Funny thing happened on the way to the airport this morning

AKBill

AKBill

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AKBill
My wife and I were going to leave (wheels up) 9am for Skagway, AK this morning. Ha, Ha, she didn't wake up till 8:30am. No big deal, nice weather, who cares. We were going to visit 2 of her customers and replace items damaged during shipping (books, she works for a publisher).

I told her to go to the office and get the books and I would meet her at the airport. Also told her I would stop at the grocery store and pick up fresh produce for her customers (we always bring fresh produce when we go to Skagway)

Left not 5 minutes behind her. I came across a boat blocking 1 lane of the road (back of boat slid off the trailer). The fellow did not tie the back down properly. I stopped and was trying to figure out how to get the boat back on the trailer. Within 5 minutes we had 12 folks pitching in. We disconnected the boat from the trailer, and pulled the truck forward, backed the truck up to the front of the boat. Everyone lifted and they backed the trailer to capture the boat. Hooked up the wench, lifted some more and the boat was parked once again were it belonged.

Everyone jumped in their rigs and left. I ran, limped to the truck (just had knee surgery) for the camera and got 1 picture of the boat. Felt bad for the guy, new boat never been in the water. 15 minutes is all it took.

Met the wife at the airport and was off to Skagway by 10:30. Nice round trip, smooth air, home by 2:00pm.IMG_1119.JPG
 
I don't know much about boats. Was this mishap akin to a gear-up landing on a plane, where the prop is mangled?

BTW, nice of you to take fresh produce to the bookshop. It seems like an Alaska thing to do.
 
NoHeat said:
I don't know much about boats. Was this mishap akin to a gear-up landing on a plane, where the prop is mangled?
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Yes and no. Didn't secure the boat properly for transport, Jet boat no prop...:(

Something to be said about small towns, help your neighbor even if you don't know them...:)
 
Clark1961 said:
Didn't see a pict of the wench? no picts it didn't happen.
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This her?

th
 
holy cr@p I didn't even know that was a thing!
 
AKBill said:
Aviate then navigate...same thing goes with a river boat in S.E AK...:)
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I'd been stuck on the river for a couple days so decided that I was crossing the bar. Hit it at better than 30 mph...dunno if that was aviating or navigating but at least I got a hot shower that night...the kicker was when management wanted me to go back out that night. No way in hell.
 
Clark1961 said:
I'd been stuck on the river for a couple days so decided that I was crossing the bar. Hit it at better than 30 mph...dunno if that was aviating or navigating but at least I got a hot shower that night...the kicker was when management wanted me to go back out that night. No way in hell.
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AKBill indicated like...lots more to the story. We put a workboat aground that night and had to get the crew off. I did go out for the evacuation. The whole thing was a fiasco and I got blamed for cosmetic damage to the boat. Yup, I bent a handrail putting the boat hard against a bumper in heaving seas. Never heard of any consequences for a rescue operation before that. Left their employment shortly afterwards.
 
so, did the winch rope break or did the winch release the boat? Not that I would trust only that to secure a boat.

and, is it scurvy or rickets Alaskans get when they don't get fresh produce, I can never remember.
 
Looking at the Mercury page for their outboard jet, the cutaway diagram looks a lot like a snowthrower. The crankshaft just turns a screw-like impeller that sucks water in at one end and shoots it out the other.

Jet Advantages.
Water is drawn into the unit through the intake grill by an impeller, driven directly by the engine driveshaft. The water is then forced at high pressure through an outlet nozzle, creating thrust that drives the boat forward. To obtain reverse, a gate lifts into position over the outlet re-directing the pressure stream in the opposite direction.
_0001_jetadvantage.png__720x500_q85_autocrop_canvas_color-%23efefef_replace_alpha-%23efefef_size_canvas_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg
 
NoHeat said:
Something about that photo surprised me.

The highway. I didn't know there was one in Juneau.

Well you have your 10 miles of 4 hwy down town to Airport, then the other 2 lanes hwy's. This was a 2 lane hwy called "the Back Loop RD"..:)

Anyway, so what happened to the outboard jet motor, when the boat landed on the pavement?
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Messed up the inlet, will most likely run with little repair. should have had motor tilted up..:(

Let'sgoflying! said:
so, did the winch rope break or did the winch release the boat? Not that I would trust only that to secure a boat.

Well the winch rope saved the boat, the back of the boat was not tied down and slid off the trailer. Boat was sitting next to trailer connected to the front tie down


NoHeat said:
Looking at the Mercury page for their outboard jet, the cutaway diagram looks a lot like a snowthrower. The crankshaft just turns a screw-like impeller that sucks water in at one end and shoots it out the other.

Jet Advantages.
Water is drawn into the unit through the intake grill by an impeller, driven directly by the engine driveshaft. The water is then forced at high pressure through an outlet nozzle, creating thrust that drives the boat forward. To obtain reverse, a gate lifts into position over the outlet re-directing the pressure stream in the opposite direction.
_0001_jetadvantage.png__720x500_q85_autocrop_canvas_color-%23efefef_replace_alpha-%23efefef_size_canvas_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg
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Correct
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Didn't have the back of the boat secured to the trailer, and didn't have the outboard tilted up? Geez I hope he learned something about towing a boat from this. I'd hate to see what he does afloat and under power...
 
GRG55 said:
Didn't have the back of the boat secured to the trailer, and didn't have the outboard tilted up? Geez I hope he learned something about towing a boat from this. I'd hate to see what he does afloat and under power...
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Breaks more crap. Keeps local boat dealer and mechanic in good jobs. He's a job creator! :)
 
When it comes to boats and trailers, there is never a shortage of entertainment...

Passed 24-26 or so foot cuddy cabin boat just sitting in a ditch on Grosse Ile MI one day.

Then there was the trailer (with boat) traveling up Fort Street (M85) one day.
Came up from behind, got around a couple cars, then there was this boat and trailer rolling along in the left lane. No obvious tow vehicle. No vehicle in front for several blocks (no one wanted to pass the trailer). It would bump the left curb every once in a while, but otherwise kept rolling for a couple blocks. After it stopped, a pickup pulled around front and a couple guys got out - I assume it was theirs and they had been passed by their own trailer, but I don't know for sure.

30ish foot old wooden cruiser in the water. Big outboard motor jury rigged on the back (of course the cover was off). A bunch of 20ish guys. A couple jeeps and pickups. And a trailer. They eventually got the boat on the trailer - starting with "give it all you've got" using the outboard. Then they had to pull it up the ramp - this is where the extra vehicles came in. Where there is a will, there is a way.
 
I'm a new sailboat owner (like 3 months). I'm sure I'll make my share of mistakes. But damn... All I have to do is sit on the dock by my boat and watch the weekend power boaters for entertainment.

There's a shallow spot (like, 2ft. Maybe less) a couple hundred feet out from the docks. It's not very wide (top of a hill) and it's RIGHT in line with the obvious course from the rest of the lake into the docks. It's also marked with a buoy. And yet, every weekend, at least once, someone will run aground on it. And then more hilarity as they try to get unstuck. There's. A. Buoy. Right there. It's marked. I dunno what even...
 
AKBill said:
Yes and no. Didn't secure the boat properly for transport, Jet boat no prop...:(

Something to be said about small towns, help your neighbor even if you don't know them...:)
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Something to be said about living in the land of 2 lane roads. When something blocks both lanes, everyone helps out trying to open up the road again.

Like me in Texas where I grew up. I will pull over to pee and cars stop to see what's wrong....

On the way to Skagway, did you fly over the glaciers or go up the inlet?
 
Zeldman said:
On the way to Skagway, did you fly over the glaciers or go up the inlet?
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I've done both, yesterday we flew up the channel. I was lucky winds were calm, use rwy 02. Funny the first time I used rwy20 with the wife on board, she lifted her feet as we flew across bridge. Caught her by surprise....:)
 
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AKBill said:
I've done both, yesterday we flew up the channel. I was luck winds were calm, use rwy 02. Funny the first time I used rwy20 with the wife on board, she lifted her feet as we flew across bridge. Caught her by surprise....:)
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:lol::lol::lol:


I would take a 10 knot tail wind in the chieftain to avoid going up the canyon and do the scrotum screeching, stomach flipping course reversal to land in the wind...

I never really liked flying the channel in the 207. (think 745kp) Well within gliding distance to land but the shore line comes out of the water at a 60 degree angle.. I have done beach landings before but not on beaches like that....:lol::lol::lol:
 
My uncle and his buddy were towing a bass boat down to Lake Amistad near Del Rio, TX. He said they were cruising along at 70 mph, he looks out the window, and there goes the boat and trailer off the road and out into the scrubby pasture. They stopped, walked to the boat, and there was a freshly-killed jackrabbit twitching on the ground in the path of the trailer.
 
Zeldman said:
I would take a 10 knot tail wind in the chieftain to avoid going up the canyon and do the scrotum screeching, stomach flipping course reversal to land in the wind...
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Not to mention the turbulence you can get on downwind flying next to the mountains...
 
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