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C Buchs wrote:The bearings were too hot to keep your hand on. By the time I got home (about 130 miles total) I could smell the grease cooking. It's only 1/4 mile from my house to launch. So I'll get her in the water and my first expense will be new bearings for the trailer.

I'll lay $10 on the brakes being frozen and dragging a little.

My trailer has two axles, both with drum brakes when I got it, and they all dragged on the way home. Pulled it the 30 miles with my FIL's RV, as the V-10 didn't seem to care. But it was spitting grease, and smoking a bit by the time I got it home. Ripped them all off, and put new disc brakes on the rear axle, along with a new surge coupler and lines with lockout valve.

Just so you know what to expect when you get it up on jack stands.

You're going to need to know how to repair that trailer constantly anyway. I've found the trailers take as much maintenance as the boats, at least out here in SoCal where we don't put up for the winter.

And Congrats!

Congrats on getting the boat home safely, and best of luck on that maiden voyage. Attending to the trailer wheel bearings and brakes takes precedence, but when you get around to it, send me a pm and I can fill you in on stove stuff. Once you understand it, you should do well with it.

We launched today. No real trouble getting the mast up. Then I headed for the slip with one son on board and my wife & other son (& the dog) on the dock. Our slip is on the upstream side. The first try had the current pushing us against the boats in the next row. Wouldn't have been a huge deal, but the shrouds were hitting the tin roof. I think we didn't do any permanent damage, but I'll have to check in better light. I pulled out of the marina and practiced a little trying to get a feel for the current. I then decided that I could back in. A suggestion I read about here . I got almost to the slip, but missed. Then somehow I turned the boat around (not on purpose!) and got the bow close enough that my wife could grab the bow line and we got it in. Now I just have to figure out how to get it out again Anyone in the area want to lend a hand?

Jeff

Some generic boat handling advice for the : Boards down (rudder, or rudders, and centerboard), ballast full, and move with purpose. If you're not moving in a cross wind, you're getting blown into or away from something. They have a high freeboard, a lot of wind area, and they don't weigh very much, so they're easy to blow around unless you do some things to make it less so.

Any boat will blow around, of course, but the combo of light weight and a lot of projected wind area makes for a boat that's pretty sensitive to wind. Having the boards down is the first defense, as they provide lateral resistance. If you don't have the centerboard down, at least part of the way, it skates around sideways and can be very hard to steer. Rudders, at least one, in combination with the steerable outboard, will control the stern (boats steer from the back, like a wheelbarrow, after all).

And learn how to use the directed thrust of that steerable outboard to your advantage. At higher speeds (including docking), the rudders will steer you while coasting in neutral or in combo with the engine when under power. But when creeping, like when slowing to a crawl, the thrust of the OB will take over, and you can do things like pulling the stern toward the dock with the OB in reverse, even though that means turning the wheel to the opposite direction you want to go when you're slowing. The rudders are ineffective at a crawl, but that OB can move the stern anywhere you want it to go.

Getting used to how the behaves takes a little practice.

Docking these suckers can be a Beeyotch. Even after many years of owning this boat, the thought of docking or recovering with the slightest crosswind or current still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can do it, most times, but it takes all my concentration, a plan, and flawless execution. One time a wasp distracted me just a little on the final approach, leading to an embarrassing go-around.

I find that with even a small crosswind, the wind can get ahold of the nose of the boat and make it swing around against your wishes and efforts if the speed is low. If the centerboard isn't down, then you are almost guaranteed to lose control in a crosswind.

Plan, plan, plan your approaches. Helps to have someone on the nose with a boathook, and it helps even more if that someone has the physical ability (and the judgment/timing) to jump down on to the dock. Once the nose is tied up, you are IN: the outboard can pull the stern over no problem. They sell all kinds of interesting boathooks and ways to get that first loop around a dock cleat.

I like coming in from the upwind side of a dock, if at all possible. Leeward docking is sooo hard because it's a fine line between ramming the dock and coming to a stop just a little too far away and being blown out of reach.

In a small crosswind or cross-current, I will walk the boat onto the trailer rather than drive it on, if the water depth is less than neck deep at the back of the trailer. Even in cold water, I prefer that to trying ten times and banging things up. However, I did equip the new trailer with side rails and a guide rope to the V...I hope that will help but even then I don't look forward to trying it for the first time.

I have one line from bow to aft cleat, that way if I get to deck I can pull both sides from the same line and not worry about the stern going away. I learned this one from Billy, AKA Double Cross.
Also, for docking I only let out about a third of the centerboard, the horizontal angle gives you more steering at low speeds.

Sea Wind wrote:Also, for docking I only let out about a third of the centerboard, the horizontal angle gives you more steering at low speeds.

Yup. I shoulda' mentioned that. A long-ish but shallow-ish CB seems to be just fine, and I don't run the risk of hitting the junk near many of the docks and ramps I use. And I use one rudder normally, the one furthest from whatever I'm docking against, and I keep it uncleated when I get close, in case it needs to kick up.

This is the kind of hazard hiding under the water. The canal is drained for the winter in this pic, but the 'walkways' are above the water when it's up, so there isn't much room for rudders and centerboards.

I haven't made it out again, but I have spent some time on the boat.

First order of business was getting water coming out the pee hole in the outboard (I got $350 off on the boat because it wasn't working and I hoped this wasn't a mistake). The Honda 50 has a really small hole and apparently boats that are kept in salt water get salt buildup in the hole. I was told to blow compressed air into the hole. I did this at home, but after I launched I notice that it still wasn't working. Therefore, I bought a can of compressed air. The stuff for cleaning your keyboard out. It has a straw like the one on a can of WD-40 that just fits into the hole. I blew it around inside there, fired up the outboard and it's now working great! I've read about keeping a piece of wire on board to clean out this hole, but I've never heard of keeping a can of compressed air. I'm going to keep it on board and thought I would pass on the idea to the rest of you.

Jeff

That's a known problem with the BF50. A paper clip works well for the outlet, and will clean the barb adapter on the engine if you take the hose off. But there's an upgrade available from Honda to increase the hose size at the engine end, with a larger barb fitting. The outlet remains the same, but it might be possible to drill it out a little larger. Or remove it altogether, and run the hose through the hole, which some folks have reported doing (here, or on an outboard forum - don't recall now).

Boats.net sells the parts for the lowest price I saw when I ordered them in the winter.

193123-ZW4-H00 Joint, Water Tube $6
90603-ZV4-000 Clip, Tube $0.93
91402-ZW4-H00 Tube, Water Check $1.62

It's supposed to help. I have the clogged tube problem from running in dirty water, like the Erie Canal.

C Buchs wrote:I haven't made it out again, but I have spent some time on the boat.

First order of business was getting water coming out the pee hole in the outboard (I got $350 off on the boat because it wasn't working and I hoped this wasn't a mistake). The Honda 50 has a really small hole and apparently boats that are kept in salt water get salt buildup in the hole. I was told to blow compressed air into the hole. I did this at home, but after I launched I notice that it still wasn't working. Therefore, I bought a can of compressed air. The stuff for cleaning your keyboard out. It has a straw like the one on a can of WD-40 that just fits into the hole. I blew it around inside there, fired up the outboard and it's now working great! I've read about keeping a piece of wire on board to clean out this hole, but I've never heard of keeping a can of compressed air. I'm going to keep it on board and thought I would pass on the idea to the rest of you.

Jeff

With our Suzuki I regularly suck up a piece of kelp or a small stick or something to that effect. I use a butter knife to pop the cap off and blow it out with my mouth. Usually have to do that 3-4 times a year.

I made it out today and we didn't hit anything! My boys used the boat poles twice. Once to push off our slipmate on the way out and once to grab the dock when we got back. It was all about having a plan and taking it slow.

We also had more problems with the pee hole plugging and having enough power to restart the outboard. Almost couldn't get it going again Not a good situation in the middle of the Columbia River! I've got shore power and we were plugged in, but my wife "helped" by making sure all the switches were off. I'll probably install a gauge so that I can keep an eye on our battery levels.

Thanks again for all the encouragement and great advice

Jeff

If your impeller on your waterpump is old it can start falling apart and then you would find small pieces of hard rubber blocking the tube. Had this problem on my fishing boat outboard. A impeller going bad could cause your motor to run hot, which is not good. Do you have 1 or 2 batteries? Having 2 would give you a backup, plus one could be your house battery.

I'm pretty sure it just salt. I was getting white chunks of sandy stuff out of the pee hole.

There are two batteries. I not sure of the age or how they are wired. I was surprised that there isn't a 1-2-both switch. The previous owner kept a good file with all the manuals on board, but there isn't a wiring diagram.

Jeff

C Buchs wrote:I'm pretty sure it just salt. I was getting white chunks of sandy stuff out of the pee hole.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but if it were me, I'd replace the water pump impeller. You don't know the history on it, and how close it is to having permanently folded lobes, or bits breaking off, and if it comes apart in there, there will be rubber bits clogging water passages in the engine, and that can be very hard to clean out. Every boat I've bought, including one with a small diesel inboard, had really bad impellers, and on the advice of my FIL (50 years power boating exp., and doing almost all of the maintenance), first thing I did was to change them. Every single one was neglected, and the one in the diesel had long cracks and was on the verge of coming apart. Just sayin'.

C Buchs wrote:There are two batteries. I not sure of the age or how they are wired. I was surprised that there isn't a 1-2-both switch. The previous owner kept a good file with all the manuals on board, but there isn't a wiring diagram.

They could be 6V, and wired in series, or 12V and wired in parallel. Or one is house, and the other is start, with a charge relay. Or any of a number of configurations. If you're unclear as to how they're connected, snap a picture with the lids off the battery boxes and post it here. Shouldn't be difficult to identify what you have.

And I'm surprised there's not even a disconnect. I have a 1/2/both/off switch and two batts, and I disconnect the batteries any time I'm not on the boat. Without a bilge pump, there's no reason to have the electrical system live, and a small chance something could go south in the wiring, so off is how the system spends most of its life.