tomdinwv
Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2008
- Messages
- 665
Let's start with the back story. Got out of boating for a couple years. Jumped back in a couple months ago. Found a nice 1975 Sea Ray SRV200 that looks really good and pulled the trigger. I buffed her out, shined up pretty nice. Interior was new from PO, looks great. Added a few details to get her the way we want her. Wife has been chomping at the bit to get this thing on the water. Went to start it a few days ago and the carb was dumping fuel. Carb rebuild fixed all that. Fired her up on the muffs, runs great. The 351 Windsor purrs like a kitten. Let's hit the river!!!
Thursday, beautiful day, started a little cool but forecast calls for mid 70's, sun, and some wind. Wind? No problem. So off we go. I stopped to gas up the boat. Could only get $1.00 in her. Kept blowing out. "Must be full" I thought :facepalm: So, off we go. Got launched with no problem, running good. Pick wife up at dock and up the river we go. Cruising along, no problems, good music on the radio, talking, laughing, having a great day. Yep, "this is why I missed boating" I thought to myself. Then it happened. Most of you already know what happened. That's right. Out of gas. Whoops.
Call a friend of ours with a boat. He's heading out of town. Call one marina. The 2 guys they have that could come get us are off. Call 2 more, they can't help. We paddled the beast to the river bank. The whole time, my dear bride was saying, and I quote, "^%##@@()*&@%#$$@&((#@$!%@&*($^%#$$@#!$@%#^&*(#&&#^#%$@#!!!". One option left. Walk and get gas.
Where we were able to beach, it is about 20 feet straight up through brush and mud to get to level ground, where I can start walking. Fun stuff, especially for a guy who's out of shape (unless you count round as a shape) pushing 300lbs. Up the bank I go. Took me a few minutes but I got my big old self to the top. Started walking by the railroad tracks, hoping to find a way to get through the 8' fence that separated me from a long walk to get gas. About 100 yards from where I came up the bank, I found a hole in the fence, leading to a street. What a relief. This was not a large hole and I am not a small man, but I wiggled my butt through and set off on the next leg of my adventure. Made it to a gas station after a brisk approx. 1 mile walk. They had 2, 1 gal gas cans in stock. I bought both, filled them up and started walking back. After what seemed like enough time to cross the Sahara, I made it back to the boat. Put both gallons in the tank and she fired right up. Back down the river we went. Stopped at one of the marinas and got gas. She held more than $1 this time.
After I got gas, the wife was in a much better mood. LOL. We stayed out another hour or so before heading back. Getting her back on the trailer ( boat, not wife) was a little iffy considering it had been a while since doing it and the wind and current were strong, but I got her on. That's when the trim decided it no longer wanted to work. Fortunately, the OD didn't drag coming up the ramp. I disconnected the rams and tied up the OD wit a couple ratchet straps for the drive home. I'll fix that tomorrow along with cleaning the vent for the gas tank. All in all, not a bad return to boating.
Thursday, beautiful day, started a little cool but forecast calls for mid 70's, sun, and some wind. Wind? No problem. So off we go. I stopped to gas up the boat. Could only get $1.00 in her. Kept blowing out. "Must be full" I thought :facepalm: So, off we go. Got launched with no problem, running good. Pick wife up at dock and up the river we go. Cruising along, no problems, good music on the radio, talking, laughing, having a great day. Yep, "this is why I missed boating" I thought to myself. Then it happened. Most of you already know what happened. That's right. Out of gas. Whoops.
Call a friend of ours with a boat. He's heading out of town. Call one marina. The 2 guys they have that could come get us are off. Call 2 more, they can't help. We paddled the beast to the river bank. The whole time, my dear bride was saying, and I quote, "^%##@@()*&@%#$$@&((#@$!%@&*($^%#$$@#!$@%#^&*(#&&#^#%$@#!!!". One option left. Walk and get gas.
Where we were able to beach, it is about 20 feet straight up through brush and mud to get to level ground, where I can start walking. Fun stuff, especially for a guy who's out of shape (unless you count round as a shape) pushing 300lbs. Up the bank I go. Took me a few minutes but I got my big old self to the top. Started walking by the railroad tracks, hoping to find a way to get through the 8' fence that separated me from a long walk to get gas. About 100 yards from where I came up the bank, I found a hole in the fence, leading to a street. What a relief. This was not a large hole and I am not a small man, but I wiggled my butt through and set off on the next leg of my adventure. Made it to a gas station after a brisk approx. 1 mile walk. They had 2, 1 gal gas cans in stock. I bought both, filled them up and started walking back. After what seemed like enough time to cross the Sahara, I made it back to the boat. Put both gallons in the tank and she fired right up. Back down the river we went. Stopped at one of the marinas and got gas. She held more than $1 this time.
After I got gas, the wife was in a much better mood. LOL. We stayed out another hour or so before heading back. Getting her back on the trailer ( boat, not wife) was a little iffy considering it had been a while since doing it and the wind and current were strong, but I got her on. That's when the trim decided it no longer wanted to work. Fortunately, the OD didn't drag coming up the ramp. I disconnected the rams and tied up the OD wit a couple ratchet straps for the drive home. I'll fix that tomorrow along with cleaning the vent for the gas tank. All in all, not a bad return to boating.
