Saturday, May 23, 2009

One of those days

Ok, so Thursday was supposed to be a magical day.  Well, it was the first day since the launching incident that claimed our propeller.  I had half the day off headed straight into a 4 day weekend.  I called up some buddies and made plans to hit the River.  Everything was looking great as I got in the boat while Andy backed me in the water.  That's when it started...or it didn't.  That's right, the boat didn't start.  The key just turned and turned in the ignition, until the lock froze.  Threat Level Delta.  Luckily enough, a marine shop was just a short walk away.  On my second trip in and Mr. Personality sold me a new ignition switch, that while not exactly what I needed, would work.  
So I bought it and headed back.  After about 10 minutes, Robert and I had it installed.  Turning the ignition, I awaited a growl from the motor.  Click, click, click.  Threat Level Echo.  After a little while longer, we determined that my battery had died.  I then scoured the parking lot looking for a set of jumper cables along with an able bodied (or batteried) soul.  The first guy I asked was "late fer a fishin tourn-ment".  The next guy was nice enough to try.  He and his son slowly backed their boat to the back of mine.  As they got close, I reached out to steady his boat so as to not hit mine.  
Getting his boat steadied was an easy task...too easy.  Picture it, I have my back feet on my boat, my arms on their boat, my body bridged between the two.  That's when his boat succomed to the force I was exerting and started moving away.  My fate --- sealed.  I then announce to everyone, "I guess I'm going in."  And I did.  Flip flops, clothes, jumper cables, and pockets full of wrenches and my wallet.  Threat Level Midnight!
I then used the boat ladder for the first, and most unexpected time to board my boat again.  We then got connected and the boat started, idled briefly, then stalled.  The 2nd jump attempt led to a 20-second idle.  I then told the man and his son to have a good time as I bid them goodbye. 
I trekked back to the MDX and promptly took the battery out of it.  A jump with the battery, was quite succesful...a steady beautiful idle.  
So we're ready to go.  We untie from the dock, everyone takes their place, and we're --- well, we're not moving.  The prop is not engaging.  After ten minutes of stumptitude, I decided to call it a day.  Something's wrong that cannot be fixed on the water.  Threat Level Arrggghh.
So Andy went to get the trailer, while Robert towed me along the dock.  The one bright spot from the day was that we trailered the boat beautifully, although I had to get back in the water. 
The Boat Dr is coming to the house Tuesday to assess the damage.  Hopefully my wallet will have dried out by then so I can pay him.

1 comment:

Stacy said...

Oh my goodness!! What a story!! Sorry--I know that was frustrating! :|