Maiden Voyage

[Abbeysdad]

re: http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...ad.php?t=20550

Well I left work at 3pm today (1/4 day vacation), came home, hooked her up and towed her the 8 miles or so to Cayuga lake. I stopped off on the way and topped off the gas tank with about 12 gallons. The launch at the park was busier than I expected. A fella came in right behind me. I got out, told him I was a total newbie and he should go ahead of me. He said "that's okay, I'm waiting for my son anyway - you go ahead and I'll give you a hand". My backup skills were pitiful - I know the right moves, but I cut the turn too much and don't straighten out soon enuff (need to make smaller adjustments) - I had to pull forward and go back again too many times! Probably entertaining for some. Finally got her in the water and the girls held the ropes as I cranked her out and she floated free. I tied her off, shook the fellas hand and thanked him fer helping me and parked the rig. I Came back and she didn't want to start right away. I was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have parked the trailer! Then she started up and I was surprised how quiet the 90HP Mecury was. We slowly made our way out the channel to the lake. I trimmed her down all the way and gave her some gas. She didn't seem to have much power. I pushed her some more and I wasn't liking the motor sound - it was like she wasn't getting an even gas flow. The girls were in the back but the bow seemed heavy and I don't know if it was plowing, but it just wasn't getting up on plane. I was thinking there was some issue with the engine and it was gonna have to go back to the dealer.
I was complaining to my wife about the engine trouble (doh) and Abbey started crying "I wanna go back".... It took a lot of convincing to calm her down, but she finally did.
I was also thinking that I had no idea when this engine had last run and maybe it needed to have the cobwebs blown out. After a bit we stopped about mid lake and I reluctanly turned it off, fearing it just might not restart. Abbey and I fished a little with no success at all - we were in about 289 feet of water. After awhile we stopped fishing and had dinner (subs that my wife had picked up earlier). After we were finished, we settled back in and I started her up. Almost to my surprise, it started right up! So I gave her a little gas and decided I should play with the trim some. While still going slow...I trimmed her up some, the bow came up a bit and she seemed to run smoother. I trimmed her up some more and finally stopped at a curious dark line on the trim gauge that I suspect is there for a reason. We were moving throught the water much better now, bow higher and the motor sounded fine. I headed north and went for a couple of miles - she felt good, although 37MPH was about the top speed - I might have been able to get a bit more, but Abbey asked if we could slow down some. I was reluctant to trim above the dark line on the trim gauge I mentioned.
I was thinking that this boat with a 90HP OB should be able to do 45mph at least...but then we're regular (okay, a little heavy [I weigh 250]) people and there was a full tank of gas. Anyway, it was running well enough so it seemed pointless to whine to the dealer just yet. So after a bit we headed back in.
As we got into the channel, I guess I wa son the wrong side, didn't have it trimmed up enuff and and felt some ugly chug - I quickly shifted to neutral and trimmed up, then manuvered pretty well to the dock. I tied her off, then got the rig. It was pitiful, but better than before! Now I have an EZ Loader trailer and I suppose I could drive the boat up on the trailer...but call me chicken, I backed the trailer in and moved her on by hand. After some manuvering, I finally pulled her out of the water. After I did, I realized that some how she slid back so I cranked and the girls pushed from the rear to get her back close to the winch stop. Rear straps on, wiring plugged in, feet soakin wet...ready to go "dad, I have to go to the bathroom". Fortunately Myers Park is very nice and the girls went off to the rest room.
I inspected some very minor propeller ding damage - spit and sputtered at my rookie mistake, but it's very minor - good thing I was going so slow in there and reacted quick enough to lessen the oops.
Got back home and put her in the yard, unhooked, lowered the OB, covered... When I pulled the plug, I was surprised how much water came out - 3-5 gallons I'd guess. At first I was thinking, I wasn't taking on water, where did this come from - then it hit me...they delivered this and it was very wet - I hadn't pulled the plug, so the water was in there all along.
As fer trailering - well, my AWD Rendezvous (6 cylinder) did okay. She's rated to tow 3500 and this boat, motor and trailer comes in at about 2200. Still I was thinking I might have trouble. I'm sure the AWD gives me some edge pulling up the wet launch ramp.
I'm not gonna be racing up hills, but for the most part, the rig could go faster than I felt I wanted to. It seemed to track well and true behind me (no sway), but you feel the chugging of what's back there.

So there it is - my first time out...no fish - low on the learning curve, but learnin a whole boat load of stuff (couldn't resist the pun). I know more about trimming up and need to learn more to get the planing sweet spot. I'm also thinking it'll be much better w/o a belly full of water.