This Weekend's Good, Bad and Ugly

[JTC1016]

Overall had a great weekend.
The Good: Got out on the lake with the family Saturday afternoon and had fun on the beach. We just beat the storm coming in that night so that worked out great. I also ran in a 5k early Saturday morning at our local airport and the Sheriff Patrol had some of their toys out. That included one sweet jet boat powered by a 5.7L Mercruiser. They said on a calm day they can hit 70 mph no problem. I thought it was also interesting that they said their water canons are also powered by similar V8 jets shooting out of the water.

Sunday morning I went out and caught some nice largemouth bass. I was by myself so I had to take pics or it didn't happen.The Bad:
For the first time in my life, I forgot to put the plug in on my first launch Sunday morning. I didn't think I would ever do that. Got to my first fishing spot and heard the bilge pump kick on. That's a terrible feeling. Back to the ramp to put the plug in, no harm done. Guess I don't have the new routine down just yet.
The Ugly:
I just ordered my first spectrum patch paste kit. There were very heavy winds Sunday and the launch I used has a short dock. Coming in by myself I actually judged the wind pretty well and made a nice approach to the dock, stopping right about where I wanted to be. Killed the engines and went to try to secure the lines. But before I new it, the boat was sliding backwards and the stern swung around end of the dock. That would have been fine, just start the engines and come in again, except there were 2" bolts sticking out of the back of the no fishing/swimming sign at the end of the dock. So I ended up with one deep scratch and one nickel sized gouge. Could have been worse and should be a pretty easy fix. I might take some rubber caps and put them on those bolts for anyone else that might have an encounter with them. I already read the related posts on here for the repair but if I have questions I'll ask.
Anybody else have weekend stories?

 

[jcyamaharider]

I am digging the jet boat with the Hamilton pump!! Nice fish as well!

 

[itsdgm]

That's a cool police boat. It would be fun to take a ride on it (unless you're in custody of course )

 

[sstegh]

Huh, I thought the police boat was going to be "the ugly". Sorry to hear about the scratches.

 

[JTC1016]

Huh, I thought the police boat was going to be "the ugly". Sorry to hear about the scratches.

That probably would have made a much more interesting post. Luckily it didn't go that way!

 

[4x15mph]

Great jet boat pic, equally great large mouth, and great attitude about the scratch/gouge. I left my plug out recently and boated the whole day without it... never even noticed until I pulled the boat out.

 

[0627Devildog]

The Bad:
For the first time in my life, I forgot to put the plug in on my first launch Sunday morning. I didn't think I would ever do that. Got to my first fishing spot and heard the bilge pump kick on.

How much water did you take on. . . . . ? Depending upon the amount you could have simply jumped in to put the plug in and let the pump work. P.s. always good to have a high volume manual backup pump just in case.

 

[JTC1016]

How much water did you take on. . . . . ? Depending upon the amount you could have simply jumped in to put the plug in and let the pump work. P.s. always good to have a high volume manual backup pump just in case.

I seriously thought about jumping in because there wasn't too much water in the bilge. But it was in the 60's early in the morning and I didn't have any other clothes. Plus I was close to the ramp which was empty.

 

[0627Devildog]

I seriously thought about jumping in because there wasn't too much water in the bilge. But it was in the 60's early in the morning and I didn't have any other clothes. Plus I was close to the ramp which was empty.

I was in a buddy's boat a few years back when he forgot to put the plug in. . . .there was a LOT of water in there. He launched, met me at the staging dock, we filled up his 65 gal take from near empty, pulled away and tried to get on plane but struggled. Opened the hatch to look at the bilge and he realized there was no choice but to jump in and plug it. Luckily it was fresh water, and he had a hand pump to supplement his twin bilge pumps. He was not so lucky with the water temps which were in the 50's. . . . . . .

 

[Gym]

I'm curious why that police jet boat needs roll bars.

 

[tdonoughue]

To hold up all the lights, sirens, antennas.... and to give people something to hold on to while the thing screams at 70mph.