Dodged a (figurative) Bullet

[Ed]

So, we canceled on the BEER Cruise at the last minute due to a problem on Monday requiring us to physically be in North GA.  Decided to do a Modified Half Toona on Lake Allatoona.  A real Half Toona is sailing from Harbor Town Marina to either end of the lake and back (maybe 20 miles total) without motoring.  Our plan was to Launch near Harbor Town and sail east but use the motor to go to both the bar/restaurants on the east end of the lake (one going and one coming back) and spend Friday night in Sweetwater Cove and Saturday night after the SWSC raft up anchored near the Atlanta Yacht Club.  I think it was Charles Brennan who coined the phrase about outboard engines, "You can always depend on an outboard, to fail at the most inopportune time" or words to that effect. We launched and motored a few hundred feet out of Gault's ferry and set sail for the east end of the lake.  The motor worked flawlessly for that 200 feet. Winds built steadily but blowing from all points of sail, or so it seemed.  They started out at 2 or 3kts and built to 10-15kts with gusts to 20. About 12pm we decided to go to JD's for lunch and then go to the end of lake. Sailed downwind into the long cove where the restaurant is, with a bridge we cannot fit under with masts up, just past it.  We came within 75 feet of the dock near the restaurant wing on wing with 15kt winds gusting to 20kts. Went to start the motor before turning into wind to drop sail and our 3 month old motor (less than 3 hours on it) hit once and refused to start after. Tacked and sailed back out of the cove, 10 tacks or so, to a semi protected inlet. Anchored and started troubleshooting the motor. Found out my plug wrench was for a much bigger size spark plug so I couldn't fix what I thought was a fouled plug (I got the kit that came with this engine out of the folder as soon as I got home and put it in the boat, and yes, it was a fouled plug). Sailed off the hook with my darling wife handling the Bruce anchor on the bow skillfully, tacked out to the channel, and sailed back to Gault's Ferry. Becky swam/pulled the boat the last 20-30 feet to the Courtesy Dock, and we pulled out. Sailing is an adventure!

[Charles Brennan]

Ed, I believe Brennan's Motor Dictum states:
"The Only Thing A Motor Does Reliably, Is Fail."

Thank you for relating the twelve-thousandth, eight hundred and fifty-third proof of the dictum.   

Charles Brennan

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Huh.  I guess I haven't read anything about this year's BEER Cruise here.  Not even when it was planned.  Guess they've just moved away from the TSBB.

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Also, I'm glad you two could get back ok.  Becky's a trooper.

[CapnK]

Is your new Becky outboard a 4 stroke or electric?

Had to tow my CP-23 back in a few hundred yards one time due to a short. Used my Walker Bay 8 and oars. Thank heavens for slack tide! Glad you dodged the bullet!

[Timm R Oday25]

Last fall ,I went down to Milwaukee to pull our Oday for the season .
The outboard would start and only run for a minute or two before dying .
I could smell gas strongly . It was only when I pulled the engine cowl that I could understand
the problem . THe brand new fuel pump had plastic barb fittings . One of them had broken off !
I tied the Oday to the back of our dinghy .
I'm thinking it took the better part of two hours of rowning the dinghy ,
while towing the Oday to make it back to the ramp .
It didn't help that the Oday kept wandering off from side to side .
I even bent the aluminum oars . Now ,even the dinghy has a new Yamaha 2.5 motor

[Norm L.]

Just like the good old Aubrey and Hornblower days, towing the ship to safety.
I hope you got an extra bit-o-grog when you were done.

I'm ready for that after 30 minutes on the water rowing machine.