natemoore
Master Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2009
- Messages
- 844
Okay. So I'm on the way to go fishing in Pensacola Bay. With me were the wife and the daughter, both of whom LOVE fishing. My 11 year old boy stayed home. He usually complains bitterly the entire time, get irrationally frustrated if he doesn't catch the perfect fish on the first attempt, and usually turns the day's fishing trip into a miserable experience for everyone. HE HATES FISHING! I don't like letting him weasel out of family outings, and I think he needs to work on being patient anyway. However, the wife let him stay home and I wasn't in the mood for his bad attitude.
On the way there, we reviewed our roles. I'm trying to train my 14 year old daughter to help with launching and recovering so that the wife can stay home if she wants. I had this mental image of the soothest, quickest, most yelling-free boat launching we've ever had.
I backed the trailer into the water until the bunks were just covered with water and disconnected the wench strap. Daughter was manning the bow line. Wife had the stern line. Perfect. At the last minute, I decided to try out my trailer's tilt mechanism because the last time, I had to back the boat so far in that water was at the bottom of my bumper.
I popped the latch, jumped back in the truck, and put the truck in reverse. That action caused the boat to slide backwards the tip up. I guess all that silicon spray I've been putting on the carpet made 'em slick as owl poop.
It only slid back a couple feet, but the lower unit hit the concrete. The outdrive was all the way up at the mechanical stops, so I don't think I damaged anything, except for boogering up the bottom edge of the skeg a little. The sound it made made me wince, though.
Since I couldn't feel any cracks and didn't see any oil in the water, we pressed on. Boat ran fine all day. Didn't take on any water at all.
I joked to the old lady who mans the boat launch for the city, "Boy, I'll bet you see a lot of interesting stuff."
We had the most awesome fish tacos made from fried croaker. Yum!
Are these outdrive assemblies tough enough to take an occasional screw up like I just mentions? Any areas you think I need to inspect more closely?
On the way there, we reviewed our roles. I'm trying to train my 14 year old daughter to help with launching and recovering so that the wife can stay home if she wants. I had this mental image of the soothest, quickest, most yelling-free boat launching we've ever had.
I backed the trailer into the water until the bunks were just covered with water and disconnected the wench strap. Daughter was manning the bow line. Wife had the stern line. Perfect. At the last minute, I decided to try out my trailer's tilt mechanism because the last time, I had to back the boat so far in that water was at the bottom of my bumper.
I popped the latch, jumped back in the truck, and put the truck in reverse. That action caused the boat to slide backwards the tip up. I guess all that silicon spray I've been putting on the carpet made 'em slick as owl poop.
It only slid back a couple feet, but the lower unit hit the concrete. The outdrive was all the way up at the mechanical stops, so I don't think I damaged anything, except for boogering up the bottom edge of the skeg a little. The sound it made made me wince, though.
Since I couldn't feel any cracks and didn't see any oil in the water, we pressed on. Boat ran fine all day. Didn't take on any water at all.
I joked to the old lady who mans the boat launch for the city, "Boy, I'll bet you see a lot of interesting stuff."
We had the most awesome fish tacos made from fried croaker. Yum!
Are these outdrive assemblies tough enough to take an occasional screw up like I just mentions? Any areas you think I need to inspect more closely?
