How do people have but not know their own boats?

[bronze_10]

So today my family and I went out on KERR Lake in NC. While cruising along at our normal blistering pace of 25 MPH i had a Monterrey 204 blow past me with an older husband and wife on board. They were prob running close to 40 mph. About 10 min later we see them sitting in the middle of the lake with the engine hatch open. I don't like passing people who may be broken down. He stated the boat with a 4.3 mercruser in it died under power... they heard a pop and the engine shut off at 40 mph. We drifted near by and i tried to help him trouble shoot it. He had power to everything but the gauges and when trying to start it everything was dead. So i swam over and got on his boat and started helping him.. He said i think my battery is dead and proceeds to change it out with another old car battery... I explain i worry that the boat was running and then quit so i doubt it was the battery unless the engine is not charging the battery or something like that. But he continued with the battery swap until he realized the posts were not the same and it would not work. He put the original battery back in and we began trouble shooting from there.. I asked him where are your fuses or breakers. He said... i don't know. I said it seems a fuse or something is not allowing power to the engine. He stated he was unaware of any fuses. So i looked below the steering wheel and saw a long row of circuit breakers and pointed to them. He said, i don't know what those are. So i explained to him what they were and how to check them... they all were good. We searched the engine bay and could not find anything. So while trouble shooting in my mind i remember him saying something about forgetting to turn off the power switch but he charged the battery before he came out. So thinking maybe the battery switch is bad or something. His wife showed me where the battery switch was located. Voila!! three breakers, one says ignition right beside the battery switch.... like, made into the switch. I checked it and sure enough it was tripped!!.. I reset it and the motor started immediately. I asked them casually how long they owned the boat, thinking maybe they haven't had it long. They said they bought it new in 2014 and use it every summer!! they have owned this boat for 4 years and don't know where anything is located!! .. well uhh.... ok then... ill just swim back to my boat! have a nice day.

 

[Wayloncle]

Good on you for helping them out!

I always at least offer assistance if it looks like someone needs it, it bothers me if I don't at least ask.

 

[atldude]

The guy I bought my boat from was the nicest guy ever but thought the fuel vent line fitting was just a cool chrome accent .. .. when we went over the boat together he had no idea about anything aside from what's on the dash. I sat there in dismay when I realized I knew more about the boat just reading this forum for a few hours prior to meeting up...

 

[Eric Ballard]

Ya that's crazy. I have a friend who has a pontoon boat and he knows very little about it. He is constantly calling me when he has issues or expects me to fix/troibleshoot something when we use his boat together.

Crazy for sure...

 

[Julian]

I think many boaters are this way. They want to use their boat the same way they use their car....get in and drive it. This is especially true for inland lake boaters. It is when boaters like this go offshore that things go bad. @bronze_10 glad you were able to diagnose and turn on their boat! LOL

 

[Lake_Spray]

...They want to use their boat the same way they use their car....get in and drive it....

Unfortunately true and often dangerous. Kudos to @bronze_10 for being a good boating ambassador.

 

[Gym]

Nice job @bronze_10. Unfortunately I have become the boat guru amongst my boating friends thanks to this forum and my electro-mechanical skills. I to am mystified how boaters, including my friends, can be operating expensive boats on the ocean with so little knowledge of their equipment.

 

[Tobes]

I wonder how people can own boats and not know how to back them into the water. I wonder how people don't know how to load/unload their boat by themselves. I wonder why people go on the water unprepared.

Just because someone owns a boat does not mean they are smart. Think about people you work with and how many, with or without a degree, suck at what they do. Then think of those people making the same money as you and owning a boat. Intelligent people with common sense are becoming a rarity.

 

[96Pirate]

Nice job @bronze_10. This is similar to people and their cars too. As @Julian stated a lot of people just want to jump in, turn it on and drive away. When everything is great, no issues. It's when something goes wrong, call AAA or Seatow. Or get help from a nice fella!

 

[Ilmmct]

@bronze_10 you thinking about buying a Monterrey 204 w/a Mercrusier engine now ... 3 trouble free years, before today ;-) ... get in start it up and put her away wet. Nice diagnostics and pay-it-forward boating!

 

[bronze_10]

lol no... however, years ago when we started looking at boats we did look at one just like that one.