trial by water.

Today was a bad day.
The original plan was to fishing on Sunday,but the weather report looked nasty.
The plan changed to today.Then the weather people issued a small craft warning for Lake Ontario.
So I went to Owasco lake.By the time I got there there was a stiff northern breeze but nothing scary.I launched at the south end thinking that if anything goes bad,the wind will push me back to the south end.
Some nice lakers were caught,but the wind turned really nasty so I turned around and headed south.Then the engine gave out and I was drifting in ever bigger waves.I took out a paddle to get me to shore and broke the paddle.Luckily I had a spare so I paddled and ended up about a quarter mile south of a small private ramp.I stepped into the water and dragged the boat to that ramp keeping the boat between me and the waves.It took me about 20 minutes up to my thighs in cold water to make it to that ramp,but I made it and am glad to be back behind my computer telling this story.
The moral of this experience is never to leave your trolling motor at home.

Re: trial by water.

Man that is a sucky day. Glad you weren't out on Ontario! Hope you get back to motoring soon.

Thank God I have not had any boat motor issues since getting rid of the old '64 Johnson. Was a great motor and always fixable but it started breaking often and I wound up bobbing about a few times. Once pulled the plugs and ran the starter in forward for a really long time. When I made it to the launch the starter was smoking and the battery nearly dead.

Re: trial by water.

Glad you are okay. Not too many people out there this early in the season to lend a hand. So a new trolling motor is on the father's day wish list

Re: trial by water.

The only thing missing from that in my simulator experience last year was my wife giving you a ear full from the boat.

Re: trial by water.

Checked the engine today and everything checked OK
Checked fuel delivery and it turned out that the check valve in the ball had gone bad. I replaced it,pressurized the line and she started right up.
At least the problem was small.
I will never again go out without a spare fuel line and my trusty old 9.5 rude kicker.

Re: trial by water.

I've decided that just having my 4HP kicker stored up under the bow keeps my old 85HP running.

Re: trial by water.

Glad to hear everything turned out ok. I had a similar experience a year ago on the first water trial of my boat after had just I bought it. It was the beginning of May, not too warm yet and nobody else was out on the lake. When the motor died and I couldn't get it restarted I found out just how futile a paddle is trying to maneuver a ~1000 lb. boat. Fortunately I finally got the motor started and made it back to the dock. Not as scary as your story but I know the feeling of being dead in the water with no one else around.