JoeW
Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2003
- Messages
- 664
I took the boat out to a local resevoir (Lake Camache) on saturday. I had the worst time yet since I've owned this boat.<br /><br />First, I always try to educate my kids on preping and launching the boat, so I had my son put the plug in the boat before we left. The wife let my daughter bring a friend, and of course we had to bring the dog along too (He's a Lab & loves the water). Before we leave I spend two hours at the local Wallmart buying a tow tube for them to play on. When we got to the launch, naturally it was packed. There must have been 300-400 cars in the parking lot. We pull out of the way to prep the boat. I have the kids remove the tiedowns and load the boat. I explain to them the need to be quick on the launch so as not to tie up other's waiting to launch and retrieve. This launch is so bad at times that a county sheriff camps out at the top of the ramp most of the day. <br /><br />I dump the boat in the water and my son (15) ties it up on the back end of the dock until I return from parking the truck (a long way away). When I get back to the boat, the wife & kids point to the water sloshing back & forth inside the boat. I have everyone get out of the boat while I look for another plug. I finally get the plug in and we spend the next hour waiting on the shore nearby while the bilge pump does its job. 
<br /><br />We finally get underway to a remote part of the lake where the kids can enjoy the tube without too many wakes. We dump the extra weight off on shore & let the dog go have fun. After a couple of trips around the cove, the main fuse on the powerhead blows. I put in another fuse and it blows again. I use up all of my spare fuses just trying to get it started. Something is wrong!!! <br /><br />I break out the trolling motor and pack up the boat and we start heading back to the launch (~1.5 miles) very slowly. After about 1-1.5 hrs trolling against the wind, we finally make it back to the launch. Boats flying by us left and right and not one of them would even stop to ask if anything was wrong. <br /><br />I realize that I've got another problem. If I don't have power, I can't trim the motor up to get it on the trailor. I've tried pulling this thing up by hand and in the water it would be impossible. Luckily there's a store at the top of the ramp and they sell fuses. It's at this point that I realize that I've been using the wrong size fuse (20 amp instead of 30 amp). I plug a 30 amp fuse in and viola, I have power. <br /><br />After I get the boat out of the water, I notice that the plug my son had placed in the boat was very secure in the live well intake. I know that was my fault for not double checking before we dump the boat in. <br /><br />We got home about 9:30 pm that night. Everyone seems to have had a good time but me. I wonder why.
<br /><br />We finally get underway to a remote part of the lake where the kids can enjoy the tube without too many wakes. We dump the extra weight off on shore & let the dog go have fun. After a couple of trips around the cove, the main fuse on the powerhead blows. I put in another fuse and it blows again. I use up all of my spare fuses just trying to get it started. Something is wrong!!! <br /><br />I break out the trolling motor and pack up the boat and we start heading back to the launch (~1.5 miles) very slowly. After about 1-1.5 hrs trolling against the wind, we finally make it back to the launch. Boats flying by us left and right and not one of them would even stop to ask if anything was wrong. <br /><br />I realize that I've got another problem. If I don't have power, I can't trim the motor up to get it on the trailor. I've tried pulling this thing up by hand and in the water it would be impossible. Luckily there's a store at the top of the ramp and they sell fuses. It's at this point that I realize that I've been using the wrong size fuse (20 amp instead of 30 amp). I plug a 30 amp fuse in and viola, I have power. <br /><br />After I get the boat out of the water, I notice that the plug my son had placed in the boat was very secure in the live well intake. I know that was my fault for not double checking before we dump the boat in. <br /><br />We got home about 9:30 pm that night. Everyone seems to have had a good time but me. I wonder why.
