I failed, my engine failed :(

[Warpa]

Decided to take the boat out for the 1st time for a shake down before the winter layup. launched in St Denys and eventually got the engine started, when it did start it kept cutting when putting it into gear, but eventually she took off.

Coasted up toward Shamrock Key then opened her up, about half throttle on the plane, we were having a wail of a time Went on up to the exit of southampton water before turning back, heading back i followed another boat as it cleard the waves and gave me a smoother journey back, on full throttle for about 10 mins and just passing Weston shore and the engine died, proper dead, seized up

Was quite a way out of the main shipping lane so dropped anchor, i was panicking as i have never been in this situation in my life, as i have not bout an auxilary engine or even the vhf radio i had to call the coast guard, 10 mins later and they towed me to the slipway just under the itchen bridge, had to get a lift from there to pick up my truck and trailor, all in all a pretty traumatic experience...cant wait to go out again next season

Should i get the old johnson rebuilt, it was allegedly done 20 hours ago, or should i buy newer? Where is the best place to get it rebuilt or px it for another?

 

[whisper]

Tee Hee!! Your story is pretty much identical to my first foray into boat ownership.
My boat came with a Mercury 9.8 which I had had serviced 2 weeks before the great day of launching. It seized up within two hours!!
I bit the bullet and bought a new Johnson.
Haven't looked back since - well except to ensure my wake is not annoying anyone, that is.

 

[gravygraham]

Don't loose too much sleep about breaking down - it happens to the best of us. However, use the winter layup to sort yourself out a VHF radio, and get trained on it. Enjoy.

 

[Johnn]

Seizing Up

Hi there, forgive the inexperienced question, but how do engines seize up? does this only happen to older engines?
Thanks John

 

[hlb]

Hi there, forgive the inexperienced question, but how do engines seize up? does this only happen to older engines?
Thanks John

Either no oil or no water for some reason, normally. It dont have to be an old engine.

 

[Solitaire]

Coasted up toward Shamrock Key then opened her up, about half throttle on the plane,

Interesting! Given it is a 6 knot speed limit there!

 

[Warpa]

Interesting! Given it is a 6 knot speed limit there!

I was past the bit where the water divides to shamrock key and where the liners leave, everyone else was flat out too

Thinking or getting something a bit more forgiving in rough sea, what are the views on this, is it an IOW capable boat?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200518230200

 

[Tom Price]

going too fast!

[QUOTE Coasted up toward Shamrock Quay then opened her up, about half throttle on the plane, we were having a whale of a time:QUOTE]

There was talk of Southampton VTS introducing radar sensors which could override throttle controls if the 6-knot speed limit was broken.

Seems as if they're working!

 

[landlockedpirate]

Bowriders are not ideal boats for use in the Solent unless its a very calm day. They do have a lot of advantages, not least the fantastic amount of space and seating they have. However in anything but small waves they tend to ship quite a lot of water over the bow, and because they dont have self draining decks, you have to rely on the bilge pump to keep you afloat.

Larger bowriders (over 25ft) are fine due to higher freeboard, but for Sea use I would go for either a cuddy, or if you need more space, an open boat with centre console and a self draining deck.

 

[Warpa]

Bowriders are not ideal boats for use in the Solent unless its a very calm day. They do have a lot of advantages, not least the fantastic amount of space and seating they have. However in anything but small waves they tend to ship quite a lot of water over the bow, and because they dont have self draining decks, you have to rely on the bilge pump to keep you afloat.

Larger bowriders (over 25ft) are fine due to higher freeboard, but for Sea use I would go for either a cuddy, or if you need more space, an open boat with centre console and a self draining deck.

What is a cuddy and what is available for up to 3K?

EDIT, just found at what cuddy is What makes the difference with what i am after and a more open water going vessel, surely all these boats are not limited to staying in rivers. I would like to keep the running costs down as it will be used regularly, not sure what the running costs of 120 hp outboard are.

 

[landlockedpirate]

What is a cuddy and what is available for up to 3K?

EDIT, just found at what cuddy is What makes the difference with what i am after and a more open water going vessel, surely all these boats are not limited to staying in rivers. I would like to keep the running costs down as it will be used regularly, not sure what the running costs of 120 hp outboard are.

A cuddy has a small crawl in cabin at the front. If a wave comes over the bow, the water will mainly run straight off when it hits the screen. With a bow rider the front of the boat acts like a giant scoop.

You can still use a bow rider perfectly safely, but you have to be very careful about checking conditions and weather forecasts.

Fuel consumption on 120hp will depend on usage, from 1gph on the river to around 8gph at WOT.

 

[ontheplane]

Unless it's a FORCE outboard, in which case running costs will be almost nothing in fuel (as it will break down every single time you use it) and HORRIFIC in spare parts (as you will need to repair it every time you use it!)

 

[Cliveshep]

Force took over the long defunct Chrysler outboard engine business, and themselves (I believe) are also defunct. You might well find many parts are no longer available.

Look for Yamaha, Mercury etc for good parts availability.

 

[Warpa]

During my research i have now heard a lot of horror stories on that brand, so will avoid. Also if i were to get a bowrider some come with or you can have covers made for the front.

I saw a Maxum bowrider that had the cover and the middle part of the screen was hinged, so when closed you had a full screen, on the bayliners i have seen they dont appear to have the full screen, or is it just that the pictures were taken with it open?

 

[Baddox]

Fuel consumption on 120hp will depend on usage, from 1gph on the river to around 8gph at WOT.

Unless it's a 2-stroke engine in which case the fuel consumption will be a lot higher. Budget for 12g/hr based on the rule of thumb of 1g/hr for every 10hp.