A Bad Weekend at the Office !

[stevensuf]

Well the weather was to be nice this weekend, so hey its scotland and miserable so we make the most of it, lets get the boat out!

My marina is tight , the fuel berth small, so i waited till it was free, cast off and headed over, just to be beat on the nose by two F~@:{rs on jet skis.

so while trying to not hit anything in the tight alley to the fuel berth, the boat was behaving strange, kinda pivoting like a yacht does on a keel, not slipping sideways in the wind, after having control issues, it was out with the boat hook fend off time, i asked my inexperienced mate to shove the throttle gently, very gently ,i got a full blast, clipping the edge of a moored boat, luckily enough the fender caught the grunt of it.

Eventually got fueled up and headed out, decided to give her some welly, the boat veered like mad to the port, after some bemusement and curses i discover why the boat was not behaving itself at the fuel berth, the port trim tab was stuck fully down, well ok not to let it spoil things , hey displacement mode for the day, thats fine, it keeps the beer from falling over.

so after 10 miles begins a whiney noise, bang goes power steering drive belt, great ok heavy steering, but i can still stay out.

Get anchored for a bit and had a few more beers, decided to beach the boat for the night, raise the anchor start the engine all fine, get a1/4 mile, engine grumbles then dies, what bloody now!

Great in 200ft of water and drifting, so i let out all of the 40m of chain in the hope it would catch something eventually.

Well after more bad words, i discover the engine battery was dead, hop the hatch discover the power steering belt when snapping, must have taken out the alternator belt as well, luckily we were going slow as the belts also feed the raw water impeller. strangely enough the volt meter on the dash still showed 14v and the temp gauge was still low, not sure about these two as the gauges work ok.

So i close off the raw water seacock as the impeller has to be removed to get the belts over it (stupid design) , I remove and it water gushes in, bloody seaock has failed, so mad scramble to get the belts over it and bolted back in place.

After much cursing at the wakes of the jetskis and lots of dirt i get the two belts changed and engine started again.

Time to get the anchor back in, nice whirr off the windlass for a while then click, great what now, more cursing, reset breaker more whirring then click.
reset again, go on deck, chain has came off gypsy, small boarding ladder has slipped forward in the lock causing the chain to pile up. well problem sorted.

Eventually we make it to the island where we are going to beach the boat
and have a good old piss up and laugh it all over.

Heading home the next day,i got a 1/4 of a mile from the marina bloody and the power steering pump belt snaps again, great, so epic show trying to berth with no power steering and stuck down trim tab acting like a port rear keel, when bang again the bloody gimball/unversal bearing in the leg starts making bad grindy noises and i lose all drive, pulled the boat in by muscle power and a few loose mooring ropes tossed to my fellow berth holders...

Just another fun day on the boat..

BLOODY BOATS!!!!!!!!

[Pete7]

Brilliant

[Target9000]

Just reading about your "event" makes me need to go and have a beer. Hope your next outing goes more smoothly. Karma sometimes works that way.

[Blue Stocking]

Let me get this right:

you don't like jet skiers
you recognize the principles of trim tabs
you know what your power steering pump looks like
you carry belts, and KNOW how to change them
you sort out your windlass at sea
after all this you still know the theraputic effect of a piss-up

you sound alright to me

[stevensuf]

hey i keep 3 bottle openers, for real emergencies

[stevensuf]

re karma... Well i wish i know what id done to deserve it, it must be very old karma, cause ive been a very good boy for the last two decades

Strangely enough , in the 3 years i've owned the boat it has not had one fault, other than a few bulbs, routine maintenance and 3 blocked/busted heads, its been fine, started first time and everything has worked. (nb all 3 times with heads problems girls have been aboard)

oh for a yacht with no below water line through holes, solar panel and battery, so little to go wrong, but where would i get cold beer? worse still ice for my whisky

[brutb]

I believe the water there is cold enough to hang your bottle over the side to cool enough for a drink or three.

[herculesboat]

you need some friend when Well after more bad words, i discover the engine battery was dead, hop the hatch discover the power steering belt when snapping, must have taken out the alternator belt as well

[bvisailing32]

Steve

Bloody outstanding and shows no matter what the sea dogs of death toss at you, you just keep persevering.

I read your account to Erica, and you had us both howling...

May our wakes ever cross, we will bring the beer and the rum ! On second thought the offer stll stands, but, how about dinking over to our boat.