Robert Wiemiller
Recruit
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2010
- Messages
- 5
To Wit :
I am the very proud owner of a gorgeous 1959 14.5' Fleetform Runabout , with the original Mercury Mark 58A 55hp 2-stroke. I call her "Red Nelly" because she is two-tone red-and-white and when I put the throttle forward, you go "Whoa, NELLY ! Really cool boat. Anyway, I go to Sweetwater Campground near Mammoth Pool every year for a week of fishing fun on about opening day. The lake is closed to all boats from May 1 through June 15th every year for the annual deer migration. The Trout there haven't seen a flasher or a night crawler for a month-and-a-half and the fishing is tremendous. Well, the first day, I launch and cruise to the head of the lake where the San Joaquin River comes in and I drift a bit, catching (and keeping and eating later) a beautiful 15 inch Brown. After a while, I cruised back to the dam at the other end of the lake, about a mile -and -a -half from the launch ramp. The lake is at over 100% capacity and is actually running over the top of the dam. There are a number of large boueys attached to a steel cable in front of the dam. That is where I carefully placed my crawdad trap, about 30 feet deep, resting on the bottom. I usually tie off on a tree, but this time, I chose a bouey, leaving plenty of extra rope instead of tying just the length to the bottom. Then, I started Nelly back up and put her in forward and then... That's RIGHT ! I'm an IDIOT ! The motor stopped almost immediately as I was at idle speed when the rope wrapped around the propeller. I went to the back of the boat and looked it over, where I could see the rope coiled just behind the propeller. I'm a real good swimmer and I could have jumped in the water and fixed it, except that there was no way for me to get back in the boat and I was by myself. So, I grabbed my plastick oar and started rowing. The boat would not move. I was stuck. The crawdad trap had gotten caught on a rock and was working like an anchor. I grabbed the steel cable and pulled hard and got loose. Then I was able to row Nelly out a ways but the wind kept pushing me back towards shore. I finally paddled enough to get out into the channel when my oar broke in half ! I wear an apron while I fish (very handy) and took the apron off and stuck the two pieces of oar into the pockets and made an Oklahoma Special sail by holding it up to catch the wind and push me back straight towards the launch ramp. Another boater finally came out to give me a tow about a hundred yards from shore and I parked the boat. I had paddled half-way across the lake and it was hot and I was worn out, so I waited til the next day to pull out the boat and remove the rope. When I got her on the trailer, I saw that the rope was gone ! No telling when that happened, but it could very well have been when I pulled it loose or it had come unwound while I paddled or was getting towed. What a maroon! I should have checked again. Might have saved me a lot of exercise.
But the best stupid trick was on the last day. I would launch and retrive Nelly and take her back to my campsite where I would refuel and re-rig and replenish food and drink, fully preparing the boat so that all I ever had to do was launch, tie the boat off, park the truck and go back down the ramp and climb in and go. No problem. Nelly is a classic runabout with two bench seats which face forward. I look into the back seat section, where I climb in and was perplexed at the sight of my gloves floating..."What is all this water..." I thought. I looked in the aft section where my battery box was full and my gas tank was covered with water. The transom was about 2 inches from the lake surface ! That's Right ! I HAD NOT PUT IN THE BOAT PLUG !!! I hurried up and got the truck and backed down the ramp where I winched the boat back onto the trailer and pulled her out. Fortunately, since the lake was so full, it was a short ramp and I had parked closeby or it would have been a salvage operation. I found out that it takes a lot longer for the water to drain out that it does to come into the boat. This is because( as dictated by basic laws of physics) when the bilge hole is below the surface, the boat's boyancy creates water pressure which will squirt in just like a garden hose. There is no pressure while draining. Well, I removed the battery and dumped the water from the battery box and checked my fuel connections, PUT THE PLUG IN, and relaunched. This time, the boat floated as usual and I got in. The boat fired for about a second-and-a-half. Really. It was only about 7:30 A.M. so I (got a new metal paddle) rowed out towards a tree near where Chiquito Creek is booming into the lake and went trout hunting while hitting the starter about every ten or fifteen minutes. Afer two hours of this, the motor started and I untied and put her in reverse. When I shifted back to neutral, the engine died and would not restart. It acted like it wasn't getting enough fuel at Idle or wasn't getting enough spark. The Mercruiser Controls are designed so that you can not get a lot of throttle at idle so that you do not over rev the motor. I checked the fuel ball and it was full and actually able to pump gas straight through the motor. Then, I put the contols in FORWARD and gave it about one-third throttle. Then I held the starter on while in gear and it propelled me for about a hundred feet before the bottom 2 cylinders fired. Then the third and finally all four cylinders were kicking and I was making horsepower. No more problems after that at all.
That does not mean that I am not an idiot and I was told that there are two kinds of boaters : Those who have forgotten the plug, and those who will...
I am the very proud owner of a gorgeous 1959 14.5' Fleetform Runabout , with the original Mercury Mark 58A 55hp 2-stroke. I call her "Red Nelly" because she is two-tone red-and-white and when I put the throttle forward, you go "Whoa, NELLY ! Really cool boat. Anyway, I go to Sweetwater Campground near Mammoth Pool every year for a week of fishing fun on about opening day. The lake is closed to all boats from May 1 through June 15th every year for the annual deer migration. The Trout there haven't seen a flasher or a night crawler for a month-and-a-half and the fishing is tremendous. Well, the first day, I launch and cruise to the head of the lake where the San Joaquin River comes in and I drift a bit, catching (and keeping and eating later) a beautiful 15 inch Brown. After a while, I cruised back to the dam at the other end of the lake, about a mile -and -a -half from the launch ramp. The lake is at over 100% capacity and is actually running over the top of the dam. There are a number of large boueys attached to a steel cable in front of the dam. That is where I carefully placed my crawdad trap, about 30 feet deep, resting on the bottom. I usually tie off on a tree, but this time, I chose a bouey, leaving plenty of extra rope instead of tying just the length to the bottom. Then, I started Nelly back up and put her in forward and then... That's RIGHT ! I'm an IDIOT ! The motor stopped almost immediately as I was at idle speed when the rope wrapped around the propeller. I went to the back of the boat and looked it over, where I could see the rope coiled just behind the propeller. I'm a real good swimmer and I could have jumped in the water and fixed it, except that there was no way for me to get back in the boat and I was by myself. So, I grabbed my plastick oar and started rowing. The boat would not move. I was stuck. The crawdad trap had gotten caught on a rock and was working like an anchor. I grabbed the steel cable and pulled hard and got loose. Then I was able to row Nelly out a ways but the wind kept pushing me back towards shore. I finally paddled enough to get out into the channel when my oar broke in half ! I wear an apron while I fish (very handy) and took the apron off and stuck the two pieces of oar into the pockets and made an Oklahoma Special sail by holding it up to catch the wind and push me back straight towards the launch ramp. Another boater finally came out to give me a tow about a hundred yards from shore and I parked the boat. I had paddled half-way across the lake and it was hot and I was worn out, so I waited til the next day to pull out the boat and remove the rope. When I got her on the trailer, I saw that the rope was gone ! No telling when that happened, but it could very well have been when I pulled it loose or it had come unwound while I paddled or was getting towed. What a maroon! I should have checked again. Might have saved me a lot of exercise.
But the best stupid trick was on the last day. I would launch and retrive Nelly and take her back to my campsite where I would refuel and re-rig and replenish food and drink, fully preparing the boat so that all I ever had to do was launch, tie the boat off, park the truck and go back down the ramp and climb in and go. No problem. Nelly is a classic runabout with two bench seats which face forward. I look into the back seat section, where I climb in and was perplexed at the sight of my gloves floating..."What is all this water..." I thought. I looked in the aft section where my battery box was full and my gas tank was covered with water. The transom was about 2 inches from the lake surface ! That's Right ! I HAD NOT PUT IN THE BOAT PLUG !!! I hurried up and got the truck and backed down the ramp where I winched the boat back onto the trailer and pulled her out. Fortunately, since the lake was so full, it was a short ramp and I had parked closeby or it would have been a salvage operation. I found out that it takes a lot longer for the water to drain out that it does to come into the boat. This is because( as dictated by basic laws of physics) when the bilge hole is below the surface, the boat's boyancy creates water pressure which will squirt in just like a garden hose. There is no pressure while draining. Well, I removed the battery and dumped the water from the battery box and checked my fuel connections, PUT THE PLUG IN, and relaunched. This time, the boat floated as usual and I got in. The boat fired for about a second-and-a-half. Really. It was only about 7:30 A.M. so I (got a new metal paddle) rowed out towards a tree near where Chiquito Creek is booming into the lake and went trout hunting while hitting the starter about every ten or fifteen minutes. Afer two hours of this, the motor started and I untied and put her in reverse. When I shifted back to neutral, the engine died and would not restart. It acted like it wasn't getting enough fuel at Idle or wasn't getting enough spark. The Mercruiser Controls are designed so that you can not get a lot of throttle at idle so that you do not over rev the motor. I checked the fuel ball and it was full and actually able to pump gas straight through the motor. Then, I put the contols in FORWARD and gave it about one-third throttle. Then I held the starter on while in gear and it propelled me for about a hundred feet before the bottom 2 cylinders fired. Then the third and finally all four cylinders were kicking and I was making horsepower. No more problems after that at all.
That does not mean that I am not an idiot and I was told that there are two kinds of boaters : Those who have forgotten the plug, and those who will...
