Lois H

[K7MXE]

Well I went out for a cruise day before yesterday and well the boat broke. I was going up river near Clarkston Wa on the Snake river. The motor make a odd sound and I smelled smoke. A quick lifting of the motor box showed something went on near the starter which was hot as was the starter wire. I made a error and killed the motor, never to start again.
When I started it at the dock it was not a real easy start but only cranked maybe three seconds and normally its bang and running. Now its not much more than a click. The belts now are loose I noticed. That could have been the noise.
So now I see what looks like a quick downhill movement as the houses on the shore are just zipping by. I keep a eye out on the highway 12 bridge and glad I did not cut it close so when I passed it was not in the center part any more. Channel 16 gets no answer so I tried 911 and finally got through and got a fire boat on the way. I am now around the corner and have water from the Clearwater river under me as well. Too fast go grab the hook on the bottom and twenty feet from the shore in 50 feet of water with me heading for the next bridge and I can see the smoke from a tug down river. I keep moving but can see the fireboat (jet boat) being launched and here it comes to grab me up. Maybe seven young men all heading to the nights fire drill so I picked a good time for this. It was a close run to the launch site and I am saved before the next bridge and tug eat me. My buddy who was heading back to the coast in my pickup finally gets into cell range and he is only a hour and half away so he returns. I looked things over and checked this and that and headed to Motel six for the night. Lot of though went into thinking the batteries were on their last legs as they were 4 years old.
I figured it would be be closer to parts at home so in the morning we loaded up and I got back to Eatonville area around 8 last night. Had the batteries checked at Napa today and both are good. Now its raining pretty good and hard to move the boat into the boat shed with the tractor so left it out and will tackle the project when it drys off enough to get traction. So thats the story of the "not perfect trip". More when I get it figured out!.

Bob Heselberg in Eatonville Wa

 

[SlackwaterJack]

The Snake and Clearwater have been running very high and fast for the past two weeks. If you tried to go under the Hwy 12 Bridge (blue bridge) before last Wednesday I think you wouldn't have been able to make much headway. I clocked a 20 foot log (one of many in the river at the time) doing about 8 mph. The unusually late mountain melt and record amount of rain this year caused an very late "spring" flow. By next weekend we'll be back to 1 mph current and 14-16 ft bridge clearance. The river usually runs high and fast for the first 2 weeks in May, but this year's runoff is very late and much heavier. By Thursday the river was down by 2 feet and at half the speed it was earlier.
I can imagine being swept along with a dead engine was ... uh...exciting.

 

[bluebayou]

Bob,
For years I've been admiring that cameo shot of the Lois H, with green canvas trim and all-white elsewhere, on the top of the TugNuts home page. Now, for the first time, I hear of it, on a Post, and it's a rough day on the river(s) near Clarkston. Beneath the prettiest of exteriors, sometime lurks a problem waiting to strike!
Reading your description, it doesn't sound like you hurt the engine itself, more like an electrical problem. Losing power completely, in swift currents, well, that's a thrill I'll pass on myself.
The rain will let up; you will solve the puzzle of why the engine overheated and stopped. The Lois H will have new adventures. Best of luck will the trouble shooting. Charles

 

[doke01]

Bob,
Really interested to hear what the problem was. Glad you had luck on your side though.

Maybe the starter shorted to always on while the engine was running and blew itself out? Only reason I can think that the wire was hot. Shouldn't be any current through that wire unless you are starting the engine.

Life always feels real good when you get out of bad situations.

Doug.

 

[K7MXE]

Well heres the rest of the story sort of. I pulled the starter motor and it is cooked from heat. I thought this might also be a good time to replace the belts and the alternator belt had streched quite a bit. It has to come off before the water pump belt can be changed. I ordered a aftermarket starter from the east coast so have a few days to wait for it. The starter man told me why I had failure and it did make sense. Seems the start switch on the control panel fails on boats and he said to either change it out or put in another switch in series like a deadman switch. He said it is common for the starter to get engaged while the engine is running as to what took place on my boat. One positive thing I found was I need to update my tools on the boat as when push came to shove I did not have the right tools to change the water pump belt. I was lacking that one socket. So could this happen to your Ranger tug? I dont know but this one has been stored under cover and used mostly in fresh water and has about 500 hours on it in its four years of life. Starter man said its just the nature of the beast so Bayliners must have one or two fail once in a while too! You all be careful out on the water.

Bob Heselberg in Eatonville Wa

 

[Tugalong]

It would be good to have a list of what basic tools are required to change the belts etc when you are on the water.

It is different to when you are at home and you usually have a vast array of tools on hand to do any servicing. On board space is a premium and where do you start and stop with a tool kit.

I intend to start a tool kit for our R21 ready for it's delivery early in 2011, So a list would be helpfull.

Thanks

Geoff

 

[ron cowan]

Geoff,
When I took delivery of my 2006 21' new, it had a small Yanmar tool pouch with the boat. I laughed when I looked inside at the simple tools but later found out that it contained about everything that you needed to change out anything you would need to do. It contained tools for belts, filters, and even square drive screws. Few in number but great in coverage. I added more but dropped back to basic Yanmar when needed on the water. Check what you get.
Ron

 

[Tugalong]

Hi Ron

Thanks for the information.

Regards

Geoff

 

[Commander Ed]

Lois H,
Wow - quite a story. Being DIW is Really uncomfortable at any time, but in your case, your outcome was better than most would have done. Well done.

My only comment from personal experience in a DIW situation. (I won't go into details about how I got there.) I now have a bracket for my outboard that I mounted on the swim step. You can see the pictures on my site, but bottom line for me is - Once burned - Twice shy. Don't know if my "get home motor" would have bucked the current, but I would have been in there trying.

Commander Ed