Steve_Bentley
New member
Being on a budget/cautious/tightfisted I last year decided to buy a simply ‘flaty to chuck in the boot and potter about on the local rivers. Somehow I ended up with a monstrous sea-going 4.5m Avon from the ‘70s and 30hp. What with all the weather at the weekend I thought I’d follow my original plans of an impromptu hour on the water.
This meant getting the o/b started. We’d tried this on the water the other week to no avail (on fresh petrol, after it ran perfectly on the old stuff the day before). After setting the fast idle screw a bit higher it started Saturday (hurrah) after much pulling.
One oozing blister from the starter handle.
Shoulders aching like crazy.
Sunday morning it’s time to load everything up until V70 stuffed to the gunnels. Huge flaty and heaaavy o/b go in the car with everything else.
Aching back.
Another knuckle grazed and bleeding somehow.
Get to the beach and unload. Pull & pull and pull and it starts, horrible pinking then revs increase until it sounds like it’s going to self destruct. Switch off quickly. Adjust idle screw back. Pull & pull & pull. Doesn’t start. Guests looking bored. Idle screw back up, starts, use choke to richen mix and stop it over-revving. Big crunch from gearbox at maybe 1300 revs as we set off. Lovely two hours looking at Zoe’s place etc.
Sunburnt nose etc like a raindeer.
Tip boat up to get last of water out, nephew moves unexpectedly and I try to grab collapsing bow.
Fingernail bent back wrong way and now wont stop bleeding.
Then all back in the car. Everything seems to weigh twice as much after all the pulling (except the petrol).
Unload it all back in the garage.
Everything aching.
Red scratches from hugging engine where they don’t put proper handles on them.
Dropped transom scraping down shin lost skin but no blood.
Engine wacks other shin trying to get on stand bruised but no blood.
Flush the engine through (starts okay), and run over to garage door to breath.
I grew up in a bungalow and I seem to have had problems with stairs ever since. As a lad I jumped the last 3 stairs at school and sprained an ankle. A couple of years ago leaving a girlfriends flat on a frosty morning I fell the 12 hard nasty concrete steps down from the outside door from the ice. Decided next time I would grab the rail. Last year ran down some steps for a train, slid (brand new shoes) and grabbed the rail. Dislocated shoulder and rushed to hospital. Decided prefer sliding down on my back and *rse.
So anyway, dash onto step to get a breath of not-two-stroke and yes, slide the four steps down into the garden on my backside.
3 inch bleeding, pussing, oozing graze which has swollen up and threatens to turn nasty colours.
Go indoors bleeding, bruised, scratched, blistering, sunburnt, sore and aching all over and have a cold beer and bask in happy memories of an impromptu 2 hours on the water.
Q: is boating killing me?
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This meant getting the o/b started. We’d tried this on the water the other week to no avail (on fresh petrol, after it ran perfectly on the old stuff the day before). After setting the fast idle screw a bit higher it started Saturday (hurrah) after much pulling.
One oozing blister from the starter handle.
Shoulders aching like crazy.
Sunday morning it’s time to load everything up until V70 stuffed to the gunnels. Huge flaty and heaaavy o/b go in the car with everything else.
Aching back.
Another knuckle grazed and bleeding somehow.
Get to the beach and unload. Pull & pull and pull and it starts, horrible pinking then revs increase until it sounds like it’s going to self destruct. Switch off quickly. Adjust idle screw back. Pull & pull & pull. Doesn’t start. Guests looking bored. Idle screw back up, starts, use choke to richen mix and stop it over-revving. Big crunch from gearbox at maybe 1300 revs as we set off. Lovely two hours looking at Zoe’s place etc.
Sunburnt nose etc like a raindeer.
Tip boat up to get last of water out, nephew moves unexpectedly and I try to grab collapsing bow.
Fingernail bent back wrong way and now wont stop bleeding.
Then all back in the car. Everything seems to weigh twice as much after all the pulling (except the petrol).
Unload it all back in the garage.
Everything aching.
Red scratches from hugging engine where they don’t put proper handles on them.
Dropped transom scraping down shin lost skin but no blood.
Engine wacks other shin trying to get on stand bruised but no blood.
Flush the engine through (starts okay), and run over to garage door to breath.
I grew up in a bungalow and I seem to have had problems with stairs ever since. As a lad I jumped the last 3 stairs at school and sprained an ankle. A couple of years ago leaving a girlfriends flat on a frosty morning I fell the 12 hard nasty concrete steps down from the outside door from the ice. Decided next time I would grab the rail. Last year ran down some steps for a train, slid (brand new shoes) and grabbed the rail. Dislocated shoulder and rushed to hospital. Decided prefer sliding down on my back and *rse.
So anyway, dash onto step to get a breath of not-two-stroke and yes, slide the four steps down into the garden on my backside.
3 inch bleeding, pussing, oozing graze which has swollen up and threatens to turn nasty colours.
Go indoors bleeding, bruised, scratched, blistering, sunburnt, sore and aching all over and have a cold beer and bask in happy memories of an impromptu 2 hours on the water.
Q: is boating killing me?
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