Solo Boating?
04-17-2012, 02:46 PM
#21
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Years ago with my old boat, I used to go out in the bay by myself constantly. During the week after work, the launch ramp is only a mile from storage so it was nice to go blow off some steam and get some city sights in while cruising. Great to be able to just enjoy running the boat without having anyone else there to entertain. I haven't taken the new boat out alone yet but I'm planning on it. Maybe a day trip early in the season to the lake alone. **** - I might even be able to launch before noon if I don't have to wait on other people. 
04-17-2012, 04:22 PM
#24
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Tiline, KY
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I love boating by myself. No people complaining about the music you listen to, no yelling, no tripping over people and going as fast or as slow as I want. I take my time idling for a while, opening the hatch and just looking at everything while its running at idle. Something good about being by yourself at times. A LOT of my best boating days were always ruined by so call drunk friends by the end of the day.
04-17-2012, 04:32 PM
#25
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I like going for car rides by myself and I love going for boat rides by myself...
04-17-2012, 04:40 PM
#26
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About 6 or 7 years ago I got to the lake early for a 3 day weekend with friends. I decided to launch and take a cruise alone before anyone else showed up. Shut the boat down for a few minutes to chill and organize some gear. When I tried to fire it up - nothing.
It was a bit choppy and windy out as I was trying to figure out what was happening. Lifted the hatch and climbed into the engine bay with a beer in hand, determined to utilize my non-existent mechanical skills to fix this thing. Didn't help that I was slowly drifiting towards a rocky island. No radio, no anchor, and nobody in sight.
As I'm getting sick while being tossed around in the windblown chop, I'm literally just staring at and fumbling with anything around the motor. I finally starting peeking underneath towards the starter and found 6 wires of varying gauge just laying in the bilge. This can't be good. With the rocky shore now approaching fast and 3 beers deep, I finally figured out what happened. Don't ask me why, but the boat was rigged with 6 wires that were all connected to the now broken stud on the starter soleniod. It may have had 3 threads remaining.
I did what any other clueless solo boater would do praying for luck. I grabbed a 2' section of 12 gauge wire out of my tool bag, connected one end to the 6 wires and the other to the remaining threads on the starter solenoid stud. Hit the key and sure as hell the thing fired right up and I was outta there. I ended up roughly 30' from the rocks before I was able to start back up and leave.
Great solo boating day. Not sure what anyone could have done to help except drink beer (unless they had skills a notch better than mine).
It was a bit choppy and windy out as I was trying to figure out what was happening. Lifted the hatch and climbed into the engine bay with a beer in hand, determined to utilize my non-existent mechanical skills to fix this thing. Didn't help that I was slowly drifiting towards a rocky island. No radio, no anchor, and nobody in sight.
As I'm getting sick while being tossed around in the windblown chop, I'm literally just staring at and fumbling with anything around the motor. I finally starting peeking underneath towards the starter and found 6 wires of varying gauge just laying in the bilge. This can't be good. With the rocky shore now approaching fast and 3 beers deep, I finally figured out what happened. Don't ask me why, but the boat was rigged with 6 wires that were all connected to the now broken stud on the starter soleniod. It may have had 3 threads remaining.
I did what any other clueless solo boater would do praying for luck. I grabbed a 2' section of 12 gauge wire out of my tool bag, connected one end to the 6 wires and the other to the remaining threads on the starter solenoid stud. Hit the key and sure as hell the thing fired right up and I was outta there. I ended up roughly 30' from the rocks before I was able to start back up and leave.
Great solo boating day. Not sure what anyone could have done to help except drink beer (unless they had skills a notch better than mine).
04-17-2012, 07:39 PM
#30
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Chicago, IL
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I don't get the chance to go out alone very often, but I always have a blast when I do. My guests generally prefer to just cruise around, so I don't tend to push it much but I like to whip her a lil' harder when it's just me.
