Maiden Voyage and Didn't Get Stranded

Took out new (to me) 20 foot pontoon boat on her maiden voyage today. She?s old enough to buy liquor (1991 Sylvan) so I expected a few glitches. Fortunately, most of them appear to be minor.

1. Voltmeter reads 11 volts with ignition off ($25 fix.)
2. Live well pump ran but didn?t pump. ($30 fix)
3. Didn?t track well at low speed (possible operator error)
4. Steering assembly seemed rough with tactile click every few degrees. (Lube?)
5. Shifter was stiff. Didn?t engage reverse when leaving gas dock. I shut off motor, cycled shifter to full forward and full reverse. Restarted and backed away. (Lube? Adjustment?)
6. At WOT turned up 4K and later moved up to about 4.3K. (Seems low for 40 HP Mercury)
7. After a week or rain everyone was trying to tear up as much water as possible. Rough River Lake was rough. Twenty footer isn?t as stable as 28 footer from 30 years ago.
8. Got lost on a lake I?ve boated for 10 years (next time bring chart!)
9. Hard to dock with boats on either side. (Practice, recruit crew)
10. Cheap-o bungee cord won?t hold Bimini top down. Slowed down to bungee speed (Line or webbing?)
11. Bimini support quick release pins don?t hold. (Temporary ?-20x 1? SS bolts and nuts but threads will eat up aluminum tubes and too short for bracket)

Overall, an excellent time was had. I think I?ll go again. Soon.

And thanks to those who've posted in the past. You refreshed a lot of things I?d forgotten and gave me new information on things I never knew. What a great group of boaters!

Any comment on steering, shifting or rpm would be appreciated.

Re: Maiden Voyage and Didn't Get Stranded

Grin, and so starts the running work list. Mine has two lists. One is things I can work on while their off of the boat swimming on a sand bar, mostly small stuff and the other is the winter list while its home on the trailer. Mine stays on a wet slip most of the year.


1. Voltmeter reads 11 volts with ignition off ($25 fix.)
test the charging system first so see if it is throwing out 13 plus volts when the motor is above 2000 rpms

2. Live well pump ran but didn’t pump. ($30 fix)
could be mud daubers have plugged up the fill line

4. Steering assembly seemed rough with tactile click every few degrees. (Lube?)
yea on both ends


5. Shifter was stiff. Didn’t engage reverse when leaving gas dock. I shut off motor, cycled shifter to full forward and full reverse. Restarted and backed away. (Lube? Adjustment?)
Most likely needs lube or the friction lock is a bit tight from where its been sitting


6. At WOT turned up 4K and later moved up to about 4.3K. (Seems low for 40 HP Mercury)
may need to be repropped


10. Cheap-o bungee cord won’t hold bimini top down. Slowed down to bungee speed (Line or webbing?)
the clip on nylon straps work very nice

Re: Maiden Voyage and Didn't Get Stranded

Thanks Hawker.
I need to start another list. My old reliable Fluke DVM says 12.7 volts at idle and a DC clamp on ammeter showed. 1.8 amps, also at idle. Was riding solo and didn't want to take my eyes off the water to clamp it at cruise. i believe the charging system is good and have a meter is in tool box.

Didn't think about mud daubers but we have plenty of them. The pump in on a bracket on the end of the port pontoon. I put enough water in the live well to cover the inlet in case the pump needed to be primed. It puts out air bubbles but no water so either the case is cracked or the impeller is shot. I'll check it out as soon as I find a friendly sand bar.

Check on lube for steering and shifter. I'll search the posts for how to.

I've looked for the nylon straps with an adjustment buckle but haven't found one with hooks on both ends that fit the brackets on the rail. Meanwhile, dug through my pack rat kit and found four snap bolt swivels and some nylon line. It will look a little rigged but, hey, I'm in Kentucky!

Re: Maiden Voyage and Didn't Get Stranded

Thanks Hawker.
I need to start another list. My old reliable Fluke DVM says 12.7 volts at idle and a DC clamp on ammeter showed. 1.8 amps, also at idle. Was riding solo and didn't want to take my eyes off the water to clamp it at cruise. i believe the charging system is good and have a new meter in tool box.

Didn't think about mud daubers but we have plenty of them. The pump is on a bracket on the end of the port pontoon. I put enough water in the live well to cover the inlet in case the pump needed to be primed. It puts out air bubbles but no water so either the case is cracked or the impeller is shot. I'll check it out as soon as I find a friendly sand bar.

Check on lube for steering and shifter. I'll search the posts for how to.

I've looked for the nylon straps with an adjustment buckle but haven't found one with hooks on both ends that fit the brackets on the rail. Meanwhile, dug through my pack rat kit and found four snap bolt swivels and some nylon line. It will look a little rigged but, hey, I'm in Kentucky!