Remember that show....

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,669
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
Remember that show….

'That Was The Week That Was", or abbreviated TW3? Many of you are probably not old enough to remember it, but was a great show, basically a highlight of the prior week’s activities and headlines.

Well this past week could be titled “That Was The Cruise That Almost Was”. Let me explain.

My wife and I took my boat down 235 miles on the Columbia River to Portland, OR to have some canvas work done. That was about a month ago. We met with the canvas guy who, by the way, had done canvas work for me twice before and I knew the quality of his work and he was priced right. He said it should take him about 2-3 weeks to have it all done. I gave him a deposit and we drove home.

TYEE Yacht Club, in Portland, was kind enough to let me keep my boat at their docks because we have reciprocal moorage privileges with them, but that usually entails a 2-3 day stay. They went way beyond the call of duty to let me keep it there that long.

Then, after repeated calls with the canvas guy he finally said that he would not have the job done by the time we needed to pick up the boat so he would arrange (on his nickel) to drive up here and complete the job after I got the boat home.

So Saturday morning a friend who had agreed to help me bring the boat back and I drove to Portland to retrieve it. We got to the boat just fine, got our stuff unloaded without issues. I fired up the engines and they both started just fine. Now, keep in mind that the place where TYEE had let me keep the boat did not have power available, so the boat had been there for a month without being hooked to power. I had this fear that we’d get down there and the engines wouldn’t start, but that was all for naught.

But what we didn’t have was any 120V power, nor did we have any 12VDC or 24VDC power to the instruments, no VHF, no chart plotter, etc. But what we did have was a good chart book and I’d been up and down the river a few times before so was pretty familiar with its twists and turns.

We thanked the commodore of TYEE for extending their hospitality and pulled out, intending to go a couple of miles downstream to another yacht club (Columbia River Yacht Club) to fuel up. We got in and tied to their fuel dock only to realize that the instructions to their fuel pump controls were on my cell phone which was still in the rental car which, in all the confusion about not having power, we had forgotten to take back to Enterprise. This gets better. So Dave stayed with the boat, my plan was to call him with the codes as soon as I got my phone so he could fuel me up.

So, as luck would have it there was a boat from TowBoatUS there fueling up. I begged and pleaded with him for a ride up to TYEE so I could return the car. He agreed and gave me the ride, I tipped him $20 for his kindness and I returned the car. I called Dave, he wrote down the codes and all was right with the world. Well, you know those guys from Enterprise, the “We’ll pick you up” guys, when I got there with the car and asked for a ride back he said he couldn’t but if I called Uber he’d take the Uber charge off my rental bill. That worked for me.

So back to the other CRYC, only to face another issue. CRYC’s fuel dock can’t be reached from land. Only by boat, but my boat was already at the fuel dock. So we found a willing boater who gave me a 100yard lift from one dock to the fuel dock.

Meanwhile Dave had pumped ~330 gallons of diesel into the boat, we fired up the engines and headed out. Our original plan was to make the noon upstream lock at Bonneville, which was about 30 miles upstream against about a 4kt current. So we headed out, running on plane, headed for the dam.

Oh, and did I mention we had no VHF? But I did have their phone number so I called them, explained the situation to them and told them we’d be there by 3:00, the next upstream lockage. We got there right at 3:00, I called them on the phone and told them we were there, got the green light to enter and got in and tied up without any issues.

After a fast ride up, we left the lock right at 3:30 and headed to The Dalles, OR where we were going to spend the night. It’s a 45 mile run and we got there right at 5:30. 45 miles in 2 hours meant we were running at 22.5kts Speed Over Ground. Not too bad figuring we were fighting the current.

So, for this next bit of fun and games, here’s an overhead shot of The Dalles YC docks. I’ve stayed here before and it’s been great. Not so much this time.

The_Dalles_YC.jpg


We needed to reset our fenders so I went into neutral on both engines, stopped in mid-river and both of us went below to readjust the fender heights. As I was doing that I looked up and we were headed quickly toward the south shore which was a rock breakwater outside the marina. I ran up to the upper helm and tried to back us away from the rocks but couldn’t get the port engine to respond. It either was in forward gear or if I tried to bring it to neutral, it shut off. I fiddled with it for a couple of minutes and after deciding there was no other option, we headed into the marina.

As luck would have it, there was a party going on right on the docks where we had to pass by. Oh, and did I mention that I had to come in under power to maintain both engines running, and we were coming in HOT as they would say in Top Gun? The people at the party started yelling at us to slow down. I tried to explain as I roared by that I had an engine malfunctioning and couldn’t slow down. Also, there happened to be two wakeboard boats tied to the docks right in front of those two corner boat houses.

Half the people on the boathouse docks were still yelling for us to slow down, the other half were yelling “Don’t hit my frickin’ boat” and a few others were yelling other stuff. The distance between those two corner boat houses and the rock breakwater is about 60’. The distance between the boat houses and the docks is about 100’. In that short space I did two FULL 360* circles while trying to get the boat slowed down and under control. Now the yelling had changed to “HOOOOOLLLLYYYY SHHHHIIIITTT” as in “were gonna see one helluva crash here”.

I finally got the boat under some semblance of control and managed to get between the docks and the rock breakwater and headed toward the open end that’s east of the docks. We did two more FULL 360* turns in that space (it’s about 125’ from the docks to shore) before I finally got the boat slowed down and turned parallel to the long dock where we side tied for the night. Here’s what that looked like….

The_Dalles_YC_2.jpg


So, being the prudent mariners we were, we first cracked a beer except it was a warm beer because there was no refrigeration working on the boat. We tried to hook up to shore power. They had a 50A 240VAC connection but we couldn’t get anything out of it. The GFI breaker didn’t trip but there was no power. A guy came over from the yacht club and told us we basically were out of luck because they had rewired the docks to comply with the new power regs and nothing had worked since they rewired it. Great.

Then we started troubleshooting to see what we could figure out what we could do. We ended up hooking up a connection to their 30A 120VAC connection and hooked a regular extension cord to it and brought it into the boat, but as soon as I tried to plug it into a wall socked the GFI on the dock tripped. So we just used the extension cord to charge up the cell phones and plugged in the ice maker so we’d have some ice.

I talked with my mechanic on Saturday evening and he couldn’t give us any real troubleshooting ideas. We called a friend from our yacht club who drove down Sunday morning to pick us up and bring our sorry butts home. So to make a long story short, we are back home and the boat is still in The Dalles.

The boat is going to be there for awhile because Friday my wife and I are boarding a jet to Zurich for a 2 week Viking River Cruise that will eventually drop us in Paris for 4 days there. I gave the mechanic my phone number so he could call me if he needs to get in touch with me.

So what an adventure this trip turned out to be. I’m actually a bit happy to be heading out of town for a much needed vacation, but there’s a part of me that’s going to be worried about what’s going on with the boat.

Life is good.
 
Look at the bright side....

You own a nice big boat
You didn't anything....or anybody
You're going on vacation
Your boat should be fixed when you get back.

Enjoy the cruise and let me know how it was. We are planning one in 2 years when my wife retires.
Shawn
 
Ahhh.... the joys of boating.........
We’ve all either been there, or will be there some day.
Enjoy your trip and worry about the boat when you get back.
 
Wow, I've been waiting to hear how the canvas turned out and about the return trip but this is not the story I was picturing. Have fun on your trip and hope the boat is a simple fix. Waiting for the rest of the journey. ....
 
What was that line out of 'Stripes' - "I wanna party with you cowboy!"

Sounds like a sincerely crazy day Mike.
 
That big story and not one pic of the new canvas ?!?
 
Wow what a story. Glad everyone is safe.

Would your generator start?

Do your mains have their own battery bank (probably 24v) separate from the 12v bank the provided all of the house power? If so, the house batteries could have died due to not being on the charger for a month.

Myself, I wouldn't have left TYEE YC with all of the issues you had. Having no 12v power with none of the instruments working is a recipe for disaster. Glad you are safe.
 
Glad you made it safe with no damage to life or property. I wouldn't want anyone to know I left the marina with a boat in that condition. Seems kind of remiss.
 
I was so discombobulated by all of this that in my original post I forgot to mention that the boat has hydraulic shifting and throttle controls. So it makes sense that if a hydraulic line blows you're going to lose control of those two functions on that engine. While doing some troubleshooting I went down into the engine room and found hydraulic fluid on the floor and in the bilge, beneath where the port engine controls are.

I also forgot to mention that the mechanic and his son, who also works there, are headed down early today to try to fix the boats. I sat with both of them yesterday for about 45 minutes explaining what happened, what symptoms we saw and we brainstormed about what the problems could be. Well, actually they brainstormed and I pretty much just tossed in bits of info to the discussion.

They both are familiar with the controls on my boat and I will add that they have said that my boat is the only one they would make a "house call" on to do a repair. Aside from being my mechanic, Jim is a good friend.

I do have some pics from the trip, but not really any of the canvas. There's one shot of Dave driving and you can see through the front windows and see how clear they are, but that's the only one that really shows the windows and the new upper bimini.

As to the decision to leave the marina, I'm familiar enough with the river that I felt confident in doing the trip. I knew it was not a best case scenario, but with the chart book and my familiarity with that stretch of the river, I decided to go ahead.

There was an added pressure (self imposed) that with this trip to Europe planned (we leave Thursday) I wanted to have the boat on my home turf where it would have been much easier for Jim to do the work on it. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I still think it was the correct decision given the whole circumstances.

I do a bunch of photos to upload and I'm in the process of doing that now. I'll post some of them when they get uploaded.
 
Here are some of the pics I took. These were taking in the Columbia Gorge which is supposedly one of the most scenic areas of the country. I'm inclined to agree.

IMG_0253.jpg


IMG_0254.jpg


IMG_0255.jpg


IMG_0256.jpg


IMG_0260.jpg


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Hindsight is always 20/20, but I still think it was the correct decision given the whole circumstances.

I don't know bud... all that circling and yelling? Seems rather amateurish. When my dock neighbor's throttle stuck, he took this approach to end the drama without a single circle! (but I have to admit, there was a LOT of yelling) :D

y4mZYR6-VnrPVUy1hUYZiUVN_O3Qd0flKUf14dBCcpCNrtzph9XgeGOJRQzXsI467-dz6sWDMwi3XdwkzC7dAfKRlYWYRon5w1kaiiGZLQIkaozA8e2QfLnjnV7qNFK0hfljQa6dAJrz2VuhSZbJjj0otMpvTQqeDKiWn8_X60lKYxWWhMyi_12yb5pu6ZcdKd4EyN9CbN5l1P5c72D5sdwuQ
 
RC, all I can say to your photo is "OUCH".

I'm just glad I was able to get the boat to the dock without banging anyone's fiberglass or anyone getting hurt.
 
How long did it take for your heart rate to rerun to normal?The boat above hit the wall 9 seasons ago, but I think my buddy’s heart rate still isn’t back to normal!
 
I was so dumbfounded by what had all happened in such a short time that only after things settled down did the whole impact hit me. What really struck me is what could have happened and how lucky we were that none of that did happen.

We hit the sack kind of early and I slept like a baby until about 8:00 a.m. but when I got up I still felt like I hadn't gotten enough sleep.

But to answer your question.....the next day.
 
I don't know bud... all that circling and yelling? Seems rather amateurish. When my dock neighbor's throttle stuck, he took this approach to end the drama without a single circle! (but I have to admit, there was a LOT of yelling) :D

y4mZYR6-VnrPVUy1hUYZiUVN_O3Qd0flKUf14dBCcpCNrtzph9XgeGOJRQzXsI467-dz6sWDMwi3XdwkzC7dAfKRlYWYRon5w1kaiiGZLQIkaozA8e2QfLnjnV7qNFK0hfljQa6dAJrz2VuhSZbJjj0otMpvTQqeDKiWn8_X60lKYxWWhMyi_12yb5pu6ZcdKd4EyN9CbN5l1P5c72D5sdwuQ

Wow! This guy hit so hard he threw his portable Honda generator off the bow and onto the grass!!
 
I see those beautiful new clears got christened.
Glad your ok Mike. Your mechanic sounds like a stand up Guy. I've heard you talk about him many times.
He is a stand up guy, and the kind of guy I like to have as a mechanic as well as call him my friend.
 
Paris? <Jealous> Have I mentioned how much we love that city? ;) Have a great time.
 
I thought it was about time I gave y'all an update on what was discovered with the boat, what the status is now and what needs to be done with the boat in the future. The lengthy delay between when the boat did its ballet in The Dalles Marina and now is that we had a trip to Europe already scheduled, fully paid for, and the trip insurance doesn’t cover boat repairs.

First of all, the problems with the electrical system were due to a blown AC circuit board in the inverter. It was not something the guys who installed the new batteries did.

As far as the port engine stuck in gear, the mechanic from here who normally works on the boat said he first thought it would turn out to be a control module that is mounted on the trans and controls the shifting. He took it out, disassembled it and found it in good condition. He made a few phone calls and after consulting with some Twin Disc experts they came to the conclusion that the trans needs to come out.

For that to happen the boat needs to be returned to Portland. There’s no place upriver from there that can pull the boat out of the water, and the trans removal/repair/reinstall is not something they would do with the boat in the water.

So I’m waiting for a call back from the marina in Portland that will do the repair work to see when they can get it in and the work done. I’m also waiting for a call back from my crew member to make sure he will be available to help get the boat back downstream.

Then we’ll start out, running the boat on one engine the ~95 miles downriver to the marina. That will involve going through one lock, turning to port from the Columbia to the Willamette River, then a turn to starboard to go down the Multnomah Channel and finally another turn to port to get into the boat yard’s docks.

At this point I don’t know when we’ll be able to do it or how long the repair will take once we get it to the boat yard.

I’ve pretty much written this summer’s boating off. DAMMIT!
 

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