Maiden Voyage From Hell

[Freeebird]

I only pop into HOF once every few months and I have to admit I smiled to see one of my favorite threads bumped up.

Hey Freebird, Sparky or Freeebird - whatever you call yourself these daze - go to page one and see who made the first reply to your first foray into internet boating forums.

Happy 10 year anniversary you old fuster clucked Bird.

Well, you said you were gonna steal my PC term, but I didn't expect to see it here.

Actually, that wasn't my first post on here. Believe it or not, it was a tech question about the Crowell steering on my 41. Whodathunkit?

[Thelog]

With all of the many hours I've spent learning in the archives of this forum, I've never run into this thread. If you don't mind, I have a question. I am new to big boats, and have the Allison transmissions bolted to 8V71TI's. Recently I had a glob of diesel feces get stuck inside the intake to the Racor, which shut down the strbd engine. Since the filter was still clean, I couldn't tell at that time where the restriction was coming from, and limped home on one engine. During that time, I left the strbrd gear in neutral thinking less drag. What should I have done to the strbrd gear? What should be done in general when being towed, etc. And, why?

Thanks.

Vic.

[Freeebird]

You need to lock the shaft to keep it from turning, and it won't matter if it's in neutral or in gear. Reason being there is no oil being pumped to lubricate the clutches when the engine isn't running. You can free wheel it for a short distance, but it's not that difficult to lock down the shaft. I locked mine with a crescent wrench on a bolt at the output coupling, and the wrench locked against a stringer. You have to go slow though.

[Thelog]

Great info. Thanks!

[capttonyf]

Tony, the seller lived in New Port Richey on a canal where he kept the boat behind his house. I wasn't planning on bringing the boat home until Labor Day but wanted to play with it down there some before making the trip. The deal was that the boat would stay there until that time.

He made good on that, but I ended up taking it to Riviera Dunes in Palmetto where the plan was to get it fixed, and then take it home. During that time, a barge hit the lock door at Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River and closed traffic for months. In short, it just wasn't meant for me to bring that Hatt back home!

About a year later, I ran into insurance problems with State Farm and had to run it to Tennessee on one engine. Yet another story and another thread. Like I said, it's been an interesting 10 years on the forum.

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up.

Tony

[Boatsb]

Bird,

It's about 10 years since you wrecked an engine. That's a feat.


Just remember who was one of the first to trust you on their boat after the dreaded maiden voyage.

I'll drink to your good fortune.

[Freeebird]

Bird,

It's about 10 years since you wrecked an engine. That's a feat.


Just remember who was one of the first to trust you on their boat after the dreaded maiden voyage.

I'll drink to your good fortune.

Well, there is that certain 55C that's still sitting in Clearwater, but I take no responsibility for that one as he was pre-screwed before I ever sat foot on the boat. Hopefully I'll be taking that one to Chicago this summer and finally bringing that maiden voyage to an end too. The parallels in that trip were almost uncanny, but at least nobody had to go to the hospital.

Maybe this June, when my actual 10 year HOF anniversary comes up, we'll get the gang together and pop the top on that bottle of Goose you gave me for the Gulf crossing from Clearwater to Panama City in the old one winger. It's a pretty small bottle, but it should be good for a fair number of shots, or getting the two of us fairly toasted. Maybe we should pick a spot and have a little HOF rendezvous to mark the occasion.

[Freeebird]

Went back and checked, and my official debut was 6/22/2006. My first post scored a whopping single reply.

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/sho...owell-Steering

[Boatsb]

Based on the provisions I adjusted my purchase accordingly. Remember you also has Steve with you.

[rsmith]

The oil line to the pressure gauge is in fact the one that ruptured, and it did not have remote filters. You would think (or at least I would) that such a rupture would do two things... show low oil pressure on the gauge, not let enough oil leak out to cause engine problems. I didn't know about the restrictor, but maybe that was part of the problem.

No doubt it was a freak deal, and I've often wondered where I would be today if not for that freakish trip.

So how did you go from " she was waiting by the door with a drink in her hand and a copy of Capt Ron" to war of the Roses? Nevermind! 10 years of bad luck. I know the deal.Lol at least my Jimmy didn't get crushed by a tree.