Taking a Fox Sailing

[Charlie]

I recently attended my 35th High school reunion. While there I invited some classmates to come along for a sail. I have had some problems with my engine smoking on my boat that I figured were resolved when I had the injectors serviced and cleaned my heat exchanger. As a precaution I decided to test the engine on Saturday. My GF and I started out of Brickyard cove and didn't get much more then 1/4 mile prior to the engine alarm going off. No wind. I shut the engine down. I limped toward home by turning the engine on briefly and shutting it down to coast for awhile. I managed to tie up at the end of the Richmond Yacht Club docks.

[ontherocks83]

Maybe I'm being obtuse but is there a question or point?

[Charlie]

As can be seen in the picture it is 288 meters from the end of the dock to dry land. I worked on the boat all afternoon. Finally I found an article on CF that said if you mix two different types of coolant in a Yanmar engine the heat will not be exchanged in the heat exchanger. All rather scientific and Chemistry at that. Not my strong suit. But nothing left to try. I also checked my thermostat. Well It didn't seem to be working so at 2045 we went to O'rielly's to get a new thermostat. I was going to have to customize the thermostat and was thinking about how to do that when Cindy said there's a fox on the boat -- well two b/c she is pretty foxy. I looked up and said, "It must be a cat."

The cat was in the cockpit and when I got on the boat the cat ran into the boat into the V berth. Well I was thinking that the welding gloves would work as gauntlets if I had to get the cat off of the boat. But instead I came out and I did that thing all of us men hate to do -- I apologized and admitted I was wrong -- It was a FOX. It looked quite comfortable on the cushions by the pillows.

[Charlie]

I tried to coax it out of the berth with a boat hook from the hatch. No luck. In fact it went in deeper. I then went to get my tablet. The fox growled at me -- perhaps he wanted to google how to get out of a V berth. I decided that a ramp built with oars and a seat cushion would be the best thing to do. I sat in the cabin and threw the fox some bits of cheese and roast beef trying to coax the fox up the ramp and out of the boat. Didn't work. Next I thought that being quiet and leaving the door closed the fox would just leave. After a half hour I gave up on that as well.

[hobopacket]

So, how did you get the thing out?

[Charlie]

I'm one of those self reliant (read stubborn) guys who don't like to give up. Yes I might do something as stupid as spending more money to fix something myself then it would have cost to pay someone $100 an hour to fix. I thought about it for awhile and thought okay welding gloves as gauntlets and grab the fox . . . or make a noose that would slip around the boat hook . . . but then what . . . finally I called animal control. Luckily they came out and snared the fox then took him to a beach to release.

I still can't figure how a fox would have ended up 288 meters from a parking lot to jump on a boat that was lit up like a Christmas tree. I don't think we had any food out. I wonder if it was the smell of the anti-freeze that attracted the fox? Who knows what would you have done if this occurred in a place where there wasn't animal control?

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

Maybe I'm being obtuse but is there a question or point?

I couldn't figure out how to place all the pictures as I wanted them. So I made multiple posts. You caught me in the middle of making those posts.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Who knows what would you have done if this occurred in a place where there wasn't animal control?

Take a line, tie one end to the end of your boat hook, take zip ties to the hook to form a loop that you run the line through, make a noose with a loop at the end of the boat hook, when you pull the line it will tighten, put loop around fox, pull line, drag fox out, put fox in a sail bag, take noose off of fox, carry to shore and release by dumping out of bag.
Works for snakes in the house too. Animal control, really?

Of course you could do like my Father and shoot the snake with a 1903 A3 Springfield rifle, amazing how big a hole a 30-06 will knock into a concrete floor

[a64pilot]

On the different anti freezes, likely you have mixed a form of Dex cool with regular antifreeze.
This can cause serious damage, I would flush your cooling system until only clear water comes out, and if you chose to use Dexcool, be sure to only mix it with water

[landsend]

I would have sent my wife in after it! Geez, animal control!

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by Charlie

I couldn't figure out how to place all the pictures as I wanted them. So I made multiple posts. You caught me in the middle of making those posts.

my apologies

[ontherocks83]

Nice adventure, but now you've given us 1 more thing to be worried about while cruising. Looks like anchoring out is now mandatory.

[Charlie]

Not a problem didn't make sense till I got the whole thing down on paper or whatever the term should be.

[gamayun]

That's really interesting! So, what happened? Poor fox. He was looking for food and got more than he bargained. Antifreeze is an attractant. I hope he didn't drink it. As to lasooing it, there's a hilarious video of a feral cat on the end of a noose that goes bizerk on the handler so be careful about doing this. That also reminds me of a This America. Life podcast about a rookie cop who tries to remove a squirrel out of someone's house (hilarious true story). Foxes are known to carry rabies, so be careful about bites and scratches! Often the best way to get a wild animal out of a house is to make all the rooms dark (close all the curtains/turn off lights) but have a light at the door that you want the animal to use to get out. This works really well for birds but not so sure about a scared fox around a busy dock. In the end, its never a bad idea to call animal control....

[svHyLyte]

Speaking as a member of the Richmond Yacht Club for 36+ years, and a former resident of Brickyard Cove (the pyramid shaped home facing the east side of the Club) for several years, I find it very hard to believe there was a Fox running around in the cove. A misguided coyote that made his/her way over the ridge, perhaps, (which is what your critter looks like to me) but certainly not a Fox. (In fact the only Foxes I've ever seen at RYC were all married or otherwise seriously engaged with/to other members.)

Beyond the foregoing, mixing coolant types is a serious no-no and I would most assuredly drain and flush, several times, the fresh water/coolant side of your engine.

FWIW...