| (no subject) |
[Jan. 28th, 2012|11:46 am] |
I finally sold that boat. That was the worst experience I have ever had with a boat. It cost thousands of dollars to fix, and still they didn't fix it. Every time I went to the boat shop, they would hand me a bill and the keys, and say it was working great. After paying the bill, I would start the boat up and take it slowly out of the marina. Every time I pushed down on the gas, it would just shudder, sputter, and die.
It was getting to be totally depressing, expecially when I would get my bill for the dock fees every month. I was paying for this thing for months, and couldn't even use it. I was almost daily doing something about repairing or trying to sell it for the last 3 months. I put it on ebay last week, and described it as needs fixing, AS IS.
Someone bought it. They came down from Idaho to pick it up. They wanted to buy the trailer for it also. When he got here, we had to drive the boat about 10 miles from the marina where it was, to where the launch ramp was located. It ran great at about 6 miles per hour, but wouldn't go any faster. I took a photo of him driveing it away, but I have to figure out how to get it out of my phone now.
That whole ordeal felt like having a monkey surgically removed from my back. I think it took half my back with it. The half with my wallet in it. I have had many strange experiences with boats, like driving backwards 30 miles out in the ocean because the foreward gear went out, or diving into the water 5 miles offshore when my boat was on fire, but this is one experience I never want to happen again. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 13th, 2012|08:11 pm] |
My boat is still not sold, and not fixed. The mechanic fixed the valves that were loose, by installing new stud bolts in the heads, then put it all back together, ran it and said it was fixed. I went doen to the marina and took it out into the ocean. Again it wouldn't get up on plane.
I came back into the marina, and checked the engine. Some spark plug wires were off, so I put them back on and took it back out for a test run. Same thing...idles fine, but shakes and sputters when under power to go faster.
I went back to the boat shop, and the mechanic said it was definetly the coil. He gave me a new one, and I went back and installed it. When I took it out it did the same thing as always. I then called him from the boat and gave him a second by second play of what the boat was doing. Then he said it was definetly a fuel problem. That's what I thought from the start.
I had replaced the fuel filter last week, but he told me there was another filter on the line at the motor. I didn't even know there was another filter, so I looked for it. Yep. There is another one under the motor, behind the motor mount all the way on the bottom of the boat. It's hard enough to see, and probably a nightmare to get at to replace. He's going to do that tomorrow. Please let this be the fix. I am so tired of dumping money into this boat, and not even being able to use it. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 9th, 2012|06:44 pm] |
I had to pay $1600 to fix the motor on my boat. They had to put new exhaust manifolds on it. When he was through, I listed it on ebay the same day. It sold the next week, but the buyer was from Seattle, and waited for another two weeks to pick it up.
I ran it a couple of times to make sure it was fixed, but when he came to pick it up it wouldn't work right again. Arrrgh. This boat is haunted, and refuses to let me sell it. Usually when it wouldn't work, there was more than one thing wrong at the same time. That drives me crazy trying to figure out what it is.
I found out what it was this time today. One of the spark plug wires was damaged by the repair guy, and fell off. That caused a popping noise. Also, when water from the exhaust manifold got into the cylinders, it held the valves shut and raised the lifters at the same time. That caused the stud that held two rockers to lift up slightly. That made the valves not open all the way, so the engine wouldn't go faster than an idle.
When the buyer got here to try it out, it wouldn't work right, so he went back to Seattle. He later called and said he still wanted the boat, when it is fixed. He got it for a good price, and really liked the boat. It was in great condition, except for the motor. He wants me to pay his airline ticket to come here to test it again. Then he is going to take it here to a friend's canvas shop and have new canvas top made for it, and will pick it up in a couple of weeks.
I hope it works this time. I have just about fixed anything that can go wrong at least once, some things twice. Sometimes I think it is haunted. There are just too many coincedences with this boat.
Last week I had to get the trailer for it out of the back yard. It is huge, and very heavy, and in a tight spot. It usually takes me 2 hours to pull it foreward around 10 feet, and pivot it 90 degrees, onto the RV driveway. This time the electric winch I use, didn't work, and I had to move it manually. Then there was a fire down the street and the news helicopters were hovering above my yard for an hour. I couldn't hear myself think. Then when the fire was out, they found a body, and then all the news stations were there above me for another two hours. When I finally got it turned and on the driveway, the trailer jack broke a gear when hooking it on my hitch ball. Getting that replaced was another ordeal. Anything even remotely connected with that boat has been a total fiasco anytime I get near it. I would say it's karma, but I haven't done anything wrong for a long time, so it must just be haunted. |
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| Possums |
[Dec. 27th, 2011|11:33 pm] |
I think my house is invaded by possums. I was coming home last week late at night, and almost tripped over one walking up to my front porch. They are really slow. It just ducked in some bushes.
They have been stripping the oranges off my trees before they are even ripe.
I just heard a commotion in the attic, and climbed up to look. There was the beady eyes of a possum glowing in the back. I don't know how he got up there. I probably left the side garage door open one night and it came in. There would really be no way it could get there except through the garage. No idea how long it's been there either.
I didn't want to shoot it. Don't really like possum and grits. I have to find one of those traps and relocate it. I don't know what to bait the trap with. Probably oranges, I know it eats them. It might be really hungry if it's been up there a week or so.
It looked fuzzy and cute, but I've seen them in cages before, and they are meaner than snakes. Hissing and spitting at you if you get close. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 5th, 2011|02:33 pm] |
More bad news about my boat. There is water in the oil, and water in the cylinders. That is almost sure a bad head gasket, which was just replaced when they did a valve job last summer. No matter what shop I take it to, incompetence is rampant.
I am still planing to get rid of the boat, but now I have to get it repaired first, again. This thing just seems like a plague that will never end. It seems that the new starter that I replaced wasn't bad after all, because water in the cylinder wouldn't let the engine turn over.
The boat is back at the dock, and won't ever run, so it will have to be towed 10 miles to Marina Del Rey launch ramp. I just got the boat trailer back in the back yard last week, and it will take another two days to get it out again.
Then, last week I went to an auction and bought another boat. It is a 20' FourWinns. Needs a lot of cleaning up, and probably some engine work, but it will make a nice lake boat for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. I only had to pay $200 for it, so I am way ahead on any repair costs, and this one I can do the repairs myself. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 25th, 2011|09:19 pm] |
I've had it with my boat. I'm selling it. It has been such a hassel that I don't use it much anymore, and I hate that.
At the end of last year, the hydraulic lines blew out on the trim, and it had to be taken out of the water to fix. They said it was ok, but it wasn't, and when I went to use it Memorial Day it broke down. I had to take it out again to fix the motor, and finally got to use it for the week of 4th of July. Then on Labor Day weekend it blew out the hydraulic lines again, and had to be pulled out again. The shop I took it to this time said the last guy installed the low pressure line on the high pressure side, and it blew out. I just tried to use it for the Thanksgiving weekend, and all the other problems that caused water in the bilge corroded the starter, and ruined this weekend.
This boat was a lemon from the start. It has had around $20,000 in repairs in it's 9 years, starting with replacing the outdrive before it was even a year old. As soon as I can replace the starter it is for sale. I tried calling every boat repair place for 100 miles, and they are all closed for the long weekend. I will order one on ebay monday. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 22nd, 2011|09:34 pm] |
I went to Catalina Island this week in my boat. I had some work done on the motor a couple of months ago. Seems like every time I take it out something breaks again. This time the hydraulic line that I had replaced less than a year ago busted again. The bilge is full of oil.
I will have to pull it out of the water and take it in to the shop again. I think I will try selling that boat after it is fixed. It just costs too much money to fix all the time. I have another 25' Sea Ray in the back yard that I can use just as well, and it uses way less gas than this gas hog.
I got a ticket in the mail from a city about 100 miles south of here. It said I was using the street for storage??? I haven't been in that town for around 10 years. The license number of the vehicle was not even mine!! It was off by 2 numbers. I sent them a reply and photo of my license plate, but they said I had to pay anyway. I told them they would have to come and get it. I also told them that if they find the vehicle on the street again, they could keep it. I might have to file a stolen vehicle report on it to clear my name. If they say it's mine, and I don't have it, then they should have to find it for me.
Last month I was anchored in my boat at Santa Rosa Island, when a storm came up. The wind was blowing around 50mph from behind, and swells hitting us from the front 4-6' high. I thought the rear anchor rope would bust at times. It held, but the front anchor was bent almost sideways. It lasted until about 1:00 am. It was rough the next day, so we got out of there and went back to Santa Cruz Island for the rest of the week. |
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| Auctions |
[Apr. 29th, 2011|09:31 pm] |
I went to some a storage auction this morning that I thought would not be attended by many people. Most of the big money bidders showed up thinking the same thing. I knew nothing would be reasonably priced there, so I took off and just made it to another auction about 40 miles away.
Turned out there was nothing good there either, and I didn't even bid on anything. I talked to someone at the first auction, and he said the prices were crazy there, and mostly they were just selling trash. There were at least 3 people that just gambol that there is something hidden in a box that is extremely valuable. It is a sickness with some people.
Earlier this week I bought some stuff. One I paid $10 for. It was a bunch of giant plastic boxes 3'x4'x1', foam padded. I took a chance I could figure a way to sell them. For $10 I couldn't lose.
I bought another room with about 25 boxes of Mary Kay cosmetics in it. I took those to a thrift store, and he is selling it for me. I bought two more rooms full of old furniture and boxes. I gave those to my friend who has an auction house. He picks it all up and sells it for me at his auction, piece by piece. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 11th, 2011|07:24 pm] |
Last week I took my inflatable boat down the Colorado River. They were letting a lot of water out of the dam, and it was running really fast. That and the wind made some pretty high waves in some places.
We only stayed one night, and decided it was too much trouble to set up our tents in the high winds, and just went back to the launch ramp instead. We ran about 130 miles total in two days. The mosquitoes were attacking us at the campground. Still, it was a great time.
This weekend there is a swap meet at Marina Del Rey, for boat stuff only. I have a ton of extra boat parts, fishing gear, scuba equipment, and camping gear that I will be selling there. I started getting all of it together, and was suprised that my van is mostly full, and I haven't even got half of it out yet.
I will be trying to sell one of my inflatable boats, an aluminum boat and trailer, and an inflatable Kayak. I need to get rid of at least 2 outboard motors from the garage too, three if I can get at the other one. It's under a big pile of tools and junk. |
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| storage auctions |
[Mar. 31st, 2011|09:33 pm] |
What a farce those storage auction shows are! I went to a place that used to have a nice auction every couple of months. It turned out they were filming one of those storage shows there today. Ruined the normal auction for the regular people.
They had 4 different cameras running all around filming people. I wish I had worn my "Up Yours" tee shirt. The producer guy was telling everybody how to act and make noise when there was something good in the room, and when to cheer. It usually takes about 45 minutes to sell the 11 storage rooms they had. It took over 2 hours to do only 5 today. I left early.
The two actors that were their lead characters on the show were acting like they hated each other, and bidding the other person up for meanness. Nobody in their right mind would bid $3500 for the room they bought with a few milk crates of junk, and trashy belongings in there. Normally that room would have been sold for less than $100. But that don't make good TV.
Of course when they film the actor going into the room, he will "find" something valuable in one of the boxes. I've been doing this for many years, and know that you almost never find anything good in that kind of room.
I have watched for the last few months, people who see these shows, then come to the auctions and pay huge prices for junk, that the auctioneer intimates is full of treasure. Most of them have not only not found it, they could never even break even selling that junk. Usually they realize too late their mistake, and don't come back to another auction. This auctioneer has recked this business for all the people that normally do this kind of work. Most storage companies won't let him on their property. |
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dockrat's journal