to brain

focus complex sold at puritan pride sharper memory

or abc plus senior multi sold at puritan pride

check your iron intake ->eating lobster
is a good source to capture more oxygen

Zinc to better think

i advise you to do check lists and NOT
rely on your memory :musc:

I can't get my kayak on plain either🙄
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I had a day like that a few weeks ago

Raven to the rescue

GS... Smart arz

Paul, she fixed, need a ride? :-)

ouch

Good story Gup. Ive had a few of those days

Gup most of the actions your way now anyway still early enough to get back in the routine

ouch is right !! looks like a roller fell off or metal corner of dock ?

Well, since I couldn't make it, I don't feel responsible.:rotf3:

Great story though!

Hit something submerged on the way back in. Never saw it before or after
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Scary stuff, Niko. Holing a boat in cold water is something I try not to think about, but should.

it looks worse than it was. mostly gelgoat. thankfully it didn't punch through. the initial impact spot went in 1/4 inch the rest was gelcoat. but I did waste the prop a bit. it was a pretty simple repair

I think about that every time I run the boat at night. I was drifting herring just south of the maritime academy at night years ago and saw what looked like a log floating by. Put the spotlight on it and it was a Porto #^&#^&#^&#^&ter upside down with 2 6x6 pt skid bolted to it.
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Gonna hop on your thread Guppy....although it didn't turn out as victorious as yours, misery loves company right?...

Headed out for bait Saturday, put the plug in the live-well and turned the live-well valve on....after finding the bait, started snagging. Got the first one to the boat ...lifted the cover, no water??
Hit the live-well auto-fill, no water?
Open the transom-access hatch, transom cavity FULL of water!!
Hit the manual-bilge, luckily it turns on and after some time, I get the water out.
Turn the hose on to wash off the pogy blood, no water?
Reach down into the transom cavity to check the seacock valve (which would explain why no water from either location), looks weird...try to turn it, feels like it's bending more than turning. Twisting into a pretzel trying to reach seacock while on the water....no fun,, :realmad:....pizzzed off, seacock valve isn't turning at all....Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk and breaks the seacock handle! :smash:
So I got no raw water, and no auto-bilge float switch.

Get home after a fish-less morning, and the fun begins.
The nut on the handle is junk. I can't get a ratchet on it...try using vice-grips, strip her silly. Meanwhile, I break the ground wire attached to the seacock valve...because of the broken handle, I don't have much to grip because the valve now turns all the way around so I don't have much counter balance against the nut to get it off. Douse the nut with WD40 and start messing with the float switch instead. Take it apart looks ok? not stuck...but now with the ground wire broken, I can't test it. Wrestle with the nut until the wife comes out for the 5th time to tell me we have an obligation to attend to...:realmad:....have to walk away in defeat.
Sunday, spend more time trying to get the nut off before Sunday's activities, or rather obligations begin, no luck.
After getting home from the Canal this morning and waiting the rain out, I'm at it again....finally get the nut off....hooray right?
No....I go to Lowe's and Home Depot, they don't sell handles...only complete valve assemblies with handles that don't look marine-worthy. I then go to West$$Marine....they too, have no handles....have to buy the whole valve to get the handle>> $60 for a $W#$%ng handle!!@!
Finally get that taken care of while it's raining on me...and try to test it....yeah ok, trying to hold the hose to the intake....not happening. Can't tell if it's working, will need to hit the water tomorrow to test.
And then figure out why the float isn't working...

So for all youze guys who are jealous of a boat guy.....DON'T!!! It ain't always roses,,,, matter of fact...it's hardly EVER roses...
Rant over ~

Headed to Boston harbah today, fingers crossed, I'll read this later...
Today

Seems the previous owner buried an inline fuse and hid it pretty well.
Fuse was popped, leading to no power to float switch.
Replaced fuse, problem solved.

After replacing the handle and opening the seacock valve, water is finding its' way back into the live-well. I know I could have used a set of vice-grips to turn the valve, but I like things working as they should.

Raw water hose was a good one....after spending much time troubleshooting, come to find out....the cover on the raw-water inline-filter was warped. When I would turn the pump on, I could hear it spinning but no water ever showed up....finally got some light into the transom cavity to witness that as the pump was working, I could see bubbles being created within the filter. Due to it being warped, the pump was siphoning equal air from the filter so not enough pressure existed to pull the water through...Replaced filter assembly, all is good.


Always good to share stories like this so others can learn or use to troubleshoot their own issues.

Good Luck y'all...be heading out of Sandwich bright an' early tomorrow...hoping my repairs are solid.

Here's a picture of the warped raw-water inline-filter cover.
No idea how that could happen from one season to the next???
Any thoughts???

Ice over the winter? Did you winterize or purge the system?

Oddly enough I did? Antifreeze and all....
Oh well....some things are just meant to remain unknown????