2000 Posts & I'm Still Stupid

[sailorboy1]

So this is my 2000th post and I figured the best way to use it is to show how stupid I still am as far this whole sailing thing goes, and demonstrate all the CF knowledge I've gained.

So just finished a long weekend trip and since my "new" boat has a windlass with a new oversized anchor I wanted to anchor and not get a mooring.

So I pick my spot and we lower the anchor by power (this is the second time we used it) and let the current play out the rode for us. But the ferry came by rocking us and we decided it wasn't that good of a spot and since we have the windlass it isn't a big deal to move to a "better" spot.

So motor forward and power raise up the anchor with the windlass and it jams (I think I tried pulling up too much at one time and the rode I think coiled poorly, so this is "I'm stupid #1")! I get the chain freed from the gipsy, straighten up the mess that I figured had caused the jam, put the chain back on the gipsy, and of course the windlass only goes "click" and doesn't run. I of course try it in both directions and numerous times like this is somehow going to correct the problem (I'm stupid #2).

So since I have read all of the boat's manuals and electrical drawings (not completely stupid) I knew that the windlass got power from the start battery, but the relays got power from the house battery. So the 'click' just means that the relays had power and maybe the windlass breaker tripped during the jam (seemed pretty reasonable). So go down and reset it and come back up (someone else could have gone and reset it but I haven't made them learn the boat yet, so this is probably "I'm stupid #3").

But all I still get is a click! So I remember reading in the windlass manual that I can loosen the clutch and manually operate it, but I have never tried this like I should have for back up (I'm stupid #4). So I give it a try and I can not get the windlass to work in manual mode (stupid, stupid, stupid).

So it becomes a manpower job to pull up the anchor by hand. And this becomes the operational mode the remainer of the trip so we lower and raise the anchor this way numerous times. At this point I'm a little happy that I only upsized the anchor 1 size instead of the 2 sizes I had been considering (a good lesson for if you are oversizing is whether you can still get it up if the windlass breaks).

So after the trip we come home I search the internet and read the windlass manual etc so I can go fix the thing. And a couple of days later go to the boat and get at taking it apart to find the problem. I get it apart enough to know that mechanically it isn't jammed. This of course makes me worried that it is a bigger problem. So even though I have reset the windlass breaker back at the begainning I decide before going further I would try it again (probably should have checked this again the past couple of days when I was anchoring so "I'm stupid #5/6/7").

Now the windlass breaker is under the nav desk and not all that easy to see. But this time I get on my hands and knees and crawl under the desk and get a good look at it. Turns out the button I thought is the reset, and pushed, is really the trip test ("I'm stupid #8). And since I hadn't really looked at it fully to begain with when tracing the systems I'm going to also assign stupid #9 to it. So reset the breaker and go back up and try it, and of course it works! Now I have to put the windlass back together because I had it 1/2 apart because even though I know to always fully check an electric problem before jumping to a mechanical problem ("I'm stupid #10)! And of of course way back I had even looked in the manual troubleshooting guide for "windlass doesn't work" and it said to check the breaker and I failed to properly do this ("I'm stupid #11").

So 11 stupids!!!!!

But during the weekend trip I also came to suspect a house battery problem based on my years of reading CF. And I was able to trace that down to which battery and remove it from the bank. So this is my CF knowledge part of the story.

In the end, I'm stupid but trainable!

[skipmac]

Don't worry Don. We all love you anyway.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Everyone has their moments. I'm sure even professionals have a bad day (or 2 or 3) once in a while.

At least this brings you more experiance that you so kindly shared with everyone else.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Not really stupid, LEARNING

You know now how to trouble sgoot your windlass and don't ho crying to a mechanic without checking it out first YOURSELF...

[David_Old_Jersey]

Only 11 Stupids?

Amateur

[Mark1977]

Darn it!!!! Now i have nothing to look forward to. I thought I would be an expert by 2000 posts.......

[Minggat]

My hobby is throwing huge sums of money at non-problems. Your hobby sounds more fun and makes better stories.

[SaucySailoress]

SO, 2,000 posts in and you managed to lose your avatar? How did that happen?

[Cormorant]

11 stupids add up to 1 brilliant post!

Thanks for sharing. Lessons in there for all of us.

[boatman61]

Nice one Don... Thanks..
As for posting on CF making one smarter.. don't you believe it... I'm on 5413 and no smarter than I was when I joined... possibly a bit dumber... its an 'age' thing...

[anjou]

I was going to mention this Don, but you beat me to it.

[mjwarner]

Gord wouldn't have made those mistakes. He would have googled it right off and found the answer.

[Blue Crab]

What's really stupid is me trying to download Anjou's wonderful avatar (for archival/scientific/polling purposes) but lacking the computer savvy to do so.

Good story Don. I can barely spell windlass but I want one. If it were attached to a 41fter, all the better.

[MarkJ]

OK so that 11 Stupids about 2,000 posts.

I have ummmmm 6,000 posts so you see how stupid I can be!!!


Fair Well, my firend. It never gets easier!



LOL


(Actually it does get easier. But lets not tell Don )



.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by tgzzzz

What's really stupid is me trying to download Anjou's wonderful avatar (for archival/scientific/polling purposes)

Dirty 'ol man

You'll find her avitar here http://cdn.cruisersforum.com/attachm...ar23522_22.gif

right click the URL and click on Save Target.

And a target she is!