Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

enlightphoto

Cadet
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
10
As of yesterday morning's purchase, and our maiden voyage this morning, I'm officially back on the water in my first boat; a hiatus of 20 years since boating with my dad. Attached is a picture of my 1993 205 Seaswirl Striper w/ the 140 Ev.OB - my new baby, my new mistress.

The maiden trip with wife & kids into the Carquinez Straight (Off the SF Bay, CA) to Mare Island, and back past the USS IOWA went very smooth. My only rookie mistake happened right at the end of the day during retrival. Pulling the boat onto the trailer with winch, boat came up and snugged the first roller. Pulled up the ramp, dropped the engine and bilge plug to let everything drain. Wife comes around and says the boat is now a few inches off the bow roller. OK; raise the engine, hop in truck, back up to float the boat, and now I really crank that baby up tight. I jump back in the truck, pull forward again, and this time the boat is Pissing out streams of water. Instantly, I realized what I forgot, just as you are probably now realizing I 'forgot' to mention putting the bilge plug back in when backing down to re-float the boat further onto the trailer. Jeez, good thing it was only in the water for about 45 seconds. - Good mistake to get out of the way, as I won't be doing that again!

boat1-400.jpg
 

akwalker

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2006
Messages
153
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Nice boat. Wishing you lots of luck with it.
 

rocky100

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Messages
99
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Good looking boat----welcome to iboats!
 

HONKER1

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
245
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Had a similiar experience on my 1st voyage, except my wife was in the boat alone and driving it to our meeting spot while I was parking the trailer. My wife still reminds me to put the plug in, even if she just saw me put it in. My 1st voyage was 36 years age.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Welcome aboard!

Lot's of great folks here to help.

Just remember, there are NO dumb questions.
 

PhatboyC

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
258
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Did your bilge pump started automatically?
 

rndn

Commander
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,323
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Nice boat!! If you're ever to make the mistake of not putting the bilge plug in, this one was perfect. No harm and no damage. Welcome into the boating world and this great forum.
 

cddfamily

Cadet
Joined
Aug 26, 2001
Messages
15
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Congratulations - I have a 192DC '93 striper with a 175 johny ob. google stripers owners club - SOC for great info on stiper boats. It is very active in the bay area.
 

Andy in NY

Commander
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
2,109
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

As of yesterday morning's purchase, and our maiden voyage this morning, I'm officially back on the water in my first boat; a hiatus of 20 years since boating with my dad. Attached is a picture of my 1993 205 Seaswirl Striper w/ the 140 Ev.OB - my new baby, my new mistress.

The maiden trip with wife & kids into the Carquinez Straight (Off the SF Bay, CA) to Mare Island, and back past the USS IOWA went very smooth. My only rookie mistake happened right at the end of the day during retrival. Pulling the boat onto the trailer with winch, boat came up and snugged the first roller. Pulled up the ramp, dropped the engine and bilge plug to let everything drain. Wife comes around and says the boat is now a few inches off the bow roller. OK; raise the engine, hop in truck, back up to float the boat, and now I really crank that baby up tight. I jump back in the truck, pull forward again, and this time the boat is Pissing out streams of water. Instantly, I realized what I forgot, just as you are probably now realizing I 'forgot' to mention putting the bilge plug back in when backing down to re-float the boat further onto the trailer. Jeez, good thing it was only in the water for about 45 seconds. - Good mistake to get out of the way, as I won't be doing that again!

boat1-400.jpg

congrats on getting back on the water.

thats a nice looking boat there.
 

steelespike

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Messages
19,069
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Gongrats on a great boat.Take a spare plug and hang it on the winch, tie down strap and or boat key.
 

MikDee

Banned
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
4,745
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Nice boat! Good Luck, and besides putting the plug in, get a good float for your keys! Don't ask me how I know,,, lol
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,099
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Think of the bright side, you only wasted 20 years. A lot of folks never get a boat and waste their entire lives!
 

kenmyfam

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
14,392
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Nice boat and nice motor. You have got your "plug" nightmare out of the way now !!!
 

Hashi

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Messages
502
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Hi Enlightphoto,

Nice boat.

I live in Vallejo and just got my 21' Tahoe a few months ago. I've always wanted to take my boat in the Carquinez Straits up through the Delta but was afraid of the salt water. Besides flushing, is there anything else you do?

Rich
 

enlightphoto

Cadet
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
10
Re: Officially back on the water after 20 years, only one opps.

Thanks for the welcoming comments and good wishes, everyone.

PhatboyC: Yeah, the bilge started perfect. Pretty darn quiet too. Took about 15 seconds to figure out what that funny buzzing sound was after the boat was done pissing herself clean.

MikeDee; Got the floating key w/ the boat, thanks.

CDDFamily: Thanks for the tip on the SOC. (Joined the forum there as well.)

Hashi: Full wash, towel dry gelcoat hull, chrome & vinyl. Flush at idle off hose & muffs for 5 minutes.

Cheers & Thanks again!
 
Top