Levitation
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,300
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-248 C
- Hull Identification Number
- fmlt2510f809
- Vessel Name
- Charlotte Ann
Well, we are afloat again... Not without a bit of excitement...
First, we got there early before the yard men this morning... The marina eerie and still at sunrise on a workday morning... Spitting rain and the clouds scraping the trees and the ground mist merging into the cloud deck so there was no horizon, just a gray bowl with you in the center and the river disappearing off into the haze... Unloaded the power washer and set to removing 8 months of grit and grime... By the time it was done I was as wet as the bands of rain that blew though every ten minutes... Once the topsides were gleaming clean we climbed into the cockpit and began the oil change... Same as last year the best I could suction was a bit over 4 quarts from an engine that dipsticks full at 6.3 quarts... I changed out the oil filter (note to self: order a couple new ones from Andrew) and topped off with 15W40 Rotella... Then I power washed the cockpit and we were done... Waved at the yard man and three of them hustled into picking Levitation off the blocks... Like a well oiled team it only took them minutes to have her in the slings and moving towards the water... (pictures in the album later today)
Snicker snack they had her in the water still in the slings... Double checked the sea cocks and watched for leaks for a bit then went forward... It took four cranking sessions before the engine started but it ran smoothly... I watched the bilge, ran the engine up in neutral, no water entering the bilge, exhaust blowing water nicely, oil pressure steady at 87 psi, and coolant up to 85 degrees and climbing slowly, so finally told the crew I was ready... They gave me exacting instructions that I was not to put it in gear until they said so... They lowered the slings below the hull, asked me to make a final bilge and engine inspection (all OK) and told me to idle it out of the slip...
I put it in forward and began ghosting out of the slip at idle... After ~4 feet there was a bang and shudder and the engine stopped, the oil pressure alarm began bleating, and I said a couple of bad words... I walked quickly to the stern and saw the rear sling was hanging cattywampus...
"Having a problem?" the guy on the travel-all called down...
"Yeah." I said... "You screwed up... Your sling is wrapped in my prop... And, I AM NOT HAPPY!"...
You have to know that I am the most friendly fella in the world, normally smiling, and normally the guy who gives out compliments... But in a previous lifetime, an a galaxy far, far, away I used to be the guy who bossed 300 pound millwrights around and they only listened if they respected you - and respect included my being willing to go nose to nose with a 300 pound guy in grease stained coveralls with a 35 pound steel bar dangling from one hand, and explain to him that I was NOT happy and he was going to make me happy, and soon...
In my current life it is rare for the old foreman in me to come out, but it did then...
"Well, that happens" he says.. "The prop wash sucked it up... I told you not to throttle up... We'll use a boat hook and get it off and you can go on..."
"No WE won't.", I said... "I did NOT throttle up... YOU did not have the sling far enough down... WE will get the sling unwrapped and then WE will lift my boat back out of the water onto land and WE will do a thorough inspection of the prop and transmission and engine for damage, Capiche?"
By now they capiched...
They are good yard men and they quickly got the sling free, repositioned my dead engine boat, and lifted back onto land... The inspection I did was thorough, and uneventful... We put it back in the water... Carefully restarted, checked for leaks and oil pressure, etc... They they lowered to slings all the way to the bottom of the slip and hand pushed me out... I did a couple of gentle forward and back shifts, then idled out to the river and did a short full throttle run... Everything seems OK, and I put her into the slip for the summer... So ends another day in the life of a yachtsman...
First, we got there early before the yard men this morning... The marina eerie and still at sunrise on a workday morning... Spitting rain and the clouds scraping the trees and the ground mist merging into the cloud deck so there was no horizon, just a gray bowl with you in the center and the river disappearing off into the haze... Unloaded the power washer and set to removing 8 months of grit and grime... By the time it was done I was as wet as the bands of rain that blew though every ten minutes... Once the topsides were gleaming clean we climbed into the cockpit and began the oil change... Same as last year the best I could suction was a bit over 4 quarts from an engine that dipsticks full at 6.3 quarts... I changed out the oil filter (note to self: order a couple new ones from Andrew) and topped off with 15W40 Rotella... Then I power washed the cockpit and we were done... Waved at the yard man and three of them hustled into picking Levitation off the blocks... Like a well oiled team it only took them minutes to have her in the slings and moving towards the water... (pictures in the album later today)
Snicker snack they had her in the water still in the slings... Double checked the sea cocks and watched for leaks for a bit then went forward... It took four cranking sessions before the engine started but it ran smoothly... I watched the bilge, ran the engine up in neutral, no water entering the bilge, exhaust blowing water nicely, oil pressure steady at 87 psi, and coolant up to 85 degrees and climbing slowly, so finally told the crew I was ready... They gave me exacting instructions that I was not to put it in gear until they said so... They lowered the slings below the hull, asked me to make a final bilge and engine inspection (all OK) and told me to idle it out of the slip...
I put it in forward and began ghosting out of the slip at idle... After ~4 feet there was a bang and shudder and the engine stopped, the oil pressure alarm began bleating, and I said a couple of bad words... I walked quickly to the stern and saw the rear sling was hanging cattywampus...
"Having a problem?" the guy on the travel-all called down...
"Yeah." I said... "You screwed up... Your sling is wrapped in my prop... And, I AM NOT HAPPY!"...
You have to know that I am the most friendly fella in the world, normally smiling, and normally the guy who gives out compliments... But in a previous lifetime, an a galaxy far, far, away I used to be the guy who bossed 300 pound millwrights around and they only listened if they respected you - and respect included my being willing to go nose to nose with a 300 pound guy in grease stained coveralls with a 35 pound steel bar dangling from one hand, and explain to him that I was NOT happy and he was going to make me happy, and soon...
In my current life it is rare for the old foreman in me to come out, but it did then...
"Well, that happens" he says.. "The prop wash sucked it up... I told you not to throttle up... We'll use a boat hook and get it off and you can go on..."
"No WE won't.", I said... "I did NOT throttle up... YOU did not have the sling far enough down... WE will get the sling unwrapped and then WE will lift my boat back out of the water onto land and WE will do a thorough inspection of the prop and transmission and engine for damage, Capiche?"
By now they capiched...
They are good yard men and they quickly got the sling free, repositioned my dead engine boat, and lifted back onto land... The inspection I did was thorough, and uneventful... We put it back in the water... Carefully restarted, checked for leaks and oil pressure, etc... They they lowered to slings all the way to the bottom of the slip and hand pushed me out... I did a couple of gentle forward and back shifts, then idled out to the river and did a short full throttle run... Everything seems OK, and I put her into the slip for the summer... So ends another day in the life of a yachtsman...
