Foiled by the Pump

[lakelandterrier]

Well I was all set for a last blast today as the weather turned out much better than forecast.

Got to the yard to find huge amount of water pooled in the cover - so much so when it flowed aft it lifted the front of the trailer off the ground Good job I keep a block of wood underneath the skeg!

Then heard the whine of the bilge pump....I always turn this off when putting the boat away to save draining the battery - well always apart from this one time! Enough power left to raise / lower engine, but nothing near enough to start the engine. At least I had the sense to check this before strapping up the trailer & towing to Brixham.

At least the Dartmouth Food Festival is on so, went into town and sampled some scoff and a few beers instead. Frustrating though!

Maybe I should invest in a bespoke / properly fitting cover that will keep the water out & fit round the A-frame instead of making the generic Random covers sort of fit!

[Daibheid]

Or learn how to pull start it? Might have saved your day.

For the easier alternative carry a jump charger = powerful enough to jumpstart a diesel they're great on an outboard and Aldi do 'em for about £40. It includes a compressor so handy for topping up trailer tyres too. Agos, Halfords etc all do 'em at varying prices.

[lakelandterrier]

I think trying to pull start a 100HP 4stroke would be challenging!

I also don't like to go out with a battery that's not charged enough to guarantee to restart the engine if required. A jump-start might get it going once, but how would it react if I needed to restart on the water?

Lesson for me...always double check everything when putting the boat away.

[RIK]

I carry a set of jump leads , I always fire engine up on the slip before launching
Then one time I launched the boat not enough power to start the engine , I did not want to recover the boat so I took battery out of the boat to the car then charged the battery for a bit ,
Put battery back in boat , started first time

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[Burtox]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

I think trying to pull start a 100HP 4stroke would be challenging!

I also don't like to go out with a battery that's not charged enough to guarantee to restart the engine if required. A jump-start might get it going once, but how would it react if I needed to restart on the water?

Lesson for me...always double check everything when putting the boat away.

You will be very surprised how easy it is to pull start. I have a 90hp 4 stroke honda that I can very easily hand pull start. The first time I started it I pulled too fast and hard, better method is dont go crazy just give it a long firm pull. I never worry about a flat battery as this bit of rope is my secondary method. Go on give it a go.