Mel Taylor
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2009
- Messages
- 489
Last year I took my two grandsons fishing at Elephant Lake here in New Mexico.
I have a 14 ft. Mirrocraft with a 1995 model, 30 horse, tiller steering, Evinrude on it. Portable 6 gallon gas tank.
I hadn't used my boat for several months and, being basically stupid, I didn't bother to check the trailer lights until early in the morning when we were ready to go. Spent the next two hours trying to run down and fix all kinds of lighting problems. It turned out that all I needed to do was replace the ground wire between trailer and truck. I could have done all that the day before - but I didn't. Dumb stunt #1.
OK, now we are on the road. I knew the motor would run all right because I started and ran it for fifteen or twenty minutes in a barrel of water the day before. It started right away and the water pump was running a good stream of water.
We get to the lake an hour and a half later and launch the boat without a hitch.
I start the motor and go to pull away from the dock and the motor dies. I start it again and again it dies. I pump the bulb and the same thing happens. This goes on for another half hour or so while I check the fuel filter screen on the motor, disconnect and reconnect the fuel line several times, try to check the spark and so on.
Finally I give up and tell the grandsons our over-night fishing trip has just been canceled.
I paddle the boat back over to the dock by the ramp and prepare to go get the truck and load the boat for the trip home.
In desperation I take one more look at the motor, the gas tank, and fuel line ????????? and????????I had put the blooming gas line on backwards!
With two teenagers watching me all the while I couldn't even pretend that I had sudenly discovered some obscure problem and fixed it. I had to own up to the truth - I had made a really dumb mistake (a painful prospect for a fisherman).
On the positive side the rest of the weekend went off with no problems. We even caught a few fish.
I have a 14 ft. Mirrocraft with a 1995 model, 30 horse, tiller steering, Evinrude on it. Portable 6 gallon gas tank.
I hadn't used my boat for several months and, being basically stupid, I didn't bother to check the trailer lights until early in the morning when we were ready to go. Spent the next two hours trying to run down and fix all kinds of lighting problems. It turned out that all I needed to do was replace the ground wire between trailer and truck. I could have done all that the day before - but I didn't. Dumb stunt #1.
OK, now we are on the road. I knew the motor would run all right because I started and ran it for fifteen or twenty minutes in a barrel of water the day before. It started right away and the water pump was running a good stream of water.
We get to the lake an hour and a half later and launch the boat without a hitch.
I start the motor and go to pull away from the dock and the motor dies. I start it again and again it dies. I pump the bulb and the same thing happens. This goes on for another half hour or so while I check the fuel filter screen on the motor, disconnect and reconnect the fuel line several times, try to check the spark and so on.
Finally I give up and tell the grandsons our over-night fishing trip has just been canceled.
I paddle the boat back over to the dock by the ramp and prepare to go get the truck and load the boat for the trip home.
In desperation I take one more look at the motor, the gas tank, and fuel line ????????? and????????I had put the blooming gas line on backwards!
With two teenagers watching me all the while I couldn't even pretend that I had sudenly discovered some obscure problem and fixed it. I had to own up to the truth - I had made a really dumb mistake (a painful prospect for a fisherman).
On the positive side the rest of the weekend went off with no problems. We even caught a few fish.
i once spent the night before a kayak trip to the bay loading everything and checking all my gear. i even made sure my licence was in the tackle box so i wouldn't forget it. then i took the poles in the house to put new line on them and set them by the door. the next morning i got up early and wanted to get going, even skipped making coffee, figured i would get some at the gas station on the way. would you believe i actually forgot my FISHING POLES. ..... yup sure did
