Subliminal
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 555
So apparently my neighbor recently got boating fever. He ended up buying a 97 Yamaha Exciter with twin jetski motors. Cute little guy with 3 seats in the back and 2 seats (that I wouldn't EVER want to sit in) in the front of the boat.
Anyway, the guy he bought it from just had the engines redone, and he was pretty happy that it was ready to go. He'd taken it out in the bays a couple of times, but wanted to try it out on the Delaware River, and since he knew I went there a lot, he asked if I'd go with him his first time.
So, we get to the ramp at 9:30, just the two of us. We unstrap and get ready to launch the boat. Of course he only has one rope, but hey, he just got the thing and I impressed upon him the necessity for an additional one.
So, he backs in, get the thing in the water and it fires right up. Sounds like a tin can full of marbles, but it fires right up. 2 stroke, i guess.
We start on our way. We're happy, he's smiling, life is good. We get out past the no-wake zone and he starts to push the throttles forward. No speedo on the thing, but we're just getting on plane and then...
POW! I look back just in time to see something black fly out of the back of the boat into the water.
So, we stop and drift while figuring out what it was. Apparently the boat has a flip open cover in the back with safety switches that kill the engine when its open. Underneath that cover are two clean outs, which are like plastic discs held down by a bar and a couple of bolts. One of them isn't there. And when it came out, it blew the latch on that door apart and flew into the water.
And of course it didn't float.
So, luckily the boat has two motors and we can idle back to the ramp. He's, of course, bummed out, but after talking to a few friends he learns that that's actually pretty common, and that checking those bolts is a routine part of maintenance on that boat. Live and learn and $160 later he's got the part on order.
But, I'm not ready to call it quits yet. About an hour later we make it back to the ramp after dropping off his boat and truck and picking up mine.
We launch easily and motor down the river a ways. We stop and swim for a while, and hang out. Then, we decide to make the hour drive to Philly, just to show him around.
About 1/4 way there, a little ways past Burlington, we see something in the water. Some kind of animal. So, turn around and I kill the engine.
About 50 feet from the boat a seal pops out of the water. A friggin seal...and quite a distance from the ocean. Cute little guy, just pops his head out of the water and watches us watching him. Then he dives away and we roll on.
Other than that, just some swimming and a lot of motoring. And the wife wasn't along, so I didn't have to worry about how I hit other's wakes...which made for a lot more driving fun.
By the end of the day, I don't think he was too bummed about his boat...lesson learned and try again!
Anyway, the guy he bought it from just had the engines redone, and he was pretty happy that it was ready to go. He'd taken it out in the bays a couple of times, but wanted to try it out on the Delaware River, and since he knew I went there a lot, he asked if I'd go with him his first time.
So, we get to the ramp at 9:30, just the two of us. We unstrap and get ready to launch the boat. Of course he only has one rope, but hey, he just got the thing and I impressed upon him the necessity for an additional one.
So, he backs in, get the thing in the water and it fires right up. Sounds like a tin can full of marbles, but it fires right up. 2 stroke, i guess.
We start on our way. We're happy, he's smiling, life is good. We get out past the no-wake zone and he starts to push the throttles forward. No speedo on the thing, but we're just getting on plane and then...
POW! I look back just in time to see something black fly out of the back of the boat into the water.
So, we stop and drift while figuring out what it was. Apparently the boat has a flip open cover in the back with safety switches that kill the engine when its open. Underneath that cover are two clean outs, which are like plastic discs held down by a bar and a couple of bolts. One of them isn't there. And when it came out, it blew the latch on that door apart and flew into the water.
And of course it didn't float.
So, luckily the boat has two motors and we can idle back to the ramp. He's, of course, bummed out, but after talking to a few friends he learns that that's actually pretty common, and that checking those bolts is a routine part of maintenance on that boat. Live and learn and $160 later he's got the part on order.
But, I'm not ready to call it quits yet. About an hour later we make it back to the ramp after dropping off his boat and truck and picking up mine.
We launch easily and motor down the river a ways. We stop and swim for a while, and hang out. Then, we decide to make the hour drive to Philly, just to show him around.
About 1/4 way there, a little ways past Burlington, we see something in the water. Some kind of animal. So, turn around and I kill the engine.
About 50 feet from the boat a seal pops out of the water. A friggin seal...and quite a distance from the ocean. Cute little guy, just pops his head out of the water and watches us watching him. Then he dives away and we roll on.
Other than that, just some swimming and a lot of motoring. And the wife wasn't along, so I didn't have to worry about how I hit other's wakes...which made for a lot more driving fun.
By the end of the day, I don't think he was too bummed about his boat...lesson learned and try again!