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| | | Boating common sense | | By CAPT. MEL BERMAN, 970-WFLA |
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| |  | | There is absolutely nothing more frustrating than getting all psyched up for a fishing trip, only to find the boat's engine won't start. Invariably the engine cowling comes off. The innards of that complex power plant are inspected and, in most instances, an occasional boater hasn't a clue as to what they could be looking for or at! The old sparkplug wrench comes out. All the impatient anglers gather around as each plug is examined to see if they can somehow plumb a solution to this aggravation. |
Wiping the residual black carbon and oil deposits from each electrode, the spark plugs are carefully screwed back in place. Most of the crew shares a deep down, uneasy instinct that this won't cure this problem. They aren't disappointed.
"Squeeze the bulb again Jack," commands Bill, our pseudo mechanic. Advancing the throttle, he cranks and cranks and cranks. Here is a very unresponsive engine. "I think you got it flooded," advises Jack, "I can smell the gas." "Okay, I'll let it set awhile." It's been about four months since the boat was used and nobody ever anticipated there might be a problem getting the engine to kick over. Here they are, some 2 hours after arriving at the marina hopelessly trying to figure out this complex device.
Yet, somehow, Bill gets it to grudgingly start. "It sounds kinda rough," observes Jack. "Naw, when she warms up, should run fine." In the back of everyone's mind is now the concern that the troubled engine might not start once they are out in the open Bay or Gulf. The thought of getting stranded 15-miles offshore is certainly not conducive to a relaxed day of fishing. Yet they did get the darn motor to run and, with some measure of trepidation, all gingerly climb aboard to head on out.
This scenario is repeated up and down the Florida coastline thousands of times every weekend. All too often, the worst fears of the anglers are almost always realized. They wind up stranded with no working propulsion system out at sea. Hopefully they'll have a functioning ship-to-shore radio or cell phone aboard. Then, if our stalwart fishing enthusiasts get lucky, they can be unceremoniously towed back to shore by some good Samaritan or one of the very pricey commercial towing services.
The point of this article is simple. After over 30 years of Gulf and Bay fishing experience, enduring my own share of breakdowns, I offer this one bit of advice: When the your boat's engine doesn't start easily, or run well...DON'T GO! You live here. Another trip can always be scheduled after a qualified mechanic has had a chance to fix the problem. Then you'll be able to go out there with a relaxed, clear mind and think only about whether or not the fish are biting. Its called "good common boating sense."
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