Nightmare on the Nene

[klondike]

#1 son who I go fishing with from his boat is replacing one boat for another one. We have a military plan sorted out. The current boat is chock full of fishing kit and general tat. We got that bagged last week ready for the changeover.

I am to drive to the boat and fill my car with all the stuff while he follows the boat being transported by road from where he bought it to a marina just up from where he keeps this boat. The slipway on that one can take his new boat and the one at the marina he is on can't. The plan is he picks me up once the new boat is launched as two people makes negotiating locks and mooring up easier.

I get there and start packing. He rolls up early. He's forgotten to take the lock handle and there is a lock between the two. We head for the other marina, get the launching done and set off in the new boat.

There is a low bridge to negotiate. It needs the nav light mast removing to go under. Reverse up remove mast, go under. He notices that the gears aren't working correctly - no neutral and no reverse. We moor up at the lock with difficulty as there is neither neutral nor reverse. Pull it into the lock on the chains.

Ready to move on. It won't start, This problem was supposed to have been fixed and it has had a brand new fuel line fitted. Cover off the outboard and the delves in. Too deeply. Something sharp has dug into his hand and there is blood everywhere. No first aid kit or anything to hand. There are cars parked by the lock with people launching kayaks. None of them have any first aid kits either. He wraps the gushing digit in some plastic wrapping we find. We drag the boat to the mooring.

Another boat comes up to the lock. He cadges a tow. We lash the boats together and get moored up at the service dock in the home marina. We then head for his old boat and get it to the other marina after hurriedly finishing moving kit and crap to my car. By the time we get to the other marina his hand has stopped gushing blood but I'm feeling decidedly iffy. Too much sun, too much heat, no food, not enough to drink. Not wanting a corpse in either his boat or car #1 son gets water and magnums. I slowly recover. We drive back to the home marina.

There we find the new boat will now start but the gears are still shafted. Decide the problem is in the onboard gear shift as everything looks ok in the outboard. It's a nightmare to get to bits. There is a broken piece of plastic but that just seems to be a shield to keep the wires away from the mechanics and it looks like it might be just that something has popped out of place. Easy enough (eventually) to see how it should go back together but appears to need extra hands to achieve that. Greasy mess left in bits on the floor and I drive my car to the mooring with fishing rods leaning over the passenger seat trying to pierce my ear.

Transfer all the fishing kit and tat from my car to the boat without attempting to put anything in reasonable places. It's still too hot and sunny. Head home. The meticulous plan in tatters with the new boat moored up where the long boats get their bogs emptied out and absolutely full of jumbled kit, Fishing season opens Friday. Will they have fixed the boat? Maybe but I can't see much fishing being done.

All part of life's rich tapestry. If everything went to plan then things would be boring.

[Michael Rolls]

sometimes it just isn't one's day! My sympathies

[Alex]

Oh dear, I hope your lad's hand is ok !
 There will be plenty of good days to come, still only June

[klondike]

It was a sharp split pin pushed deep into his finger. Looking at it once the bleeding eventually stopped you could hardly see the wound but there was a hell of a lot of blood. Making much use of the finger started it gushing again. I thought the top of his finger was off at least.

He's there fiddling with it now as he wants to move it to his own mooring. He has a smaller boat on the other side of that mooring too which we planned to use for fishing on the river - you can't successfully use big boats for that. The trouble is that the bags and stuff in my car wasn't all of the stuff from the other boat. It's rammed full of more stuff out of the bigger boat at the moment. A floating shed with two electric outboards one petrol outboard and umpteen bags of stuff pulled out of cupboards.

There's a dinghy there too. Might be easier to use that if it weren't for the fact that its electric outboard is one of those in the floating shed.

June 11, 2023, 10:17:32 AM
This greasy mess is the dismantled gear shift and throttle mechanism. 

[Raven]

Crumbs  hope he's ok. There's always some blooming thing to trip us up. 

[Alex]

Lovely photo of the boat !
Sorry Klondy I just couldn't resist, it would be nice to see a photo of his new boat though 

[klondike]

This is it yesterday waiting to be launched. He has a bigger boat too which he spends up to a week living in and fishing as that marina has toilets and showers. It's a bit too far for a day fishing though. I declined the invite to stay there fishing as I'm getting too crumbly for that sort of thing.



It's not a new boat by any stretch but its a lot newer that the one it is replacing which was 30 years old or more. They retain their value and have shot up in price since lockdown (like used cars). He's hoping to get more for the old one than he paid.

This is the bigger one. That's 30 years old too. It has a couple of huge inboard engines (several litres each - he did tell me but I forget). Really expensive on fuel. It rarely moves - it's a floating fishing hotel.

[Alex]

I like the Titanic bar on the front it's very nice, he sleeps in it does he??

[Raven]

Looks like a grand time would be had on them. 

[klondike]

I like the Titanic bar on the front it's very nice, he sleeps in it does he??

The big one yes. Just about all boats come equipped with a kitchen and berths for sleeping. The smaller ones are like those VW surfer boy campers. The bigger boats are better but I think you'd need to be both youngish and keen even on those. Now if he'd got something in the Putin yacht class I'd be tempted.

June 11, 2023, 10:56:50 AM
He's got it back together now but it is still stuck in forward gear. 

[GrannyMac]

Wow! Must be lovely on the water when the weather's fair. I know nothing about boats, but I can see the attraction. Hope everything gets sorted k.

[klondike]

We were fishing just about every weekend through the winter...

Electrically heated gilets the first winter I was going with him and I was fine with those as I'm quite temperature tolerant but he decided to get a diesel heater last winter and that has made those redundant although I do still wear it I don't often turn it on.

The place he got it are sending somebody out to it. They'll sort it. If they don't we'll probably tow it up to his mooring Friday. Being hot and the water well coloured the fishing isn't likely to be dazzling anyway but we'll have to do some as it the opening day of the season.

[Michael Rolls]

In a word - COR!!

[klondike]

I don't think winters here compare to those your way. That said we did have to break the ice a couple of times.

[Michael Rolls]

On the G&Ts?