Our dink sea stories usually involved those junkers from the bare boat charter companies....some times we had good outboards, sometimes not.
Last
BVI trip, the dink would not start, or it just flat shut down.
We were towing it, and after
mooring pick ups, we tried to go ashore .
With the to and fro motion and the heat expanding in the plastic gas tank, the bloody thing was forcing
fuel into the out board. Soundly flooding the beast....so I fixed that by disconnecting the
fuel hose at the engine. And would reconnect the fuel line when we actually were ready to start . Same when we docked or pulled the dink up on shore. When the vessel wass underway, the dink fuel line was disconnected , and tied up with line. No more problems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sopers Hole, Tortola , west end.-
Another time, we had been dink
racing and tearing about during the day, and later decided to go ashore at Soppers hole and meet some of our friends for pain killers at Pussers.
The sun had well set about an hour earlier. I start the dink and Erica releases the painter and coils and stows it forward. We leave and in a very short time, the
outboard quits. I check the valve on the fuel cap. It was open. So that was not the problem.
There is a venturi in sopers and the wind blows soundly.
I pull and pull, zero. We do have our flare up flash light , and I open the fuel cap and the tank is almost empty. We are drifting at a good rate of speed out to the open ocean at night , no night sailing boats to help
. Spotting a
mooring can, I grab onto the painter with my hand, and stop our fast drift. Ok, the big problem is
solved.
I pick up the
fuel tank, and tilt it so that the little remaining fuel will pool at the end of the tank where the fuel will flows into the outlet for the hose.
A couple of pulls , and rattle , rattle , roar. Good sounds.
Had enough fuel to get back to the boat. My bad for letting the
rum and fun get in the way of responsibility.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last one was more interesting. We were at Marina Cay, spent the night, and needed to get some fresh
water. Trades were blowing in the 20's. I wanted to check what type of
dock cleats or bollards, or etc, that the dock used for visiting vessles. The dock master, we noticed was usually not around. We backed to port, so I would put her port side to, Erica would get a bow line on. Then I could
power and back to port.
So, in my brilliance, I decide to take the dink, go over and take a look at the gas dock tie up method. The wind was strong off the dock, and would blow our
monohull away from the dock.
Well, I dink over, and take a look, and then add a good twist of throttle
power to the outboard, and the bloody engine roars , the throttle is stuck full open. Bloody jammed to the max. The quiet mooring field is about to get entertained.
Well, I have a plan. I storm back to the boat at warp speed, engine blasting, and of course Erica is down below. I make a close pass for her to get up top side, NOW , up she pops and I make another pass, and tell her..
Stuck Throttle, I will come to our stern, and shut down, you take painter.
OK. Sounds good. I did not want to restart the outboard at full throttle setting. One approach, and we would be all set.
She is up on
deck, ready. I make another full on blasting pass and approach at light speed. I guage the distance and my shut down forereach and pull the cord. Blessed silence.
Well, with the wind and the fore reach of a large boulder, the bloody dink stops about two feet short of the painter length. Dink and I are rapidly being pushed well astern. Bye, bye, Denny. Wave adios.
Paddling a rubber dink into a 20 plus
knot wind, and no oar locks. I take one paddle and sit up at the bow of the dink and paddle hawaiian style. Well, that is not working, I am still being pushed away from our boat.
One of our neighbors , who I have been entertaining for the last few minutes, gets into his dink and pulls up along side. I grab a hand hold, and he tows my silent dink back to our Moorings Sunsail
jeanneau 36. Complementary
beer is awarded.
We give them the moorings call , and an ETA for an outboard replacement.....everything went very smooth, I docked at the T dock at the moorings marina . Advised that we were there, and instead of a different outboard, we were given a brand new dink, and motor, and all was well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, saying it is easy to row into to 20 to 40 knots of wind, might be subjective.....in a rubber dink, and no fixed or locks, or seat to roost on while pulling. That was not working .
we all have our own dinghy motor tales, and one good idea I heard from a sailing friend back in the home port of
newport beach.
As to old unreliable dink motors....tie a
rope around it and use it as an anchor.
This is a fun and interesting thread......and a
learning tool for others, as well as our selves.
In regard to the stuck throttle, I should held off shutting down early and landed the dink well up the
hull toward the bow, grabbed on to the life line, and handed the painter to Erica, instead of her standing on the quarter. The dink would have drifted back along side, and no problem.
That puppy went from hauling okole to a dead stop in a few feet.
No matter how long we do this sailing, we are still
learning.