Boating

[Good_Steward]

So, in the never ending saga of boats (and boat trailer lights), another story of personal loss and perseverance is born.

Actually, last Saturday afternoon, the sun finally started to shine. Even though it was windy, and somewhat overcast, I decided to head to the river to get some quality fishing time in. Now, I have a small (16') bass boat with a not-very-big outboard (45hp), but it will scoot along pretty well when trimmed all the way out. I launched at Suck Creek boat ramp, and headed downriver as hard as the little Bumblebee will go, trying to find slower water and less wind. Finally, I make it about 8 miles or so downriver, and flipped the trolling motor out to start fishing some nice structure. The current and wind was still very strong, which is unusual in this area of the river. Well, after a couple of hours of relatively slow fishing, the cloud cover started in hard, and it looked like rain was on the way quickly.

I decided it was time to head home.

I get the little boat up to speed, and moving along pretty well. Then it happened. While powering through a bend in the river, the steering wheel lost all resistance with a solid "POP". No steering - the steering cable broke. At this point, I am still about 7 miles downriver, with a strong current and wind blowing against me. Very disheartened, I dropped the trolling motor, a 50lb thrust Motor Guide, and settled in on my casting deck to troll home. Wrong. Even with the relatively stout trolling motor, I was gaining ground (or water, if you please) at the rate of approximately 1 inch per hour. Could be an exaggeration, but certainly not much of one. Every time I stepped off the "go button" I lost ground 20 times as fast as I gained it. Crap.

Finally, I started the big motor, and knocked it in to gear, and steered (constantly steering against a pull to the left) with the trolling motor. So, now I am speeding along at the rate of about 4 mph or so, and getting a cramp in my leg from the force required to hold the trolling motor in place to steer against the left pull, the battery decided to take a crap. Thankfully, I had a back up battery for the trolling motor, so it was a simple change of connectors.

So, after almost 2 hours, and two passes by the &^$%(&$^ "River Gorge Explorer (Read: River Menace)", I make it back to the ramp, only to find three morons fishing from the dock, who expressed no desire to move for me to tie off until I stepped on one of their rods .

Moral of the story is twofold: A boat is simply a hole in the water into which money disappears, and people, in general, are still stupid.

Oh yeah, and always keep one more battery than what you need.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Good_Steward

[DaveS]

Sounds like some of my days this year. I learned in a boating class that you should keep a roll of duct tape in your boat. If you lose steering, you can heavily tape your paddle to the motor and "tiller" steer it. Luckily I've never had to do this.

Wonder if boating ever gets enjoyable?

[Good_Steward]

Sounds like some of my days this year. I learned in a boating class that you should keep a roll of duct tape in your boat. If you lose steering, you can heavily tape your paddle to the motor and "tiller" steer it. Luckily I've never had to do this.

Wonder if boating ever gets enjoyable?

The paddle in plain sight would likely have given me too many ideas when trying to tie off at the ramp...... not a bad idea, though.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Good_Steward

[DaveS]

I understand that too. I've ran into a few folks before who had no idea what a "courtesy" ramp was for besides clogging it up with coolers, tackle boxes and a bunch of stupidity!

[whiskey]

Every couple of years the wife and I go look at boats. That is usually all it takes to remind me that we don't need one.

[Motasyco]

Boats are not for all. The motto of "prepare for the worst and hope for the best" definitely applies. I may jinx myself but I've had many boats over the years and only one of them ever really caused me any trouble. Since the mid 80s, I've almost always had a boat, sometimes two. I guess I've been luckier than most. I just got mine prepped and ready for the water last weekend. Looking forward to hitting the lake soon.

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

I get tired of the boat ramp hobos sitting in or standing around their cars watching and drinking beer not doing anything except clogging up the entrance queue to the boat ramp.

I broke a shear pin once and a couple nice guys offered me a beer and towed me back to the ramp and wouldn't take any money. I was feeling cool about boaters until I got back to my truck and seen where someone had backed into my passenger door. They didn't leave a note or a fishing pole

[Good_Steward]

Boats are not for all. The motto of "prepare for the worst and hope for the best" definitely applies. I may jinx myself but I've had many boats over the years and only one of them ever really caused me any trouble. Since the mid 80s, I've almost always had a boat, sometimes two. I guess I've been luckier than most. I just got mine prepped and ready for the water last weekend. Looking forward to hitting the lake soon.

Very nice boat. I like the hood ornament .

I have had a boat of some form since I was 15 years old, ranging from a 14ft john boat with a 5hp Johnson to a Malibu Wakesetter that was completely decked out. I have found that even if you don't have any "on-the-water" problems with them, there is always a massive amount of maintenance. The boat I have now, in the last two years, I have replaced the trim motor, trolling motor, and now a steering cable. I re-wired the entire boat today since I was already working on it (made a color coded wiring diagram and used fused power distribution blocks - hey, why not?). While these costs have only added up to about $1K, they have all come at an inopportune time.

Heck, the Wakesetter set me back nearly $40K, and still had to have the packing re-stretched 4 times in 5 years.....

I love boats, love the water, love fishing. I can't think of a better way to spend the weekend than floating down the river searching for big ol' bass and aggressive crappie. Heck, I've been known to be patient enough every once in a while to drop a line and wait on catfish.

Anyway, It is a very one sided love affair, because this girl likes to keep her hands in my pockets...LOL!

Edited April 29, 2012 by Good_Steward

[Motasyco]

Very nice boat. I like the hood ornament

Thanks. That's my boating buddy. He loves to go.

You're right. You have to love the water to justify the expense. I love the water. I also love to ride motorcycles. I also love to shoot. Are there any cheap hobbies?

[DaveS]

So far this year that 2000 Vision Bassboat of mine has had a new trim motor, livewell timer switch, throttle cable and now I need to replace the power trim relays. I went fishing with my son today, (caught 3 nice keeper bass) and realized the simplicity of a 14 foot john boat with 35 evinrude and nothing else fancy. Had a good time and bass for supper!

[DaveS]

Thanks. That's my boating buddy. He loves to go.

You're right. You have to love the water to justify the expense. I love the water. I also love to ride motorcycles. I also love to shoot. Are there any cheap hobbies?

Got to love safe boating!

[Timestepper]

Although I'm not entirely mechanically inept, I've still found that the simpler I keep things, the better it generally works out for me. I guess that's why the sum total watercraft I own consist of an eleven foot leak in the shape of a flat bottom John boat and a sixteen foot canoe. The canoe does come with one "motor" and two "propellers" and generates approximately 1jap (jackass power): The "primary prop" is a standard canoe paddle and the secondary or "turbo charged prop" is a long-shafted kayak paddle for those times when I need extra power and/or speed. So far as I can remember, neither has ever failed me, although I will admit to the "power train" having become pretty well pooped a couple of times.

I don't get there as fast, but man, oh man - I sure do enjoy the ride!

[Good_Steward]

You're right. You have to love the water to justify the expense. I love the water. I also love to ride motorcycles. I also love to shoot. Are there any cheap hobbies?

I have found several that I thought were cheap. They were not.

Fishing is a cheap hobby; however, I have found that bass fishing is, quite likely, the most expensive hobby in the world. No such thing as a pole and worm. I think last year I spent around the same as the GDP of a small country (like China or something close) for extravagant fishing equipment specifically intended for bass that was an absolute MUST to prevent fish-less outings and to catch the attention of Blue Marlin weight class largemouth.

At least, that's what the commercials said.....

Edited April 30, 2012 by Good_Steward

[Good_Steward]

Although I'm not entirely mechanically inept, I've still found that the simpler I keep things, the better it generally works out for me. I guess that's why the sum total watercraft I own consist of an eleven foot leak in the shape of a flat bottom John boat and a sixteen foot canoe. The canoe does come with one "motor" and two "propellers" and generates approximately 1jap (jackass power): The "primary prop" is a standard canoe paddle and the secondary or "turbo charged prop" is a long-shafted kayak paddle for those times when I need extra power and/or speed. So far as I can remember, neither has ever failed me, although I will admit to the "power train" having become pretty well pooped a couple of times.

I don't get there as fast, but man, oh man - I sure do enjoy the ride!

We do, as adults and outdoorsmen, tend to lose sight of simplistic, enjoyable outings in favor of profanity laced, ER visit, wife estranging pursuits of monster bass, deer, and turkey.....

Edited April 30, 2012 by Good_Steward

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

Gotta love that $89.99 per pound fish dinner!

I wonder what some of the deer meat we bring home averages out to?

So far this year that 2000 Vision Bassboat of mine has had a new trim motor, livewell timer switch, throttle cable and now I need to replace the power trim relays. I went fishing with my son today, (caught 3 nice keeper bass) and realized the simplicity of a 14 foot john boat with 35 evinrude and nothing else fancy. Had a good time and bass for supper!

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

I had many a canoe out on the river fishing but got tired of getting swamped out.

Although I'm not entirely mechanically inept, I've still found that the simpler I keep things, the better it generally works out for me. I guess that's why the sum total watercraft I own consist of an eleven foot leak in the shape of a flat bottom John boat and a sixteen foot canoe. The canoe does come with one "motor" and two "propellers" and generates approximately 1jap (jackass power): The "primary prop" is a standard canoe paddle and the secondary or "turbo charged prop" is a long-shafted kayak paddle for those times when I need extra power and/or speed. So far as I can remember, neither has ever failed me, although I will admit to the "power train" having become pretty well pooped a couple of times.

I don't get there as fast, but man, oh man - I sure do enjoy the ride!

[MacGyver]

I've really been enjoying fishing this year from my standup paddle board. It's simple, but you've got the advantage of a long moment arm with a 7 foot paddle. I've fished freshwater and saltwater this year, and am looking forward to several more river trips and at least two more gulf of Mexico trips.

Last fall I rigged it with a car battery and a submersible light and hit the salt flats in the Big Bend Area for flounder after diving for scallops all day. It was a ton of fun, but such a silent craft and a good gig, it seemed like it was over before I even started having fun. We limited out so quickly, that I spent way more time paddling out there then I did actual gigging.

I'm with you guys, though. I will be on the water in some form or fashion until the day I die.

[Guest mcgyver210]

We have been waiting patiently for boating season ever since we winterized it.

We spend allot of time on the water I believe partly because we keep ours easily accessible at the marina.

Yes I agree owning a boat isn't cheap though.

[Timestepper]

I had many a canoe out on the river fishing but got tired of getting swamped out.

Hmmm.... Hundreds of hours and miles on rivers, creeks and lakes and I've only swamped once and that was my own fault. I'd love to say that it's due to my superior canoeing abilities, but the truth is that it's probably just the design of the canoe.

[DaveS]

Hmmm.... Hundreds of hours and miles on rivers, creeks and lakes and I've only swamped once and that was my own fault. I'd love to say that it's due to my superior canoeing abilities, but the truth is that it's probably just the design of the canoe.

I agree with the design of the canoe. I had a 14 foot Rogue River that was rounded on the bottom and it was really unstable. My 16 foot coleman has a flat transom for mounting a motor on, and it's real stable. It is flat bottomed also.

Edited May 1, 2012 by wd-40

[Handsome Rob]

Sometime you've just gotta shout 'Balls to it!' sit down & laugh. Boating trully will make a McGuyver out of everyone though.

I managed to get home after this.......

[Motasyco]

Sometime you've just gotta shout 'Balls to it!' sit down & laugh. Boating trully will make a McGuyver out of everyone though.

I managed to get home after this.......

Yikes! Is that the top of an outboard barely sticking out of the water?

Forget to put the plug in? I did that once. As long as I was moving I didn't take on water. If I slowed down, it would start filling up. Made it back to the ramp. Yanked it out of the water, let it drain, and put the plug in. Lucky day.

[Good_Steward]

LOL - it seems I am not the only one who has experienced the pleasure and pain (and more pain) of owning a boat. Gotta love it, and quite honestly, I never see myself without one of these beautiful heartaches (and walletaches, if that's a word - if not, it should be created for boat owners)

Edited May 1, 2012 by Good_Steward

[Handsome Rob]

Yikes! Is that the top of an outboard barely sticking out of the water?

Forget to put the plug in? I did that once. As long as I was moving I didn't take on water. If I slowed down, it would start filling up. Made it back to the ramp. Yanked it out of the water, let it drain, and put the plug in. Lucky day.

Yup, that's the motor! To this day I'm not 100% sure what happened. I pulled up on the bank to get to my deer stand & 4 hours later came back to this. The only thing I can think happened is that the angle of the bank put the bilge-drain underwater & it back filled into the boat!

I had to pile rocks on the front deck to raise the back end (thank you high-school physics!) & bail it out with my hands. The troller got my the 4 miles back to the ramp. Slowly.

[gjohnsoniv]

I need to get my boating license to enjoy all these fun adventures with y'all, lol.