We were dropping a few crab pots just North of Kingston on a breezy saturday morning, the engine was in neutral as I dropped our second pot from the swim step. My wife and our 8 month old baby were in the cabin and we were starting to drift close to a couple other crab pots, so I jumped from the swim step into the boat, and put it in reverse. My wife thinks my actions were too spirited, which in retrospect they definitely were, because when we got underway we had very limited power in forward gear. Our initial plan was to limp into Kingston, but we started to smell burning and decided it would be best to get a tow. This is our brand new 2015 R-25SC, with 50hrs on the engine!
morale is low! :cry:
Unfortunately a man fell overboard and drowned off the coast of Everett on this day, there was a lot of activity on the VHF and all local Coast Guard “assets” were pre-occupied (understandably), and it took over 3 hours for a tow vessel to get to us (had to go through the locks - less understandable). At this point we had drifted way out into the shipping lanes between Edmonds and Kingston. It was relatively rough conditions and my wife and baby were pretty over it to say the least. Two huge freighters whizzed past us. Why did I give it so much gas in reverse!!!? :x
Eventually Dunato’s showed up, and in another 3 hours Dorothy was safely back to her home port. Thank goodness we packed extra diapers and baby food, we have tried to erase that 6 hour journey from our memory. And goodbye crab pots...
Kingston to Elliott Bay tow
I put on a dive mask, and checked to make sure nothing was tangled in the prop.
Our 50hr service was already scheduled with Coastal Marine for the following week, which turned out to be good timing. Their Volvo tech was stumped. The engine thought it was in neutral, but started in reverse. It couldn’t seem to find neutral, but it would jump into forward gear. Coastal Marine’s diagnosis was that the boat needed to come out of the water and the transmission be either rebuilt or replaced.
When I told Kenny with Ranger about this he had to see for himself, so he went down to our slip in Elliott Bay and brought their Volvo tech (Tim) with him. Unfortunately they came to the same conclusion as Coastal Marine, new transmission!! For the record, I have driven many boats in my life, and while I probably did give it too much gas in reverse (as my wife claims 🙂 ) this was nothing I hadn’t done before in a ski boat. That said, now I will never put it in reverse at more than an idle!!
Kenny wanted Ranger to replace the transmission. So I scheduled another tow to the West Seattle Don Armeni Boat Ramp.
Nice day for a tow at least 😀
Ivan (with Ranger) and Tim (with Volvo) pulled the boat out of the water and trailered it back to the shop.
They had the transmission replaced the following day! Ivan replaced the zincs, pressure washed the hull, and took it out on the water to confirm all systems were functioning properly. The next day Ranger put the boat back in our slip at the marina!
This transmission issue was not Ranger’s fault, but they really jumped through hoops to get it fixed for us as soon as possible. A big thanks to Kenny, Ivan, and Tim!! Volvo is doing a post-mortem to determine what happened. Fingers crossed we have no issues for awhile!! But if we do, we know Ranger is there.
now back to enjoying the boat!
morale is low! :cry:
Unfortunately a man fell overboard and drowned off the coast of Everett on this day, there was a lot of activity on the VHF and all local Coast Guard “assets” were pre-occupied (understandably), and it took over 3 hours for a tow vessel to get to us (had to go through the locks - less understandable). At this point we had drifted way out into the shipping lanes between Edmonds and Kingston. It was relatively rough conditions and my wife and baby were pretty over it to say the least. Two huge freighters whizzed past us. Why did I give it so much gas in reverse!!!? :x
Eventually Dunato’s showed up, and in another 3 hours Dorothy was safely back to her home port. Thank goodness we packed extra diapers and baby food, we have tried to erase that 6 hour journey from our memory. And goodbye crab pots...
Kingston to Elliott Bay tow
I put on a dive mask, and checked to make sure nothing was tangled in the prop.
Our 50hr service was already scheduled with Coastal Marine for the following week, which turned out to be good timing. Their Volvo tech was stumped. The engine thought it was in neutral, but started in reverse. It couldn’t seem to find neutral, but it would jump into forward gear. Coastal Marine’s diagnosis was that the boat needed to come out of the water and the transmission be either rebuilt or replaced.
When I told Kenny with Ranger about this he had to see for himself, so he went down to our slip in Elliott Bay and brought their Volvo tech (Tim) with him. Unfortunately they came to the same conclusion as Coastal Marine, new transmission!! For the record, I have driven many boats in my life, and while I probably did give it too much gas in reverse (as my wife claims 🙂 ) this was nothing I hadn’t done before in a ski boat. That said, now I will never put it in reverse at more than an idle!!
Kenny wanted Ranger to replace the transmission. So I scheduled another tow to the West Seattle Don Armeni Boat Ramp.
Nice day for a tow at least 😀
Ivan (with Ranger) and Tim (with Volvo) pulled the boat out of the water and trailered it back to the shop.
They had the transmission replaced the following day! Ivan replaced the zincs, pressure washed the hull, and took it out on the water to confirm all systems were functioning properly. The next day Ranger put the boat back in our slip at the marina!
This transmission issue was not Ranger’s fault, but they really jumped through hoops to get it fixed for us as soon as possible. A big thanks to Kenny, Ivan, and Tim!! Volvo is doing a post-mortem to determine what happened. Fingers crossed we have no issues for awhile!! But if we do, we know Ranger is there.
now back to enjoying the boat!