I took over, it took a while, but the boat eventually started up and behaved fairly well, though it idled even rougher than it had been doing.  We took the boat back, he took some good-natured ribbing, and that was it for the day.

One would think, after all this time with boats, that I’d learn some lessons about seamanship.  I think I do learn a LOT of seamanship lessons, but sometimes, I’ll admit, I just don’t seem to “get it”.  If you recall;

• the mechanic had recommended a complete overhaul of the fuel system,
• the boat had been idling fairly roughly,
• the boat had stalled twice on my son-in-law,
• the boat had been a bit difficult to restart

Of course, I’m not worried.  I know what I’m doing.  Maybe I should put in a bit of fuel system cleaner and run it through the system.  That would, of course, give me an excuse to take the boat out and blaze around the lake, but that was just a side benefit of doing something that “needed doin’”.

So, a few days later, on a weekday, I did just that.  Perhaps I should mention that the weather around here has been unusually cold and windy.  However, I had cold weather clothing and I had it ON me.  Perhaps I should note that it would have made more sense to just blast around the area close to the marina, just in case anything went wrong.  Perhaps it would have made sense to make sure I had a trolling motor and spare battery with me, just in case anything went wrong.  Perhaps, perhaps, but…  What could possibly go wrong?

I went out and tried out the engine.  A little sluggish on acceleration, and idled even rougher than it had, but it ran great at high speeds.  Since I was trying to clean the fuel system by running some cleaner through it (in the gas) and it was running so well at high speeds, I just kept running around, farther and farther down the lake.  Finally, I decided to head back in the general direction of the marina and check out the engine at lower speeds.

Since it had been running so well wide open, I slowed down.  It ran a bit rough, but OK.  A couple miles from the marina, I slowed down to idle, and the engine just choked and died.   It started for a few seconds, then died again.  Tried a number of times and each time the result was the same.  (It died again, quickly.)

I do always carry a paddle on any boat I use.  I have rowed boats considerable distances, or at least did so when I was younger and in much better shape.   I have paddled canoes and kayaks many miles.  The forecast was for increasing winds and developing rain.  Cold rain.  However, I had an hour or two before then, or at least before the rain was supposed to start.

While I was motoring around, I had seen a number of boats.  Now, dead in the water, weather starting to get worse, there wasn’t a boat in sight.  Well, actually, there was one other bass boat, in very distant sight, slowly disappearing into a cove about a mile away.  That was on the way to the marina, so I started paddling towards it.

Paddling a bass boat is just not the same as paddling a canoe.  On a canoe, you give a few quick, powerful strokes and the canoe takes off in the direction you want to go.  If you stop paddling, the canoe continues to move for quite a while.  In a bass boat, you give a few quick, powerful strokes, and the boat just barely gives some indication it might start to move sometime soon.  You paddle long and hard, and it actually makes noticeable (barely noticeable) progress.  If you stop paddling at all, the boat almost instantly stops. 

Within five minutes of paddling, I had realized it was going to be a long day… a VERY LONG Day.  My best bet was to just paddle in the direction of the marina, and hope / pray a boat would come along. 

For the next 30-35 minutes, I paddled.  Fortunately, I had gloves with me.  My hands still started hurting.  No other boats in sight.  The wind started building a bit.  Coming FROM the marina, towards me.  Making the paddling even more difficult.  My arms and back started to burn a bit.  It was not exactly with great enjoyment that I remembered the expression, “FEEL the BURN!”   I realized I was not exactly enjoying this particular time out on the water.

Then, a funny thing happened.  The wind puffed up stronger.  For just a moment, I relaxed and felt good, really GOOD, because any sailor knows that, with the wind, your boat will move, engine or not.  It took a few seconds to really sink in.  Without sails, wind is BAD!  In a powerboat with no engine, wind is a bad thing.  That was a VERY strange feeling to me, that wind could somehow be bad.  However, the burning in my arms and shoulders made this new lesson very clear.

It is not much fun to paddle a bass boat for more than a minute or two.  It is no fun at all trying to paddle a bass boat into the wind.  In fact, as the wind picked up and it started to sprinkle, I realized that this particular wind was going to make things truly miserable for me.  If I stopped paddling for even an instant, the boat would start to turn away from the wind and move away from where I wanted to go.

By this time, I was REALLY starting to wish I had gone out in my sailboat rather than in my bass boat.  I was really starting to wish I had done things like brought my trolling motor on this little excursion.  I was wishing I had done a lot of things.  I was also getting very tired of paddling.  It just wasn’t fun any more.

Finally, another boat appears near the far shore.  Fishermen looking for a good cove in which to fish.  I waved my paddle.  They weren’t looking my way; they were looking at the far shore.  I waved some more, and they continued to look at the far shore.  I realized they were about to head out at high speed.  I started thinking some fairly dismal thoughts.  I started thinking some things that can’t be printed in a family-oriented web site.

 Then, I finally remembered the one smart thing I had done that day, the one bit of seamanship I had actually performed.  I had a horn on board!  I had that Coast Guard Approved “Efficient Sound-Producing Device”.  I grabbed it and let loose with five sharp blasts.  The sound of those blasts echoing across the lake was better than a choir.  Five loud, sharp blasts sounded like the proverbial heavenly chorus!  I furiously waved the paddle and was gratified to see the boat turn toward me and speed up.

Friendly people, as usual among boaters.  They cheerfully towed me to the marina.  As I paddled toward the ramp, that mechanic came walking over.  He politely (and with obvious humor) asked if there was anything he could do to help.  I said something to the effect that when I reached shore, he could knock me silly with this %(^$! paddle.

To keep a long story from getting longer, I took the rig back to his shop and within a few hours he had completely cleaned, repaired and generally fixed up the engine as well as relieved my billfold of most of its already-light load.  At least he was good enough to charge the same as he had quoted me before I ignored his advice.  Most Boat People are nice folks at heart.

That engine now runs great.  Of course, I now always, always have a trolling motor and extra battery with me.  And, the first time I went out, I never got more than a couple hundred yards from the marina until I was absolutely satisfied that the engine was running perfectly and would not balk no matter what I did to it.

Of course, I keep remembering that, in a sailboat, I would have had a nice sail back to the marina.  At worst, I’d have had a few tense moments working my way back into my slip or to the launch ramp, but with the sailboat, I always have multiple ways to go wherever I want to go, and to enjoy the trip.  Sailboats may not be as fast, but they are certainly more versatile, and at least as enjoyable, often more so.

I’ll still enjoy powerboats, but I was reminded, once again, of one of the many reasons I really like sailboats.

Whatever boat type you prefer, get out on the water and enjoy it!  Practice good seamanship, and HAVE FUN!