Rough start to the sailing season

[Salty19]

Ever have one of those opening seasons where things don't quite go right?

Started off great...pulled the boat from storage and was delighted to find that the Starbrite Fast release mold control packets really did their work over the winter.

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1%7C2276179%7C2276181&id=1756336

Cabin was fresher, and after intense cleaning with various potions and the beloved Mr. Clean magic eraser, the interior is really livable.  I'm sensitive to mildew so this is literally a breath of fresh air.

Then the fun began. Foiled by the weather, the needed bottom paint application was delayed well into the first week of May as did the intense exterior scrubbing that I failed to do in the fall. Got it all nice and clean, thanks to the Magic Eraser and Clorox spray with bleach, and an application of mildew cleaner, did the woody wax treatment for the first time ever and of course polished and waxed the hull.  She was looking gorgeous, then a big storm came through and covered it in pine straw, branches, sap, river birch seeds and tiny birch branches. And dust. And I mean sticky, pine dust!  Cleaned it all again...same thing happened the following night..cleaned once again!

OK...setup and launch went great. Usually I save installing the boom and sails until I've motored back to the slip for the season, and this season was no different.  Fired up the outboard, backed up out of the dock area, moved ahead 100 ft then there goes the outboard.  Stalled and wouldn't start!
This outboard has been trustworthy and maintained..what is going on???!!!  Checked fuel line, primer bulb seemed t be soft, and don't you know it, a nice crack in the rubber let it be known who was boss.    Now this season was a little different.  After 6 years of trying, I finally got a new slip at a new marina closer to my house, and more importantly...ACCESS TO BIGGER WATER!!!!  Bridges prevented me from sailing the larger portion of our lake in the past, but no more.  Because of the change in dock and ramp location, I used to have to motor a mile or so, but now the marina was about 600ft from the ramp.  Could I make there without a motor or paddle?

Well, as luck would have it the wind was somewhat favorable and let me drift in the general direction of the slips. Some tiller and motor steering work (without the motor on) landed me 5 or 6 slips down.  A good thing because I didn't have my cell and my wife's cell was in the car (she was waiting at the dock), but my car key was with me, so we had no way of calling for help.  Of course nothing was rigged, so I couldn't sail out of it.  Some dock line work and passing the boat between us across slips landed her safely, and with a new fuel bulb, I can put this whole thing behind me.

Installed the new fuel bulb on the existing lines and connectors. She fired up and we went sailing!  

Light wind punctuated with very strong building gusts and switching wind directions to boot. Repeat 100 times.  Hard sailing indeed.  
After a couple of hours of getting beat around, the Admiral and I decided to call it quits.  Down goes the motor, clicked in gear followed by a sudden stall.
Not now man, these gusts are killing me!  Well, the forward dock line which was not tied down properly found it's way into the prop.  Releasing it was a challenge..these long shaft motors are a reach from the cockpit, especially when the line is just tight enough to prevent raising it more than 4-5" underwater.

Got that cleared, started the motor again and was off.  After a minute or so, the telltale sound of a fuel starved 2stroke began ringing in our ears, and before I could say honey we have a problem, ol' trusty Yammie died again. What in the world is going on!

Then it dawned on me.  I've got the curse of CrazyCarl1  This stuff does not happen to me!!!

I didn't see anything wrong with the tank, outlet, motor inlet, etc. But the new fuel bulb was definitely not sucking gas, and no amount of verbal or physical abuse would change it's mind. Thankfully I ordered a new official Yamaha fuel line days prior, because I knew that a spare fuel line was something I really should be carrying. This isn't the first time I've had trouble with fuel lines, but I've always had a spare. Swapped out the line and found the connector was just a little too large to fit through the line opening through the transom.   So i ran it out the cover to get home and have since filed it down enough to fit.

The next sail was solo, and there wasn't any wind to speak of ONCE I got a couple of miles from the dock.  Holding my breath, I lowered the outboard and fired it to life.
The seconds were hours as I anticipated yet another disappointment.  But it kept going and sounds strong, lo and behold...she brought me back!

Went for another sail days later and all was dandy  Ding dong the witch is dead, I've lifted The Curse!  As I was buttoning her up for the day, I glanced over to the neighbors pontoon boat.  Someone had rammed her and sheared off the motor from the mount. I imagine you have to really hit them hard to do that.  

This made me put things in perspective. I might of dealt with some issues, but he's REALLY got issues.  I doubt he'll be able to use the boat for weeks, and not having a trailer, he's up the mercy of others to help.

Maybe it wasn't such a rough start after all.

[Tim Gardner]

Whew!  I hate starts like that.
tg

[Bob23]

Wow! That's enough to make one quit! I wonder what's in store for me? I've had similiar season starts but not to that extent. Hmm...just wondering...did you offer the appropriate libation offering to the water the first time out? Now, I'm not superstitious at all but first thing I do is offer a little beer to the waters of Barnegat Bay on the first sail of the season. Let me know if it works!
Bob23

[skip1930]

Fuel delivery is EVERYTHING !

Bruce says; " I have had that bulb issue before, and used duct tape to get me back in ... "
Funny duct tape was mentioned. This great stuff was developed to keep ammo boxes dry in WW l.

Before I made major changes to my fuel delivery system it was Rescue Tape to seal up the ingress of air.

skip.

[BruceW]

So, you ain't froze no more? Cool. I'll restart the hammock thread, and add mosquito bar questions to it.

I have had that bulb issue before, and used duct tape to get me back in. I carried spare fuel line, etc also. Now I have a new setup, and it takes a special line, of course, so I guess I'd better order a spare one for this one too, thanks to your thread for the reminder!