posted July 14, 2003 01:38 PM            

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Well the weather was perfect. Wind blowing at 5 to 10 mph. Waves 1-3 feet on Lake Huron. I started the day out by testing the outboard on my dad's fishing boat. It started on the second pull. Ran like a champ! Thing were looking good. My dad and I rigged the boat on Saturday so we were confidant with that. Al last we hook the trailer up and drive six miles north of my parents place to the Lexington Harbor. That's about 22 miles notrth of Port Huron MI. The place is packed and after we rigged the boat in the lot we were nineth in line to launch. When we fianly get the boat in the water there is no place left for me to park my van. I had to drive a couple of blocks away to a satilite lot. We shove off with a paddle and get facing out. One pull and my little four horse fires right up. I ask my dad to let me know if I'm going to hit anything and pop it into gear. The throttle sticks in high and while I've got my back to the bow trying to get the RPM's down my dad must have not been looking either because CRASH!! We hit a dock on the other side of the harbor. Thank God it was a dock and not a $200,000 boat. Still it was very embarrassing! After we hit the dock the motor just quit. I tried and tried to restart it but no luck. I thought maybe I should double check to make sure there's gas in there. I go to remove the gas cap and plunk! It falls into the harbor and sinks FAST! I looked at my dad and he knew as sure as I was his son that I was finshed for the day. Without a word we both picked up a paddle and headed back to the dock with everybody staring. We got the boat back on the trailer and pulled it up to the teardown area. I pulled the drain plug and a ton of water came rushing out. I guess I'm taking on water somewhere?.?. I need to get the boat flipped over so I can give her a real good inspection. Other problems include a bend in the bottom of my mast that doesn't look that bad until the boat is rigged. Then it is REALLY bent to the starboard side. I don't know how it will effect performance because I still havent got the sails up while in the water. It's lucky I didn't decide to paddle out of that harbor and give it a try. We probably would've sank. Does any one out there have any sugestions on who I might call about getting my mast bent back? How about where I can get a gas cap for my 1970 something Chrysler 4 horse. I've been Googling like crazy with no luck. I guess I really got taken o this boat. The seller told me he used her all last year and it never took on water. he also said the bend in the mast was so slight that you couldn't even tell if you didn't know about it. I was just so excited about getting a boat I didn't take the time to really look it over. It's a lesson I know I'll never forget. I hope at least the experience will make others smile as they read about it. Although it was no fun for me I'm sure it was hilarious from the outside looking in. No more public harbor launches for me on a weekend....

ntodd, CL16 #425

posted July 22, 2003 12:55 PM            

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ntodd...i feel you pain man. this story sounds like something that could easily happen to any of us (at least me).

my Code40 had a serious bow in the mast when i got it. it lookede like someone had stored it under a snow-laden tarp for several winters and it took on the shape caused by the weight. after asking around i settled on a seemingly crude fix.
i laid out the mast, bow up,on a flat area on my lawn and placed 3/4" blocks of wood under the mast about 8' from the centre of the bow. i gently eased my full body weight of 195 lbs right in the centre of the "bend" and gently "bounced". i could actually kinda sense if i was doing any damage. i then got off and eyeballed down the length of the track to see it had improved. i placed a couple more blocks in the stack and repeated until it was very close to straight.
i hope this helps. =)