Yesterday I took my Parker out of winter storage for its first trip of the year. I don't own a trailer, so I have my Parker dealer winterize the boat and put it on blocks for the winter. This spring, I waited too long to ask for a launch date so I had to settle for the first weekend in May.
The dealer had the boat tied up at a nearby marina. I reinstalled the electronics, stowed some gear and took off. The first 10 minutes were a long ride through a 6 mph zone. When I finally hit open water, I sped up and immediately heard a rythmic banging sound from the stern that I have never heard before with this boat. I slowed down 3 times and checked all the storage bins to see if anything was loose and banging around. That was not the problem. I turned the engine off and took the cowling off, thinking that perhaps the mechanic had left a wrench inside. That was not the problem either.
Finally, as I replaced the cowling, I looked on the back side of the transom and saw the the transducer had broken loose from its mount (undoubtedly during servicing or launching by the dealer). It was hanging by its cable, which was fastened about a foot up the transom by a screw fastener. Once my speed picked up, the transducer behaved like a pendulum that banged each time it hit the hull.
I was able to slide the loose cable up through several screw fasteners so that the transducer did not bang anymore. However, in this position, I could not get a bottom signal. Fortunately, I had left the GPS track from my final trip to the marina last December on the machine. I just followed my previous track in reverse to make sure I did not get in too shallow.
I returned to the boat today and quickly repaired the broken transducer bracket (easily done on a boat lift but no possible on the water).
I was a bit perturbed by that event. :x I didn't notice the second issue until I had reached my dock 50 minutes later. I have a live well beneath the leaning post. I never use it as a live well -- instead it is a storage bin. In addition to things like brushes, rags, bait dishes, and a cutting board, I had 4 Plano tackle trays plus a rain suit in the bin yesterday. Upon reaching the dock, I noticed that the live well was filled to the brim with water. I never touch the live well pump switch intentionally. Yesterday I must have bumped the switch accidentally. In any case, the well was not draining because a plastic lid from a bait dish had completely blocked the drainhole. :evil:
I had to remove all the items from the live well, clear the plastic from the drainhole, turn on the drain pump, then reload the gear. The rain suit and tackle trays had to be taken home for freshwater rinsing and drying.
I hope that these two minor but annoying events willl satiate Murphy for a while and I can have some issue-free boating for a while.
The dealer had the boat tied up at a nearby marina. I reinstalled the electronics, stowed some gear and took off. The first 10 minutes were a long ride through a 6 mph zone. When I finally hit open water, I sped up and immediately heard a rythmic banging sound from the stern that I have never heard before with this boat. I slowed down 3 times and checked all the storage bins to see if anything was loose and banging around. That was not the problem. I turned the engine off and took the cowling off, thinking that perhaps the mechanic had left a wrench inside. That was not the problem either.
Finally, as I replaced the cowling, I looked on the back side of the transom and saw the the transducer had broken loose from its mount (undoubtedly during servicing or launching by the dealer). It was hanging by its cable, which was fastened about a foot up the transom by a screw fastener. Once my speed picked up, the transducer behaved like a pendulum that banged each time it hit the hull.
I was able to slide the loose cable up through several screw fasteners so that the transducer did not bang anymore. However, in this position, I could not get a bottom signal. Fortunately, I had left the GPS track from my final trip to the marina last December on the machine. I just followed my previous track in reverse to make sure I did not get in too shallow.
I returned to the boat today and quickly repaired the broken transducer bracket (easily done on a boat lift but no possible on the water).
I was a bit perturbed by that event. :x I didn't notice the second issue until I had reached my dock 50 minutes later. I have a live well beneath the leaning post. I never use it as a live well -- instead it is a storage bin. In addition to things like brushes, rags, bait dishes, and a cutting board, I had 4 Plano tackle trays plus a rain suit in the bin yesterday. Upon reaching the dock, I noticed that the live well was filled to the brim with water. I never touch the live well pump switch intentionally. Yesterday I must have bumped the switch accidentally. In any case, the well was not draining because a plastic lid from a bait dish had completely blocked the drainhole. :evil:
I had to remove all the items from the live well, clear the plastic from the drainhole, turn on the drain pump, then reload the gear. The rain suit and tackle trays had to be taken home for freshwater rinsing and drying.
I hope that these two minor but annoying events willl satiate Murphy for a while and I can have some issue-free boating for a while.
