fleachili
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2010
- Messages
- 37
So...........
My wife, 2 kids (3 & 6) and I take our "New to Us Boat" out for our third excursion last evening.
We load up and head to the launch; Marion Lake in Lakeville.
Upon arrival, the lot is half full, meaning there'd be roughly 20 boats on the water.
Perfect!!
We pull to the staging area...
I jump out and prep the boat; blower on, plug in, gear loaded, etc
There is one wide ramp, enough for 2 boats to launch/retrieve together; one has a dock to tie up to, the other is a straight to lake launch.
I back in to launch opposite the dock ramp, jump out, my wife assumes control of the truck.
I lower the motor, fire her up, idles great!!
Remove safety chain, unwind the winch and try to ease her to float...NOT MOVING!!!
DOH.. I forgot the transom straps!! :facepalm:
Thankfully, no one is waiting. I kill the engine and have my wife pull forward a bit, I disconnect the straps and back her in again.
I jump in the boat, fire her up; jump out the bow, barefoot.......
.........Wait for it............
........Ready..............
Land, slip, slide, assplant, wet to the waist...
But, cool as could be
I jump up, unwind the winch, hop back aboard like nothing happened; Hoping nobody witnessed my folly.
I back her out, and idle while my family parks the truck.
I pull to the dock and pick up my family, whom didn't witness my water fun.
"Daddy, you're bleeding" says my princess; Sure enough, sliced up my foot on the concrete ramp.
I hadn't even felt it, running on adrenalin enhanced embarrassment i guess?!?
So now, not only am i soaked with no change of clothes, but bleeding as well.
Oh well, we're here to enjoy ourselves. A bloody foot and wet clothes, I've had worse days.......
Or so i thought............
So we're cruising along, having fun, happy that our minor engine problem appears to be fixed.
We decide we're going to anchor off shore and let the kids cast for some pan fish.
No anchor!! It's on the other boat!!!
Oh well, I'll troll it, just enough to keep us from drifting much.
Wrong, Speed Boats are sending enough of a wake at us, we're drifting towards a sandbar/ weed mess.
Start the engine; DIES!
Try again, won't idle, dies!!
I have my wife start the engine, and I'm on the carb, goosing the adjustment.
Success...
We motor out and decide instead to cruise a little more when a seaplane lands about 125 yards in front of us.
Pretty cool, my kids were very impressed by that. A very quiet engine, I didn't hear or see it until she was about 10ft off the water on descent.
We head back in, 4 boats in line to be retrieved.
Pull back to idle, engine dies!!
Turn the key, won't stay running; again!!
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
The sun has now set.....
Finally get her running, get to dock, run and grab the truck back in, boat to trailer, pullout and my boat is cockeyed, literally, 70/30!!!
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
I swear, this should have happened to me long ago. I'm new to this but NOT THIS NEW!!
Anyways, took me another 15 minutes to get her on the trailer (Bunk w/ Guide Ons)
We're the last people leaving, thankfully!!
My left tire kept landing in a hole, which dropped the side substantially lower, and I cranked her askew.
We finally make it home, get the kids bathed and to bed. I get showered up, grab a beer and sit down to unwind.
I decide I'll post this embarrassing memory forever to the land of the internets, and now my laptop has issues!!!
So I've posted today, and can now laugh, although just a little bit, because my foot and pride are still wounded
My wife, 2 kids (3 & 6) and I take our "New to Us Boat" out for our third excursion last evening.
We load up and head to the launch; Marion Lake in Lakeville.
Upon arrival, the lot is half full, meaning there'd be roughly 20 boats on the water.
Perfect!!
We pull to the staging area...
I jump out and prep the boat; blower on, plug in, gear loaded, etc
There is one wide ramp, enough for 2 boats to launch/retrieve together; one has a dock to tie up to, the other is a straight to lake launch.
I back in to launch opposite the dock ramp, jump out, my wife assumes control of the truck.
I lower the motor, fire her up, idles great!!
Remove safety chain, unwind the winch and try to ease her to float...NOT MOVING!!!
DOH.. I forgot the transom straps!! :facepalm:
Thankfully, no one is waiting. I kill the engine and have my wife pull forward a bit, I disconnect the straps and back her in again.
I jump in the boat, fire her up; jump out the bow, barefoot.......
.........Wait for it............
........Ready..............
Land, slip, slide, assplant, wet to the waist...
But, cool as could be
I jump up, unwind the winch, hop back aboard like nothing happened; Hoping nobody witnessed my folly.
I back her out, and idle while my family parks the truck.
I pull to the dock and pick up my family, whom didn't witness my water fun.
"Daddy, you're bleeding" says my princess; Sure enough, sliced up my foot on the concrete ramp.
I hadn't even felt it, running on adrenalin enhanced embarrassment i guess?!?
So now, not only am i soaked with no change of clothes, but bleeding as well.
Oh well, we're here to enjoy ourselves. A bloody foot and wet clothes, I've had worse days.......
Or so i thought............
So we're cruising along, having fun, happy that our minor engine problem appears to be fixed.
We decide we're going to anchor off shore and let the kids cast for some pan fish.
No anchor!! It's on the other boat!!!
Oh well, I'll troll it, just enough to keep us from drifting much.
Wrong, Speed Boats are sending enough of a wake at us, we're drifting towards a sandbar/ weed mess.
Start the engine; DIES!
Try again, won't idle, dies!!
I have my wife start the engine, and I'm on the carb, goosing the adjustment.
Success...
We motor out and decide instead to cruise a little more when a seaplane lands about 125 yards in front of us.
Pretty cool, my kids were very impressed by that. A very quiet engine, I didn't hear or see it until she was about 10ft off the water on descent.
We head back in, 4 boats in line to be retrieved.
Pull back to idle, engine dies!!
Turn the key, won't stay running; again!!
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
Try again, success....dies.
The sun has now set.....
Finally get her running, get to dock, run and grab the truck back in, boat to trailer, pullout and my boat is cockeyed, literally, 70/30!!!
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
I swear, this should have happened to me long ago. I'm new to this but NOT THIS NEW!!
Anyways, took me another 15 minutes to get her on the trailer (Bunk w/ Guide Ons)
We're the last people leaving, thankfully!!
My left tire kept landing in a hole, which dropped the side substantially lower, and I cranked her askew.
We finally make it home, get the kids bathed and to bed. I get showered up, grab a beer and sit down to unwind.
I decide I'll post this embarrassing memory forever to the land of the internets, and now my laptop has issues!!!
So I've posted today, and can now laugh, although just a little bit, because my foot and pride are still wounded
