How NOT to Operate Your Outboard . . .

[boatman61]

In Dec'99' I flew out to St Martin with the intention of buying a Choey Lee 36 Clipper... I'd seen the pic's and she was gorgeous so I jumped on the plane with a Bankers Draft for $25,000 and dreamed beautiful dreams all the way over.
When I got to the Marina she was laid up in I was heartbroken... the teak decks were rotten, 6ft long streamers of peeling varnish fluttered of the masts... and I realised the pic's I been sent were at least 10yrs old... I did not even bother looking down below... just returned the keys and went down to Palapa and proceeded to drown my sorrows in Mount Gay n Coke...
Anyway... my return flight (which I'd been hoping would not be needed) was not for another 12 days so decided to take a room in Phillipsburg and enjoy the Island instead of feeling sorry for myself... I found Lal's Bar where I scoffed the Kebabs and Samosa's with gusto, gnawed at Spare ribs with Coleslaw and beans as the sun went down at Gran Cais and boogied the nights away at Friars Bay.... breafasts at the Barefoot Breakfast in Phillipsburg and most days found me at Palapa and the Soggy Dollar for at least a few hours.
It was during one of these afternoon sessions that a little French guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was the guy looking to buy a boat...
Turned out he had an '87' Oceanis 321 and would accept my $25,000 for her if I liked what I saw... I liked and soon after became the proud owner of 'MEWA'.
Anyway... an old inflatable and outboard came along with the boat... the outboard had no cover and the fuel cap was a wooden bung... it worked so I carried on as was... just never filled it more than 3/4 to be on the safe side.
One day I'd dinghy'd over from French side where I was anchored to use the Internet at Palapa (pre WiFi) and pulled into the dinghy dock there. After e-mails etc I headed to Lal's for lunch and some good tunes then headed back to the dinghy dock.
What I had not realised was the 'Fleet' had arrived for Race Week and the dinghy dock had rib's and inflatables literally stacked on each other and my old things wedged in a corner at a 45degree tilt being used as a trampoline to get ashore... after a lot of struggling I created a space where she floated, climbed in and pulled the cord.... she fired straight away.... about 3ft high fire... the 'Jocks' had knocked her about so much the bung had come loose and fuel had slopped all over the engine and pooled under...
I've never seen the Soggy Dollar empty so fast... they all though she'd blow... one guy jumped in and started splashing water over it.... hahahahaha...
I looked round at the $1000's worth of ribs and dinghy and thought 'if I don't do something soon I'm either dead or broke...' so I just grabbed the bow and flipped her... sorta pitch pole in reverse... so the engine went under first.. it worked.. snuffed the fire... and with the ample space at the bar I ordered an extra large MGnCoke to settle my nerves before rowing back to Marigot.
Moral of the story.....
'KEEP YOUR DINGHY WELL AWAY FROM THE RACING JOCKS IN RACE WEEK'
PS;... the outboard worked fine once it dried out... tho' I did drill a hole in the side of the filler and bung so I could shove a pin through to secure the bung.

[Jimboats]

Good story and congrats on your new boat.

[Jimboats]

11 years ago...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Jimboats

11 years ago...

Lol... Yeah Jim... I've had a Hunter37, Beneteau331, a Hurley 22 since then and currently sail a Corribee 21... possibly adding a Junk rigged Coromandel to the list in the near future..
I've never sailed a Junk before so the experience will be an interesting one.. Sailing from Falmouth, Cornwall.. across the Biscay to Finisterre then on down to the Algarve in late Sept early October....

[daddle]

Well told. Thanks.