Kudos to Kenny Marrs

[walldog]

We were on our way to Olympia today from Jarrell Cove. Out of the blue we hit something in the water, jarring the entire boat. We were up on plane at about 12.5 knots. We call ourselves watching very carefully for things in the water, but missed the log we hit, as Willie was able to spot it as we slowed to idle. I quickly looked for the nearest beach to run upon, and checked the bilges for water. None found we gingerly eased the throttle back up to abut 1600 RPMs. A few more checks of the bilges and the low area under the vee berth, we ease back up to a normal cruise. No vibrations or other indications of any damage to prop or running gear. We continued about 45 minutes longer into Swantown with everything looking ok. After returning from paying our moorage, we ran into Kenny Marrs. He was in Olympia delivering a new R27. I told him of our incident with the log, and how I considered having the boat hauled out at the Swantown Boat Service. He said "I have an R27 trailer right here, would you like to put it on the trailer?" Since we were docked right next to the ramp, I agreed. He backed the trailer down the ramp, and I drove Willie's Tug upon the trailer. We pulled ahead to the top of the ramp and crawled around under the boat. We could find no evidence of any damage. I had just re coated the bottom paint before leaving Texas, so it was easy to determine damage or not. Back into the water and over to our slip....now its time for happy hour and dinner.

How great is that for Ranger Tug service? Thank you Kenny for delaying your return home after a long day at work to help a Ranger Tug owner in need.

How am I doing tonight...."Better than I deserve"

 

[baz]

Herb: Colliding with a large log around here in the PNW Puget Sound area is always my biggest fear. Even when on Auto Pilot steering I find that even though that's relaxing on a long run there's still the attention that's needed for lookout tasks. Poor visibility can really hamper this task as well.

When you spot a log in front of you at close quarters what is your recourse ? Do you try and steer around it at speed (in this case 12.5 kts) or cut the engine RPMs quickly or even into reverse to get your speed down to a crawl if possible before the collision ? The impact force is going to be proportional to the square of your forward speed (V**2), so slowing down is a very wise thing to do.

I'm glad nothing bad happened to your R-27 or yourselves for that matter, and that amazingly having Kenny on hand was very comforting for you. You owe him a beer or two, right ? 😉

BTW... How was Jarrell Cove ? I'm told it's a 'must see' place to hang out at. Did you anchor or dock there ?

 

[Salish Rover]

Outstanding people make an outstanding company. Well done Kenny !!!!

 

[BaseCampAnne]

How nice to have Kenny there and to be so helpful! Yea, Kenny!

It is also helpful to me to learn from what you did when hitting a log, so thanks for explaining that. I have bumped into a couple of logs but at slow speeds, surprisingly, and I never thought to check bilges, focusing just on the bottom and the engine, or with our boats, the prop and shaft. Thanks for writing up what happened and what to do.

 

[knotflying]

Pretty cool, Tug Angels. They follow us around and make sure we are okay! Now that is service!! :lol:

 

[JamesTXSD]

Nice timing! You two must be living right... come to think of it, I know you are! Glad to hear all was good when you had the opportunity to look Willie's Tug over - better to know than to wonder. And another nod to the Ranger folks for their dedication to customer service (and clairvoyance, for knowing where to have a trailer before you know you'll need it 😉 ).

Best wishes,
Jim

 

[gwwalsh]

Kenny is THE MAN! Our experiences with Ranger Tugs have always been favorable, primarily because of our contacts with and service from Kenny. He always goes the extra mile and is unfailingly pleasant, friendly and easy-going! You guys ARE living right to have found Kenny on-the-spot when you were in need! And, yep, you owe him a beer or two!

 

[Tym]

Last year, after 2 months of full time cruising in the PNW in our Ranger Tug 29 “Circle T”, we we’re approaching our final destination for the season -- the guest slip in Everett. Once there, it was to be taken out of the water and trailered back to its permanent home in Los Angeles for the Winter. After having put well over 100 hours on the engine in these few months, we had less than 1/2 mile to go until we were done for the season ... when very suddenly and unexpectedly I saw a flash of a submerged log dead ahead... I turned the wheel hard over and pulled the throttle back... and then watched my life history as it played out in front of my eyes in slow motion... and then... WHAM !! It felt like we’d been hit by a torpedo.

There was an immediate vibration. C#@p! But somehow we were able to limp forward the last 1/2 mile to the slip, where we checked the boat for leaks and mercifully found none.

The next day we were able to propel ourselves forward from the slip the 1000 yards to the boat ramp, where the boat was lifted out of the water on a trailer for inspection. Sure enough, one blade of the prop was bent -- but there was no other damage apparent. We had the boat taken to the Ranger Tug factory in Monroe, which was nearby, for complete inspection. They found the prop shear pin broken -- so the pin had done it’s job and protected the engine when the prop hit the log. They installed a new prop and shear pin, and we took the old one back with us to Los Angeles for overhaul, and to carry as a spare for the future.

After all of this, I begin to wonder -- how had we been able to propel ourselves forward with a broken shear pin? Why didn’t the drive shaft just spin inside the prop since there was no connection between the two once the shear pin had been broken??? The folks at the factory had the answer...

It turns out that the drive shaft is tapered at the end where the prop fits onto it, and that the prop hole itself is likewise tapered. The diameter of the drive shaft is slightly smaller at the end of the shaft than it is a few inches forward. Thus, when our shear pin sheared, the prop was turned by some friction and as a result thrust itself forward onto the thicker drive shaft, and this forward thrust pushing the prop forward onto the thicker drive shaft allowed us to limp to the slip at slow speed. Pretty smart. I don’t know if we could have backed up, but that’s a question for another day -- and hopefully somebody else.

Anyway, the moral to me was this: Even with only 1/2 mile to go, you have to actually hear the fat lady sing before you can relax. Someday I want to learn a boating lesson the easy way...