Five Days on the Water - I Now Have a Repair List!!!

[tlombard]

Bought my Caravelle in December and have had it on the water five days now, Saturday, Sunday and Monday over Memorial Day) and then this past Saturday and Sunday. 14.6 hours on the motor. Brand new interior. Brand new wiring. And I've already been towed back once (20 minute fix, bad wire between the battery and breaker) and now have a list of repairs. I know boating is expensive and a lot of work but I was not expecting to be fixing stuff this soon!

The list isn't bad though. For some reason my ignition switch keeps coming loose. If I don't remember to constantly tighten down the plastic deal on the dash, it comes completely off and the ignition pushes into the dash requiring me to undo four screws to pull the panel off and fix it. I'm hoping some Lock-Tite on the threads will fix that problem. Anybody see any problems with that?

The other issue I have to fix is with the trailer. While I had it in storage over the winter it appears that somebody tried to move the boat and messed up the mechanism in the coupler. When I went to pick the boat up it wouldn't drop down on the ball. I pulled the tongue out and found the metal piece that locks in the ball was bent up and not moving. We freed it up and got it hooked up but since then it has been difficult to get the trailer hooked up and locked in place. I found a repair kit to replace the mechanism on here for under $9 though so that will be another cheap and easy fix. I just wish I remembered to bring the tongue back with me from the lake so I could have repair it at home in the air conditioning instead of sweating like crazy the next time I'm down there and having people wait on me to get the job done so we can put it in the water!

I'm not sure if I'll get to the lake this weekend so maybe if my dad goes down to take the pontoon out I can have him bring it back for me.

 

[roffey]

Not sure if your just venting or asking a question?

 

[drrpm]

That's what shakedown cruises are for.

 

[ondarvr]

Seems like a short list of very easy fixes.

 

[MH Hawker]

you will never have every thing fixed at the same time, sorry thats just how it is, lean back open a beer and relax and enjoy. mine stays on a slip 9 months of the year, i do a few repairs most ever trip out at a beach or in a shaded cove

 

[tlombard]

Sorry, not really venting or asking questions. Just putting it out there because I felt like sharing even if nobody answered since there isn't anybody I work with or many friends that have boats.

I'm definitely not worried about the repair list. If anything I'm thrilled that is all I have to do and that it is all so easy and cheap! I've grown up with and around boats and am definitely familiar enough with them to know that something is always breaking, near breaking, etc. Unlike growing up with my father I'm going to fix everything right away though. He's always been of the mind that if it works, don't worry about it until it doesn't. I guess he gets that for working on other people's cars all day. The last thing he wants to do is fix something else after he gets off of work! We share the pontoon that we have at the lake and that is part of the reason I went and bought something much nicer just for myself. I got tired of wanting to fix things and him saying we should just let it be and keep having fun on the boat. Now it has been decided that it is the last year for the pontoon as it is. My dad and his girlfriend just can't come to a consensus on whether to strip the pontoon down and rebuild it (what my dad wants to do) or just buy something nicer (what she wants to do). The pontoon was pretty cheap and has definitely given us more fun than we paid for so I don't care what they do with it. It is all theirs and I'll just worry about my boat!

 

[roffey]

we are here for you brother... :couch2:

 

[Scott Danforth]

A bit of black rtv on the ignition switch bezel nut. However you may have a crack in it allowing it to loosen

 

[tlombard]

I probably just should have ordered a new ignition switch when I ordered the rest of the stuff. I think I'll just try black rtv, lock-tite or something the next time I'm down there and see how that works. Thankfully the worst case scenario if it won't hold is that I just take out the four screws again and I can grab the switch from the back and start/shut off the motor and then replace the ignition entirely.