A Comedy of Errors...

[Warren Milberg]

So, I go to my boat today for the first sail of the season. I had been there Monday to bend on sails, install batteries, and run the engine. All seemed well. Now I know from experience that every first sail of the season (for me) is always going to be one in which I am forced to remember, usually the hard way, all the things I forgot about sailing over the winter. The engine starts right up and I start tossing the dock/spring lines onto the pier. As I start backing up, the bow suddenly swings to starboard and the boat stops. I've somehow got the port spring line wrapped around a stanchion. After freeing this line, I head out into the channel to the bay. Nice day and looks like just enough wind to sail. After raising the main, I can see I have reeved the slab reefing line on the wrong side of the topping lift. Drop the main, and re-do it. Up goes the main, off goes the engine, and I'm finally sailing. Time to let out the genny. I start pulling on the leeward sheet and its very hard and feels like a lot of friction. Now my Furlex is newish and I just lubed the bearings a few weeks ago. This should not be happening. I finally get the genny out, but I know something is amiss. After looking at the upper swivel with my binoculars thinking I have some sort of halyard wrap, I can see all is well aloft. I lock the wheel and go forward to check the drum and foil. Then I notice the fairleads are all turned 90-deg and are certainly not fair. Turn them the right way and all is well with the headsail again. Since the bay is empty and I'm only doing a few knots, I go below with the idea of looking for leaks -- not expecting any as my boat is usually very dry. Lots of water under the engine. Is it fresh or salty? Too yucky to taste, but no smell of antifreeze. Check all the hose connections. The pan I put under the packing gland has a few ounces of water in it, just as it should have. No big deal. So where is the water coming from? I finally figure the pan under the gland has a pin hole in it and that the gland needs adjusting again.... Starting the season is always fun.Believe it or not, I did have a really nice sail. Nice to be back on the water again, and hope all of you are too.

 

[Tsehum Pete]

May 6

Sailpast Opening Day May 3, haulout May 4-5, then the briny. Show me that horizon!!

 

[CharlieCobra]

Hmm

I haven't been outta the water yet so no season start for me, just a continuation.

 

[Rich (P303)]

I hope mine...

isn't as eventful. We are usually at the boat for a couple of weekends before we dare to cast off the mooring line.Got to get all the cr*p out there. Dogs need to get their sea-legs. You made it back... that's all that matters!

 

[Manny]

It turned out to be a nice day for a sail

Like you said Warren, just enough wind to sail. I got a kick out of watching all the boats racing around HDG later in the day. They looked like they were having a blast.Fortunately my first trip out was pretty uneventful but when the boat got splashed I discovered my depth sounder died, then when bending on my main I managed to put a rip in the leech...Manny

 

[dancing bear]

I hope to go out this weekend

I have had no luck soliciting crew though due to it not being warm enough yet.

 

[John24107]

Motor troubles

I had very little to do in the way of pre-launch maintenance this year and was able to get a launch date on the first day possible for me. I reported to the lift operator on a bright sunny, but cool morning and within 30 minutes the boat was hanging from the travelift and ready to splash. Once in the water, I made the obligatory checks for water below and all was well. Went up to start the outboard and nothing happened. Ran back below to confirm the battery connections, came up and tried again. Nothing. Tried to pull start it and couldn't pull the rope. Now, I had started this thing the week before in anticipation of launch without any problems. The lift operator -- thinking it was a linkage safety switch problem -- suggested I try a few things with the transmission lever and the thing started. I let it warm up, moved to my slip and shut it down to spend the day rigging lines and bending on sails. Before leaving for the day, I thought I'd give the motor a try just for kicks. You guessed it. Nothing! I tried all the tricks that worked earlier without any luck. Now, I'm ready to sail and the weather is beautiful and can't reasonably get out of the marina. I'm now waiting to find out if this is a problem the marina outboard guy can fix or will I have to take it off the boat (it hangs a foot aft of the transom on a mount) and take it to the local Tohatsu guy. Of course, since it's spring launch time, these guys' schedules aren't exactly wide open. Sure glad I got it in early!

 

[Randy Burns]

Launch day - I wish

I try to wait until the snow has melted aroun the boat before I take the cover off. This week took care of it.

 

[LANCE ON CLOUD NINE]

Sanduski John -A little idea about that Tohatsu

Its been so long, I can't remember exact details but I am pretty sure your little safety switch that keeps motor from starting in gear is out of sync. It is a little white nylon peice and is triangular shaped. It is supposed to settle on one of the "points" when motor is in neutral and gets out of adjustment on lots of Tohatsus. Another way to describe it is that it sort of works like a cam. It is located under cowling right where shift lever pivots. I think I either rebent the rod that connects to it or rod was adjustable, I cant remember But simple to figure out if you look at it. Another symptom is your shift lever probably feels like it has a "hair trigger" when finding neutral? If you want to sail before someone looks at it, Just wiggle shifter looking for neutral and pull starter rope in short easy pulls to confirm you are really in neutral and then give a good pull and I bet it will start. Good luck.Edited to add, you will probably find neutral to be when shifter is pushed as far to the front as you can go without actually selecting forward.

 

[John24107]

Thanks, Lance.

I'll go out and look this weekend if the weather permits. Your suggestion about moving the shift lever while pulling the starter rope was what got it started in the well. It didn't work later but that could well be because I lost patience and gave up. I'll look for the little nylon piece. Thanks.