Decided to do a shakedown cruise with the boat today with mixed results. It's a 1965 Crestliner 14ft runabout. Did get it in the water, that's about the only good thing that happened.
I picked a small inland lake where I figured there would not be a lot of people so I could do my thing without a lot of people around. That way I could take my time as it turns out there is a learning curve to this boating thing. Also there was nobody to laugh at me other than The Old Lady, and she does that a lot anyway.
This picture was supposed to show the boat sinking. The water was coming in at a good rate around the drainplug. I pulled it back out of the water to fix the plug, but couldn't find anything wrong after the water drained out. So put it back in and had the same problem, but this time I tightened the plug and stopped the water coming in. At least this time I got the outboard motor to run. The last time (about 8yrs ago) I put it in the water I couldn't get it started. But there was a problem with the way it ran. It would kick back while running like if it was out of time, but not constantly, it would run for a little while and then kick back and run again. A while back I called it a Lemonrude (Evinrude) and people laughed, maybe I was more right than I thought!! If I can't get the motor to run smoothly, I may have to buy another one.
We did do a little spin around the lake and at one time the compass was spinning like a whirling dervish. There must be a large deposit of iron ore under the lake.
Another thing that happened was I blew a brake line on my truck. The line to the rear wheels blew and I only had front brakes after that. At the time I thought maybe I blew a wheel cylinder because I could see a trail of brake fluid on the ground. At least it happened while launching the boat, not when I needed to do a quick stop from highway speeds. Because I knew the brakes were not up to par, I tried to keep it under 60mph on the way home. When I got home, I crawled under the truck and saw the brake fluid was coming from the line just before it connects to the flexible line to the rearend.
*google is a wonderful thang
Some days are like that and there's always a shake down each new season. Your 65 looks a heck of a lot like my 62 16 footer, even the same bow light, until I replaced it.
ReplyDeleteTry new plugs, small engines are hell on plugs at times. And try different brands.
Weird where they put the drain plugs on those old Crestliner's, but if it isn't leaking to bad just running the boat fast enough sucks the water back out, I put a fat O ring on my plug to keep it sealed.
If your motor is old you may want to get a newer used 4 cycle, a 15 HP will push your balls (and her tits) around the lake at 20 MPH or better. My 15 HP pushes the 16 at 19 MPH.
But what is really great is that I just boated about 40 miles on just two gallons of gas with that 4 cycle.
Anyway, get out there and have some fun.
Hey, why in the hell does your boat have a sailboat winch on it?
ReplyDeleteThe winch was put on it by the son-in-law when he had it for the anchor. Why he would put the anchor at the back of the boat, I haven't the foggiest!!
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me, I don't pull my anchor up on the bow, I tie to the bow but bring the line to the stern to pull it up.
ReplyDeleteWomen only get married so they have someone to laugh at. My theory.
ReplyDeleteI trust that wasn't the big lake -
ReplyDeleteWe don't need another Edmund Fitzgerald!
Sarge
my friend Bruce and Shady Lane have a boat shop..they make fun of you and your boat type people..haa
ReplyDeleteSome days you get the bear.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
And some days the bear gets you.
ReplyDeleteI left out some of the things that happened to protect the guilty!!