Stupid is as stupid does

rcknecht

rcknecht

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2009
3,861
toms river,nj
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2001
Engines
T 454 MPI
Tried to start my engine this weekend, and my Port Engine would not start... First I found that I had switch off in the breaker panel. But it still would not start. I looked at the engines for wires I might have knocked off over the winter. I hit the starter solenoid, but nothing. I checked the battery connections. (I had replaced two of my batteries) I checked the breakers. Finally I bumped into the transmission shifter on the dash and noticed it was not in neutral :smt038... Thankfully I had not called the mechanic. Something to check if you engine does not start, "Are you in neutral"... :smt017
 
rcknecht said:
Tried to start my engine this weekend, and my Port Engine would not start... First I found that I had switch off in the breaker panel. But it still would not start. I looked at the engines for wires I might have knocked off over the winter. I hit the starter solenoid, but nothing. I checked the battery connections. (I had replaced two of my batteries) I checked the breakers. Finally I bumped into the transmission shifter on the dash and noticed it was not in neutral :smt038... Thankfully I had not called the mechanic. Something to check if you engine does not start, "Are you in neutral"... :smt017
Click to expand...

It is definitely that time of the year when "the brain is in neutral" and we have to retrain ourselves. Fortunately, it doesn't take long to get back in the saddle.

~Ken
 
Been there, done that. Didn't call service, but did call a buddy on the radio.
 
Me too. I will admit that it was a wonderful feeling to realize that that was the only thing wrong...
 
Oh... we'll make the mistake regardless of the warnings. But your post will mean we won't beat ourselves up to the same degree:smt089, knowing a fellow seaman has made the same mistake:smt038. It's always nice to know we're not alone in our "moments of greatness":smt100

rcknecht said:
I figured I had to post my stupidity so others don't make the same mistake...
Click to expand...
 
OK, I guess this is the thread where we fess up, sort of a boating therapy message string.

Last night, my second docking of the season was, well, I did a bad job.

No damage other then the ego.

Mentally I re-docked 100 times as I lay in bed unable to sleep thinking about it.

Oh, having an admiral that decided to not follow instructions and do things her way did not help even though that’s not how we ever did it in the past even as I repeated to her clearly and calmly 4 times….stay on the boat….stay on the boat….stay on the boat…..stay on the boat….as she looked like she was going to leap from the swim platform to the dock…..then even with me having said not to she did anyways then she decided she wanted to argue about it as I was continuing to try to dock.

It added to my confusion and became a distraction.

Being out of practice was my primary issue. Not focusing on the task at hand because of a distraction was my second mistake. I had a hard time getting back into giving my full attention to the job of docking.

The bad docking was my fault, I’m to blame. I was just not able to back up straight with proper anticipation of the relatively light wind. Her leaping just caused a bad situation to be worse.

We were working against each other, not with each other. I just don’t ever remember that happening before. The rest of the night just…..well….it was a night I wish we could forget.

I may have had the drives not straight as I began to back up. Then I seemed to overcorrect.

Unfortunately I will not get some real world practice until this coming weekend. I plan to practice docking by myself a few times.
 
Last edited:
Happened to me too. We were anchored out for the day and ready to head home. Not a good feeling and just before I made the call I noticed the shifter got bumped. I'll blame one of the kids....
 
I did the same thing my first time out yesterday:smt021... I hope no one was looking... My Admiral jumped off the boat without a rope or boat hook, and tried to pull the boat in... It was not even windy... I was just out of practice... I have to remember that in the end, I have to take the blame... But when we have a good docking, the Admiral always says that she makes me look good... Got to love your superiors...

Presentation said:
OK, I guess this is the thread where we fess up, sort of a boating therapy message string.

Last night, my second docking of the season was, well, I did a bad job.

No damage other then the ego.

Mentally I re-docked 100 times as I lay in bed unable to sleep thinking about it.

Oh, having an admiral that decided to not follow instructions and do things her way did not help even though that’s not how we ever did it in the past even as I repeated to her clearly and calmly 4 times….stay on the boat….stay on the boat….stay on the boat…..stay on the boat….as she looked like she was going to leap from the swim platform to the dock…..then even with me having said not to she did anyways then she decided she wanted to argue about it as I was continuing to try to dock.

It added to my confusion and became a distraction.

Being out of practice was my primary issue. Not focusing on the task at hand because of a distraction was my second mistake. I had a hard time getting back into giving my full attention to the job of docking.

The bad docking was my fault, I’m to blame. I was just not able to back up straight with proper anticipation of the relatively light wind. Her leaping just caused a bad situation to be worse.

We were working against each other, not with each other. I just don’t ever remember that happening before. The rest of the night just…..well….it was a night I wish we could forget.

I may have had the drives not straight as I began to back up. Then I seemed to overcorrect.

Unfortunately I will not have a change to get some real world practice until this coming weekend. I plan to practice docking by myself a few times.
Click to expand...
 
There are enough things to concentrate on while docking our boats without having people running around or prematurely jumping ship. Fortunately, we do not have those particular problems. My Admiral will never jump off the boat. We have our docking system that seems to work pretty darn good most of the times, so we stick to it. For the most part, I would have to say that our landings are executed calmly, but then that is our demeanor. If we don't have a perfect slam dunk for some reason, we will discuss it at length after properly securing the boat. We can always learn from our mistakes and we get this out of the way while it is fresh in our minds. We also have permanent dock lines secured to the dock cleats that simplify things once we have safely landed.

~Ken
 
electricaldoctor said:
There are enough things to concentrate on while docking our boats without having people running around or prematurely jumping ship. Fortunately, we do not have those particular problems. My Admiral will never jump off the boat. We have our docking system that seems to work pretty darn good most of the times, so we stick to it. For the most part, I would have to say that our landings are executed calmly, but then that is our demeanor. If we don't have a perfect slam dunk for some reason, we will discuss it at length after properly securing the boat. We can always learn from our mistakes and we get this out of the way while it is fresh in our minds. We also have permanent dock lines secured to the dock cleats that simplify things once we have safely landed.

~Ken
Click to expand...

I could have said ditto until last evening.
 
Wow...this brings up old memories. A couple of years ago when I had an Amberjack 290, I was at a different marina's gas dock and wanted to pump out the sanitary tank.

After fueling was completed, I removed the sanitary tank's screw-in cap, got the attendant to go to the end of the dock to turn on the pump-out motor and then attached the nozzle, pulled the lever and nothing happened...nothing! It took me a couple of minutes to realize I was attempting to pump out the rod holder. The Admiral looked at me and grinned and the marina attendant shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

If I was a Boy Scout, I would have flunked the test for my "Pooper Scooper Merit Badge". ;-)
 
:lol::lol::lol::smt043:lol::lol::lol:
We should all feel better....:grin:


ANYTIME said:
Wow...this brings up old memories. A couple of years ago when I had an Amberjack 290, I was at a different marina's gas dock and wanted to pump out the sanitary tank.

After fueling was completed, I removed the sanitary tank's screw-in cap, got the attendant to go to the end of the dock to turn on the pump-out motor and then attached the nozzle, pulled the lever and nothing happened...nothing! It took me a couple of minutes to realize I was attempting to pump out the rod holder. The Admiral looked at me and grinned and the marina attendant shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

If I was a Boy Scout, I would have flunked the test for my "Pooper Scooper Merit Badge". ;-)
Click to expand...
 
Dewinterized the water system over the weekend. Filled the water tank, turned on the pump, purged the air from the faucets....then the bilge pump turns on....forgot to close the water heater drain spigot.
 
Stray Cat said:
Dewinterized the water system over the weekend. Filled the water tank, turned on the pump, purged the air from the faucets....then the bilge pump turns on....forgot to close the water heater drain spigot.
Click to expand...


+1 :smt021
I did the same last week. I was on land with the plug out, so I never did get to test the bilge pump - :grin:
 
Presentation, at least all were safe with no damage, My wife and I were watching the ramp and a couple was checking out threir new ride 230 Rinker and disagreeing on how the boat was to be placed on the trailer, 1st the power wash... no luck, then the winds kicked in a tad and the two voiced their concern... with each other. Finally the boat was secured on the trailer... the 2 were to busy yelling at other to hear the voices of many telling them their lower unit was being dragged accross the parking lot... to our surprise the embarresmnet was too much, they 1st looked it over and then pulled it into a parking spot 50 feet ahead....NEVER raising the motor an inch.
 
These threads make us Twin Engine newbies feel sooo much better! I dont let anyone talk while I am docking cause I am still too scared of hitting anything. Last weekend we came back in just as about 3 380's where also coming in to our dock, I don think they even slowed down!

My daughter turns to me and says "I bet their kids get to talk!"

I just cant win..............
 
The stupid kill switch got me the same way once. Add that (if you have one) to the "is it in neutral" check.
 
Scottzzzy said:
My daughter turns to me and says "I bet their kids get to talk!"

I just cant win..............
Click to expand...

Ha! I thought I was the only one! I'm now able to have a conversation while docking unless it's excessively windy but I remember my kids saying something like that last spring.

I learned the key to docking is to relax. You cannot think coherently or fast enough and your brain can't multi-task when it's overwhelmed with stress.
 
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