Day from hell, Please Help

mrtopknight

New Member
Oct 3, 2006
361
Lake Mary, FL.
Boat Info
2001 182 Sport
Engines
4.3L MerCruiser w/ alpha one
You ever had one of those days when it was just one thing after another? :smt021 I save you all the problems and go to the serious ones.

1. I forgot to trim it up before I pulled it up the ramp and scrapped the skeg about 10'-15'. Do you think I did alot of damage? everything looks ok but I am just waiting for tomorrows shke down cruise oppritunity.

2. Upon coming in it started to get dusk so I flipped the lights on and the dash lights worked but no bow or anchor lights. I checked/swopped the fuse and briefly looked at the connections and then it started to pour dow rain :huh:

3. We were tubing and my buddy was pulling me. when he shut it down he flipped the safty run/off switch to off and forgot he did it. It took about 10 minutes of panic befor he remembered.
 
You are killing me... I spent the day on the boat adjusting lines in as the dock went under water and was bounced all over the place... in 50 degrees and a craptacular storm. I watched my gas grill float off the dock and down river.

"I went tubing and skiing in the nice warm weather and burned my nose and bumped the boat when I pulled it out and I didn't have a shirt on so I got sun on my back and then I had to have a cold beer with my friends as we watched the sunset on the water"

yeah... bad day...

You didn't happen to break a finger nail did you? :grin:
 
Mike,

Let me tell you about my day, it has been real nice all week and I have this new four blade prop sitting here looking at me that I have yet to get to take to the water and try out. Wake up this morning to 66 degree high and raining all day. Boat did not move out of the garage (but I did get to play with the Virtual Marina which is pretty cool), at least you got to get out on yours. That said I really doubt you did any damage; it happens you know. I bet you want let it happen again. :thumbsup:

Take care

Wesley
 
Well I guess im just sensitive since my hole taking on water post on SRO remember? I know transon seals are expensive to get fixed!!

Any thoughts on the lights? Dash works, no bow stern lights and they are on the same switch. I know when I got my depth finder installed they said there was a bunckh of suff loose and thet fixed it. I know they worked befor that and have not tried them after since today. Bad switch :huh:
 
Mike,

I am not the one to help you with your lights, others hopefully will. How does the skeg look. I thought your water leak was from your drain plug. I am assuming you just scraped your skeg along the concrete, did it break off or is it just scratched up?

Wesley
 
It was the plug and it is fixed now, but I was expecting the worse back then and someone on SRO told me about the bad transom seal.

The skeg just shaved off about 1/16" but I am more concerned about the strain it put on the transom and seal.

BTW.. Sorry about all the bad weather you guys are getting. I guess I just take for granite how lucky we are down here
 
I doubt you did any damage by dragging your skeg. It has happened to a lot of folks so you are not alone. Just repaint your skeg and chalk it up to experience.

On the lights, if you are sure all your fuses are OK then it's likely a loose wire or a switch if none of the running lights work. I suggest you start looking at the wires behind the dash first to see what you can find.
 
I don't think Dave was saying "you are an inexperienced boob to do that" but was just saying that you will probably not do it again. It's sorta like the time I untied my 480 from the dock and backed out and forgot to unplug it from the dock power. 1300 HP has no problem pulling the power pole off the dock... and I'll never do that again. ;-)
 
I look at boating mistakes like the little ripples made when you toss a stone in the water. Each ripple forms a concentric circle around the point of impact. As long as your mistake ripples are getting smaller in diameter and the damage they cause cheaper to fix ....well, you are making progress.

When I write a check to pay for something I caused with a mistake, I write "boating stupid tax" on the "for" line on the check. That way I get to review my error when the bank statement comes.

Lastly, I bought a gas powered hedge trimmer about 5 years ago. That danged thing will cut anything that gets in the way, including the meat on your leg if you are not careful. Everytime I cut myself, I write the date on the blade with yellow paint. I"m a slow learner and get in a hurry, but now I see all that writing and it draws my attention to the business end of the trimmer.

No, I'm not advocating that you write a date on your lower unit to remind you to raise the outdrive..........
 
mrtopknight said:
Dave S said:
Just repaint your skeg and chalk it up to experience.

What do you mean by "chalk it up to experience."

Mike.............I have chalked up so many things to experience myself, I have run out of chalk! :grin:

We all have our bad days and we all do things we would rather forget. But as long as we learn from them then it means we can probably avoid doing the same thing again.
 
Mike,

On your lights - check the obvious first if you haven't already done so. Your bow lights will have a single bulb so unscrew the housing and verify that the bulb is not burned out. You can also check for corrosion while you are in there.

Same with the stern light - check the base. I think that there are a couple of prongs that can get corroded. Also, if water has been standing inside the base, you may need to clean that out.
 
I woke up this morning, Switched on the lights and both bow and stern worked. :smt038 Who knows what happened.
 
That is called the "pixie dust fix"..............its bad karma to argue with the boat fairy.....don't try to fix it, just rejoice that they work and you didn't have to sort out the wiring.
 
fwebster said:
Lastly, I bought a gas powered hedge trimmer about 5 years ago. That danged thing will cut anything that gets in the way, including the meat on your leg if you are not careful. Everytime I cut myself, I write the date on the blade with yellow paint. I"m a slow learner and get in a hurry, but now I see all that writing and it draws my attention to the business end of the trimmer.

No, I'm not advocating that you write a date on your lower unit to remind you to raise the outdrive..........
Frank,
That's funny.......I bought a new Echo hedge trimmer and cut a 220v supply line to my air compressor in my garage..........Needless to say I got a "kick" out of that, It also fried the CDI in the trimmer..............Hedge-Fairy maybe??? :smt038
 

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You might want to pull the bulbs, clean the bulb contacts, and add dielectric grease to where they connect to the clip. Salt water can over time build up corrosion.
 
when i first bought this boat, the anchor roller was bent to port just a bit, maybe 1/2". it looked crooked and this bothered me but there was little i could do about it.

then one evening (during that crucial "get-to-know-your-new-BIGGER boat" period) as i backed out of yet another blown approach to my bow-in slip, i clipped the port side of the roller on the piling and actually bent the thing BACK to almost perfect position. chalk that one up NOT to experience, but to pure dumb luck.

how bout this one... also during my transition period from a bravo3 outdrive to the joy that is searay prop pockets, i approached my 13' 7' back-in slip with my 12'6' wide boat and didnt realize the rudders were not amidships. you can only imagine the show i put on for the entire marina as i tried to regain control of the boat. let's just say that the next day, i had to remove a piece of teak from my cockpit gunnel for some "woodshop 101" repairs.

at that time, the concept of a pulpit with a protruding anchor and the idea that you cant steer an inboard in reverse like you can a duo-prop outdrive was new to me. so now, i make sure to get the rudders straight up, steer with the transmissions in close quarters, and keep one eye on the pulpit and roller. barring engine failure, neither of these minor disasters will happen again. that's chalking TWO up to experience!
 
I am a very slow learner also. On the old 175 I scrapped that skeg more times than I can count. Gave up painting the skeg. I never did any damage except to my pride so I doubt one time hurt your boat.

I know attach a bungie cord to the trailer hitch and the winch handle. If that cord is attached I do not move the trailer until I check the outdrive position.

Congratulations are in order since the pixi dust fixed your electrical gremlin.

Paul
 
Gary,
You and I were in the same storm, brother. At least this time the surge did not crest the Quantico marina break water...and the POS ragbote next to me did not break loose, as happened in Ernesto ($150 in gel repairs to my 420DA) His POS ragbote stayed put after I put a 5/8 nylon line around the piling onto his stern cleats. Done deal.

Of course my ragboting friend refuses to pay for the damage his boat caused, and alleges that in re-tying his boat in the storm I got the lines too tight, causing his boat to rub against the dock and scratch his gel coat. Of note, I secured his "boat" with the aid of the harbormaster.
I am not making this up. Heck, I did not even know it was gel coat under all the oxidation and bird crap. Oh well. I tried to make the point that fenders would have helped his boat, as would proper lines; all this fell on deaf ears. I remain convinced that ragboters are just a breed apart.
A second ragbote broke loose from the Quantico mooring field Saturday morning and headed south on the Potomac. If you see a neglected ragbote down your way with a Quantico home port, you know now the rest of the story.
Rant off.
We are heading to Colonial Beach for the weekend and I expect to have the river largely to myself....my favorite time of year.
regards
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