Tnstratofam
Commander
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2013
- Messages
- 2,679
Okay so a year or so ago the Admiral and I purchased our first boat together. We made all the classic mistakes. Bought first boat we looked at. Didn't do any research on year and model of drive system. ( It's obsolete.) No idea about how much work our new boat needed. Total newbies!!!
Now in August after much time on the water, and hard lessons learned I found this wonderful website, and all the valuable information contained in this forum. I have since learned that there are no dumb questions asked, and if I have a problem I can always find good answers from knowledgeable people at this site. Now I have also met some wonderful people at many of the local marinas, and boat dealerships here Northeast Tn who have helped me tremendously. That all being said I still consider the Admiral, and I as newbies still in our infancy of boat ownership. We now have two boats, and I spend time here gaining new information as often as my time permits. I also try to offer advice based on my experiences much like many of you do.
Here is my problem. Here on the forum there are many different views on repairs, and questions offered up by the forum members. However most of the time a consensus is usually reached and a suitable reply is followed by the original poster. Not always, but usually. However I have a coworker, who also is a newbie to boating who has purchased an aluminum fishing boat with an outboard jet engine for river fishing here in our lovely part of the country. He is now on his 3rd ( yep you heard me right ) 3rd motor. When he first purchased the boat I told him to become very familiar with it's controls and operation before going out on the river due to the danger of running over fly fisherman, drift boats, rocks and debris. As well as the white water rafters we get most of the summer.
He decided to go to one of our local lakes earlier this spring. TVA had been keeping this particular lake up above normal so there was a lot of debris on the water. The intake to his boats motor is only a few inches below waterline so I told him to be extra careful. He wasn't, and stopped up the intake burning up the motor. I asked him if the high temp alarm went off he said " Well we heard a buzzing sound but my buddy said it was his phone. " :facepalm:
After he got the engine rebuilt I told him he should take it easy on the new motor again till he was familiar with it. To which he returns to the lake and drops the boat off the trailer at the ramp and breaks the housing for the jet drive.:facepalm:
He gets that fixed, and finally takes it to the river where his friend dumps him in before he gets the motor started where he is washed a good way down stream. In a panic he gets her going, and proceeds up the river with his buddy and manages to make a fairly good run up and down the river. The next time out however his oil injector on the motor clogs, and now he has a fried piston.:facepalm: ( I had told him it might be safer to premix the gas and oil himself rather than relying on the injector when he first purchased the boat.)
Now he gets the engine rebuilt again. That's twice for those keeping score. Today he comes in to work and tells me he thinks he may have burnt up his motor last night. He was in the river again. TVA stopped generating so the water level fell. He was in a new section where he wasn't familiar. And he said the motor started smoking, and just up and quit. Now my first question to him was. " Didn't your water alarm go off?" To which he replies. " yeah my buddy and I hadn't hooked it back up yet. I didn't think I would need it as cold as the river water is." :facepalm:
I just looked at him and said " How's that help from your buddy turning out for ya?"
Some people can't be helped I guess.
I told him when he first got the boat he should come to this site. Not sure he will now.
Now in August after much time on the water, and hard lessons learned I found this wonderful website, and all the valuable information contained in this forum. I have since learned that there are no dumb questions asked, and if I have a problem I can always find good answers from knowledgeable people at this site. Now I have also met some wonderful people at many of the local marinas, and boat dealerships here Northeast Tn who have helped me tremendously. That all being said I still consider the Admiral, and I as newbies still in our infancy of boat ownership. We now have two boats, and I spend time here gaining new information as often as my time permits. I also try to offer advice based on my experiences much like many of you do.
Here is my problem. Here on the forum there are many different views on repairs, and questions offered up by the forum members. However most of the time a consensus is usually reached and a suitable reply is followed by the original poster. Not always, but usually. However I have a coworker, who also is a newbie to boating who has purchased an aluminum fishing boat with an outboard jet engine for river fishing here in our lovely part of the country. He is now on his 3rd ( yep you heard me right ) 3rd motor. When he first purchased the boat I told him to become very familiar with it's controls and operation before going out on the river due to the danger of running over fly fisherman, drift boats, rocks and debris. As well as the white water rafters we get most of the summer.
He decided to go to one of our local lakes earlier this spring. TVA had been keeping this particular lake up above normal so there was a lot of debris on the water. The intake to his boats motor is only a few inches below waterline so I told him to be extra careful. He wasn't, and stopped up the intake burning up the motor. I asked him if the high temp alarm went off he said " Well we heard a buzzing sound but my buddy said it was his phone. " :facepalm:
After he got the engine rebuilt I told him he should take it easy on the new motor again till he was familiar with it. To which he returns to the lake and drops the boat off the trailer at the ramp and breaks the housing for the jet drive.:facepalm:
He gets that fixed, and finally takes it to the river where his friend dumps him in before he gets the motor started where he is washed a good way down stream. In a panic he gets her going, and proceeds up the river with his buddy and manages to make a fairly good run up and down the river. The next time out however his oil injector on the motor clogs, and now he has a fried piston.:facepalm: ( I had told him it might be safer to premix the gas and oil himself rather than relying on the injector when he first purchased the boat.)
Now he gets the engine rebuilt again. That's twice for those keeping score. Today he comes in to work and tells me he thinks he may have burnt up his motor last night. He was in the river again. TVA stopped generating so the water level fell. He was in a new section where he wasn't familiar. And he said the motor started smoking, and just up and quit. Now my first question to him was. " Didn't your water alarm go off?" To which he replies. " yeah my buddy and I hadn't hooked it back up yet. I didn't think I would need it as cold as the river water is." :facepalm:
I just looked at him and said " How's that help from your buddy turning out for ya?"
Some people can't be helped I guess.
I told him when he first got the boat he should come to this site. Not sure he will now.